Royals Rumblings - News for June 17, 2021

Gotta love Adalberto Mondesí announcing his return with a reeeal long home run.

ICYMI, Brady Singer has a sore shoulder:

Royals starter Brady Singer had allowed just one run in three innings during Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against the Tigers at Kauffman Stadium when he was removed from the game as a precautionary measure because of right posterior shoulder tightness, the club announced.

Singer had thrown just 51 pitches, and his velocity hadn’t dipped on either his sinker or slider. The right-hander remained in the dugout after he came out of the game as Carlos Hernández took the mound for the top of the fourth and the Royals holding a 3-1 lead.

Craig Brown took a look at Kansas City’s latest slide:

Lopez remains a capable understudy and Perez is having another fine season at the plate. I continue to remain impressed with Lopez’s approach at the plate.

But the rest? Woof.

Santana is slumping at the absolute worst time. He’ll turn it around but it’s probably not a coincidence the Royals current slide is happening when his bat goes cold. The offense should hopefully improve a bit with the return of Mondesi, but can he make up for the loss of Andrew Benintendi? Again, we’re seeing what happens when only two guys in the lineup are swinging an above-average bat. It’s tough to gain any kind of footing.

Even with Mondesi back, the Royals don’t have attractive options for right field or third base. It’s simply a mix-and-match approach where you hope someone gets hot. Hello, Hunter Dozier. It sure would be nice of Edward Olivares could translate his dominance of Triple-A into some sort of production in the majors.

Oakland reinstated outfielder Ramon Laureano from the IL, which I’m noting here specfically because Alec Lewis threw Laureano into a projected 2022 lineup for the Royals in his mailbag on Monday.

Jim Bowden at The Athletic didn’t list Kansas City as buyers or sellers in his column, but as a “could go either way:”

The Royals look like a team that will contend in 2022. In the meantime, they’ve made great progress as they wait for their prospects to develop in the minors and majors. If they do sell, impending free agents Danny Duffy, Jorge Soler and Greg Holland are the most likely to be dealt. The Royals’ most valuable trade piece remains the versatile Whit Merrifield, but they continue to insist they don’t want to move him.

I have a feeling some of you will like this slideshow about cat ownership from The Onion.

Here is a method to try to fall asleep faster.

Today’s stolen borrowed Reddit discussion question: What recent movies will be considered classics 25 years from now? I wonder this about music, too.

Also from Reddit: a slowmo video of a hummingbird slapping a bee with its wing.

Gay and bi men in England, Scotland, and Wales are now allowed to donate blood. As for the US? “The Red Cross said they are participating in a pilot study funded by the FDA using behavior-based health history questionnaires, similar to those used in the U.K.” but until then, the restrictions created in the early 1980s are still in effect.

One more reminder: despite a dog at the top of this post, TODAY IS THURSDAY. IT IS NOT WEDNESDAY. Stay cool and hydrated today, friends.

SOTD: Heart - Barracuda