Royals Rumblings - News for June 9, 2021

David Lesky didn’t get to write the Jackson Kowar debut recap he had hoped for:

But in all, he got his fastball up to 97.3 MPH and averaged 95.9 MPH. He threw 20 fastballs, 17 changeups and two curves. He did get two whiffs on the changeups, including one of them above and got one on his fastball, which I thought might be a sign he was about to settle in, but in hindsight, it was middle-middle, so maybe not. I think one thing that we see a lot for rookie pitchers is that pitches that get swung through in AAA get fouled off in the big leagues and there was some of that too for Kowar.

I feel the same way about Kowar as I do about Lynch. The first taste was, quite frankly, a disaster, but I still have faith that both of these pitchers can and will be good big league pitchers much sooner than later. I just wish I had more fun things to break down with Kowar from last night.

And Craig Brown did a batter-by-batter breakdown of Kowar’s start.

At the Royals mothership, Daniel Guerrero had postgame comments from Kowar, as well as this encouraging word from Hunter Dozier:

Dozier said Kowar’s outing was just part of the nature of baseball.

“It’s just part of it,” Dozier said. “I’m one of his biggest fans. I saw him in Triple-A when I was down there for my rehab assignment. When I came back, I was telling everyone, ‘Hey, this kid is the real deal. He needs to be up here.’ It’s just one outing. He’s got electric stuff. And he’s going to be good for us for a long time.”

Do Royals fans need an incentive to stuff the All-Star Game ballot box? Well, here’s one anyway:

It’s time to vote for your Kansas City Royals All-Stars. The club is asking for your support in exchange for a deal on tickets.

Fans who submit at least 5 All-Star ballots and select the Kansas City Royals as their favorite team will receive a code for 50% off tickets. The code is good for up to eight tickets to one game. The seats will be located in the Outfield Plaza and View Level sections. Additional information is available through the Royals.

Hometown kid and former Rockies first-round draft pick Riley Pint is hanging them up.

Gerrit Cole used a lot of time, stammering, and words to answer what was presented as a Yes/No question. Hmmmm...

There might still be Minor League playoffs in 2021, though they didn’t seem feasible when the MiLB schedules were issued.

Legends about Bo Jackson generally center around his baseball and football prowess, but this story claims he tried diving one time and did an incredible job.

At Beyond the Box Score, Sheryl Ring brings her perspective as an eviction defense lawyer to the news that the Astros are providing housing for their minor league players, and warns that the devil is in the details.

Sarah Spain spoke with Jennifer Decker (née Sterger) about the gross sexual harassment that overshadowed so many years of Decker’s career. This conversation is interesting because Spain has to acknowledge and apologize for her own role in spreading it (and I ate up that type of media coverage at the time, because wow, toxic masculinity had me in its snares something fierce).

Some thoughts on new development around Fenway Park in Boston.

It’s from a few days ago, but there is never a wrong time to appreciate a Simone Biles routine:

How does your tax rate compare to what billionaires pay?

Weed retailers in the state of Washington got the green light to offer a free joint to adults who get the covid vaccine.

The world is a wide place full of infinite pieces of information, and a piece that was new to me is that “couch” and “sofa” are not the same thing.

Speaking of furniture, today’s fun (?) Reddit question is: What’s the worst houseguest experience you’ve had?

Here’s a cat interrupting a TV news segment, and the journalist’s reaction is exactly what I would say to my cat in that situation.

SOTD is the first 8 minutes of the movie adaptation of ‘In the Heights,’ which comes out on Friday and you can bet I already have tickets.