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Weekend Rumblings - News for February 5, 2022
Alec Lewis writes about how Royals minor league pitching development has changed.
The secret sauce in today’s time — beyond further advancements such as information gleaned from biomechanical analysis — is communication among staff and between staff and players. To that point, in the second half of 2019, the Royals promoted Paul Gibson to director of pitching performance. They have also hired Jason Simontacchi (pitching coordinator), numerous pitching development staffers such as Dane Johnson (Triple-A pitching coach), Derrick Lewis (Double-A pitching coach), John Habyan (Low-A pitching coach) and more in recent years. These days, those coaches, working in conjunction with the many Royals departments (performance science, behavioral science, research and development, etc.), determine the best development route for pitchers.
How has that worked? Well, independent analyst Patrick Brennan quantified how well minor-league development systems outperformed baseline expectations in 2021, and the Royals ranked No. 3 in pitching behind the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees.
Dan Szymborski has early ZIPS projected standings, with the Royals on track for 74 wins.
ZiPS is bullish on Kansas City’s offensive future thanks to the quartet of Bobby Witt Jr., Nick Pratto, MJ Melendez, and Vinnie Pasquantino, but only Witt is likely to see a bunch of playing time in 2022. Still, the division is weak, and it would be dangerous to count the Royals out with such interesting offensive talent in the high minors.ies.usechorus.com/compose/8dfbad30-49e9-4a74-809b-2bfbd66a27f3
Jeffrey Flanagan writes about the best Royals players not in the Hall of Fame.
Quisenberry’s 238 career saves are second on the Royals’ all-time list to Jeff Montgomery’s club-record 304. Of Quisenberry’s 238 saves, more than half (120) required six outs or more. And for his career, Quisenberry averaged 1.73 innings per save, second only all-time to Hoyt Wilhelm’s 1.85.
Quisenberry also had remarkable accuracy. He issued only 92 unintentional walks and threw just four wild pitches over his career, which spanned 1,043 1/3 innings.
Quisenberry’s last year on the HOF ballot was in 1996, when he garnered 18 votes, six shy of the 5 percent total he needed to remain on the ballot.
Mike Gillespie at Kings of Kauffman wonders if the Royals could land free agent Kris Bryant.
Alex Duvall at Royals Farm Report writes about the best places to catch the Columbia Fireflies on the road this year.
The union rejects MLB’s offer to go to a federal mediator.
Whit Merrifield voices what the players want.
Based on the incredible annual revenue of the league, we feel players with 0-3 years of service should be better compensated.
— Whit Merrifield (@WhitMerrifield) February 4, 2022
We want to fix the competitive balance so EVERY team’s focus is winning year after year
We want to fix service time manipulation https://t.co/N5z5peN9wb
Baseball is expected to formally announce a delay for big league spring training next week.
The Diamondbacks sign pitcher Dan Straily to a minor league deal.
Umpire Joe West officially retires.
Roberto Ortíz will become the first full-time umpire from Puerto Rico.
Ben Clemens at Fangraphs looks at the average compensation for players in pre-free agency years.
How elite defense is killing ground balls.
Jackie Robinson first broke MLB’s color barrier in Cuba.
A defamation lawsuit filed by former Angels clubhouse manager Bubba Hankins against the team was reinstated.
The ten biggest 2022 NBA All-Star snubs.
Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy will interview for the Saints head coaching position.
The Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies felt loaded with politics.
What is the most memorable stunt in Jackass history?
Your song of the day is Semisonic with Down in Flames.
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