Royals Rumblings - News for April 23, 2024
Salvy is playing some defense this year!
Craig Brown was a bit worried about a long inning from Cole Ragans Saturday.
I’m no sports scientist. In the discourse from earlier this month about the rash of elbow injuries among pitchers and talk about the impact of the pitch clock on those injuries, I found it interesting that there was discussion about load on the arms. In the pitch clock argument, it went that pitchers had less time to “reset” after delivery and their arms weren’t used to such stress in the shorter period of time. I’m dubious on that count, but I do think there’s something about load when it comes to the number of pitches delivered in an inning. In this case, it’s a prolonged period of exertion. Consider that the average inning lasts around 15 pitches. After an inning, a pitcher returns to the dugout and does whatever he needs to do while his team is hitting to prepare for his next inning.
On Saturday, Ragans tripled that number.
I’m very curious to see how this impacts him going forward. I certainly hope there isn’t a hangover. I fear there will be one.
David Lesky passes on some thoughts about Royals minor leaguers.
The pitching staff has been super encouraging. Frank Mozzicato has started about as well as you’d hope with 12 strikeouts, two walks and just two hits allowed in nine innings. Ben Kudrna has been even better and if not for Blake Wolters would be the best pitching prospect they have (though I think I’d personally take Barnett over him). And Hunter Owen is interesting. I have a scout buddy who is very excited to see him this week.
From a scout, Derlin Figueroa is the real deal. The numbers aren’t great, but the guy can hit. Austin Charles looks good but still strikes out too much.
Blake Mitchell is hitting .292/.469/.500, but the sample is so small that it’s hard not to look at trends. His first week was pretty rough with 13 strikeouts in 30 plate appearances. In the seven games since, he’s hit .458/.618/.833 with 10 walks and seven strikeouts in 34 plate appearances. He looks the part.
Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter is impressed by Salvador Perez’s defense so far.
Traditionally, Salvy has been pretty good at framing pitches in zone 12, which is middle up. However, he has struggled to frame pitches on the edges and low in the zone. He typically has consistently rated below average when framing those pitches for strikes.
That has been a different story this year. He has seen marked improvement from zones 14 to 19, with double-digit improvements in zones 16, 17, and 19, and a 7.3% improvement in zone 14 and a 4.7% improvement in zone 18.
It seems like Salvy has been improving in those areas since bench coach Paul Hoover came aboard last year. Hoover was known for working with Rays catchers, who have typically been one of the better teams in baseball when it comes to catcher framing.
Matt Quatraro comments on the newest member of the bullpen, Tyler Duffey.
“He’s a veteran arm, a guy we thought of highly when we signed him in the offseason for exactly this reason,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “He’s competitive, he throws strikes, he can spin the ball, and against a team with a lot of righties, it’s a good guy to have.”
Baseball America has a mock draft!
6. Royals — Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas
In terms of strikeout rate and batting average against, no pitcher in the country has been as dominant as Hagen Smith this spring. His 48.3% strikeout rate is tops among qualified D-I arms and so the .136 opponent average he’s posted. Smith allowed three earned runs in his first outing of the year (just one inning against James Madison) and since then he has allowed just six earned runs in 40 innings.
Jaylon Thompson asks Royals players their thoughts about the NFL draft coming up this week.
Pete Grathoff writes about the death of former Royals first baseman Dave McCarty.
Yankees skipper Aaron Boone is ejected after just five pitches after a comment from a fan.
Jared Jones makes Brice Turang look absolutely silly on this strikeout.
Shohei Ohtani sets the record for most MLB home runs by a Japanese-born player.
The White Sox have already been shutout eight times this year.
Former Royals pitcher Jakob Junis is sent to the hospital after getting struck in the neck by a ball during batting practice.
Boston keeps winning despite a myriad of injuries.
Why Jackson Holliday deserves some patience.
Salvador Perez is one of the best hitters in whomps-per-whiffs so far.
The Chiefs extend coach Andy Reid, GM Brett Veach, and president Mark Donovan.
FIFA is reportedly close to a deal with Apple on a new tournament.
A detailed look at the undersea cables that keep the internet running.
The online restaurant reservation system is broken.
Cher, Mary J. Blige, Ozzy Osbourne and Foreigner are among the 2024 Rock Hall of Fame inductees.
Your song of the day is Pixies with Dig for Fire.