Royals Rumblings - News for September 13, 2023

Bad news on LHP Austin Cox and catcher Freddy Fermin, from Anne Rogers:

LHP Austin Cox has full left ACL tear, to undergo surgery; C Freddy Fermin (left middle finger fracture) out for rest of season after surgery

Cox and Fermin were both injured while the team was in Toronto over the weekend, and the Royals provided updates on Tuesday in Chicago that both will not return this season, as expected.

Cox, who injured his left knee while covering first base on Friday, has a full left ACL tear, as well as MCL and meniscus damage, and will need to have surgery. That will be scheduled once Cox receives a second opinion (which is typical in these scenarios). The Royals will know a better timeline for Cox’s return after surgery, but typically it can take nine months to a year for players to fully return from ACL reconstruction.

Fermin had surgery on Tuesday morning to insert three pins in his left middle finger knuckle, which he broke on a catcher’s interference play on Friday. Those will be removed in three weeks, and it’s expected Fermin will be back to full baseball activity in eight weeks — meaning he’ll be healthy for the offseason and enter Spring Training in 2024 ready to play for a roster spot.

At Into the Fountains, Craig Brown looks at the current 100+ loss season within the context of other 100-loss seasons from baseball history:

Of course, all those franchises have different circumstances surrounding the losses and wins (or almost wins.) The Mariners 100 loss seasons are spread over four decades, but they’ve never been to a World Series. Four of San Diego’s five 100-loss seasons came in the first six years of their existence, joining the National League at the same time the Royals became members of the AL in 1969. The Pirates’ two World Series Championships both came in the 1970s, meaning their wins are further in the past than the Royals’ pair of titles.

For the Royals to have posted all seven of their 100-loss seasons since 2002 is quite something. That they managed to win a World Series title in between two stretches of gross ineptitude is amazing.

Luke Weaver was briefly a Royal last year, and now the Yankees have claimed him from Seattle.

A bunch of retired pro athletes do professional pickleball now, including old friends (?) Mike Matheny and Jason Kendall. Rewind yourself!

Current Royal Matt Duffy and former Royals Whit Merrifield and Hanser Alberto are part of this roundup of potential free agent second basemen.

The Mets hired David Stearns as their president of baseball operations.

A weird, ugly situation in the Blue Jays org, as pitcher Alek Manoah simply didn’t report to Triple-A Buffalo when he was unhappy to be assigned there.

At Baseball America: how important is bat speed for hitters? There are no Royals in the top 25 of that category.

Two pieces of Travis Kelce off-field news: he may be dating Taylor Swift (which would rule), and the NFL is unhappy with DirecTV and spokesman Kelce for deceptive ads that seem to suggest you can still get Sunday Ticket on that service.

McDonald’s will phase out self-serve soda machines.

An FDA panel says phenylephrine in many over-the-counter allergy and congestion medications does not work.

Jill Duggar, of the 19 Kids and Counting Duggars, is releasing a book with the absolutely incendiary quote about patriarch Jim Bob Duggar: “You treat me worse than you treat my pedophile brother.”

A 12-year-old who saved someone from drowning said he learned how to do CPR from watching ‘Stranger Things.’

Ways to stop your smoke detector from false alarms when you’re cooking.

One of the questions Drew Magary answered in this week’s Funbag (Defector/$) is what auto maker has the ugliest cars?

SOTD: this specific performance of ‘Wildest Dreams’ that lives in my head without paying a cent of rent.