Royals Rumblings - News for April 6, 2023

David Lesky at Inside the Crown on Tuesday night’s loss:

And before anyone bemoans me talking about hard-hit balls again, let me give you the league averages from 2022 on a few exit velocities to show why it actually does matter.

95+ MPH: .488

95 MPH: .294

98 MPH: .397

101 MPH: .502

105 MPH: .627

110+ MPH: .770

<95 MPH: .221

94 MPH: .258

90 MPH: .222

87 MPH: .206

And this doesn’t even talk into account launch angle or anything like that. The point is that hitting the ball hard is a good thing and the harder you hit it, the better. The Royals are still second in the league at 54.5 percent, which is actually higher than it was the other day when they were leading the league. The indicators are still very good for this team. But I think they got beaten by Yusei Kikuchi yesterday and I didn’t find him to be that impressive in the effort. I did think he threw harder than expected and it is his M.O. to be much better early in the year before his numbers tank in the last three or four months, but the Royals should have done more against him.

At Into the Fountains, Craig Brown looks at each starter’s first pitch strike rate so far:

Given his struggles in 2022, it’s not a surprise to see that Brad Keller was below his career average in offering a first-pitch strike. What’s encouraging was, despite running out of gas at the end of his first outing, he was showing a good first-pitch command.

Conversely, Brady Singer had a breakout season in 2022 and part of that success was due to his first-pitch strike rate. He built on that in his 2023 debut.

Then there was Kris Bubic. I was lukewarm on his performance in my recap from last night. I probably need to reconsider. Yeah, the overall command wasn’t so great and he gave up far too many hits, but he held the advantage for most of the evening. There’s potential there.

The Royals will have a bonus pool of $12,313,500 in the upcoming draft, with their first pick holding a slot value of $5,980,100.

Jeff Passan breaks down how MLB and the MLBPA came together for the new minor league CBA.

Top prospect Grayson Rodriguez pitched five solid innings in his major league debut for Baltimore.

A look at whatever the hell former top prospect Brent Honeywell Jr. is throwing these days.

Eloy Jiménez is headed to the IL with a hamstring strain.

Aaron Ashby will undergo arthroscopic shoulder surgery and could miss the rest of the season.

A bat used by Babe Ruth sold for $1.85 million, setting a new record.

Week Eight’s college baseball rankings sees Kentucky and Boston College, two teams expected to finish near or at the bottom of their respective conferences, enter the top ten. I don’t think what either of those teams are doing is sustainable, but it’s cool nonetheless.

Duce Robinson, a highly touted football recruit and baseball prospect, could play both sports at USC.

With the Masters teeing off this morning, what should we expect from the 87th edition of Augusta National’s legendary tournament?

Speaking of, here are this year’s Masters concessions prices. You have $10, how do you spend it?

Scientists recorded a snailfish swimming over file miles beneath the ocean surface, the deepest a fish has been captured on film.

A major record label used a copyright threat to force YouTube to take down an AI-generated parody of Eminem.

A recent study found that it’s biologically impossible to reverse human aging, but it may be possible to halt it.

Your song of the day is Drifter by Hippie Sabotage.