Royals Rumblings - News for September 12, 2023

Last night’s game was banged, they’ll play two today, writes Anne Rogers.

Royals right-hander Brady Singer, who was supposed to start Monday, will pitch Game 1 for Kansas City opposite White Sox righty Dylan Cease. Right-hander Jordan Lyles is scheduled to start Game 2 for the Royals, facing Chicago right-hander Touki Toussaint.

The Royals haven’t yet named Wednesday’s starter for the series finale; they’ll likely pitch an opener for Alec Marsh.

The Royals have called up Logan Porter to serve as backup catcher.

“It’s a very surreal experience,” Porter said Monday. “Emotions are really high. Seeing familiar faces around here makes it a lot easier for me, more comforting. ... I’ve been going to Spring Training games since I was 12 years old, seeing some of the young prospects we had. It’s just surreal to see it all unfold, all come together. It’s crazy, it really is.”

David Lesky at Inside the Crown writes about the struggles of Carlos Hernandez.

The stuff is still just fine. No, that’s not right. The stuff is still great. His fastball is popping in the upper-90s with big movement and big spin. The slider still looks good from a stuff perspective. His command has just been absolutely horrible and I’ll probably look even more into this moving forward, but the command seems to back up even more when faced with adversity. That doesn’t work when you’re a high-leverage, late-inning reliever. Maybe that’s just not a role that will work for him. Maybe he’ll figure it out and it will eventually. But I feel better about Taylor Clarke in a leverage role right now than Hernandez and that shouldn’t be the case.

Many will argue the Royals missed the boat in trading him. And, as with all these conversations, I’ll maintain that we can’t know that without knowing the offers. Hernandez can be as filthy as anyone and he’s under team control through 2027. If the offers weren’t there, I’m fine with them not moving a guy.

Jackson County has hired a law firm to negotiate with the Royals on a new ballpark.

The Angels are reportedly open to trading Mike Trout if he wants out.

The Blue Jays will shut down Alek Manoah after a disappointing season.

Maury Brown of Forbes obtains some Oakland A’s financial details.

The Cubs call up top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Who are the potential iron men for 2023?

Ke’Bryan Hayes calls for robo-umps after a bad call.

The Padres are an epic failure.

What does the catcher free agent market look like this winter?

Todd Helton partners with a charity to wipe out $10 million in medical debt.

Chris Jones ends his holdout with the Chiefs with a one-year deal.

The NBA wants to get tougher about teams resting stars.

What the stories we tell about robots tell us about ourselves.

Cable and streaming may both be doomed.

Jimmy Fallon is accused of having a toxic work environment.

Your song of the day is Run the Jewels feat. Zack De La Rocha with Close Your Eyes (And Count to F***) (NSFW language)