Royals Rumblings - News for May 24, 2021

Royals Rumblings - News for May 24, 2021

Everyone was raving about Carlos Santana after his walk-off two-run home run on Sunday.

“He’s brought everything to this team,” Matheny said. “When you see [his approach] lived out through a hitter like Carlos that brings both the patience to take the base but will also do damage and knows when to go hunt in both [situations], it’s very rare. It’s helped the development of every hitter in that clubhouse.”

Jesse Newell covered Saturday’s game that pivoted on Miguel Cabrera’s grand slam off Greg Holland.

Holland said he was trying to locate his off-speed pitch low and away and elevated it more than he wanted. There’s a fine line, though, as throwing a pitch out of the strike zone in that situation risks walking a runner in, especially with a disciplined hitter like Cabrera at the plate.

“I was more upset that I didn’t get in a better spot (in the count) before that happened,” Holland said. “I feel completely responsible for the loss. It’s a game we should have won.”

Anne Rogers wrote about the red-hot Andrew Benintendi.

“I’m taking what they give me,” Benintendi said. “Line drives to left, up the middle and to right. I’m not trying to do too much, staying within myself. Try to check the ego at the door and try to do everything you can to hit a line drive hard.”

Kyle Zimmer returned this weekend, and talked to Lynn Worthy about his injury.

He’d felt a knot in his back/shoulder area for a few days but felt it “wasn’t anything to raise alarms about.” He simply stretched it out and went about his business. Well, until he couldn’t.

It started “pinching and grabbing” and then during his postgame routine following the first game of a three-day weekend series in Minnesota on April 30, he was in the weight room when he felt more than a knot.

“It felt like I got stabbed all of a sudden and just completely locked up,” Zimmer said.

Vahe Gregorian writes that about a half-dozen Royals are still not vaccinated, but Dayton Moore is trying not to push them too hard.

And even as he tries to stay more cognizant of process than outcome, such patience is paying dividends.

Earlier in the week, two more players decided they were ready to move past their initial distrust. Over time, they had learned more about the benefits and peers reassured them about their experiences, and certainly they understood it was for the greater good.

“We didn’t push it,” Moore said, “and let them find their own way.”

Bobby Witt, Jr. drilled another home run Sunday, a 450-foot blast.

Brady Singer proposed to his girlfriend in the rain over the weekend.

Former Royals reliever Joe Beckwith, who was on the 1985 championship club, dies at age 66 after a long bout with cancer.

David Laurila at Fangraphs reports that former Royals outfielder Richie Scheinblum also passed away a few weeks ago at the age of 78.

Former Royals Jon Jay and Homer Bailey and current farmhands Drew Parrish and Jonathan Bowlan are on Team USA’s squad to qualify for the Olympics.

Will Leitch at MLB.com writes about one cool thing at each MLB ballpark.

Mariners catcher José Godoy becomes the 20,000th player in MLB history.

Scott Kazmir is back in the big leagues after a five-year absence.

It may be time for the Cardinals to look to trade for some pitching.

What is up with the spin rate in baseball?

Former Royals catcher Erik Kratz talks about how the Rockies were sign-stealing.

Will Kris Bryant be the MVP of the summer trade deadline?

How Topps entered the baseball card market 70 years ago.

LeBron James violates the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols, but they’re not going to discipline him.

Tottenham’s Harry Kane wins his third Golden Boot as the Premier League wraps up its season.

Most of the world is projecting a population decline over the next century.

Whip spiders - which look like a combination of spiders and scorpions - are popping up more and more.

Movies are back! Here are 40 movies coming out this summer.

Your song of the day is De La Soul with Me, Myself and I.