Royals Rumblings - News for April 30, 2022

Royals Rumblings - News for April 30, 2022

Lynn Worthy writes that even with Adalberto Mondesi out, the Royals have options at shortstop.

“Right now, he looks really good,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of Witt. “We know that he can play shortstop, but we also know that Nicky Lopez played a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop last year as well as what Whit Merrifield did at second base.

There are options. We’re not taking anything off the table. But right now what Bobby is doing — just getting acclimated to this league, the day-in the day-out, the pressure of being in the majors leagues and being a highly-touted prospect — all of that’s plenty.

Alec Lewis writes about Andrew Benintendi’s hot start.

Speaking a couple of weeks ago, Benintendi said his bat path is “something I think I’ll always have to work on.”

“But, yeah, it’s better this year than it was last year,” he said. “Hopefully, it’ll keep getting better to where you don’t have to think about it.”

If it continues to improve, and Benintendi maintains his consistency, his value will only heighten. As it stands, he and the Royals are headed for arbitration. But that’s the short term. Long term, both parties must answer the following question: Is an extension beneficial? There are benefits and detriments aplenty for both sides.

David Lesky at Inside the Crown writes about Brad Keller’s last start.

I had a bit of a complaint in his last start that he fell in love with his fastball. In his first two starts, he threw a ton of sliders and then when he got in trouble in Seattle, he was all about the fastball and it compounded his issues with a couple doubles. I appreciate greatly what he did in this one because he was loving his fastball early. He threw eight fastballs out of 12 pitches in the first. He then shifted to the sinker in the second inning to give a different look. In the third he mixed in a bunch of changeups.

So he got to a point where he was no longer predictable. And in the end, he had one of his most balanced pitch charts in awhile.

Craig Brown at Into the Fountains wonders if Mondesi is done in a Royals uniform.

The Royals will have a decision to make on Mondesi after this season. He will be eligible for arbitration for the third time this winter. He certainly won’t be in line for any kind of raise on the $3 million he’s making this year. They are allowed to offer him a reduction of up to 20 percent. We’ll see. The likely scenario would be for the Royals to simply non-tender a contract to Mondesi, making him a free agent. I would assume the decision would be dependent upon the progress he makes during his rehab process, but really, with just a year left before he would be eligible to depart as a free agent, what’s the point? Maybe he needs a fresh start in a new organization. I wouldn’t blame him if he felt that way.

Keith Law reviews how top rookies prospects have performed so far.

Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City: There isn’t much good news in Witt’s at-bats so far. He’s put 43 balls in play through Tuesday night without a single Barrel, and he’s had surprising difficulty on fastballs, with just one ball he’s put in play off a fastball having an exit velocity over 100 mph – and that was a groundball right to the shortstop. He’s also had a lot of trouble with sliders down and away, both in laying off of them and putting the bat on them. He’s played well enough at third base, although I’d still like to see him return to shortstop. He’s an 80 runner with an 80 arm and great hands.

Bally Sports Kansas City apologizes for cutting away from the end of the game on Thursday.

The Royals will have the sixth-largest draft bonus pool this year.

Five Mets pitchers combine to no-hit the Phillies.

Kris Bryant lands on the Injured List with a sore back.

Trevor Bauer gets a two-year suspension under the domestic violence policy and a third woman has accused him of sexual assault.

A look at each team’s best first-round draft pick in the last decade.

Jeff McNeil is a strike-zone wizard.

Wild pitches and hit batters are up.

Which college produces the most NFL draft picks?

Madison Square Garden will be headlined by two women’s fighters for the first time tonight when Katie Taylor takes on Amanda Serrano.

U.S. households are done adding more streaming services.

Who is the popular YouTuber named “Mr. Beast”?

How Sam Raimi and Sony rescued the superhero genre with Spider-Man.

Your song of the day is Cake with Love You Madly.