Royals Rumblings - News for July 24, 2023

In a real surprise, Jordan Lyles struggled in Yankee Stadium.

Lyles struggled with his command early. He couldn’t locate his fastball and it proved costly. The Yankees collected four consecutive hits to begin the afternoon game.

“Everything they swung at, they were hitting hard in the first inning ...” Lyles said. “It was a couple of misses here and there. A good lineup, they’ll put up a crooked number on you.”

Brady Singer pitched well on Saturday.

“Brady’s going to continue to come at you,” said Quatraro. “He knows his strengths, he’s going to keep competing with you and he made a lot of quality pitches today.”

Once again, Singer practically operated on a two-pitch mix, throwing his sinker for 47% of his 98 pitches and his slider for 44%, respectively. He produced 14 whiffs, working the two pitches off each other extremely well. Singer’s season-high nine strikeouts came against a lefty-heavy Yankees lineup; left-handers had an .848 OPS against him this season entering Saturday.

The Royals did make some nice defensive plays over the weekend.

In the fifth inning, Royals teammate Bobby Witt Jr. hauled in a sliding catch down the left-field line. He tracked down a fly ball from Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo.

Isbel was so amazed that he asked himself a simple question: How?

“Honestly, I just sit back and wish I had popcorn watching it,” Isbel said. “That ball, off the bat, I was like there is no way anybody gets there. From the side view I had, just watching him close on that ball was incredible.”

MLB writers discuss what each team should do at the trade deadline.

Royals: Acquire as many prospects as possible

In an evaluation year, the Royals have learned that there are still plenty of pieces missing to take the next step forward out of their rebuild. That’s why they need to acquire quality young players now, in the offseason and next year. It’s clear closer Scott Barlow – who still has a year of control left – is their main priority to trade. But they should be talking to the teams who have already called about reliever Carlos Hernández. They should at least entertain trade proposals about veteran catcher Salvador Perez, who would not be just simply a salary dump for the Royals. It should be a big return. Kansas City has a core to build around, but they can use this Deadline to keep building.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter considers the long-term outlook for Alec Marsh.

Former Royals reliever Richard Lovelady is shut down for the year.

Brad Keller is on the list of pitchers whose ZIPS projections have declined.

Shohei Ohtani hits home run #36.

Outfielder Sal Frelick had a big debut with the Brewers.

Scott Rolen and Fred McGriff were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Dodgers could reunite with Kiké Hernández at the trade deadline.

The Braves claim pitcher Yonny Chirinos off waivers from the Rays.

The Marlins are interested in Nationals third baseman Jeimer Candelario.

Tyler Kepner talks to Carl Erskine, the last living member of the Dodgers “Boys of Summer.”

The Korean baseball league suspends three minor leaguers for physically abusing their teammate.

Former big league first baseman Mike Ivie dies at the age of 70.

Brian Harman wins the The 151st Open Championship.

Lionel Messi scores a late game-winning goal in his debut for Inter Miami.

Twitter is being rebranded as X.

What really happens to the clothes you donate?

Fictional presidents tend to be quite young.

Your song of the day is Matt and Kim with Daylight.