Royals Rumblings - News for December 23, 2021

Royals Rumblings - News for December 23, 2021

David Lesky at Inside the Crown takes a closer look at Daniel Lynch’s season.

All this said, there are actually three very distinct seasons for Lynch from 2021, even though this article is just titled parts 1 and 2. It was his first go-round, which was a disaster. His immediate few starts after his callup and that last month where he seemed to hit a wall. Like I said, I’m willing right now to chalk that last month up to fatigue. Given the previous year, it would make total sense.

But moving forward, I’m going to bring up the very first point - the spin rates. The slider is fine either way. The changeup seems to be pretty fine either way. But the difference between Lynch being a 3/4 starter and being a 2 or even a 1 is if he can start getting swings and misses on his fastball. And that likely requires him to find that extra 200 rpms of spin rate. Hopefully he’s incorporated the location of the fastball that he found after his recall and figured out how to get some of that spin back.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter looks at Royals prospects who have lost some luster, like outfielder Erick Pena.

I was really optimistic about Pena going into the season, due to his possible “five-tool” skill set and potential to play center field long term. However, it seems like he may be destined more for a corner outfield position, and he struggled immensely in his professional debut in the Arizona Complex League.

In 40 games and 156 plate appearances, Pena hit .161 and posted a wRC+ of 52, pretty lackluster numbers, even with the fact most Royals hitters struggled in the Complex League. His swing certainly still has that power potential, but it is pretty loopy and needs a lot of refinement this offseason and Spring.

It will be interesting to see if the Royals Player Development team led by Drew Saylor can find success with Pena this Spring and season like they did with Pratto and Melendez a year ago.

Anne Rogers writes how the Royals organization took part in a Santa For a Day charity event.

Royals Charities and Santa For A Day joined forces with the Housing Authority of Kansas City on Saturday to provide gifts and supplies to nearly 500 children in the Kansas City area aged 5-12. During the three-hour event at the Clymer Center Gym on Vine Street, Royals officials and former Royals pitcher Al Fitzmorris handed out the gifts that Royals Charities bought for every child who was part of the program.

“It was really cool,” Royals vice president of community impact Kyle Vena said. “It was a really unique experience, a culmination of their efforts earlier in the season. And not only getting to provide the gifts, but to actually hand them to a child who was coming with their family members or siblings, their mom and dad, just to have that kind of celebration as we get into the holidays was so awesome to be a part of.”

Jordan Foote at Inside the Royals thinks the lockout may have a big impact on Adalberto Mondesi.

An arrest warrant is issued for former Royals infielder Miguel Tejada for writing bad checks.

Player payroll was down 4 percent this season from 2019 levels.

Why baseball’s middle class matters so much in the lockout.

Bradford Doolittle at ESPN looks for the best fits for top shortstop free agents.

A look at David Ortiz’s Hall of Fame case.

The A’s may be stuck with shortstop Elvis Andrus.

Chase Field, home of the Diamondbacks, is being considered as a temporary home for the NHL’s Coyotes.

Dan Szymborski looks at how fireballer J.R. Richard’s career could have gone had a stroke not cut his career short.

How Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio ended up in an Oakland Athletics uniform.

Tigers first base coach Kimera Bartee dies at the age of 49.

Texas A&M has to pull out of the Gator Bowl due to a COVID-19 outbreak, leaving officials scrambling to find an opponent for Wake Forest.

Six Chiefs are named to the Pro Bowl, but rookie lineman Creed Humphrey is overlooked.

Why are streaming services always fighting over channels?

The Matrix Resurrections is a self-aware sequel.

The case for following fads.

Your song of the day is Julian Casablancas with I Wish It Was Christmas Today.