Royals Rumblings - News for January 25, 2022

Royals Rumblings - News for January 25, 2022

Alec Lewis of The Athletic takes a deep dive into the pitching in the Royals farm system.

Shane Panzini, RHP: One scout said simply of Panzini’s instructional league performance: “Up to 94 mph with an easy delivery.” His 6-foot-3, 220-pound frame is much different from Kudrna’s and Mozzicato’s. That’s why scouts often talk less about projection with Panzini than they do in regard to the other two. But what most scouts did not know was this: The Royals drove Panzini, Mozzicato and Kudrna to the University of Nebraska’s athletic performance lab this past fall. The school’s sports science department analyzed these young pitchers’ movements biomechanically. The Royals will likely use analysis from that baseline testing to help enhance the efficiency in movements of all three pitchers.

Alex Duvall at Royals Farm Report ranks Nick Loftin as the #5 prospect in the system.

During the 2020 draft cycle Loftin drew a bunch of comps to Whit Merrifield for his offensive profile and defensive versatility. At the time, I wasn’t entirely sure how much I liked the comps because I think Whit and Loftin do different things well, but I’m on board with the comp now in terms of overall value. Both guys profile similarly on offense. They’ll both hit a ton of doubles, double digit home runs, and for a high average. The biggest difference between the two in my opinion is that Loftin has a much higher potential to draw some walks and probably (definitely) won’t ever lead the league in stolen bases. Defensively, I actually think Loftin is capable of handling SS, 2B, and 3B in the big leagues, where Whit is more limited to 2B and the corner outfield spots. So, again, I may have gotten a little too caught up in the specifics during the draft process, but I don’t hate the comp anymore as it relates to overall prospect value.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter looks at the sixth tier of Royals prospects.

The only concerns with Parrish are that he doesn’t really possess overly impressive pitches (especially the fastball), and he doesn’t generate a whole lot of groundballs either (35.9 percent GB rate in NW Arkansas in 2021). It will be interesting to see how that skill set transitions to a more hitter-friendly environment in Triple-A, where Parrish will most likely start in 2022.

Murdock and Haake have similar profiles, with Murdock having the higher ceiling and Haake probably having the higher floor as pitching prospects. Murdock possesses a pretty solid fastball-curve ball combo (both were rated a 55 by FanGraphs), but his command and control have always been suspect, as evidenced by his 11.5 percent walk rate and his 1.73 K/BB ratio a year ago.

Shawn Childs at Sports Illustrated has a fantasy baseball outlook for the Royals.

Owners and players had a heated but productive meeting with players making some concessions.

The Braves and A’s discussed a Matt Olson deal before the lockout.

How are Baseball Hall of Fame ballot collected and counted?

Is David Ortiz the best shot at avoiding a shutout in Hall of Fame selections today?

Pitchers are having more success just throwing the ball down the middle.

The Cleveland Guardians reveal what their new caps and jerseys will look like.

The deep bond between baseball and the Bahamas.

The independent Frontier League will adopt a “sudden death” rule for extra innings.

A look at the origins of baseball.

The Texas Longhorns are the #1 team in the Baseball America pre-season college baseball poll and the D1Baseball rankings.

Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes have raised the bar for quarterback play.

The story behind the 1976 Winter Olympics in Denver that never happened.

Immigration applications are backed up because it is still done with paper and pen and the files are stored in caves in Kansas City.

The Fed shows an openness to creating digital currency.

The pandemic was great for Peloton...until it wasn’t.

Your song of the day is The Strokes with 12:51.