Royals Rumblings - News for November 2, 2021

Royals Rumblings - News for November 2, 2021

Anne Rogers has an off-season primer up.

The Royals have an intriguing offseason ahead of them. Will they make a big move or two to try and put themselves into contention, or will they rely on their young players and see how far they can go?

It would be helpful for the Royals to land an experienced ace to guide their young starters, and there could be some on the trade market that Kansas City could acquire using their strong farm system. The same goes for a big bat; can the Royals rely on Carlos Santana and Hunter Dozier to bounce back and be the stalwarts the lineup needs, or does an outside move need to be made to bolster the offense?

Clint Scoles at Royals Academy looks at how some Royals prospects are doing in the Arizona Fall League.

Additionally, Asa Lacy has looked good in three of his four starts, but I’d like to see him get a look at hitters a third time through the lineup. His fastball/slider combination is pretty nasty when he’s spotting his stuff, but I’d like to see how teams handle his stuff a third time through when he’s feeling a bit more fatigue and has to incorporate his changeup more. Will that fastball control fall back at that point? I think we are seeing some possible issues for Lacy in that spot which could leave his as a bullpen option in the future or a Robbie Ray type starter. You may say, hey what’s wrong with Robbie Ray? Nothing and I was a proponent of signing him before the season, but his walk numbers leave him as an inconsistent starter year in and year out.

Jared Perkins at Prospects 1500 also writes about Royals in the Arizona Fall League.

Haake is the prospect I was most intrigued to see head to the Arizona Fall League. Haake was drafted in the sixth round of the 2018 draft and was part of the arm-heavy draft class that included the likes of Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch, Kris Bubic, Jonathan Bowlan, and Austin Cox. He was stellar in his 2018 debut pitching to the tune of a 1.75 ERA between rookie and rookie advanced. He was off to a great start during the 2021 season in High-A for the Quad Cities River Bandits. He carried a 3.74 ERA while striking out 47 batters in 45.2 innings until he missed roughly six weeks with an oblique injury. The Fall League will be a great opportunity for him to bounce back. In his latest start, he went 3.1 scoreless innings. His fastball sat in the mid-90s and he was mixing his offspeed pitches very well, impressing a lot of people. Haake is a name you will want to keep on your radar in a Royals prospect system already loaded with arms.

Perkins also writes at Royals Farm Report on under-the-radar Royals prospect outfielder Tucker Bradley.

You just see a professional hitter when you watch Bradley at the plate. He just has a tendency to do a lot of things right and has a unique ability to hit the ball to all parts of the field. His advanced hit tool is seen by his 20.5% strikeout rate and 11.8% walk rate. He shows a good ability to be patient at the plate and get on base. When I watched him at the plate this season, all I could see was Alex Gordon in the way he swings the bat.

Alex Duvall at Royals Farm Report also gives an AFL update, writing about Nathan Eaton.

Eaton continues to impress in Arizona. He added a trio of walks and another double to his ledger last week and has played some stellar defense in the process. I still don’t know what his future with the big league club looks like, but if Eaton can hit anything like this with Double-A Northwest Arkansas next summer, he could potentially finish the 2022 season with Triple-A Omaha where he’ll still be just 25 years old and knocking on the door of the big leagues. He’s got some solid tools to work with and, like I said, he’s a solid defender on the infield. This Fall League appearance could be the springboard that Eaton needed to achieve prospect legitimacy.

The Omaha Storm Chasers announce game times for the 2022 schedule.

How a Martin Maldonado bunt saved the Astros’ season.

Zack Greinke became the first pitcher to record a pinch hit in the World Series.

Red Sox hitting coach Tim Hyers declines an opportunity to stay with the team.

The Mariners will decline their option on Kyle Seager.

A look at non-tender candidates for each club.

The best Halloween costumes around baseball.

What you need to know about how and why a lockout would happen this off-season.

Was baseball once used as a fertility rite?

The Broncos trade pass-rusher Von Miller to the Rams.

The Kansas City NWSL team re-names itself the “Kansas City Current.”

How new technologies are promising a shortcut to enlightenment.

Hucksters behind a Squid Game cryptocurrency have scammed people out of an estimated $2.1 million.

Eternals gets the worst Rotten Tomatoes score of any Marvel movie.

Your song of the day is Joy Division with Disorder.