Royals Rumblings - News for May 18, 2021

Royals Rumblings - News for May 18, 2021

Lynn Worthy writes about Ervin Santana still grinding at age 38.

“Never give up,” Santana said. “Keep working. It doesn’t matter how old you are. If you think you still have it, you can keep working and just show it when you’ve got opportunities to play. That’s what I’ve been doing when I’ve got my chances to play.”

David Lesky at Inside the Crown chimes in on Sunday’s game.

And I’ll say this. Going to Davis was wrong. He doesn’t have it anymore. My choice would have been Zuber, but you could make a good argument for Brentz or even Santana. Some were wondering why they didn’t go with Staumont, but this is a guy who struggles on back-to-back days and you want to throw him three days in a row and four days out of five? A day after throwing 22 pitches? I don’t think so. And Davis predictably blew the game. I will say that the double he allowed to Anderson was on a good pitch, but he just isn’t worth a roster spot at this point. And it’s hard to see and say that, but it’s true.

Alec Lewis writes that the weekend did show some positive signs for the Royals.

All of it was a good sign of things to come.

A clear sign, if you will.

That’s what Matheny was convinced he saw Sunday.

“(Abreu) never did touch the plate until his hand came through later,” Matheny said, “and the tag was already placed on his jersey. You could see the jersey moved when (Gallagher) tagged him on the body.”

Jackson Kowar is among the prospect Jim Bowden thinks are ready for a promotion.

The Royals have already promoted their top pitching prospect, Daniel Lynch, to the majors, though his disappointing results in two starts could make them hesitant with Jackson Kowar. But Kowar is as major-league-ready as Lynch, who was sent back to Triple A on Friday. Kowar is 3-0 with a 1.15 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings at Triple-A Omaha. His fastball/changeup combination is dominating, and his curveball is a solid third pitch.

Craig Brown at Into the Fountains gives his thoughts on replay.

Albert Pujols says he’s excited to be with the Dodgers and disputes reports he wouldn’t take a lesser role with the Angels.

Shohei Ohtani re-takes the home run lead with his 13th blast of the year.

Mets outfielder Kevin Pillar takes a 94 mph fastball to the face.

Gerrit Cole breaks the record for most strikeouts without a walk to begin a year - that was set one week ago by Corbin Burnes.

Does MLB lack a dominant team this year?

What’s behind the hit-by-pitch epidemic this year?

Braves pitcher Huascar Ynoa breaks his hand punching a wall, and will miss several months.

Noah Syndergaard will begin a rehab assignment following his 2020 Tommy John surgery.

Baseball America reports that minor leaguers are rusty with low batting averages, high walk totals, and lots of errors.

The next trend with pitchers could be shorter arm paths.

The Giants’ rebuild hasn’t followed the traditional blueprint.

Former commissioner Bud Selig approves of MLB’s ongoing reforms.

Potential top draftee Kumar Rocker has seen some wild fluctuations in his velocity.

Jeremiah Paprocki becomes the first Black public address announcer in Cubs history.

The NBA play-in tournament has made the league more fun.

Harry Kane tells Tottenham he wants out.

Amazon is in talks to buy MGM for $9 billion.

The FCC is making a big bet that Elon Musk can connect people to the internet.

Who will win the 2021 Jeopardy Tournament of Champions?

Your song of the day is Styx with Fooling Yourself.