Royals Rumblings - News for May 9, 2024
Another baseball season is about to start.
Brady Singer clamped down after a rocky opening to his 100th career start:
Considerable turnover in recent years has put Kansas City in position to compete in 2024, but one constant has been Singer.
“I was surprised, in a good way, to [learn that] he’s the 26th Royal to [make 100 career starts],” manager Matt Quatraro said pregame on Wednesday. “When you see those numbers, that’s pretty amazing for all the games that have been played in the [56] years. It’s impressive, the longevity. I think all of those milestones are impressive because there are such few people that get to reach them in the history of the game.
“Brady is somebody that really embodies what we like here. We’ve talked about him a lot in his competitiveness and his desire to improve, and that’s what really sticks out to me.”
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel has the Royals taking Konnor Griffin in his latest mock draft ($):
New scouting director Brian Bridges busted into the Mississippi high school hitter demographic when he took Austin Riley with the Braves and loves to pick for upside, so this would make sense for his first pick with the Royals. There’s also a belief that this is Smith’s floor.
A few trends have stood out early on for Salvador Perez:
Catcher interference — the bat hitting the catcher’s glove during a swing — has been on the rise throughout the league the last few seasons for this exact reason: catchers have moved closer to the plate so they can better frame borderline pitches. For lack of a better term, Perez was still an old school catcher who caught way behind the hitter. He scooted up and his framing improved.
Perez has been a strong thrower throughout his career and a league-average blocker. His framing made him a liability behind the plate though, at least according to the defensive stats, and that is no longer the case. Perez has turned himself into an average framer and that’s way, way better than where he was just last year. This level of improvement is remarkable, really.
Rex Hudler was at it again on Tuesday’s broadcast.
The Kansas City Monarchs enter the 2024 season with confidence.
Weird batting stances are becoming a relic of the past.
Davis Schneider is the embodiment of “elevate and celebrate.”
Old friend Andy McCullough wrote a book about Clayton Kershaw, an excerpt of which is available to read on The Athletic ($).
The Texas Rangers are acquiring outfielder Robbie Grossman from the Chicago White Sox.
Top prospect Paul Skenes will make his major league debut this Saturday for Pittsburgh.
Tampa Bay right-handed pitcher Ryan Pepiot is headed to the IL with a leg injury.
Miami right-handed pitcher Edward Cabrera is headed to the IL with a shoulder injury.
Texas right-handed pitcher Dane Dunning is headed to the IL with a shoulder injury.
San Francisco designated hitter Jorge Soler is headed to the IL with, stop me if you’ve heard this one before, a shoulder injury.
Tennessee is the new #1 in this week’s college baseball Top 25.
Rudy Gobert was named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the third player to win the award at least four times.
Gobert’s Minnesota Timberwolves’s defense has been absolutely smothering the Denver Nuggets so far in their playoff series.
Travis Kelce will act in FX’s new horror series Grotesquerie.
Sponge city techniques offer ways for cities to reduce urban flooding.
Your song of the day is Nothing Hurts Like Goodbye by SLANDER and Kiiara.