Royals Rumblings

Royals Rumblings - News for September 27, 2021

It’s the last week of Royals baseball this year.

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Sep 27, 2021, 8:00am EDT

Royals Rumblings - News for September 27, 2021

Kris Bubic had his best career start on Sunday, and he attributed it to his fastball, according to Lynn Worthy.

“It all starts with the fastball,” Bubic said. “It’s a lot harder to pitch a game where you don’t have your fastball. You can try to nibble with your off-speed, but as long as my fastball is there and I have at least one of my off-speed going that day, then for the most part I should be fine.

“(The key today was) just being able to rely on the good life I had on the fastball today and getting quick outs with it.”

Scott Barlow made it interesting in the ninth, but he pitched out of the jam.

“He got into a mess and had to make something happen,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of Barlow. “He’s the guy we want on the mound in those high-leverage situations because he has been there the most.

“He has done a good job for us this season figuring out how to get out of it, and that took us right to the wire. But he did a nice job of getting it done.”

Jon Heasley felt more comfortable in his second MLB outing.

“Going into each game you want to try and have both of them working at the same time, but very rarely does that actually happen,” Heasley said. “So being able to have both of those and feeling comfortable with those in any count definitely made things much easier. Just having the confidence in the changeup tonight was huge for me. It got me out of some big situations.”

Jon’s friends and family were able to see him start in Detroit, writes Dawn Klemish.

“When I texted him last week, I said, ‘Listen. You’re still throwing from 60 feet, 6 inches, the bases are still 90 feet apart,’” Rick Heasley said. “‘Everything’s the same, you’re just in a bigger setting. Just do what you do and don’t worry about the other stuff.’”

At Inside the Crown, David Lesky predicts next year’s pitching staff.

Mike Minor gets traded. I don’t know where, but I’d bet it’s to one of the teams in the bottom third of the league in starter innings. My money would be on the Angels, who already traded Andrew Heaney and are losing Alex Cobb and Dylan Bundy to free agency. Things are a bit hazy on the return, but that’s where my bet is for Minor’s destination. The Royals will likely have to eat a little of the money, but John Sherman showed a willingness to do that in the Danny Duffy deal.

So that leaves (in alphabetical order) Kris Bubic, Hernandez, Brad Keller, Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch and Brady Singer.

Jordan Foote at Inside the Royals writes that Hunter Dozier is looking to end on a high note.

“For sure,” Dozier said when asked if this recent stretch is encouraging. “You always want to finish the season strong, no matter what kind of year you’ve had. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the best year but I’m just trying to finish strong and I think it’s good for me to see the results and stuff because I’ve been working so hard this year to kind of get back to what kind of player I can be. To see that translate onto the field is big for me.”

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals swept Wichita to win the Double-A Central title and the Quad City Bandits won the High-A Central title.

The Cardinals win streak runs to 16.

The Brewers clinch their second division title in four seasons.

A look at the strength of schedule for contenders in the last week of the season.

Padres pitcher Ryan Weathers is baseball’s newest pickoff artist.

Measuring Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s breakout season against his father’s breakout season.

Joey Votto is launching balls like never before.

A look at those players over 35 years old enjoying a solid season.

The Angels may be willing to spend big on pitching this off-season.

Have the Rangers determined which young players will be part of their future?

The Brewers honored Bob Uecker for his 50 years in the radio booth.

A mother and two-year-old tragically fall to their death at Petco Park before the game.