More to come...
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2024 40-MAN ROSTER (04/04)
Royals 40-Man Roster (Updated: April 4th, 2024) # PITCHERS POS B/T AGE HT WT SCHOOL 21 Tyler Glasnow RHP R/R 08/23/93 6'8" 220 William S. Hart HS (CA) 27 Devin Sweet RHP R/R 09/06/96 5'11" 180 NC Central University 30 Kyle Wright RHP R/R 10/02/95 6'4" 205 Vanderbilt 36 J.T. Brubaker RHP R/R 11/17/93 6'3" 185 University of Akron 38 Josh Taylor* LHP L/L 03/02/93 6'5" 230 Georgia College & State 43 Carlos Hernandez RHP R/R 03/11/97 6'4" 245 50 Kris Bubic LHP L/L 08/19/97 6'3" 220 Stanford 51 Brady Singer RHP R/R 08/04/96 6'5" 210 Florida 52 Daniel Lynch LHP L/L 11/17/96 6'6" 190 Virginia 54 Jacob Wallace* RHP R/R 08/13/98 6'1" 195 Connecticut 55 Cole Ragans (IL-15) LHP L/L 12/12/97 6'4" 190 North Florida (FL) Christian 57 Joely Rodriguez LHP L/L 11/14/91 6'1" 200 59 Jake Brentz* LHP S/R 09/14/94 6'2" 200 Parkway South HS (MO) 60 Max Castillo* RHP R/R 05/04/99 6'3" 255 61 Angel Zerpa LHP L/L 09/27/99 6' 175 62 Jonathan Bowlan* RHP R/R 12/01/96 6'6" 260 Memphis 64 Nick Anderson RHP R/R 07/05/90 6'5" 195 Mayville State (ND) 65 Dylan Coleman RHP R/R 09/16/96 6'5" 230 Missouri State 66 James McArthur RHP R/R 12/11/96 6'7" 230 Ole Miss 67 Alec Marsh* RHP R/R 11/14/98 6'2" 220 Arizona State 68 Jalen Beeks LHP L/L 07/10/93 5'11" 205 Arkansas 69 Anthony Veneziano (IL-15) LHP L/L 09/01/97 6'5" 205 Coastal Carolina 74 Noah DeNoyer* RHP R/R 02/17/98 6'5" 225 San Joaquin Delta College (CA) # CATCHERS POS B/T AGE HT WT SCHOOL 13 Salvador Perez C/1B R/R 05/10/90 6'4" 235 34 Freddy Fermin C/1B R/R 05/16/95 5'10" 195 # INFIELDERS POS B/T AGE HT WT SCHOOL 0 Samad Taylor IF/OF R/R 07/11/98 5'10" 160 Corona HS (CA) 1 Jordan Westburg 3B/2B R/R 02/18/99 6'3" 195 Mississippi State 7 Bobby Witt, Jr. SS R/R 06/14/00 6'1 190 Colleyville Heritage HS (TX) 8 Devin Mann* 1B/3B R/R 02/11/97 6'3" 190 Louisville 11 Maikel Garcia (IL-10) INF R/R 03/03/00 6' 150 12 Nick Loftin* INF R/R 09/25/98 6'1" 185 19 Michael Massey 2B/3B L/R 03/22/98 6' 200 Illinois 32 Nick Pratto 1B/OF L/R 10/06/98 6'1 200 Huntington Beach HS (CA) # OUTFIELDERS POS B/T AGE HT WT SCHOOL 3 Tyler Gentry* OF R/R 02/01/99 6'2" 185 Alabama 6 Drew Waters OF S/R 12/30/98 6'2" 185 Etowah HS (GA) 17 Nelson Velasquez OF R/R 12/26/98 6' 190 PJ Education (PR) HS 22 Andrew McCutchen OF/DH R/R 10/10/86 5'11" 195 Fort Meade (FL) HS 24 Shane Sasaki OF R/R 07/01/00 6' 170 'Iolani (HI) HS 28 Kyle Isbel OF L/R 03/03/97 5'11" 185 UNLV 44 Dairon Blanco OF R/R 04/26/93 6' 170 Last edited by artoodeetoo; 12-12-2023, 06:42 PM. -
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April 7th, 2023
ROYALS LOOK TO SHAKE OFF ROUGH HOMESTAND
Capping off a disappointing homestand with another close defeat, the Royals now strike out on the road sporting a 1-6 mark, which ties with the Nationals for the worst record league-wide through the first week-plus of the season. The offense has been painfully slow to start out, posting a wRC+ mark of 50 as a team, tied for worst in the league with Detroit. They're also last in OPS+ at 49, with Detroit just barely ahead at 51. Oakland is the next-highest AL team in OPS+ at 74, with Washington (59 OPS+), Arizona (62 OPS+), and Colorado (71 OPS+) in between. Yikes.
