Royals Rumblings - News for May 19, 2022

Royals Rumblings - News for May 19, 2022

Alec Lewis writes about the timing in the change in hitting coaches.

“J.J. and Mike (Matheny) together felt this move was one that we needed to make,” Moore said Monday. “And I signed off on it.”

Asked about the timing, Picollo said the club felt confident that Bradshaw, DeRenne and Mabry would make “some of the adjustments we thought needed to be made.”

“The other part of this is, and I say this respectfully as well, but players are accountable,” Picollo said. “Players are the ones playing the game. So, whether it’s the messaging, understanding of the messaging, who knows what didn’t go right? But we felt like Terry was the right person to (be the hitting coach to start) this year. And then the way it went, we started thinking harder about whether we needed to make a change at this time.”

He also compares the Royals rebuild to the White Sox rebuild with writer James Fegan.

Michael A. Taylor was scratched from last night’s game due to contact tracing related to COVID-19.

Outfielder Dairon Blanco is expected to be promoted from Omaha.

Sam McDowell writes that the Royals have been frustrated in their inability to get runners in scoring position home.

They’re changing their mindset. Or they’re close. It has just not yet shown in the result.

In a conversation with someone within the organization this week, they actually pointed toward the team’s low strikeout totals overall as a reason they needed to alter their approach, not as a point of pride. They chase too often, and a team that combines chasing bad pitches with a high-contact rate is not one that tends to get a lot of hits. That’s what leads to weak contact.

But in other situations? Like, say, runners in scoring position and fewer than two outs? Good hitters adjust.

Those in-game adjustments — the situational adjustments — have been absent. Again, hence the coaching change.

Lynn Worthy writes why Cal Eldred’s job is safe.

“The pitching is on me,” Moore said. “We rushed our young pitchers to the major leagues because I had such great confidence in Mike Matheny, Cal Eldred and (bullpen coach) Larry Carter’s belief in them and their desire to have them, knowing we’re in uncharted waters with COVID and trying to develop guys.”...

“We knew we would have to develop them at the major-league level,” Moore said. “When you try to develop a lot of pitchers at the major-league level, it’s a very difficult chore, a very difficult task — not impossible — but it’s a huge, huge challenge.”

Salvador Perez landed on the Injured List this week with a thumb injury.

“It’s the inside of my thumb, a grade 2 (sprain),” Perez said. “The ligament got turned. I just need some time off. Hopefully, it’s just 10 days. (Head trainer Kyle Turner) told me maybe it’s going to be four to six weeks, at least 21 days. It’s grade 2. Grade 3 is maybe having surgery. Hopefully, I can get better soon and get back to the field. You know how much I love to play. It’s kind of hard, but it’s something I don’t have control of. It’s kind of hard.”

David Lesky breaks down Brady Singer fantastic outing on Tuesday.

The destination was great, but the journey was an absolute masterpiece to watch. In the end, he threw 93 pitches with 70 strikes. Thanks to a question from @snakecooney on Twitter, I looked up the last time a Royals pitcher threw fewer than 100 pitches with 70 or more strikes and it was actually Brad Keller on August 4, 2019 when he threw 72 strikes out of 98 pitches. Singer’s outing was just the 47th time in franchise history a Royals pitcher has done that. In fact, Singer’s percentage of strikes was the 13th-highest in team history in a game where the pitcher threw at least 80 pitches.

Vahe Gregorian writes about Singer’s remarkable start.

“This could be one of those days,” Matheny said, “that just changes his career.” It might be easy to shrug that off as hyperbole. But Matheny’s gushing about Singer (including saying he “looked like a completely different pitcher”) was rooted in a fact: his deft use and execution of a changeup that gave him a pivotal third pitch.

On Tuesday, he threw 16, inducing either a called strike or a swing-and-miss on nine … and thus making his other pitches more effective in the process.

Alex Duvall at Royals Farm Report analyzes swing rates in the minors.

Frank Mozzicato made his pro debut yesterday.

Albert Pujols moves into tenth all-time in hits.

The Nationals may be motivated to trade Juan Soto this summer.

A look at the decline in starting pitcher wins.

Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are living up to their contracts.

Making the case for an American Baseball Cup tournament.

The Yankees cut a third-round pick accused of stealing from teammates and scamming fans.

An FBI corruption probe of the mayor of Anaheim may hold up a new stadium deal for the Angels.

The NHL playoffs have been historically competitive so far.

With the NBA draft order set, here’s the Ringer’s mock draft.

Google’s Russian branch plans to file for bankruptcy.

A study suggests cats actually know each other’s names.

TikTok nuns are posting about that convent life.

Your song of the day is Sheryl Crow with A Change Would Do You Good.