Royals Rumblings - News for October 12, 2021

Royals Rumblings - News for October 12, 2021

Alec Lewis talks with Hunter Dozier about his disappointing season.

Subconsciously, he believes now, he was trying to protect his thumb. And in doing so, the mechanics of his swing shifted. In Dozier’s words, he “didn’t want it to hurt. I didn’t want to get blown up again. Then I started doing stuff in my swing, trying to not get jammed. Coming off the ball, creating bad habits.” His inability to hit showed in the form of a .474 OPS in April, and the lack of results dented his psyche.

He searched for things to change. He was willing to do anything to lift him out of his funk. He would enter the stadium, beeline to the cages and grind through swings in hopes of finding his stroke. An 0-for-4 performance would send him to his car, tormented by endless doubt.

The cycle was vicious.

Anne Rogers writes about the questions facing the Royals this off-season.

Can the Royals boost their roster from the outside?

There might not be a big splash awaiting the Royals on the trade or free agent market, given the pieces they want to build around on their current roster, but any team wanting to get better should try to improve. That typically means going out and getting a proven player, rather than solely relying on the youth movement to fill up roster spots.

One spot where Kansas City could do that is the rotation. The Royals have a ton already there. But the youth on that staff could benefit from a veteran ace, both from a performance perspective and a leadership perspective.

Baseball America writes about the top ten prospects that improved in baseball, and four of them are Royals.

1. MJ Melendez, C, Royals

+57.4 wRAA

From one of the worst hitters in the minors in 2019 to one of the best this season, Melendez led the field with 41 home runs and a .337 isolated slugging percentage. Plus, he became the first minor league catcher to reach 40 homers since Todd Greene in 1995. Like Greene, Melendez did his damage at Double-A and Triple-A.

Only one player in the FanGraphs minor league data set, which dates back to 2006, improved by a greater number of runs above average in successive seasons than Melendez. That was Rockies shortstop Rosell Herrera, who improved by 57.7 wRAA between 2012 and 2013. Herrera played in 126 games in 2013, compared with 123 for Melendez this season.

Jordan Foote writes that Carlos Santana’s slump puts the Royals in a tough position.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter looks back on the 2021 Opening Day.

The subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcasting that owns Bally Sports Kansas City could be headed towards bankruptcy.

Eduardo Rodriguez gets Austin Meadows in a 17-pitch at-bat, the longest in post-season history.

Yasmani Grandal says he didn’t intentionally interfere with a throw home in the Astros/White Sox series.

White Sox pitcher Ryan Tepera implies the Astros are stealing signs again.

Why Joc Pederson has former teammate Anthony Rizzo to thank for his NLDS heroics.

Aaron Boon could emerge as a candidate to manage the Padres.

There were fewer stolen bases attempts this season than in any year in over 50 years.

John Thorn writes about the top rookies before the Rookie of the Year Award was given out.

Raiders coach Jon Gruden resigns after more emails surface that reveal misogynistic and anti-gay language.

The Sixers are in talks to bring Ben Simmons back to Philly.

Is a virtual reality metaverse a threat to kids?

Every Marvel Cinematic Universe TV show, ranked.

The profane poetry of HBO’s Succession.

Your song of the day is The Replacements with I’ll Be You.