One of the few bright spots for the offense so far is that they're in the top-half of the league in walks with twenty-four, but they're also one of a handful of teams that have played the league-most seven games. They're also balanced in that regard, with six players collecting at least three free passes so far, with MJ Melendez and Vinnie Pasquantino walking five and four times, respectively. Bobby Witt Jr also has three walks, one of the four with that amount. It's a testament to how differently the new crowd of hitters approaches things, as opposed to the old guard in the lineup.
Could help be on the way? Perhaps. Nick Pratto has struggled with four strikeouts in his two games, but Maikel Garcia is ripping the cover off the ball in Triple-A, and they'll get Drew Waters back sometime in early May. Other bats such as Tucker Bradley and Nick Loftin are also on the team's radar. You'd also expect bats like Witt's and Pasquantino's to get going, as well as Salvy's, as the weather warms. Not entirely unrelated, I'm curious to see what kind of GM J.J. Picollo is going to be, as opposed to Dayton Moore -- will he be quicker with the hook on certain players? He's been with the organization a long time, but he's made four trades in the last few months, including Adalberto Mondesi and Michael A. Taylor; and more recently, Matt Beaty and Richard Lovelady in the last week.
The bullpen has been hit-and-miss, but the starting rotation has been superb so far, keeping the Royals in pretty much every game with a 3.40 starter's ERA in around thirty-seven innings of work to date, which includes last night's stinker from Jordan Lyles. They haven't lost any game by more than three runs, but have been shutout three times in seven games, allowing just seven runs in those losses. Overall, they're 11th in team ERA (4.00), as well as being in the bottom ten in WHIP, which means they're generating a lot of traffic on the bases, so that 4.00 ERA is probably due for a negative correction.
One kind-of mind-blowing stat so far -- Kansas City led the entire way in their only win so far this year, the Monday night game against the Blue Jays. and led one inning in Tuesday's 4-1 loss. That's it. Oh, and Matt Quatraro hasn't been in the dugout the last few nights, as he is expected to miss the San Francisco series at the least due to testing positive for coronavirus. If all goes well, he'll be back in the dugout for the team's series opener at Texas on Monday.
"That's the hope," said bench coach Paul Hoover, who is filling in while Quatraro is out. "Matt's doing fine, we're in contact almost up-to-the-minute leading up to each game, and then we'll chat for an hour or so afterwards. We'll continue to hash out strategy any way we can."
