Royals Rumblings - News for June 13, 2022

Royals Rumblings - News for June 13, 2022

Brad Keller wasn’t pleased with his performance on Sunday.

“I just felt like I didn’t have much command of anything out there today,” Keller said. “It was just tough. I felt like the ball just kept flying out of my hand, not going anywhere I wanted it to go. I felt like we had a good game plan going in. I just couldn’t execute the pitches.”

Neither was Daniel Lynch about his start on Saturday.

“It’s just really, really frustrating to throw kind of like I did the first five innings and feel like I was doing everything right and then to — back-to-back starts — just have kind of a back-breaking homer,” Lynch said. “It’s really frustrating, and I felt like I should’ve given us a better chance to win. You try to take the positives, because there were a lot, but it’s just mostly frustrating.”

Anne Rogers writes about the progress the hitters are making under Alec Zumwalt.

Zumwalt is also learning what players need from him every day. Some are more open to new routines than others because of what has worked in the past, so Zumwalt and the coaches meet the players halfway.

“That goes back to the advice Rusty Kuntz gave me years ago when I first came on the [player development] side,” Zumwalt said. “He said, ‘You’ve got to have a relentless love to teach and you got to have a relentless pursuit of creativity.’

“We’re trying to build on what we know has worked in the past and maybe have some open-mindedness to some things that maybe they haven’t done before. There’s just been a really good dialogue between a lot of us in trying to identify things that might be a way to help.”

Bobby Witt Jr. is getting more comfortable facing pitchers as he sees them a second time, writes Lynn Worthy.

That’s five of his eight home runs having come against pitchers he’d at least had one previous at-bat against. “The same way when we face a pitcher, when you see him again you get a little better idea,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said.

“When you face a club, you’ve got a pretty good idea what they might be trying to do get you out, especially when you face head-to-head. There’s so many guys in the league that he hasn’t seen. It’s going to be a first-look.

“Every time he does, you can tell he’s keep a really good notebook of where these guys are wanting to go, where they think they can get him out and try and be ahead of it. He’s able — he’s not just a one-trick pony — he can hit just about everything as long as he keeps himself in the zone.”

Bobby talks about his approach.

“I’m trying to be on time with the fastball,” Witt said. “Whenever I’m on time with the fastball, I’m able to catch the changeup out in front. That’s kind of what happened. Any time you’re on time with [the fastball], you can hit anything. That’s kind of how I think about it.”

Amir Garrett returned to the roster with Angel Zerpa sent down.

Jake Brentz was transferred to the 60-day Injured List.

Zack Greinke was dominant in his rehab start for Omaha.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter writes about Lynch’s struggles.

Mark McCarthy at Kings of Kauffman writes about Amos Otis’ role in All-Star Game history.

Darin Watson at UL’s Toothpick writes about the time the Royals had their uniforms stolen in Milwaukee.

Mark Feinsand at MLB.com looks at some trade candidates whose stock is rising (Carlos Santana not listed).

Matt Carpenter is raking for the Yankees.

Former Royals first baseman Frank Schwindel got to throw a historically-slow pitch on the mound.

Mookie Betts continues to be an elite player.

Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler will miss 6-8 weeks with an elbow strain.

Why it’s time for the White Sox to fire manager Tony LaRussa.

The highest-rated umpire this year is Pat Hoberg.

A history of baseball’s anti-trust exemption.

Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo plays percussion at salsa clubs in his spare time.

Mike Trout says Alex Bregman won his fantasy football league.

Notre Dame upsets Tennessee to take a trip to the College World Series.

Ecuador’s role in the World Cup depends on where Byron Castillo was born.

Daniel Suarez became the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race.

A Google engineer claims an AI bot has become sentient.

The obvious signs we were in a financial markets bubble.

Your 2022 Tony Award winners.

Your song of the day is Only Real with Cadillac Girl.