Royals Rumblings - News for June 4, 2021

Royals Rumblings - News for June 4, 2021

Alec Lewis at The Athletic writes about what we can expect from the Royals.

Since April 23, Benintendi has batted .347/.396/.487. He has also hit .417 with runners in scoring position, ranking sixth in MLB. These are ridiculous numbers, but they’re also hard to dismiss, and here’s why: His strikeout rate (18.9 percent) is as low as it’s been since 2018, he’s whiffing at fewer offspeed pitches (14.7 percent) than at any point in his career and his solid contact percentage (7.5 percent) is a notch below his career high.

David Lesky at Inside the Crown writes about what we’ve learned so far.

From April 30 through June 1, the Royals bullpen walk rate of 14.5 percent is second worst in baseball, only trailing the Cardinals. Maybe there’s something in the air in Missouri, but either way, it’s a big, big problem. The bullpen carrying a 4.03 ERA is probably more than a minor miracle when they’re walking nearly 15 percent of all hitters they face. The biggest culprit is Tyler Zuber who has literally walked one in every four batters he faces in that timeframe. But he’s not a leverage reliever, though he has been asked to be at times due to the lack of depth the bullpen is experiencing.

Anne Rogers talks to Salvador Perez on how he’s hitting the ball so well this year.

“The main thing is try to know the pitcher, who we’re facing that night,” Perez said. “Try to know how they like to pitch. Looking at a guy and how they look at me, the way they pitch guys. Try to learn a little bit about that.

Craig Brown at Into the Fountains has an interesting piece on how defenders are playing further back.

As in center, Royals’ third basemen have crept in a little bit in 2021, going slightly against the league averages. The impact of playing in at third is less than in center for obvious reasons. However, historically, balls third basemen in Kansas City have a higher BABIP than league average. The outlier season was in 2019 when Hunter Dozier played most of the innings at the hot corner. He’s played the most innings at third thus far in 2021, but with the time he’s missed, it certainly hasn’t been a majority. If Dozier can stay healthy and spends most of his time at the hot corner, it will be interesting to track BABIP on balls hit to third. Will it decline from where it stands currently?

The Royals optioned outfielder Edward Olivares to Omaha before Thursday night’s game and brought up pitcher Ronald Bolaños.

Andrew Benintendi and Scott Barlow were named Royals player and pitcher of the month for May. They also gave out minor league accolades.

Dayton Moore was on KCMO 103.7 yesterday.

The Mets sign former Royals third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert to a minor league deal.

Tim Britton of The Athletic ranks the Royals as having the best road grays in baseball.

A look at how home run rates have changed in each ballpark.

MLB owners meet and come up with a plan to crack down on foreign substances on pitches.

The Oakland Athletics promise changes after a photo of the food they serve minor leaguers goes viral.

How Mike Marshall changed pitching.

Who are some summer trade candidates?

Diamondbacks broadcaster Bob Brenly will take a leave of absence following comments Marcus Stroman accused of having “racist undertones.”

ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel has two prep shortstops at the top of his draft board (INSIDER).

Why baseball doesn’t need a “face of the game.”

The Buffalo Sabres win the NHL draft lottery and will pick first.

10,000 volunteers for the Tokyo Olympics back out with just 50 days to go.

Scientists think that 90 percent of sharks were wiped out millions of years ago by unknown reasons.

How streaming services are changing the nature of documentaries.

Puppies are born ready to communicate with humans.

Your song of the day is Grouplove with Tongue Tied.