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Royals Rumblings - News for November 9, 2021
Hello, and welcome to another Royals Rumblings. Why isn’t Max writing this for today? Well, it’s simple. Max is currently very busy as the mastermind behind the annual SB Nation Offseason Simulation, which is wrapping up today. In the simulation, 30 real people try to improve their favorite team through trades and free agent signings over the course of a few days. Max runs the show, and it would not exist without him. Thanks, Max!
Interested in seeing what has transacted this year? Head on over to the transactions thread. Interested in seeing what yours truly did with the Royals this year? Well, go to the thread, and then come back here later when I post my recap.
When it comes to news, first thing’s first: Michael A. Taylor and Andrew Benintendi are Gold Glove winners at center field and right field, respectively.
“It’s definitely an honor,” Taylor said Monday on a Zoom with local reporters. “There’s so many great defenders out there, and to be recognized as one of the best this year, it’s an honor and just a great feeling. I worked really hard on my defense, and it paid off a little bit this year.”
...“It’s nice to try and fill [Gordon’s] shoes in some kind of way,” Benintendi said. “Obviously a long way to go, but to keep it there in left field at Kauffman, there is pride, especially with how much we focus on defense throughout the year and in Spring Training. It’s a big field, so defense is a priority there. To share it with Alex Gordon, a guy who’s been there doing it for such a long time, it means a lot.”
As Josh Vernier points out, the Royals have been doing very well in the Gold Glove category, having winners in each of the last 11 seasons.
A Kansas City Royals player has won a Gold Glove Award in each of the last 11 seasons, the best mark in baseball.
— Josh Vernier (@JoshVernier610) November 8, 2021
The closest active streak belongs to the Cardinals. (4) #Royals
It was not, however, a great day for Salvador Perez, who did not win the Gold Glove at catcher. Furthermore, Perez was not announced as an MVP finalist, and is therefore, at most, fourth in MVP voting. The three finalists are:
- Shohei Ohtani
- Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.
- Marcus Semien
If Ohtani doesn’t win, we riot.
Batoul Hammoud posited that the reason why Perez didn’t win the Gold Glove ultimately came down to two big metrics: pitch framing and Defensive Runs Saved (DRS).
According to BaseballSavant, KC Royals catcher Perez placed dead last in pitch framing in 2021. He converted 44.7% of non-swing pitches to strikes for a -19 Runs from Extra Strikes rate. Murphy placed fourth, converting 49.6% of non-swing pitches into strikes with an eight RES rate.
...When comparing the nominees through Fielding Bible, Murphy had 10 DRS to beat out Perez’s -5 and Martin Maldonado’s -2 in the American League. Stallings’ 21 DRS blew Molina’s six DRS and Realmuto’s zero DRS out of the water in the NL.
Over at The Athletic, old friend Andy McCullough posted a MLB mailbag article, which included this question and answer about another old friend:
Best Ned Yost quote applicable to the 2021 Braves and their remarkable October run? — Daniel B.
“Sometimes there’s things that are meant to be.”
Yost said that as he walked out of the Royals clubhouse after the team came back from a four-run deficit in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the 2015 American League Division Series.
Speaking of old friends, old friend Brett Phillips filmed a podium speech for receiving a Twitter award from Rob Friedman—also known as the Pitching Ninja—for Balk of the Year.
Podium Speech.https://t.co/V4lepbk9Vt https://t.co/SYIKbznBab pic.twitter.com/zUwRDyXDmt
— Maverick Phillips (@Brett_Phillips8) November 8, 2021
Who are the best free agents this year? Fangraphs has you covered with the top 50 free agents in baseball.
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Golden by Switchfoot