According to Hoover, the lineups are Quatraro's decision via phone prior to the game, but without him in the dugout (plus, it's against MLB rules to communicate by cell phone during a game), Hoover is going to lean on his fellow coaches to get through the next handful of games. That's Jose Alguacil (infield coach), and Vance Wilson (third-base and field coordinator). He'll also delegate much of the pitching strategy to pitching coach Brian Sweeney.Last edited by artoodeetoo; 04-11-2023, 10:55 PM.Comment
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KANSAS CITY @ SAN FRANCISCO (04/07 -- 04/09)
Series Recap: San Francisco Giants
By Will Keller | Kansas City Star | April 10th, 2023
Kansas City Royals at San Francisco Giants Apr 7, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Kansas City Royals (2-6) 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 9 0 San Francisco Giants (3-4) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 1 W: Brad Keller (1-1) L: Alex Cobb (0-1) S: Scott Barlow (1)
Friday, April 7th, 2023
Homeruns from Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez were enough to complement a strong pitching performance from Brad Keller, who allowed just one earned run over 5 2/3 innings as the Royals held on for a 3-1 victory in the first road game of the season, and spoiling San Francisco's home opener in the process.
Pasquantino's shot came in the fourth, while Perez added an insurance run in the eighth with a solo homerun of his own.
Scott Barlow worked around a walk to get the save, getting a nice defensive play along the way from shortstop Bobby Witt Jr to shut the door in the ninth inning for his first save of 2023. Keller became the first pitcher other than Brady Singer to notch a victory this season on the Royals' staff, moving to 1-1 on the season.
"We've been barreling up balls all season long to date," said interim manager Paul Hoover, who picked up his first career victory. "It was great to see some of them start finding holes in the defense, or go over the fence."
Keller walked three, allowed three hits, and fanned three. After some ups-and-downs in the first week of the season at home, the bullpen shut the Giants out the rest of the way after replacing Keller in the sixth, not allowing a single earned run while striking out five in three and one-third innings.
Kansas City Royals at San Francisco Giants Apr 8, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Kansas City Royals (3-6) 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 3 8 0 San Francisco Giants (3-5) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 0 W: Brady Singer (2-0) L: Sean Manaea (0-1) S: Dylan Coleman (1)
Saturday, April 8th, 2023
Despite allowing just one run on five hits over six innings in the Royals' 3-1 win over San Francisco to clinch a series victory on the road, Brady Singer still came away dissatisfied with his performance in some respects.
"Just left too much stuff up to chance; my command just wasn't there," he said flatly, referring to his four walks. "Sweeney, Q, Paul (Hoover), they've all tried to ingrain into us to raid the zone, and it just didn't work as well today. Thankfully, we did enough defensively and at the plate to get the win. Bullpen was also really good, too."
Indeed it was, as they didn't allow an earned run over the final three innings, culminating in Dylan Coleman's first save of the season. He replaced Scott Barlow in the ninth with two outs, as the Royals' closer left with what was later termed as wrist tightness. Coleman needed just two pitches to finish the game, getting a groundball out from David Villar.
Another tense moment for the Royals early on was when Hunter Dozier left the game in the third inning, pulling up with a limp after rounding first base on his double. X-rays were negative at Oracle Park, but flew back to Kansas City for a second opinion, where the results were inconclusive as of this writing.
The day after hitting his first homerun of the season, first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles. Through the first two games of the series, Pasquantino went 5-for-8 with two doubles, a walk, and a homerun. He also didn't strike out in the first two contests.
"It's been frustrating squaring everything up, only to see it find someone's glove," he said with a grin after the game. "I feel like our luck is starting to change a little from the first week of the season."
MJ Melendez also hit his second homerun of the season, a solo homerun in the eighth off Sean Hjelle to give the Royals some insurance.
Kansas City Royals at San Francisco Giants Apr 9, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Kansas City Royals (3-7) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 6 0 San Francisco Giants (4-5) 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 X 3 10 0 W: Anthony DeSclafani (2-0) L: Kris Bubic (0-2) S: Camilo Doval (2)
Sunday, April 9th, 2023
With a road series win already in their pocket, the attempt to sweep the series fell just short, as San Francisco took a 3-0 lead after three innings, and held on to eventually win by a 3-2 count.
Jackie Bradley Jr and MJ Melendez each hit RBI doubles in the fifth to pull the Royals to within one, but that's the last time they'd seriously threaten the scoreboard the rest of the way.
