Royals Rumblings - News for December 7, 2020

Royals Rumblings - News for December 7, 2020

Lynn Worthy writes about Mike Minor’s role with the team.

Minor, who turns 33 later this month, said he spoke with both Matheny and head athletic trainer Nick Kenney about not wanting to be “babied” when it came to innings or pitch counts. Minor described himself as “old school.”

Matheny and Minor also had candid conversation about the heavy usage of the Royals bullpen in 2020, much of which resulted from injuries/illness to the starting rotation.

“You are, at times, going to rely on your bullpen, but you can’t do that with every starter or you kill your pen,” Matheny said. “It comes back to the importance of having a couple guys who can run deep. Mike Minor should be one of those guys.”

Clint Scoles at Royals Academy writes that outfielder Anderson Miller may be a late bloomer.

One player, I hear good things about recently is outfielder Anderson Miller. The Royals drafted Miller in the 3rd round of the 2015 draft, and it’s been a long ride since. A hamate injury slowed his progress that first season. The next two seasons saw Miller get through his first stop before taking some time to assimilate to the next level. It’s been a struggle at Double-A since his arrival, hitting just .247/.294/.364 since his arrival. Despite those struggles, Miller continued to work, showing off his athleticism by working out and training with Angels outfielder Jo Adell during the offseason. It appears that work took hold this year in Kansas City, with Miller telling me it was the best he has ever played in his career.

Jeffrey Flanagan writes about the history behind the “Salvy Splash.”

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter has three questions for the Royals before the Winter Meetings.

Mike Gillespie at Kings of Kauffman thinks the pressure is on Hunter Dozier now.

The Yankees are interested in free agent outfielder Michael Brantley.

A look at some potential Kris Bryant trades.

The Mets are in the mix for Jake Odorizzi.

Blake Snell says he doesn’t want to leave the Rays.

Juan Soto is on a Hall of Fame track, can he keep it up?

Jen McCaffrey at The Athletic details the rise of Fangraphs.

TV broadcaster Len Kasper leaves the Cubs to do radio for the White Sox.

MLB teams sue insurance providers over billions in losses over the pandemic.

Actor David Lander, who died last week, was a former scout and minor league owner.

Why the NFL needs a playoff bubble.

How will the NBA season actually work?

Artificial intelligence helps biologists crack the “protein folding problem.”

Alaska may be hiding a huge volcanic system.

How the latest Mandalorian episode connects to Darth Plagueis.

Your song of the day is The Beta Band with Dry the Rain.