Weekend Rumblings - News for May 27, 2023

Bobby Witt Jr. has been on a roll lately, writes Anne Rogers.

But perhaps there is something to taking away the pressure of being the first hitter to the plate and setting the tone.

“I’ll do whatever, hit wherever, to be in the lineup,” Witt said. “But how I am, I do put pressure on myself to see pitches, not see pitches, try to get on. I do put a lot of pressure on myself. And I swing a lot.”

Or perhaps Witt is just in a groove right now. He’s upped his workload in the batting cages and feels better getting more swings in to feel better equipped at the plate.

“That’s how I kind of get through things,” Witt said. “Just keep hitting and find the timing and everything. Keep working.”

He nearly hit for the cycle last night.

“I am just trying to see every pitch and whatever is thrown over the plate,” Witt said. “Just looking for something in the zone and be able to put a good swing on it. Not chase or swing and miss. Just trying to be there, be on time and drive the ball.”

But it was still a historic night.

Drew Waters was glad to be back in the lineup, writes Jaylon Thompson.

“I felt good,” Waters said. “I actually told [Edward] Olivares, during one of the pitching changes, even one day in the big leagues still gives you a little bit of excitement just to be back out there.”

David Lesky at Inside the Crown examines what is wrong with Brady Singer.

So either his foot is landing too late or his arm is firing too early. I’m guessing many will look at these images and think there’s nothing here. I asked a couple of people who know a lot more about pitching than I do and they agreed this could lead to different extension, which could also lead to a change in the shape of the pitch. One said, “It’s a super simple fix, but boy is it not easy. They’ll work on it and it’ll just happen in a start and be fine. But nobody can guess when it’ll be.”

And from what I can gather, the Royals are completely aware of this and I think agree with the assessment.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter looks at Daniel Lynch’s rehab start this week.

As Royals fans can see, Lynch produced a 43 percent CSW rate, highlighted by a 57 percent CSW on his changeup, 78 percent CSW on his knuckle curve, and 31 CSW rate on his slider. His four-seamer wasn’t that impressive with a 24 percent CSW rate, but it appeared that his other four pitches were able to work well off his four-seamer all night, as evidenced by his high CSW rate on his secondary pitches.

Jared Perkins at Just Baseball writes at Michael Massey’s turnaround.

Massey has made a complete 180º turn to start the month of May. He is showing a refined approach at the plate and has become a lot more patient in his ability to find his pitch and drive it. In 67 plate appearances, he has decreased his strikeout percentage by a little over 11% (26.9%), and his walk percentage for the month of May is 10.4%. Not only that, Massey has shown off the pop that has been hiding, knocking three doubles and three home runs thus far. The improvements have been impressive. His timing is locked in, and he is making much-improved swing decisions.

A guy who stole a home run ball from a fan at a Royals game last year says he has no regrets.

Former Royals pitcher Bret Saberhagen discovers his biological father.

The Rangers have the league’s most explosive offense.

Tigers pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez could be a coveted arm at the trade deadline.

Jay Jaffe at Fangraphs looks at why Trea Turner has struggled.

Inside Ronald Acuna’s return to MVP form.

MLB tells the Brewers to upgrade their ballpark.

How MLB is trying to thread the needle on gambling.

The A’s release renderings on their potential new stadium in Las Vegas.

The Yankees release outfielder Aaron Hicks.

The Mets designate Gary Sanchez for assignment.

Jose Iglesias opts out of his deal with the Padres.

There is a baseball-related fan theory about how HBO’s Succession will end.

The Washington Commanders may have to change their name again.

The Cardinals release DeAndre Hopkins, what does that mean for the Chiefs?

Maybe it’s not Ticketmaster’s fault and there is no way to get around scalpers and fraudsters.

Scientists are asking the public to help them decode a message from space.

HBO has no intention of doing a Succession spin-off show.

Your song of the day is Tina Turner with The Best.