Royals Rumblings - News for September 13, 2021

Royals Rumblings - News for September 13, 2021

Kyle Isbel was excited to be back in the big leagues, getting a big hit for the Royals on Sunday, writes Lynn Worthy.

“I got a wake-up call at 8 a.m. from our manager in Triple-A, and he told me he’s giving me the off-day today but I’m playing in Minnesota,” Isbel said. “It was a hectic morning, but it was awesome.”

Whit Merrifield talks to Anne Rogers about his attempt on Sunday to try to get a double play on a pop fly with two runners on.

“The whole point of the play is that the guy that hit is going to be out,” Merrifield said. “But when I have a ball that I feel like I can drop in front of me and pick it up, I’m trying to make the baserunners freak out. And that’s exactly what happened with Simmons. It dropped, and as soon as he saw it drop, he took off to third. I thought [the umpires] called infield fly.

“Their reasoning was, since they didn’t call it, they felt like they put the runners in a bad position. They brought it back. They apologized about it. They said it was their fault, the umpires, they should have called it earlier. ... It’s a play I love. I”ve been waiting all year for it.”

She also writes about Brady Singer’s troubles with the longball on Saturday.

“When I got to two strikes, I couldn’t bury anything,” Singer said. “It was spinning out of my hand there. The slider wasn’t very good all night.”

This is the danger of Singer’s two-pitch mix, one that’s shown too many times this season and been part of the reason he has a 4-10 record and 4.85 ERA. Against the White Sox last week, Singer flashed the best fastball command he’s shown all season, and his slider had the typical depth and bite that misses so many bats. He didn’t need a third pitch; the White Sox were having enough trouble with his first two.

But when Singer doesn’t have a feel for the sinker or slider, he relies heavily on the one that’s working. On Saturday, he kept throwing sliders, which got him into trouble later.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter wonders if Andrew Benintendi will be a long-term option in left.

According to Savant, Benintendi is posting a career-best average exit velocity of 89.6 MPH as well as hard hit rate of 43.4 percent (Savant’s hard hit numbers often vary from Fangraphs’). Those are also promising signs that overall, Benintendi is at least hitting the ball with authority when he connects, which could bode well for future success. In addition, his barrel rate is 9.2 percent, which would also be a career-high if the season ended today.

Therefore, it could be that Benintendi is fully healthy after struggling to recover from injury in July and August, and that the September Benintendi could be a sign of what the Royals and Royals fans could expect for 2022. In addition, this recent surge could also be a sign of correction at the plate, as his wOBA (.316) is four points lower than his xwOBA (.320).

Jared Perkins at Royals Farm Report looks at some under-the-radar Royals prospects.

Mike Gillespie at Kings of Kauffman sees the logic in keeping Greg Holland.

The Brewers toss a combined no-hitter against the Indians, the third time they have been no-hit - all in Zack Plesac starts.

Max Scherzer nearly tosses a perfect game, and records his 3,000th career strikeout.

Can the Phillies surge to the playoffs?

The most overlooked player on each club.

Who will be the first to wear a Rays, Marlins, or Nationals cap to Cooperstown?

Owen McGrattan at Fangraphs takes a closer look at backup sliders.

NFL receiver DeSean Jackson was nearly a top baseball prospect.

The Chiefs come from behind to win their season opener against the Browns.

Daniil Medvedev stuns Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open men’s final.

How to end the American obsession with driving cars.

A look at the thin line between accidentally taking something from a song and plagiarism in the world of music.

A breakdown of the trailer for the new The Matrix Resurrections film.

Your song of the day is Pearl Jam with Go.