Royals Rumblings - News for July 27, 2020

Royals Rumblings - News for July 27, 2020

Lynn Worthy writes that the Royals played a bit sloppy in a loss on Sunday.

“We’ve got to clean some things up overall,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “Our walks are scoring at an extremely high rate. Our mistakes are scoring at an extremely high rate. We’ve talked about this since the very first breath of this season. We can’t afford to give up bases, and we’ve got to make sure we’re cleaning that up.”

The bullpen day didn’t work out, but Mike Matheny wants to see more of Ronald Bolaños, writes Jeffrey Flanagan.

“He was throwing with confidence,” Matheny said. “His stuff was right. He’s got Major League weapons. I see him being a part of what we’re doing moving forward.”

Bolaños, in fact, went straight to the bullpen after his two-inning, 32-pitch outing for about 20 more tosses, which helped further stretch out the 23-year-old.

“The goal is to continue to build,” Bolaños said through interpreter Luis Perez. “I want to get the chance to start again.”

Mike Clevinger went to Twitter to express his displeasure with the new extra inning rule after the Indians lost on Saturday.

Mike Matheny is a fan, though.

“I have been a proponent of it,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of the rule. “I know baseball traditionalists are rolling over right now, but mostly for the point of not having to take a pitcher too far. To be able to cover 17, 20 innings of baseball you’re pushing somebody who is probably going to get hurt or else you’re putting a position player in, which I don’t think is the kind of baseball people want to see.”

Alec Lewis talks to Royals director of pitching performance Paul Gibson about the debut of Brady Singer.

Two emotions struck Gibson throughout the evening. First, he was happy for Singer, whose work and mindset in professional baseball since Day 1 paved his path. Then Gibson thought about the organization as a whole.

“It’s been a rough couple of years for us,” Gibson said. “The biggest thing is what this represents. It represents hope for several more guys. I feel like they’re going to represent themselves the same way (as Singer did). It’s also the hope that it represents for the organization because we’re going to develop our own. … Now we have one on the board.”

Sam Mellinger writes that baseball is back, although it looks really different.

Did that feel like a real game? Like opening day?

“To us, that felt like opening day,” Matheny said.

“Honestly, it sucked,” Merrifield said. “It was an opening day and the atmosphere sucked.”

Vahe Gregorian writes about how Royals broadcasters are trying to adjust during this pandemic.

More precisely, Denny Matthews was in his house in Leawood for what he quipped was a “true home game.” That is expected to become his routine all season, for home and away games, given the precautions being taken because of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Through the magic of an iPad and a Zoom video connection, Matthews engaged with partners Steve Physioc and Steve Stewart at Kauffman Stadium to create a broadcast built on their cosmic connection and limited video feeds from Cleveland … much the same way that Ryan Lefebvre and Rex Hudler did for Fox Sports Kansas City .

“You feel disengaged; all you can hear is yourself,” Matthews said after the Royals’ final exhibition game Wednesday in St. Louis. “But you make the most of it. That’s all you can do.”

Nick Pollack at Pitcher’s List breaks down Brady Singer’s impressive MLB debut.

Drew Osborne at Royals Farm Report looks at the players with less than a year of service time.

Mike Gillespie at Kings of Kauffman writes the hitting has to improve.

Astros ace pitcher Justin Verlander suffers an elbow injury that may cost him the season.

The Marlins delay their trip home over concerns of a possible COVID-19 outbreak on their team.

Reds second baseman Mike Moustakas is placed on the Injured List after he wakes up not feeling well.

Shohei Ohtani is roughed up for five runs without recording an out in his return from Tommy John surgery.

Ji-Man Choi decided to become a switch-hitter and blasts a home run from the right side.

Why the Red Sox will be using an opener this season.

The science behind baseball’s home run surge.

Pete Alonso tries to follow up a sensational rookie season with a weird sophomore year.

You may have noticed the Indians wore their road jerseys at home this weekend.

Fake baseball fans are creeping people out.

Did the Seahawks give up too much to trade for Jamal Adams?

The big winners of the final day of Premier League action.

The recent Twitter hack shows how centralized the internet has become.

The Pentagon’s UFO unit will make some findings public.

How do all the streaming services compare with each other?

Your song of the day is Electric Light Orchestra with Livin’ Thing.