Royals Rumblings

Royals Rumblings - News for December 15, 2020

How do you feel about this pitching staff?

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Dec 15, 2020, 8:00am EST

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Royals Rumblings - News for December 15, 2020

Dayton Moore talks about bringing back Greg Holland with Jeffrey Flanagan.

“He anchored our bullpen, and that allowed others to settle into their roles,” Moore said in a Zoom call. “[Manager] Mike [Matheny] feels extremely comfortable running Holly out there in any situation. It was important for us to get Holly back for next season. There’s a trust level there with him. This is where he wanted to be.

Lynn Worthy has more.

“We’ve always talked about the importance of being able to match-up the final third of the game,” Moore said. “There’s nothing that hurts the morale more than if you lose late. Conversely, when you win late, you wake up the next day ready to go, fired up. It’s a huge morale booster. …

“Now, we expect our starting pitchers to have the mindset that they’re going to go deep in every game. That obviously protects the bullpen as well, keeps them healthy, keeps them rested and fresh where they can go out and compete and have their best stuff more routinely. But you’ve got to have veteran guys in the bullpen. Greg Holland fits that bill.”

Clint Scoles at Royals Academy comments on the Holland reunion.

Do I expect Holland to repeat his 2020 performance? No, I don’t, but the ‘20 season was one in which Holland figured out that his slider sets up the fastball, tossing it 50.6% compared to his heater just 37% of the time. The fastball velocity climbed up with that usage, as did the success rate. Can he repeat that trick in ‘21? Considering his slider expected slugging percentage (XSLG) against has never eclipsed .300 in his career, I don’t know why he shouldn’t continue with that formula until it doesn’t work.

A note from today... Asked by @FlannyMLB about what's next, Royals GM Dayton Moore said: "We'd like to get a left-handed bat in the outfield if we can. I think there's still going to be more opportunity to add to our pitching staff. We want to continue to add depth."
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) December 15, 2020

Alec Lewis looks at what the 2021 roster might look like.

Starting pitchers (5)

In: Brad Keller, Mike Minor, Brady Singer, Kris Bubic, Danny Duffy

Also on the 40-man roster: Ronald Bolaños, Carlos Hernández, Angel Zerpa

The first four appear to be locks, then you arrive at Duffy and ask the question: Really?

Duffy, who is entering the final year of his contract, will be 32 years old by the time spring training arrives. He hasn’t thrown more than 155 innings since 2016. In 2020, he posted his worst ERA as a starter (4.95) since his rookie 2011 season (5.64). So the question makes sense.

David Scharff at Kings of Kauffman looks at two of the biggest Royals draft busts in the last decade

Darin Watson at UL’s Toothpick looks at the 1996 trade for Jay Bell and Jeff King.

The Red Sox sign outfielder Hunter Renfroe to a one-year deal.

The Yankees and free agent DJ LeMahieu are $25 million apart.

What Dave Dombrowski could do with the Phillies.

Trevor Bauer and agent Rachel Luba are taking a unique approach to free agency.

Cleveland will not change their name until after this season.

Jeff Passan at ESPN writes why the Cleveland name change is long overdue.

ESPN lands the rights to a round of MLB playoffs that don’t currently exist.

A look at the most home runs hit by a player in each country.

The data revolution is making its way to women’s baseball.

The Steelers went from undefeated to searching for answers very quickly.