Royals Rumblings - News for August 1, 2022

Royals Rumblings - News for August 1, 2022

Mike Matheny was glad to have Salvador Perez back to hit a game-winning home run on Sunday.

“We let the other games go and put everything into this one, with having a couple heartbreakers that you know that you can’t completely forget about ...” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “We had a couple tough ones. They start to affect anybody. But this team just wants to keep fighting and playing the game hard. It’s impressive.

“Obviously, it’s good to have our catcher back to do what he does. It’s just amazing watching this guy in big situations, how he thrives. It’s just not a coincidence. There’s some people that take advantage of those opportunities and look forward to them and just do the unthinkable when he gets to those spots.”

Salvy doesn’t show any quit.

“I try to do my best. The game is not over,” Perez said. “[Holmes] made a mistake, leaving a fastball right in the middle of home plate. He is one of the best closers in the game right now. The ball moves in — sinker, slider. He is pretty good. He left me one in the middle.”

Merrifield became the 14th Royals player with at least 1,000 career hits this weekend.

“It’s kind of crazy,” Merrifield said. “I just remember a time when I was just wanting one. So to be where we are now, I’m pretty thrilled with it. It’s a special milestone. I’m happy that I got it out of the way.”

Bobby Witt Jr. is still not 100 percent from his hamstring injury.

“I’m just happy that he’s healthy and he feels good,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “We didn’t see him get on the bases and do anything else, [but] I know he is moving forward in a good direction health-wise.”

Witt said he was thinking too much at the plate against Cortes.

“I had a couple of games to prepare for it,” Witt said. “I think I was just overanalyzing it. I just wasn’t going out there having fun and being myself. I was not at my best.”

Jonathan Heasley saw some positives from his start this weekend.

Heasley made some adjustments in recent weeks to his pitching delivery, including pitching exclusively out of the stretch in order to simplify his mechanics. He was encouraged by the way his body felt after Saturday’s start. “I’m really happy with how the arm felt,” Heasley said.

“Obviously, that’s really the most important thing right now. That’s huge. I’m glad I felt good. I think despite the score and whatnot, there’s a lot of positives and a lot of things to build off of for sure.”

Alec Lewis looks at how the last month of play has revealed about the future of the Royals.

Meanwhile, as Sunday’s outpouring at Yankee Stadium confirmed, the lineup has morphed into a formidable shape. The Royals have damage-oriented hitters in Perez, Bobby Witt Jr., MJ Melendez, Vinnie Pasquantino and Nick Pratto, some of whom also possess elite plate-discipline characteristics. (See: Melendez’s 10-pitch walk late in Sunday’s game against changeup-pitcher extraordinaire Ron Marinaccio.) Others such as Michael Massey and Maikel Garcia have also debuted and impacted games with their bats. In July alone, without Perez, arguably their most threatening hitter, the lineup posted a 103 wRC+, ranking 16th in MLB.

Vahe Gregorian writes about the Negro League Baseball Museum’s new “Thanks A Million, Buck” campaign.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter wonders if the Royals’ defense is as bad as fans think it is.

Jared Perkins at Royals Farm Report breaks down the Royals summer trades so far.

White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson is suspended three games for making contact with an umpire.

Angels starter Reid Detmers throws an immaculate inning.

Arizona trades outfielder David Peralta to Tampa Bay.

Yankees outfielder Joey Gallo is drawing trade interest.

The Cardinals are interested in pitcher Jake Odorizzi.

The Red Sox are looking to move their veterans.

St. Louis trades infielder Edmundo Sosa to the Phillies for pitcher JoJo Romero.

The Guardians have discussed A’s catcher Sean Murphy.

Juan Soto just wants to get the trade deadline over with.

Will Clark has his #22 retired by the Giants.

Deebo Samuel gets a three-year, $71.5 million extension from the 49ers.

NBA legend Bill Russell dies at age 88.

Indonesia bans Steam, Epic Games, PayPal, and Yahoo for failing to comply with strict new content moderation laws.

Thousands of pet dogs are helping scientists learn more about memory and cognition as we age.

No, scientists at CERN are not using the Large Hadron Collider to open a portal to hell.

Your song of the day is Jay-Z (feat. Alicia Keys) with Empire State Of Mind.