Royals Rumblings - News for March 30, 2021

Royals Rumblings - News for March 30, 2021

The Royals finished the spring training schedule with a win to clinch the best record in the Cactus League.

“Fitting for a good spring,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of the walk-off win. “It’s just fun to watch this group. We’ve done so many little things right fundamentally and have continued to compete and stay into these games. You can tell they love the game. They want to play well. They continued all the way through, so now we take this momentum.

“We talked about that on the first day of spring. Right. We had some things that happened at the end of the season, through the offseason, now through the preseason of spring training. Now, continue to take that momentum in a positive way and let’s roll once we get back to KC.”

Lynn Worthy talks to Mike Matheny about the player personnel staff will evaluate a player like Kyle Isbel, who did not have a minor league season last year.

“They’ve been burnt. They’ve been right. They’ve been wrong,” Matheny said. “We all have when projecting whether or not certain guys are ready, but you take what you’ve seen and try to make the best decision possible with all of those previous decisions in mind while not trying to hem them into having to be somebody from a previous decision.

“So it’s here’s what we see, here’s what we know, here’s what we believe, here’s what we forecast. And it’s an educated guess as to what we believe is going to transpire at the major-league level and trust the collective opinions and experience that we have.”

Infielder Hanser Alberto officially makes the club.

Anne Rogers writes about the excitement in camp.

“The group as a whole was getting better on a very consistent basis and clicking right when you were hoping they would click,” Matheny said on one of the first days of spring camp. “Unfortunately, we had to sit and watch other teams make the playoffs, and that gives you a little bit of an edge, especially after you’ve been playing well, and after 60 games, [we were not] tired. You’re watching us catch momentum. … You can’t help but sense the vibe of excitement now because of some of the momentum that we have.”

She also writes about what a different experience this camp was for Brady Singer.

“I felt more comfortable coming in here, especially from what I learned last year,” Singer said. “Knew what I had to work on and felt like I did a lot of things that I needed to work on. It felt completely different, and it felt a lot better, knowing that we’re starting in April and we’re playing 162.”

Craig Brown at Into the Fountains reacts to the Nicky Lopez demotion.

Lopez needs to hit the reset button and get back to what made him successful in the minor leagues—reaching base by any means. But the Royals are set on competing in 2021 and that means they can’t afford to give anyone—Lopez included—time to figure things out at the major league level. The desire to win now means the club has to ride with the nine it feels gives them the best chance to compete. Right now that nine does not include Lopez. And based on how things go for the team the first couple months of the season, it’s conceivable that we won’t see him again at The K this year.

David Lesky at Inside the Crown projects the Opening Day roster.

The Plaza fountains will run blue for the Royals on Opening Day.

The Mets make a $325 million offer to Francisco Lindor.

Rangers pitcher Jose LeClerc will need Tommy John surgery.

The Rangers will also designate infielder Rougned Odor for assignment with $27 million left on his deal.

Felix Hernandez opts out of his contract with the Orioles.

Anthony Rizzo cuts off contract extension talks with the Cubs.

MLB will relax COVID-19 protocols for vaccinated individuals.

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How Thom Brennaman became a meme needed for these times.

A controversial no call ends a thrilling finish to the Baylor/UConn women’s Elite Eight basketball game.

The worst matches in the history of WrestleMania.

Did the Black Death rampage across the world a century earlier than previously thought?

How mRNA technology could change the world.

Thundercats are go! In movie form.

Your song of the day is Nu Shooz with I Can’t Wait.