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12-07-2023, 02:24 PM
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#97 |
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MVP
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2024 SEASON PREVIEW (03/25)
 2024 MLB Season Preview: Kansas City Royals K.C. isn't expected to compete this year, but there must be signs that a solid foundation has been built by year's end. By MLB.com Staff 03/25/2024 2023 Record: 56-106 (5th, AL Central) Manager: Matt Quatraro (2nd season) 2024 Payroll: $86 million Key additions: RHP Tyler Glasnow, OF Andrew McCutchen, IF Jordan Westburg, LHP Joely Rodriguez, RHP Kyle Wright, LHP Jalen Beeks, RHP Nick Anderson Key losses: OF/C MJ Melendez, RHP Jackson Kowar, OF Edward Olivares, 1B Vinnie Pasquantino, RHP Zack Greinke, RHP Jordan Lyles Expectations for 2024 After tying a franchise record for losses with 106 last season, Kansas City really can't go anywhere but up — on paper, they seem to be a lot better than last year, acquiring such players like Glasnow, Wright, McCutchen, and Westburg. However, they did have to part with Pasquantino as part of the Westburg package from Baltimore, leaving Nick Pratto as the everyday first baseman; and also traded away outfielders in Melendez and Olivares, while releasing Lyles and paying his $8.5 million price tag in the process. Zack Greinke also decided to not return for this year and retire as a near-lock for the HOF. Matt Quatraro is back for his second season as the team's skipper; and after tinkering with the lineups nearly day-to-day and using the most openers in baseball last season, he noted early on in the spring that he would likely cut down on the use of openers going forward. This season, he has former Rays in Glasnow, Beeks, and righty reliever Nick Anderson on his Opening Day roster. They also added Kyle Wright from the Braves via trade, although he will miss the entirety of the season due to injury. "Last season was a lot of evaluation and just trying to figure out what pieces fit the best, and how we could make the team better going forward," he said late in the spring season after much of the roster had been pared down. "This season, we have a better idea of who goes where, and there should be less experimentation with the roster, for lack of a better term." After playing third base much of last season, the Royals have moved Maikel Garcia over to second base to accomodate Westburg, who won the third base job, as expected by many within the organization. Garcia is also Bobby Witt Jr's (more on him later) main backup at shortstop. Michael Massey is expected to still get a significant amount of at-bats, especially against right-handed arms. Quatraro and the coaching staff were also impressed with Salvador Perez at first base in his limited stints, and should get some work there to get Freddy Fermin at-bats and work behind the plate against southpaws. The outfield from last year remains largely intact, with the addition of Rule 5 pick Shane Sasaki adding depth and additional speed/defense off the bench. Massey can also play third base and shortstop in a pinch, although the Royals could be exposed depth-wise if one of Garcia or Witt go down to injury. In particular, outfielder Drew Waters has been one of the more impressive players in camp, reporting to spring training in "the best shape I've ever been", per one reporter that covers the team. He came in with the goal of playing all 162 games, which is an admirable goal, but has missed parts of the last two seasons with the Royals with injuries. The addition of Glasnow should help lengthen a rotation that saw Cole Ragans come out of nowhere and be one of the top three or four pitchers in the American League over the last few months. Unfortunately, a wrist injury for Ragans midway through the spring has lingered, and instead of being ready for Opening Day, Ragans is going to embark on a rehab assignment. Quatraro expects him back by the end of April, which is when his rehab stint expires, but is hopeful he'll be back prior to that. In the meantime, he has some flexibility with the fifth spot in the rotation now -- both James McArthur and Daniel Lynch made the roster, and Quatraro noted there's some opportunity for both of them to get 'significant innings' every fifth day, meaning they'd be used as a opener or a follower, depending on matchups. Right-hander J.T. Brubaker, formerly of Pittsburgh, could also figure into the opener/follower mix. Glasnow, Ragans (when he returns), and Kris Bubic, who had an outstanding spring, are the expected top three pitchers. Brady Singer was also mentioned by Quatraro as being in the regular rotation, along with Brubaker. The top two have a pretty lengthy injury history, so chances are that their starting pitching depth will be tested this season. While Carlos Hernandez was solid as the closer after trading away Scott Barlow at the deadline last season, he could face some challenges from Beeks and righty Devin Sweet, who was claimed from the A's in February and had a solid spring to make the roster. Kansas City also added southpaw Joely Rodriguez in a trade with the Red Sox, giving them a proven lefty arm out of the pen, although he struggled to a 6.55 ERA in 2023. Stories to watch Superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr is back for his third season, but still does not have an extension in hand; although there appears to be some openness in the Witt camp about extending sooner rather than later, which would mean they would need to come to an agreement before Opening Day or soon thereafter. The Royals have notoriously been tight-lipped when it comes to inside information, but G.M. J.J. Picollo was asked by the MLB Network earlier in the spring about a BWJ extension, and was surprisingly candid about the process to date. "You know, it can get a little contentious, not nasty of course, but we're talking about a generational talent here," he said. "We're still in the early stages of trying to get something done. Will it get done before Opening Day? I don't feel confident that it will at this point, but Bobby has maintained that he doesn't want to get too far into the season before extending, and let it be a distraction to the team." Also, about that new stadium -- it's still not determined where the new stadium will be built. Ownership, led by principal and KC native John Sherman, has been getting a lot of pushback from the city, but they've maintained that it will be built. It was disclosed that they've actually considered moving across the state line to Kansas, where it could be put near Children's Mercy Park, the home of MLS' Sporting KC squad. It's still unlikely that happens, as the Royals have always been in Missouri and want to keep it that way, but the longer the delay in getting a stadium built, the further you have to push back the timeline. It was thought that the new stadium, if started by Opening Day this year, could be finished in time for the 2027 season, but it's now looking like (barring something miraculous happening) it will be 2028 or 2029. Ownership is requesting a 3/8th cent sales tax increase for county residents, and has offered to pay the entire cost of building a 'Ballpark Village' of sorts surrounding it, similar to St. Louis and Atlanta. Final outlook Much of the success of the Royals in '24 will hinge on two things -- one, the health of their top three starters. If they can get 70-plus starts between Glasnow, Ragans, and Bubic, it should take some pressure off a suspect bullpen and lineup. Secondly, where is the power coming from? After BWJ and Perez, Pasquantino was likely that other big bat that you had to account for. They really need one (preferably two) 'big bats' to step up, and it doesn't really matter who it is -- Waters, Pratto, Westburg, and/or possibly Nelson Velazquez, who flashed some good power late in the season after being acquired from the Cubs. Or maybe McCutchen can continue defying the odds to be a 15-20 homerun bat as he enters his age-37 season, especially if he's going to DH quite a bit. Last edited by artoodeetoo; 12-08-2023 at 10:09 AM. |
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12-08-2023, 07:25 PM
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MVP
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Minnesota @ Kansas City (03/28 -- 03/31)
Series Recap: Minnesota Twins By Jason Calvin | Kansas City Star | April 1st, 2024
Thursday, March 28th, 2024 Royals manager Matt Quatraro stumped for the Royals' front office to find a way to bring Tyler Glasnow to Kansas City early on in the offseason; and after several weeks of discussions between Quatraro, Royals GM J.J. Picollo, and the Rays' front office, made the deal to bring the six-foot-eight righty to Kansas City right before the Winter Meetings hit. Now, fast forward nearly four-and-a-half months. In his first regular season start with the Royals, Glasnow only went four innings, but he made them count -- he scattered four hits, no runs allowed, and a pair of walks while striking out six; showing off his trademark velocity in touching the high 90's with relative ease. He threw just seventy pitches, with Angel Zerpa tossing three spotless frames to pick up the win in relief as the Royals blanked the Twins 1-0 to move to 1-0 on the season. Carlos Hernandez picked up the save, striking out a batter while throwing just eight pitches. "The plan with Tyler was to go around 65-to-70 pitches," manager Matt Quatraro explained to reporters after the victory. "He started losing it a little bit late into the fourth inning, as he lost some of his command and balls started getting hit a bit harder. If we had a bit of a lead, I would have let him try to push through the fifth inning, but we had a rested pen ready to go." With his seventh-inning homerun, Salvador Perez provided the only offense the Royals would need, a solo shot that knocked Twins starter Pablo Lopez from the game. It was the only blemish on his night, allowing just three hits, no walks, and eleven strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings. Perez's homerun was his 250th career homerun, and his 210th as a catcher. He's just three homeruns away from tying Benito Santiago for 12th all-time in homeruns as a catcher. Other newcomers to the Royals didn't fare so well in their debuts, as Andrew McCutchen struck out four times, and third baseman Jordan Westburg was 0-for-2 with a walk and a pair of strikeouts. Maikel Garcia was the only other Royal starter to get a hit, going 2-for-4 with a double.
