Royals Rumblings - News for August 30, 2021

Royals Rumblings - News for August 30, 2021

Salvador Perez tied Mike Sweeney’s club record by homering in his fifth consecutive game.

“That’s awesome,” Perez said when he learned of his achievement. “I feel great. I’m so excited with what’s going on right now. I always say I love to compete, and we never want to quit, and I thank God for everything. I feel really good at the plate right now.”

Jordan Schusterman at Fox Sports writes an appreciation of Salvy.

Perez’s recent surge at the plate has also earned him some pretty special company historically. Only 13 catchers have had more extra-base hits than his 403 through their age-31 seasons. Nine of those are Hall of Famers, and the other four are nine-time All-Star Joe Torre (536), seven-time All-Star Brian McCann (486), eight-time All-Star Lance Parrish (474) and possible future Hall of Famer Joe Mauer (440).

Consider, too, that Perez has compiled all those extra-base hits while missing all of 2019 and playing only 37 games in a shortened 2020 — right during his prime. A full 2019 and 2020 could have given him another 90 extra-base hits, which would move him to seventh on the list, below some guy named Yogi Berra.

Despite dropping the finale, Mike Matheny likes how the Royals played in Seattle, writes Lynn Worthy.

“That was a very, very well-played series, a very well-played road trip,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “I’m real proud of how these guys came in and competed. We’d already taken three games and they went after this fourth one. You love to see that tenacity. ... That urgency. That excitement. That energy. Everything we were hoping to see on a day like this, they didn’t disappoint.”

Lynn also writes about how Royals pitchers have had to stay flexible with rotation changes.

“It has been interesting, but the preparation doesn’t necessarily change because you’re still prepared for the five-day schedule,” Bubic said. “Any time your name is called to pitch, you just go out there and get outs regardless of what day it’s on and who you’re facing and whatnot. Just keeping that mentality has been important.”

The Royals lost lefty Richard Lovelady, who suffered a UCL sprain.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to get Richard back and get back into that mix. Until then, we’ve watched it (happen). We watched Ervin (Santana) pitch the seventh and eighth. We watched (Joel) Payamps (Saturday) come through in a big situation and do that exact same thing. That’s typically how it works. You just get some outs, and eventually you’re going to find yourself in higher leverage and hope to make the most of it.”

Pete Grathoff clarifies the “official” home runs by a catcher record Salvy is chasing.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter thinks Nicky Lopez and Whit Merrifield are making their case to start in the middle infield next year.

At Kings of Kauffman, Mike Gillespie writes about the Royals players that need to finish strong.

Mets players give the thumbs down on booing fans.

A look at Yadier Molina’s Hall of Fame case.

Wander Franco extends his on-base streak to 29 games, the sixth-longest by a player his age in MLB history.

Are the Yankees for real?

The Rays are winning efficiently but at what cost?

How is Adam Wainwright still getting it done at his age?

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard tests positive for COVID-19.

Michigan defeats Ohio for the Little League World Series championship.

Former MLB outfielder Juan Encarnacion is accused of sexually assaulting his daughter.

Financial mismanagement is the cause of some of Europe’s biggest soccer transfers this summer.

NFL players vote Patrick Mahomes as the top player in football.

Chicago sues DoorDash and Grubhub for ‘unfair and deceptive’ practices.

Netflix will produce a fourth season of the missing plane drama Manifest.

RIP Kansas City native Ed Asner.

Your song of the day is Jason Isbell with Sad but True.