Royals Rumblings - News for July 18, 2023

David Lesky at Inside the Crown looks at the impressive start from Alec Marsh.

It wasn’t just the fastball, but Marsh tweaked his slider a little bit during the break, according to Anne Rogers, and the results were there right away on it. It broke vertically a little more, going from his year average of 32 inches to 34 inches, but the horizontal break was very different. Previously this year, he hadn’t had any horizontal break on average, but it broke an average of three inches on Saturday afternoon. He got three whiffs on 10 swings, which is a nice percentage and it’s easy to see how this could become something even more impressive for him.

Craig Brown at Into the Fountains writes about the first start from Cole Ragans.

Staying with the Statcast metrics for a moment from Saturday’s game, Ragans had an impressive 25 percent whiff rate on 11 swings and misses but recorded only 12 called strikes. Still, he was getting plenty of chase, especially on his changeup and cutter. The Rays weren’t really squaring him up at all. His average exit velocity was 81 MPH. Only four of the 15 balls in play against him were considered hard hit.

It’s still extremely early days, so it’s a bit silly to render a verdict on the trade, but the start is extremely promising. It’s a potential triumph of the analytics department, along with the scouting staff to find and identify key attributes that Ragans’ possesses that will take to the Royals’ pitching methodology.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter also reacts to the starting pitching performances.

Salvador Perez should avoid the Injured List, according to Anne Rogers.

And Zack Greinke should return soon.

The Royals sign shortstop Leonel Valera, a former Dodgers prospect.

MLB.com lists each team’s strategy for the trade deadline.

Kansas City will continue to be involved in the reliever market with closer Scott Barlow, who has been one of the more reliable relievers in the American League over the past three years and has one year of control left. Beyond relievers, the Royals aren’t looking to move much of their young talent — at least this summer. That could change as the market heats up, and there are a few players outside the core who could be dealt, such as infielders Nicky Lopez and Matt Duffy, or outfielder Edward Olivares, although he is now dealing with a mild oblique injury. But as much as the Royals are sellers, how busy they are this Deadline remains to be seen.

The Angels reportedly won’t trade Shohei Ohtani across town to the Dodgers.

The Reds call up infield prospect Christian Encarnacion-Strand.

Two pitchers are designated for assignment - Yonny Chirinos of the Rays and Genesis Cabrera of the Cardinals.

Tampa Bay is interested in veteran starting pitchers.

The Diamondbacks will be aggressive, but not reckless at the trade deadline.

The Mets have their eye on Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

A look back at some of the biggest rookie splashes in recent history.

Johnny Bench apologizes for an anti-semetic comment about a former Reds GM.

The best rookies from the 2023 NBA Summer League.

Kansas City will get another Arena football team - the Goats will begin play in 2024.

How scientists decide if they’ve actually found signals of alien life

Call of Duty will stay on PlayStation if Microsoft and Activision merge.

Yellowstone reruns will air on CBS this fall.

Your song of the day is The New Pornographers with Miss Teen Wordpower.