Weekend Rumblings - News for May 7, 2022

Weekend Rumblings - News for May 7, 2022

Mike Matheny discusses Kris Bubic moving to the bullpen with Anne Rogers.

“We’ve seen it — the ‘pen got him a little bit more locked in on the breaking ball,” Matheny said Friday. “Kept telling him how good his breaking ball was, didn’t believe it until he came in a big situation. He needed to feel it and see it. That’s where he is. He’s going to get through this, but right now, it’s not fun going through it.”

Lynn Worthy also has the take from the manager.

“This is a necessary evolution,” Matheny said. “He’s just got to figure out some things about himself. I told him, and I’ve said this before, I think he’s going to end up, maybe, having as long of a career as anybody in that room. I really do. His pitchability, his adaptability, deception, life, everything, but he’s got to figure this out.”

Alec Lewis takes a closer look at each hitter.

Why is Lopez’s batting average sitting at .225? The answer isn’t chase rate (he’s chasing 24.6 percent of pitches this season, compared to 24.5 percent last season). It’s not a lack of exit velocity (Lopez is hitting the ball 84 mph on average but only averaged 86.8 mph last season, which ranked below MLB average). The explanation seems to lie in breaking balls. He’s batting .118 against them and whiffing at 36.4 percent of them. Last year, he batted .239 against those pitches and whiffed at 25.9 percent of them.

Craig Brown at Into the Fountains looks at how bad the offense has been.

First off, I don’t think this offense is truly this poor. At least I don’t expect them to be this bad for the entire season. So time and an increased sample size will certainly help. That’s not to say this club is necessarily a good offense, or even a league-averge one. However, the seeds are there.

The Royals need to be a little more “transactional” in the lineup, giving some guys days off and other patience. Obviously, the patience needs to be given to the younger guys…kind of exactly what they have shown with Witt to this point. And just as obvious, they need to not be so beholden to their veterans. Give Perez a couple of days. Same with Whit Merrifield. Perez and Merrifield may not be at their peak, but there’s no way they’re this bad. It’s anecdotal and there’s no guaranteed, but I feel improvement on this front is coming.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter wonders how patient the Royals should be with Whit Merrifield.

Preston Farr at Kings of Kauffman thinks its time Mike Matheny was on the hot seat.

The Savannah Bananas are in town this weekend with their entertaining brand of baseball.

Friday’s game against the Orioles will be made up as part of a doubleheader Sunday.

Ronald Acuña Jr. blasts a 450 foot home run and falls down.

The Red Sox call up top prospect Jarren Duran.

Fresh off shutting down the Royals this week, Adam Wainwright goes on the COVID list.

Umpire Dan Bellino apologizes for his confrontation with Madison Bumgarner.

No broken finger for Carlos Correa, but he is day-to-day.

What’s up with the number of home runs decreasing?

The ten nastiest pitches in baseball this year.

Jayson Stark at The Athletic looks at the awful start by the Reds by the numbers.

Tom Brady admits he may have fumbled in the “Tuck Rule Game.”

Predicting the WNBA’s big questions for the 2022 season.

Netflix is being sued by shareholders over its drop in subscribers.

The new Doctor Strange is not just another Marvel movie.

Every Star Trek Starfleet uniform, ranked.

Your song of the day is Electric Light Orchestra with Don’t Bring Me Down.