Kansas City was largely kept at bay with a solid effort from Anthony DeSclafani, who allowed just those two runs over six innings, striking out five while walking just a pair.
Meanwhile, in his first career start against the team he grew up rooting for, Kris Bubic allowed just three earned runs over 5 1/3 frames, but allowed seven hits and couldn't miss many bats, striking out one with three walks.
The top of the Giants' order was especially successful against Bubic, going 5-for-8 with three runs scored, a double, and a homerun between Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores.
Other than Melendez and JBJ, the only other extra base hit that was mustered was from Michael Massey, a second-inning double against DeSclafani. Kyle Isbel walked twice, going 0-for-2.
UP NEXT: @ Texas Rangers (04/10 -- 04/12)Last edited by artoodeetoo; 04-11-2023, 10:56 PM.Comment
April 10th, 2023
DOZIER HEADS TO 10-DAY INJURED LIST
Royals infielder Hunter Dozier joins a growing list of regulars on the injured list, as he was placed on the 10-day IL with a tibia fracture that will sideline him for six-to-eight weeks per the Kansas City Star.
This was later confirmed by MLB.com reporter Anne Rogers, who covers the team. Maikel Garcia was re-called from Omaha, where he was off to a blistering start with the bat in slashing .333/.465/.515 in forty-three plate appearances, with three doubles and a homerun on his stat sheet.
Dozier has played five different positions this year, including serving as the DH once. His stat line isn't impressive to date, just 3-for-22 (.136), and his exit velo and barrel rates have dipped each year since 2021. His xBA, xSLG, and wOBA all rank in the bottom 10% of the league. In other words, he's not barreling the ball up, and when he does, it's not being hit impressively hard.
It's a bit surprising that the Royals didn't re-call Nick Pratto over Garcia, but the latter gives the Royals another versatile right-handed bat that can play all over the infield. As long as Bobby Witt Jr is healthy, he likely won't play shortstop on a consistent basis. However, he has more than enough range to fill in at short, and also has the arm to sling it from third base as well. His bat plays better in the middle infield, though.
"The news about Hunter, it's pretty devastating to us," said manager Matt Quatraro, who briefly spoke with the media via phone earlier this morning after landing in Dallas. "That said, we have Maikel coming in, and we're going to get a pretty extended look at what he can do."
The Royals begin a three-game road series tonight with the Rangers, who come in having won five of their first nine games to start out. Andrew Heaney and Zack Greinke will square off in the series opener that begins at 7:05 Central time.Comment
KANSAS CITY @ TEXAS (04/10 -- 04/12)
Series Recap: Texas Rangers
By Will Keeler | Kansas City Star | April 13th, 2023
Kansas City Royals at Texas Rangers Apr 10, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Kansas City Royals (3-8) 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 5 1 Texas Rangers (6-4) 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 X 3 11 0 W: Andrew Heaney (1-1) L: Ryan Yarbrough (0-1) S: Jose Leclerc (3)
Monday, April 10th, 2023
Once again, Zack Greinke gave the Royals a brilliant effort in his third start of the season, allowing just a single unearned run over 4 2/3 innings, but all the Royals could get were a pair of solo homeruns in a 3-2 loss to open a three-game road series in Arlington with the Rangers.
Vinnie Pasquantino, who hit one of the two solo homeruns in the game, doubled with two outs in the ninth to bring up the other hitter with a solo homerun in Franmil Reyes. However, Jose Leclerc coaxed a lazy flyball to center to get out of the jam, and pick up his third save of the season.
Greinke left with the game tied at one apiece. Ryan Yarbrough surrendered RBI singles in the sixth to Brad Miller and Jonah Heim to give Texas a lead they wouldn't give up. Reyes' homerun came in the second inning, while Pasquantino hit his in the seventh to pull the Royals to within a single run.
Making his return to the dugout, Matt Quatraro praised his starting pitcher's effort, but lamented the lack of opportunities to push many runs across.
