Royals Rumblings

Royals Rumblings - News for September 4, 2023

Ned Yost goes into the Royals Hall of Fame.

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Sep 4, 2023, 10:00am EDT

Ned Yost was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame Saturday.

“It’s going to be real emotional for me tomorrow when I get home and dove season opens up,” Yost, who retired in 2019, said. “I don’t like the fanfare for myself. Players who get to this point get to be Hall of Famers for their own merit. I get to be a Hall of Famer because of a lot of other people. Coaches, players, front office, trainers, grounds crew. That’s how I got to the Hall of Fame.

“I’m just real appreciative that we came together as an organization, that we were on the same page and all worked as hard as you can imagine to bring a world championship to Kansas City.”

Ned seems some similarities with this year’s team, writes Anne Rogers.

“I can see similarities between what we went through early,” Yost said Saturday. “The toughest thing for a small-market team to do is get competitive. You have to draft well, you have to develop well and then you have to have patience when they get to the big leagues.”

Sam McDowell reflects on Ned’s time in Kansas City and how he believed in his players.

There are countless of these types of anecdotes, far too many to stuff into one night of commemoration. Did you know Yost once brought a struggling Mike Moustakas into his office just to tell him he wouldn’t be benched? Moustakas, Yost thought at the time, probably assumed he was on his way to the minors, only for Yost to tell him, “Son, you’re going to play every day. Relax.”

In fact, on that note, Moore remarked that Yost never suggested they demote a player, even in private conversations. “Not once,” Moore said. “Not even once.”

Unusual?

“Oh, very,” Moore said.

A lot of old friends were in town for the ceremonies, writes Pete Grathoff.

“We’ve got a pretty cool like World Series group text,” former Royals closer Wade Davis said. “It seems like, not every day, but there’s always something going on.

“I’ve got to go back and watch some of the games which I didn’t see at the time. My kids have gotten to go back and watch over the last couple of years, which is pretty cool, a pretty cool thing to see.”

Nick Loftin collected his first MLB hit on Friday.

Making his Major League debut on Friday, Loftin, Kansas City’s No. 5 prospect, went 2-for-3 with a walk in his first plate appearance as the Royals routed the Red Sox, 13-2, at Kauffman Stadium. After Loftin’s long double for his first career hit and RBI in the third inning, Perez congratulated him in the dugout and joked with the rookie:

“Me. You. We need to get in the weight room after the game,” Perez said.

MJ Melendez continued to rake against the Red Sox Saturday with three hits, a home run, and walk.

“At this point, I feel like it’s kind of a mental thing in my head, in a good way,” Melendez said. “It’s a team I happen to do well against. I don’t know if it’s anything in particular, I just like swinging the bat well against them.”

Kansas City added the second-most fWAR at the trade deadline, thanks to Cole Ragans.

The Royals outrighted pitcher Joe Barlow to Omaha after designating him for assignment last week.

Miguel Cabrera passes George Brett for 17th on the all-time hit list.

The Cubs honor the late Jimmy Buffett, who died over the weekend.

Angels catcher Max Stassi will miss the rest of the year with a family issue.

The Orioles get former All-Star reliever Jorge Lopez back on waivers.

Young pitchers are getting worked less, so why are they still getting injured?

Waiving all those players didn’t get the Angels under the luxury tax threshold.

Jeremy Guthrie got one of the Backstreet Boys to play for the Savannah Bananas.

A new documentary highlights the White Sox rebrand’s place in hip-hop history.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders rails against critics after winning an opening week upset.

AEW terminates its agreement with CM Punk.