Royals Rumblings - News for March 28, 2022

Royals Rumblings - News for March 28, 2022

After a rough start, Brady Singer looked sharp in his start on Saturday, writes Lynn Worthy.

Including the first batter in the third inning, Taylor’s second at-bat, Singer registered three consecutive strikeouts. After the home run in the first inning, he retired seven in a row. “I think it was the tempo,” Singer said of the difference.

“I mean I’ve been battling a little bit of mechanical stuff, but I think the tempo of the windup and going through the stretch a little bit quicker was working for me a lot better. I’ve been kind of slowing it down for some reason. It just worked better [when I was] more up-tempo.”

Kris Bubic talks about working with a new slider to Anne Rogers.

“I’m not really concerned about the spin itself,” Bubic said. “I’m concerned about the axis it’s taking. As long as there’s a little bit of glove-side action to it, then I’m good with it.

“To have something that can cover all four quadrants — the hitter has to think about one more thing.”

David Lesky at Inside the Crown gives his thoughts on a potential lineup.

The issue the Royals have with building their lineup with this particular group of players is that they don’t have a lot of punch in the middle. Witt will help that. Perez is obviously a legitimate power threat. But outside of those two, there are simply questions. Dozier had a .179 ISO last year even with a BRUTAL first half and is at .205 over the last three years, so he’s important here. If Santana can bounce back and do what he did in the first half, he can be helpful. And the addition of Pratto and Melendez will theoretically help if they can hit the ground running.

Why am I mentioning this? It’s because I sort of think Benintendi should hit at the very top of the order with Witt behind him. But his .166 ISO was only behind Perez, Mondesi and Dozier last season. It’s modest, but he also was one of the best on the team at driving the ball, even if that is damning with faint praise.

David Laurila at Fangraphs talks to prospect Hagen Danner about his high school teammate.

One of the pitchers Hagen Danner caught at Huntington Beach High School is now a high-profile position player prospect. Drafted 14th overall by the Kansas City Royals in 2017, Nick Pratto heads into the 2022 season No. 47 on our Top 100 Prospects list. Both took the mound as preps.

“He threw 90-92 [mph], and his changeup is the nastiest thing I ever caught in high school,” said Danner, who is No. 14 on our Blue Jays list. “He would definitely pitch if you asked him to.”

Jordan Foote at Inside the Royals wonders if Edwards Olivares is forcing the Royals’ hand.

The Diamondbacks sign Ketel Marte to a five-year extension.

Mike Petriello at MLB.com looks at the eight tiers of contenders.

Brian Cashman expects to make a contract extension offer to Aaron Judge.

The latest on extension talks between Jose Ramirez and the Guardians.

Zach Kram at The Ringer ranks all teams by their off-season moves.

Less than nine months after brain surgery due to a line drive, Rays pitcher Tyler Zombro is back on the mound.

Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker is arrested for DUI after going 82 in a 45 mph zone.

Backloaded contracts could be harder to trade with a new clause in the labor deal.

The U.S. Men’s National Team defeats Panama in World Cup qualifying play.

The Chiefs pick up runningback Ronald Jones.

A male birth control pill will have human trials this year.

Kids are learning history through video games, but what are they being taught?

Here is the list of last night’s Oscar winners.

Your song of the day is Fatboy Slim with Wonderful Night.