"We struck out a double-digit number of times, and didn't really try to force them to throw strikes," said the first-year manager. "That's attributable to (Andrew) Heaney, he threw the ball really well, but I thought we helped him out a little bit with some of the stuff he was throwing."
Kansas City will turn to former Ranger Jordan Lyles to try and at least secure a split of the road trip. He played for the Rangers in 2020 and 2021, before signing with Baltimore prior to last season. He'll go against Jacob deGrom, who was knocked around by the Phillies in his first start, before coming back and running roughshod over the Orioles back on April 5th.
Kansas City Royals at Texas Rangers Apr 11, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Kansas City Royals (4-8) 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 2 7 14 0 Texas Rangers (6-5) 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 5 15 0 W: Carlos Hernandez (1-0) L: Cole Ragans (1-1) S: Scott Barlow (2)
Tuesday, April 11th, 2023
Salvador Perez reached base all five times he came to the plate, and Edward Olivares backed him up with four hits as the Royals clinched a .500 road trip with a 7-5 win over the Rangers to even the series.
After a 1-6 start, the Royals are 3-2 since -- not great, but still have managed to at least stem the tide somewhat.
Perez homered twice, scored four times, walked, and also collected a pair of singles to go along with three RBI. Olivares singled four times, including driving in Perez with an insurance run in the top of the ninth. Vinnie Pasquantino also added a homerun in the eighth, his third homerun of the season and second in as many games.
"It was great to see us get some consistent offense," said manager Matt Quatraro. "It's been in chunks here and there; and not so much spread out over multiple innings at a time. We were getting good swings throughout the game."
With four earned runs over six innings, Jordan Lyles didn't pitch spectacularly, but got the Royals through to where they could make a run late to win the game. He left with a 4-3 deficit, only to see the Royals outscore the Rangers 4-1 in the last three innings to take the victory.
Scott Barlow picked up the save, his second of the season with a scoreless ninth.
Kansas City Royals vs Texas Rangers Apr 12, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E Kansas City Royals (4-9) 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 6 0 Texas Rangers (7-5) 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 12 0 W: Brock Burke (1-0) L: Taylor Clarke (0-1) S: None
Wednesday, April 12th, 2023
Just two pitches into the bottom of the 10th, Brad Miller's RBI single drove in the game-winning run as the Rangers walked the Royals off to claim the series victory and the game by a 4-3 score.
Brad Keller pitched five innings, allowing seven hits, three earned runs, and three walks while fanning four. Taylor Clarke was on the mound to give up the game-winning hit, taking the loss. He got the final out of the ninth inning, striking out Justin Foscue to send the game to extras.
Kansas City put themselves into position to get the game to extra innings with a sac fly from pinch-hitter Franmil Reyes, tying the score at three. Michael Massey and MJ Melendez each collected a pair of hits, while Massey also scored two of the Royals' three runs.
Vinnie Pasquantino managed to keep his modest hit streak alive at seven games with a fourth-inning single. They're off tomorrow for a travel day, before heading back home to begin a six-game homestand with the Braves and Rangers coming to the K.
UP NEXT: vs. Atlanta Braves (04/14 -- 04/16)Last edited by artoodeetoo; 04-14-2023, 01:01 PM.Comment
ATLANTA @ KANSAS CITY (04/14 -- 04/16)
Series Recap: Atlanta Braves
By Will Keeler | Kansas City Star | April 16th, 2023
Atlanta Braves at Kansas City Royals Apr 14, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Atlanta Braves (9-5) 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 12 0 Kansas City Royals (4-10) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 W: Charlie Morton (3-0) L: Brady Singer (2-1) S: A.J. Minter (3)
Friday, April 14th, 2023
Still going strong late into his 30's, Charlie Morton pitched eight scoreless frames to keep the Royals at bay in a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Braves. Morton scattered six hits and a walk, striking out six in the process before giving way to A.J. Minter, who worked around a two-out walk to pick up the save.
