Royals Rumblings - News for February 24, 2020

Royals Rumblings - News for February 24, 2020

Jeffrey Flanagan wrote about Brady Singer making his spring training debut in big league camp.

Singer has been trying to work on his changeup, but he threw only one in his spring debut. He said it was simply special to get his first Spring Training appearance in the books.

“Of course it is,” Singer said. “There were some jitters. But I was happy with how it went. I had pretty good command.”

Jake Rill at MLB.com wrote about Singer learning from the veterans in camp.

“The guys here have been incredible, the veteran guys have been a real help,” Singer said. “Coming into this locker room, I can always lean on somebody and, obviously, listen to these guys. That’s something I really want to do, is open my ears, close my mouth and listen to what these guys have to say. There’s a lot of experience in this room, so they really help me.”

Lynn Worthy wrote about Daniel Lynch also facing off against big league hitters.

Lynch, whose fastball reaches 97 mph, had mixed results in his 1 1/3 innings against the Rangers . He didn’t allow a hit, struck out one batter and also hit a batter with a pitch.

”Even though it’s on the back field, it’s still exciting,” Lynch said after his outing. “A guy like Willie Calhoun steps in the box, I know who that is as a big-leaguer. It’s the first time that I really got to do that.”

He also induced a pair of pop-ups that didn’t get out of the infield.

”That’s probably a good indication that there’s good riding life on the fastball, and that’s kind of what I try to get,” Lynch said. “I don’t know if that’s the case or not. That’s usually what I try to get out of my fastball, that good ride. Pop-ups are sometimes a result of that.”

Worthy also wrote about catching prospect MJ Melendez re-tooling his swing with the help of new player development personnel.

“The first thing, as a hitter, you have to be able to do is see the ball,” Melendez said. “It doesn’t matter how perfect your swing is or how bad your swing is, if you don’t see the ball you’re not going to be able to hit. So just being able to see the ball better, put my body in a good position, my head in a good position to where I always had both eyes on the ball is something I fixed this offseason. It’s helped me tremendously.”

The primary problem? He’d been “peeking at the ball” because his batting stance had become so closed off to the ball with his front foot crossed over his body that at best he’d see the pitch coming in with one eye. He has since opened his stance.

Mike Matheny discusses Josh Staumont’s velocity.

“I think he can let it go and still control the plate, but he doesn’t have to control as much of it,” Matheny said on Saturday. “For me the guys with that extra horsepower, those are rare creatures on this planet that can do what he just did yesterday.”

Christopher Gleason talks to Royals players about the unwritten rules.

Alex Duvall at Royals Farm Report ranks prospects 11-15 in the system.

Baseball America lists prospect sleepers for each team.

Sleeper: Omar Hernandez, C

Skinny: A Cuban native who defected to Spain, Hernandez played in the Arizona League at 17 and showed plus defense behind the plate and plus arm strength.

Shawn Bauman at Kings of Kauffman lists three Royals players that should trade for.

Madison Bumgarner has been secretly competing in rodeos under the alias “Mason Saunders.”

The Padres sign infielder Brian Dozier to a minor league deal.

Yoenis Cespedes is not ruling out a return by Opening Day.

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Players are raving about Mookie Betts’ address to the Dodgers this spring.

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The Phillie Phanatic gets a makeover.

Tyson Fury dominates Deontay Wilder in their rematch.

Kansas is making a case to be the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament.

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