Royals Rumblings

Royals Rumblings - News for May 12, 2022

Mondesi is likely done for the year.

By Max Rieper@maxrieper May 12, 2022, 8:00am EDT

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Royals Rumblings - News for May 12, 2022

Whit Merrifield talks about the team’s offensive struggles with Lynn Worthy.

“As frustrating as it is for you guys and for fans, this is our entire life, what we go to sleep thinking about, what we wake up thinking about, what we talk to each other about, what we do in our spare time, what we do for our job and when we’re away from our job,” Merrifield said speaking to reporters.

“This is what we do. When it’s not going well, it mounts. It’s a tough thing to balance when you’re going through something like this.”

Anne Rogers writes that Jonathan Heasley will get the start today in his native Texas.

Heasley grew up in Plano, Texas, about a 30- to 40-minute drive from Globe Life Field, and he was raised a Rangers fan, attending games across the street at the old ballpark with his family.

“My dad’s company always had a deal with the Rangers, so we would always go Opening Day, take off school,” Heasley said. “Different ballpark, but playing the hometown team is really cool. Seeing life come full circle, it’s a really cool experience.”

She also notes that Andrew Benintendi will have his arbitration hearing today.

Adalberto Mondesi had surgery on his ACL and is likely out for the year.

Royals president of baseball operations Dayton Moore announced on April 28 that Mondesi has an ACL tear in his left knee and was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 27. The 26-year-old had successful surgery in the first week of May, so the road to recovery has begun. Mondesi is rehabbing in Kansas City.

Gabe Speier was pumped to make his first MLB start.

Speier on how he felt when he found out he'd be making his first MLB start: "I was pumped. I'm so used to not really knowing when I'm going to throw so it was nice to know when I was going to throw. I was pumped for sure." #Royals pic.twitter.com/TqTezwHRks
— Bally Sports Kansas City (@BallySportsKC) May 12, 2022

David Lesky at Inside the Royals runs a complete diagnostic on the Royals.

The point here is that you can talk all you want about hitting this pitch or that pitch or whatever, but if you can’t hit the pitch that the pitcher regrets throwing immediately after he lets go of the ball, none of it matters. My bold prediction is this will turn around. I don’t think they’ll be a top offense or anything, but at some point, they’re going to regress to the mean and get some big hits on mistakes. The longer this goes, the less confident I’ll feel on that, but I still think they’ve got some good hitters who are hitting poorly. They have plenty of bad hitters too, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not all just a bad offense. I still think they need new instruction but that wouldn’t change much in the short term anyway.

Jim Bowden at The Athletic proposes some trades he’d like to see.

4. Yankees acquire catcher MJ Melendez from Royals for OF Jasson Dominguez and INF Oswaldo Cabrera

We don’t normally see a top prospect such as Melendez traded for other top prospects, but this proposed deal might make sense for both teams. Melendez is blocked at the catcher position in Kansas City; he’s behind Salvador Perez, one of the game’s best. Perez is under team control through 2026, which means Melendez has to either change positions or become a DH, and that’s not really fair to him. So, trading him for Dominguez, who could fill a long-term need in the outfield, and Cabrera, a versatile infielder, could appeal to Kansas City.

Alex Duvall at Royals Farm Report wants the Royals to stop swinging some dang much.

Jordan Foote at Inside the Royals writes it should be Vinnie Pasquantino time.

In the latest mock draft at MLB Pipeline, the Royals are taking Arizona catcher Daniel Susac.

Christian Yelich becomes the sixth player to hit for three cycles in his career.

The White Sox/Guardians game was postponed due to COVID concerns in the Cleveland organization.

Has Father Time caught up with Nelson Cruz?

Daulton Varsho has become a special kind of utility player.

MLB.com polls executives on who will be traded this year and which players are surprising.

Astros owner Jim Crane found comments from Yankees GM Brian Cashman on sign-stealing “extremely strange.”

Padres manager Bob Melvin has prostate surgery.

Who are the early MVP frontrunners?

EA Sports will end its video game partnership with FIFA.