Royals Rumblings - News for May 22, 2023

Salvador Perez explains why he was jawing with the White Sox after his home run on Saturday.

As he was rounding the bases, Perez motioned toward the White Sox dugout. He made a talking motion with his hands — but also had a big smile on his face....

Before hitting the home run, his 10th of the season, Perez checked his swing on an 0-2 pitch. In the White Sox dugout, players were ribbing Perez, saying he went around.

“You guys know Elvis Andrus, Billy Hamilton, Eloy Jiménez were there talking to me, like ‘Swing! Swing!’ on the check-swing,” Perez said.

Matt Quatraro explains why Jackson Kowar was sent down after an impressive performance on Saturday.

“This is a roster management thing,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “[Kowar] was completely understanding of it. We told him that’s the best we’d seen him, and [Kowar] said ‘That’s the best I’ve felt.’ There is nothing about it that is fun to tell a guy he’s getting sent down, but it is part of the management of the roster throughout the season. These guys all know we don’t just use 13 pitchers to get through a season. And Jackson, there is no doubt he’ll be back here and pitching big innings for us.”

Pete Grathoff gets the scoop from Brad Keller on his injury.

“It’s in the back of my shoulder and it gets really pinchy and I feel like maybe the impingement causes the weakness in it,” Keller said. “So it’s kind of like a little bit of both.”

The Royals will return to Kansas City Sunday night and Keller will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine if there is any damage.

Keller said he’s been dealing with the injury for a while, but the shoulder didn’t loosen up as quickly after his last start. Keller skipped a bullpen session Wednesday and hasn’t thrown since Monday.

Vinnie Pasquantino is open to a long-term deal.

Pasquantino, 25, confirmed that desire Friday ahead of the Royals’ three-game series with the White Sox.

“To answer your question directly or to answer that direct question, I’ll say what I said on MLB Radio that I think for every player, you dream of playing for the same team your entire career,” Pasquantino said.

“I really enjoy this organization. So on the surface, yes, I’d love to stay here. But there’s way more that goes into it than that. “There has to be want from the other side as well, to want me to be around, so I don’t really know how to answer that, to be honest. Short answer, sure. Yeah, that’d be great. But you know, there’s two sides to that.”

Anne Rogers writes about Royals prospect Carter Jensen, who leads the minors in walks.

“There have been sometimes that I walked, but I missed one or two pitches that I could have maybe driven into the gap,” Jensen said. “I got lucky and ended up walking, which is still good. I’m learning how to be more aggressive but also keeping my good pitch selection intact so I can start to drive those balls. That’s a big part of it.

“Stay disciplined, take the walk if they’re there, but also swing at the good pitches I get, too.”

The Royals call the North Kansas City ballpark district proposal “progressive and creative.”

The Yankees designate outfielder Aaron Hicks for assignment with three years left on his contract.

The Dodgers will call up two top pitching prospects to fill out their rotation.

Alek Manoah had to leave his start because Blue Jays manager John Schneider forgot it was the second mound visit of the inning.

Could Ronald Acuña Jr. become just the third player to lead the league in OPS and steals?

ESPN Insider revisits the Francisco Lindor trade that made both teams better.

Is the Astros dynasty starting to fade?

Has extended spring training outlived its usefulness?

Trevor Bauer was demoted to the minor leagues in Japan.

The Rays are drawing interest from potential buyers - some that would keep the team in town, but some that would relocate them.

Oddsmakers have Houston and Kansas City as the top choices if the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes relocate.

Club pro Michael Block lands a hole-in-one at the PGA Championship.

How writers on LSD in the 70s changed Marvel Comics forever.

People aren’t getting out and about in cities as much as they did before the pandemic.

Is Hollywood doing a poor job of promoting young new stars?

Your song of the day is Belly with Feed the Tree.