Royals Rumblings - News for May 4, 2021

Royals Rumblings - News for May 4, 2021

Mike Matheny explains why Jakob Junis is moving to the bullpen to Lynn Worthy.

“You try to look internally, ‘How can we fill some of those spots to be able to continue to do some of the things that we’ve been doing?’ Internally, not a lot of options,” Matheny said Monday. “We have one guy that’s proven himself to be ready by passing all the tests, and that’s Daniel Lynch. Would he be ready to come in and serve in that (bullpen) role? Nah, I don’t think any of us believe that’s the right introduction for him.”

Anne Rogers talks to Dayton Moore about Junis’ role.

Junis is going to get a chance for high-leverage situations as a reliever, but Moore said he anticipates Junis making more starts later in the season, and the Royals are still being open-minded about a six-man rotation if the club needs it.

“I see Jakob Junis starting games, finishing games, pitching in the middle,” Moore said. “He’s got the chance to be the MVP of this staff, just because of who he is. He’s a very poised pitcher. And he’s got out pitches. He’s going to be very effective in whatever role.

Junis is making the most of it.

“[Matheny] was just straight up,” Junis said before Monday’s game against Cleveland. “He had never had this type of conversation with a player before — this type of scenario and situation with me throwing well as a starter and moving to the bullpen. But all that was said, all that matters is that I’m not mad about this situation. I’m not going to be frustrated by this situation.”

Alec Lewis writes about the journey of Daniel Lynch to the big leagues.

If there’s one quality Paul Gibson has been most impressed with from the time Lynch began working on his fastball command and change-up, to the night at Kauffman Stadium, to spring training, and to now, it’s Lynch’s “emotional maturity.”

Gibson said he saw it on the first day of spring training. Lynch, unlike 2020’s spring training, wasn’t tentative around the big-league coaching staff. Part of that might have been the byproduct of Matheny’s presence in the fall at Kauffman Stadium. Most of it, Gibson believed, was a testament to Lynch’s strides.

In the winter, Lynch said he was ready without hesitation. Admittedly, though, with the way he’s performed at the alternate site, he’s reached another level.

“I sort of felt it last year,” Lynch said. “But now I feel it even more so.”

Your Adalberto Mondesi update.

Eric Longenhagen at Fangraphs ranks the top 51 Royals prospects.

This is a deep, robust system with a foundation of drafted college pitching. The club’s fascination with speed tickles the baseball aesthetic that I like, but feels a little regressive as an actual strategy, especially on the pro scouting side. I’d just rather take fliers on pitching because building that depth is so important....

This dynamic is relevant regarding Kansas City because all of that great college pitching from the 2018 draft, the high schoolers from the year before (Pratto, Melendez), and some random pro adds (Aquino, Morel) are Rule 5-eligible this winter. That also makes it harder to really move Witt (who I think will go through a natural adjustment period this summer as pitchers adjust to him — his spring was great but I don’t think he’s Trout or Tatis or anything like that), Marsh, or anyone else who has a 2022 40-man timeline or beyond, even if they’re one of the team’s best 28 guys.

Dodgers pitcher Dustin May will need Tommy John surgery.

White Sox outfielder Luis Robert is out 12-16 weeks with a hip injury.

The Brewers get Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain back, but demote struggling second baseman Keston Hiura.

The Rockies name Bill Schmidt as interim general manager and will conduct a broader search this off-season.

Byron Buxton and Ronald Acuna, Jr are named American and National League Players of the Month, respectively.

There are already whispers the Tony LaRussa experiment is not going well in Chicago.

The Mariners will vaccinate fans at the ballpark.

ESPN will have a Star Wars-themed broadcast for the Astros/Yankees game today.

CC Sabathia’s wife Amber is now a baseball agent.

Twitter is captivated by a first date at a Diamondbacks game.

Amazon will get exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football beginning in 2022.

The Manchester United match was postponed after fans held large scale protests over ownership.

The preliminary results of a SETI survey of 60 million stars finds no signs of intelligent life yet.

Domino’s Pizza is bringing back The Noid.

Bill and Melinda Gates are getting a divorce, and that could rock the charity community.

Your song of the day is Portugal. The Man with Atomic Man.