Saturday, March 30th, 2024 Carlos Correa's RBI single in the top of the 10th was the deciding hit in the Royals' 4-3 loss to Minnesota, evening the series at one win apiece. The Twins scored single tallies in each of the first three innings, including a solo homerun from Byron Buxton just three pitches into the top of the first. A bases-loaded walk from Drew Waters in the fourth pulled the Royals one run closer; and they managed to tie the game with a pair of runs in the eighth with Salvador Perez at the plate. Twins reliever Mark Leiter, Jr tossed a wild pitch to score Kyle Isbel, who led the inning off with a double. Perez then laced a pitch from Leiter into the gap for a two-bagger of his own, scoring Bobby Witt Jr to knot it up. If it were not for an outstanding defensive play in the ninth, Kansas City would have walked away with the victory; but a tremendous throw from Gilberto Celestino in right field erased Jordan Westburg at the plate, preserving the tie and ultimately, the Twins' victory. They had Leiter on the ropes again in the ninth by putting men on first and second with two outs. Michael Massey singled to right, but third base coach Vance Wilson decided to send Westburg instead of holding him at third. "It was a worthwhile gamble to see if we could steal one there," manager Matt Quatraro said when asked about the play. "They had their outfielders deeper than normal, Mike (Massey) hit the ball pretty hard, which may have negated the advantage there, but it was a real close play. They had to go to review, and it looked like he was safe at first, but it was a good call after looking at the replay, so we didn't challenge. We didn't want to risk losing that replay challenge if we ended up needing it in extras." Kansas City also left some runs on the table, as the Royals left the bases loaded in the third, scoring just one run in that frame. Both teams stranded eight runners each, including five each in scoring position. "Yep, that third inning was tough to swallow," Quatraro mused in the post-game interview outside the locker room. "We have to do a better job of cashing in those situations; didn't even get a bat on the ball in a few of those instances to give our guys a chance." Minnesota's Joe Ryan out-dueled Brady Singer in the pitching matchup, with Ryan's one run and four strikeouts over five frames superior to Singer's three earned over 4 2/3 innings. He scattered five hits and a walk, striking out three with three earned runs allowed.
