Royals Rumblings - News for November 2, 2023

Vinnie Pasquantino’s custom quarterback in Madden took after him by suffering a torn labrum:

Alex Eisert at FanGraphs breaks down Bobby Witt Jr and Maikel Garcia’s Gold Glove snubs:

The halo effect might not have applied to Garcia given his 84 wRC+, failing to salvage his poor performance in the eyes of DRS, while DRS darling Anthony Volpe parlayed the same offensive showing into a finalist nod. But what about Witt? A former second-overall pick, the shortstop had a breakout season offensively, bashing 30 homers at just 23 years old (he also swiped 49 bags, but factoring in stolen bases didn’t improve the prediction). If the halo effect is real, Witt should be an angel. Sure, DRS didn’t look fondly on his defensive work either, but Carlos Correa was hardly a deserving finalist by that measure. Is there another reason the Royals’ franchise cornerstone wasn’t a Gold Glove finalist?

I wondered if, aside from their poor infield positioning, playing for a lowly Kansas City squad tanked his fortunes. In fact, lowly is an understatement — the 2023 Royals became one of just 59 teams to lose more than 105 games through all of baseball history. Now, adding team winning percentage to the prediction didn’t change its accuracy. But over the past three seasons, finalists have been on teams with an average winning percentage of 52.7% while non-finalist qualifiers have been on teams who’ve won 50.5% of their contests.

The drama continues of “just how much is this ballpark going to cost?”

Your weekly AFL Royals update:

• Gavin Cross made his first appearance in nearly three weeks last night, playing DH and going 0-4. He has hit .222/.364/.278 in 18 AFL plate appearances, adding four stolen bases without being caught.
• Peyton Wilson drew two starts at second base and one at left field this week, going 2-9 with two walks and a stolen base. He is hitting .269/.398/.433 in 84 plate appearances.
• CJ Alexander made three starts at first base and two at DH and went 5-18 with three doubles and a homer. He walked thrice and struck out six times. In 39 fall plate appearances, he has hit .226/.333/.581.
• Eric Cerantola made a two-inning relief appearance this week, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out four. He has a 4.50 ERA in 10 fall innings with four walks and 13 strikeouts.
• Rylan Kaufman recorded two outs in a relief appearance this year while walking one. He has a 6.75 ERA in 5.1 fall innings with four walks and five strikeouts.
• Jacob Wallace did not pitch this week. He has a 6.00 ERA in six fall innings with six walks and nine strikeouts.
• Beck Way pitched an inning in relief this week, surrendering a run on a hit and a couple walks while striking out one. He has pitched four fall innings with a 2.25 ERA, three walks, and five strikeouts.
• Angel Zerpa pitched two eventful innings this week, serving up five hits and a walk that led to two runs, but also striking out four. He has a 5.40 ERA in 8.1 fall innings with five walks and nine strikeouts.
• Daniel Lynch IV made a cameo in Surprise this week, striking out five and walking one in three innings of one-run ball.

The AFL Home Run Derby will take place this Saturday, while the Fall Stars Game is slated for Sunday.

Your LIDOM Royals update (also if you know of any other Royals playing internationally this winter, please let me know):

• Jorge Bonifacio started three times for Licey this week and has manned all three outfield spots. He went 3-12 with a stolen base.
• Nate Eaton made appearances at third base, second base, right field, and center field for Licey this week and went 5-22 at the plate. He is hitting just .205/.205/.250 in 40 plate appearances.
• Diego Hernández made four starts in center field for Gigantes. He was 4-11 at the dish with a walk and a stolen base. He is batting .250/.280/.292 in 25 plate appearances.
• Steven Cruz debuted for Leones this week, recording seven outs, three of which were strikeouts. He walked three, gave up five hits, and was tagged for three runs, all of which were unearned.

The Texas Rangers didn’t give the Arizona Diamondbacks an inch, snuffing rallies and breaking through late to win Game Five 5-0 and secure their first World Series title in franchise history.

Corey Seager earned World Series MVP honors for the second time in his career.

Bruce Bochy will collect his fourth World Series ring.

Zac Gallen no-hit Texas through six innings, but it simply wasn’t enough.

Texas went 11-0 on the road in this postseason.

Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto could be in line for a huge payday this winter.

Cleveland is parting ways with their third base coach, bullpen coach, and replay coordinator.

The Big XII has unveiled conference football matchups for 2024-27.

Ohio State surprisingly tops this year’s first CFP Rankings.

This Halloween, Americans continued being absolutely insane.

The tourism generated by Salem’s history of witch hunts is both financially lucrative and out of control.

Artists in Amsterdam wrote and created a theater production, the target audience of which is chickens.

Your song of the day is Superhero by Audien.