Royals Rumblings - News for July 30, 2020

Royals Rumblings - News for July 30, 2020

Danny Duffy had some missed opportunities in his start on Wednesday in Detroit.

“I felt confident with what I was doing out there,” Duffy said. “It just didn’t go our way. To have that kind of stuff tonight, I have to go deeper in the game. It’s brutal. I got to go deeper.

Lynn Worthy writes about Foster Griffin’s path to the big leagues, temporarily set back by his forearm strain.

One of the things that helped Griffin get past that mental barrier in 2016 was a change in approach and attitude on the mound.

He’d given hitters “way too much credit,” he said. Instead of going on the attack, the idea that he was a “finesse” pitcher had been so deeply ingrained in his mind that he tried to pitch too fine, nibbling at corners, looking to make perfect pitches and worrying too much about his opponents instead of making them worry about him.

Before last night’s game. Mike Matheny commented on Adalberto Mondesi.

Jesse Newell writes that Franchy Cordero has been the unluckiest hitter in baseball.

MLB’s Statcast measures “expected batting average,” which uses exit velocity and launch angle to calculate how likely it is for each batted ball to turn into a hit.

And based on that, Cordero has not only been unlucky — he’s been in territory all his own when it comes to major-league hitters.

Though Cordero’s actual batting average is .143, his expected batting average — based on his batted ball profile — is .515. Among players with more than one batted ball this season, the difference of .372 between his expected average and actual production is the highest mark in baseball this season.

He also writes about Trevor Rosenthal’s turnaround.

“I think he just got back to what he knows works for him,” Matheny said. “Everything just looked timed-up right. I think he was allowing himself biomechanically to have that range to stay square to the plate. He was falling off a lot last year. I think a lot of it had to do with, maybe, a limited range (after Tommy John surgery). To me he looks extremely similar to what I’ve seen him when he’s been at his best.”

We’ll come back to Matheny’s point in a second, but it’s also important to note what Rosenthal said about being off in 2019:

“My slider was a lot better than my fastball and my changeup, which is not normal,” Rosenthal said. “So those were some red flags that I saw early on.”

Rosenthal hits on something important there, and also the pitch that’s been the biggest change from 2019 to 2020: his fastball.

Scoles at Royals Academy takes some issue with Mike Matheny’s decisions.

The problem I have here is that the Royals through the first handful of games have deployed an aggressive style with pinch-hitting and quick pulls on the mound. That is a sound strategy with this type of team, but playing favorites with O’Hearn and Gordon isn’t sound as neither has performed the past two years not to be able to question their performance. If you’re not using Ryan McBroom in that situation, then why is he on the team?

Vahe Gregorian writes about Patrick Mahomes buying into the Royals’ ownership group.

Bill Ladson at MLB.com writes that baseball is in Mahomes’ blood.

Here’s a look at the fan cutouts that will at Kauffman Stadium this summer.

MLB and the union are discussing further rule changes such as seven-inning doubleheaders.

Juan Soto is finally cleared to rejoin the Nationals.

Joe Kelly is suspended eight games for throwing at Alex Bregman.

Braves outfielder Nick Markakis will opt back into the season.

Last weekend was the first time in 66 years that no baseball team began 3-0.

Longtime MLB manager John McNamara dies at the age of 88.

With no fans, what is happening to all the baseballs hit in the stands?

Some extremely wacky “on pace” stats.

Shortstop Jose Reyes officially retires.

What is life like for an NHL ref in the bubble?

Former NFL star Chad Johnson says he played most his career on Viagra.

Africa is slowly peeling apart, creating a new ocean.

A European Cold War bunker has become a server farm beloved by cybercriminals.

Netflix and streaming services were the big winners from this week’s Emmy nominations.

Your song of the day is OutKast with The Way You Move.