Sunday, March 31st, 2024 After going 1-for-9 with five strikeouts in his first two games as a Royal, Andrew McCutchen broke out in a big way, going 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and a homerun as the Royals shellacked the Twins 10-2, breaking a 2-2 tie with eight men crossing the plate in the eighth inning. McCutchen led the eighth off with a solo homerun against Eric Jokisch, and the Royals went on to collect five straight singles after that to chase the lefty reliever from the contest. Making his first hit as a Royal memorable was Jordan Westburg, who hit a bases-clearing triple off Andrew Chafin with one out in that eight-run inning, blowing the game wide open as the Royals went from a 5-2 to an 8-2 lead at that point. McCutchen would hit a double two batters later for his second hit of the inning before the Twins finally stopped the bleeding. "Feels good to finally get it out of the way," Westburg said with a bit of a chuckle regarding his first Royals' hit in front of his locker after the game. "It was a pitch a bit down and in, and frankly, I didn't think I was going to square it up as much as I did, as it was nearly a straight shot to center." Kris Bubic pitched well in his first outing in nearly a year, going 4 1/3 innings with two earned runs allowed, striking out four while scattering five hits and a walk. He allowed a leadoff double to Austin Martin in the fifth before walking Jorge Polanco two hitters later, leaving runners at first and second with one out. Angel Zerpa, who appeared in all three games of the series, got a double play ball out of Byron Buxton on one pitch to get out of the jam. Zerpa would go on to pitch another two-thirds of an inning before James McArthur replaced him to get the final out of the sixth. In fact, the Royals' bullpen was nearly spotless throughout the series -- they allowed zero earned runs in fifteen innings, with the only exception being the unearned run in the 10th from Saturday night's extra-inning ghost runner. They walked just two hitters with seventeen punchouts in that same span. It's the first opening series victory for the Royals since the 2021 season, when they defeated the Rangers two games to one as part of their 15-9 start that season, before going 59-79 the rest of the way. "Long way to go, but I'm real pleased with what I've seen to date," Matt Quatraro beamed as he fielded questions from the reporters outside the locker room after the game. "I think we're going to surprise some people with our offense this year." UP NEXT: at Baltimore (04/01 -- 04/03) |
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12-12-2023, 06:41 PM
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#100 |
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MVP
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Royals News (04/01)
Royals News, Notes By MLB.com Staff 04/01/2024 Former Royal on the move: About a month after being shipped to the Braves in exchange for Kyle Wright and Nick Anderson, Jackson Kowar has been traded from the Braves to the Mariners as part of a deal to bring Marco Gonzales to Atlanta. Gonzales will get a chance to start with Charlie Morton out for the season with a torn UCL, which in his age-40 season, likely puts his career in doubt. It's a fairly low-risk move for the Braves, as Gonzales only carries a $12 million salary figure for 2024, and his 2025 option for $15 million is a club option. Pitching prospect Cole Phillips also went to the Mariners in the deal, as the 2022 second-rounder is now one of the top five prospects in the Mariners' organization after being a top 10 prospect in the Braves' organization. Kowar made one appearance for Atlanta prior to the trade, tossing 3 2/3 innings of one-run ball on Opening Day, striking out three with no walks and four hits scattered in a relief outing. Cessa signs minor league deal: Kansas City continued to add to its minor league pitching depth, signing former Yankees and Reds hurler Luis Cessa to a minor league deal with a major league option. The option includes an opt out for April 28th in which he can file for free agency and sign with any club, or opt-in for the remainder of the season on the original minor league pact. Cessa also spent time with the Nationals last season, making eleven starts. His ERA was a ghastly 5.93, and his metrics weren't much better -- just 5.10 on the FIP, and a SIERA of 4.97. Still, he's made plenty of starts over his career, and with the Royals' lack of quality depth, gives them another option should several starters miss extended time. |
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12-12-2023, 06:47 PM
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#101 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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MVP
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Kansas City @ Baltimore (04/01 -- 04/03)
Series Recap: Baltimore Orioles By Jason Calvin | Kansas City Star | April 4th, 2024
Monday, April 1st, 2024 A one-out error in the fifth inning led to four unearned runs, as Nelson Velazquez dropped a line drive from former teammate Vinnie Pasquantino with one out. Adley Rutschman would later come to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded, smacking a grand slam off righty Dylan Coleman to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead, which ended up being the final score as that result held over the final three-and-a-half innings. "The margin for error is just so small in this game," said manager Matt Quatraro. "It was a tough play, but I think it's a play that Nelly would tell you he has to make. He said the ball sank on him faster than he anticipated, and just didn't get much of the glove on it." It's the first win of the season for the Orioles after getting swept by the Angels at home to open the season. The last time Baltimore was swept at home to open the season was all the way back in 1977, losing all three of their games at home to the Rangers to open that season; although they went on to win ninety-seven games that year. "We can all breathe a little bit now," Orioles skipper Brandon Hyde remarked. "It was tough dropping those first handful of games at home in front of the home fans after last year, but maybe this is our chance to get right." Kansas City jumped out to a 3-0 lead early on, thanks to homeruns from Freddy Fermin and Andrew McCutchen. Fermin's came in his first official at-bat of the season, as his only other action was as a defensive sub in Sunday's game with Minnesota. McCutchen went 2-for-5 in the loss, following up his four-hit game from Sunday with two more hits Monday night.
