Royals Rumblings - News for August 20, 2020

Good Morning, Royals Review! Let’s have a great Thursday!

Let’s address the elephant in the room; Thom Brennaman is a shit-bird. His shit-bird apology was so bad it was comedic. Trying to weasel out of saying something terrible by hiding behind your “faith” is one thing. Using a derogatory term in a workplace/professional environment that happens to be a national platform is another. Using the term so carelessly and then saying “that’s not who I am as a person” is another. Pausing mid apology to call a homerun is truly the thing that sets this example of bigotry apart from the rest.

I’ve put my foot in my mouth in the same way that Thom did and I hurt people I care about in doing so. I’m not trying to tread on anyone’s beliefs on sexual orientation; everyone is entitled to it. But this wasn’t an expression of religious belief; it was an offhand derogatory comment that should not and does not get tolerated in 2020 without the proper shaming. I don’t believe that he’s sorry for saying it. I believe he’s sorry that his mic was on and the world got to see who he is as a person. He’s toast and he should be toast.

Now that that’s out of the way let’s get to the good stuff.

Dayton Moore spoke with Fangraphs’ David Laurila about Moore’s past experience of being a scout.

“The way I was trained in the game, probably 5% of the players you can’t talk me into, and 5% of the players you can’t talk me out of. You couldn’t talk me out of Mark DeRosa, because I knew he was a winner. You couldn’t talk me out of Prado or Andrus, or Gregor Blanco or Rafael Furcal. Adam Wainwright is another. And there are probably guys you couldn’t talk me into. I wouldn’t go on the record talking about those types of players, but I will say that I was wrong about Matt Holliday. I did like his power. He had the football thing going on, and I just didn’t know if he was going to be a productive major league hitter.

Lynn Worthy at the KC Star wrote about the plan moving forward for prospects Bobby Witt Jr and Asa Lacy.

Manager Mike Matheny acknowledged that he’s keeping tabs on the pair’s progress, though they’re continuing to work toward the future, and not the present. Lacy was just drafted by the Royals No. 4 overall in June.

“I know they’re going to go slow. There’s no push right now,” Matheny said. “Actually, when I’m calling and talking about what’s going on at the secondary site, it’s all about who might be the next guy to come here and help us. I think we all realize that Asa has just got to get his feet under him. He’ll get the repetitions.”

The key phrases there: “no push,” and, get his “feet under him.” In other words, Lacy does not figure into the major-league club’s immediate plans.

Alec Lewis at The Athletic wrote about Matt Harvey’s journey to Kansas City and the new mantra from the Royals director of pitching performance, Paul Gibson.

“Pitching is an evolution,” Gibson said. “You may have done stuff at 25 years old that you don’t do anymore. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

The conversation occurred amid success for Harvey. Mechanically, his timing — the moment at which his foot landing and release point remained consistent — impressed coaches. His ability to self-correct his stride direction, too, spoke volumes about his readiness to compete.

Harvey pitched three simulated outings. McGugan would hear about some of them.

“He said he’s loving it,” McGugan said. “He said, ‘I threw the poo out of it today.’”

Speaking of Alec Lewis, he also provided an update on Salvy’s vision thing:

Kansas City Chiefs corner, Bashaud Breeland, was suspended by the NFL for 4 games for some off the field things. His apology to the team/fans was unlike any I’ve seen.

The new Call of Duty game was teased. Looks to be taking place in the Cold War and judging by the teaser, the franchise still isn’t pulling punches.

If haunted houses are your thing, you might be wondering what this season could look like with COVID in the mix. Look no further.

Song of the Day: Rocket Man by Taron Egerton from the Rocket Man soundtrack

If you haven’t watched it yet, I’d highly recommend checking out Rocket Man. It’s definitely not your average music biopic and you’ll probably be listening to the soundtrack for the next six months like myself. I believe it’s streaming for free on Hulu right now.