Royals Rumblings - News for May 3, 2021

Royals Rumblings - News for May 3, 2021

Lynn Worthy writes about the tweak that Andrew Benintendi made to get going.

Between his conversations with the Royals coaching staff and watching video of his swings from previous seasons in the majors, the minor leagues and even going far back as his college days, Benintendi made an adjustment.

He closed his front leg in his stance to minimize the movement in his swing. It’s something he’d done before.

By making that small change, it has allowed him to see the ball better for longer, stay on the fastball as well as off-speed pitches and execute a plan at the plate instead of feeling like he’s always flailing early and behind in the count late.

Brad Keller is just as frustrated as anyone over his performance.

“The name of this game is being consistent,” Keller said. “In order to stay here and pitch here for a while, you’ve got to be consistent day-in and day-out, start-in and start-out. It’s really frustrating because I feel like I’m trying to build off of the last start and get kicked in the teeth again. It sucks.”

Daniel Lynch talks about getting the call to make his debut tonight.

Mike Matheny is keeping an open mind on how to use Kris Bubic, who was called up over the weekend.

“We’ll see,” Matheny said Sunday morning of the plans for Bubic. “He’s just a pitcher in the bullpen that has flexibility because he has been built up. We could stretch him out a little bit. We could also use him in shorter stints. It’s just a flexible role at this point. We’ll see how he looks when we give him an opportunity.”

Anne Rogers has an update on Kyle Zimmer, who went on the Injured List.

Reliever Kyle Zimmer was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left trapezius strain on Saturday after his shoulder “locked up on him,” following Friday night’s game against the Twins, Matheny said. It lessened a bit by Sunday, but Zimmer wasn’t available in the bullpen on Saturday, prompting the club to make a roster move. There’s no timeline for Zimmer’s return; the team will reassess his shoulder in Kansas City on Sunday night.

David Lesky at Inside the Crown writes about what we’ve learned about the Royals after one month.

Craig Brown at Into the Fountains takes a deep dive into the batting lineup.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter reacts to Royals minor league rosters.

The Royals are among the teams with the biggest improvement in playoff odds in the first month.

Jakob Junis is one of the fastest-working pitchers in baseball.

Another umpire makes a baffling baserunning call, this time on Andrew McCutchen.

Max Scherzer tosses a complete game, then joins his wife as she gives birth.

Phillies reliever Jose Alvardo receives a three-game suspension for inciting a bench-clearing incident against the Mets.

Veteran pitcher Jordan Zimmermann retired for two hours before the Brewers called him.

Athletics pitcher Jesus Lazardo breaks his pinkie playing video games.

Everyone is following how the Indians evaluate pitchers and how the Rays evaluate hitters.

Statcast now has Park Factors.

The up-the-middle base hit is dying.

The two-way players who excelled in the Negro Leagues.

The new ballparks and team names to know in the minors this season.

A horse wins the Kentucky Derby, again!

A new report pinpoints the source of Aaron Rodgers’ ire in Green Bay - General Manager Brian Gutekunst.

The problem with Apple’s plan to stop Facebook data collection.

How humans doubled their life span in 100 years.

Reclusive Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder opens up about his career in comedy.

Your song of the day is Dire Straits with Walk of Life.