Tuesday, April 2nd, 2024 Balls were flying out of the yard on Tuesday night, with each team knocking four homeruns. However, Baltimore would eventually have the last laugh, walking the Royals off with a two-out RBI single in the ninth to fall 9-8 to the Orioles. Reliever Nick Anderson had Ramon Urias down to his final strike before forcing extra innings, but he laced a single just past the outstretched glove of Michael Massey at second base, scoring ex-Royal Vinnie Pasquantino from third with the winning tally. Bobby Witt Jr finally got on the board with his first homerun of the season in the first inning, a two-run blast that put the Royals out in front early. Unfortunately, that's the last time that the Royals would ever lead in the game despite being close throughout. Baltimore scored a pair of runs each in the second and third innings, giving them a 4-2 lead. The two teams would go on to trade two-run innings up until the ninth, when Urias smacked his game-winning single. "It was a game where there was always seemingly an answer for each rally," said manager Matt Quatraro. "Our bullpen came in and picked Danny up, but just didn't do enough in the end to come out on top." The "Danny" he's referring to is Daniel Lynch, who struggled in his first 2024 start. He surrendered all four Baltimore homeruns, allowing six earned runs just 4 1/3 innings of work. It took twenty-one innings, but the bullpen finally had their earned run streak snapped at twenty-one innings, as Dylan Coleman was tagged for a pair of earned runs in the seventh. Coleman was also on the mound in Monday's game when Adley Rutschman hit a grand slam, but all four runs were unearned due to an error. In addition to BWJ, Nick Pratto, and Drew Waters all hit their first homeruns of the season, while Andrew McCutchen has gotten off to a blazing start with his third homerun of the year. McCutchen, Kyle Isbel, Jordan Westburg, and Michael Massey all collected a pair of hits each.
Wednesday, April 3rd, 2024 Andrew McCutchen's ninth-inning homerun extended his hitting streak to five games; and his consecutive games streak with a homerun to four. But it was one of just two hits in the game for the Royals, and the Orioles managed to do just enough offensively to hand the Royals their third straight loss in a 2-1 defeat for Kansas City. With seven innings and just two runs, Tyler Glasnow was the tough-luck loser on Wednesday. He allowed both of the solo homeruns, but was solid overall with just three hits and one walk, striking out five in taking the loss. Despite going three more innings than his last outing, he threw only seventy-nine pitches, landing fifty-five for strikes. "Something I think you'll find out pretty quick about Tyler is that he doesn't really mess around," manager Matt Quatraro deadpanned to the local media that made the trip after the game. "He's going to get in there and throw strikes when he's at his best. He may give up a homerun or two like today, but that's how you know that he's around the zone; and he's not afraid to give up a longball or two if his stuff is working otherwise." Bobby Witt Jr was the only other Royal in the lineup to tally a hit with a single and stolen base in the first, going 1-for-4. In addition to his homerun, McCutchen also drew a walk, his first of the season. Tyler Wells pitched five no-hit innings for Baltimore with four strikeouts and no runs allowed, but walked four. Three relievers combined to preserve their victory, with Felix Bautista working around the solo homerun from McCutchen to pick up the save. "Despite the lack of offense, I thought we did a nice job in being a little more selective and making (Tyler) Wells work a little bit early on," Quatraro mused. "When they went to the bullpen, we struggled a little bit more with that, as they would mix up contrasting styles with some of the pitchers they brought in." After catching a quick flight out of Baltimore post-game last night, the the 2-4 Royals head back home to face the White Sox in a four-game series, beginning tonight at 7:05 PM Central time. UP NEXT: vs Chicago White Sox (04/04 -- 04/07) |
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