"Guy can still sling it pretty good at his age," said manager Matt Quatraro, who was the bench coach in Tampa when Morton pitched for the Rays in 2019 and 2020. "I mean, that 2019 season, he was flat-out dominant with his stuff. He's really not that far removed from that year."
Meanwhile, Brady Singer wasn't his sharpest self, as he was constantly dealing with traffic on the basepaths, largely of his own doing. He surrendered eight hits and two walks over five-plus innings, throwing a season-high 105 pitches to do so. He only allowed three earned runs and struck out five, but didn't get a lot of help from his offense.
Salvador Perez went 2-for-4 to lead the Royals' offense; but he was pretty much the only hitter to have any real success against Morton, although he did strike out twice. Jackie Bradley Jr was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk. Since the Royals won 9-5 on April 3rd against the Blue Jays on the previous homestand, the Royals haven't scored more than three runs but just one time, in their 7-5 win over the Rangers on Tuesday.
"We're seeing things, little signs, that things might be starting to turn around on the offensive side of the ball," said Quatraro. "Guys are still working counts, really trying to make opposing pitchers use all of their stuff to get outs. I think we're amongst the top ten or twelve teams in walk rate, and one of the most improved teams around the league in that regard."
He's pretty close -- they're actually 13th in walk rate, which is a huge jump from last year's 29th-overall finish in that regard. However, they're middle of the pack in strikeout rate, which is a drop from the last handful of years when they've been one of the top handful of teams in keeping strikeouts to a minimum.
"I remember the teams they had in the mid 2010's that were built on a contact-heavy approach, and they really were ahead of the game by using their speed as a weapon when not many teams were doing so," Quatraro continued. "They were fun to watch on the bases and in the field with all of the athletes they had."
Atlanta Braves at Kansas City Royals Apr 15, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Atlanta Braves (10-5) 0 6 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 8 10 0 Kansas City Royals (4-11) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 1 W: Nick Margevicius (1-0) L: Kris Bubic (0-3) S: None
Saturday, April 15th, 2023
Salvador Perez belted a two-run homerun against Nick Margevicius in the first inning to give the Royals an early 2-0 advantage, but saw that quickly wiped out and then some as the Braves put up six runs in the second against starter Kris Bubic, with Atlanta coasting off that six-run frame to an 8-2 victory in the second game of the series. Four of the six runs were unearned, however, as an error by Maikel Garcia with two outs allowed four more runs to score in the following moments.
With Saturday's loss, the Royals fell to 1-8 at home to begin the season, which is the worst home mark in the league through that day. Perez's homerun was his fourth of the season, but it was the last time the Royals dented the scoreboard. Bobby Witt Jr and Matt Duffy each collected a pair of hits, but aside from Perez's homerun and Edward Olivares' double, no other hits went for extra bases against Margevicius.
"Man, these guys will punish mistakes," manager Matt Quatraro lamented in the post-game interview. "We also didn't do ourselves any favors at the plate, as we just couldn't string many hits together. Homeruns are nice, but you're leaving yourself a thin margin if you're not putting the pressure on the other team early in the at-bats."
It became a bullpen game early on for Kansas City, as Kris Bubic was chased from the game in the fourth inning, leaving with two outs in favor of Jose Cuas. Cuas was brilliant over the next 2 1/3 innings, allowing just one hit and striking out four with no walks.
"Jose gave us some really, really solid bullpen work," said pitching coach Brian Sweeney. "Atlanta came at us with a lineup full of righties, so when we made the switch from Kris to Jose, he was able to get a lineup full of same-handed guys, where he really shines."
Atlanta Braves at Kansas City Royals Apr 16, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Atlanta Braves (10-6) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 Kansas City Royals (5-11) 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 5 1 W: Zack Greinke (1-2) L: Dylan Dodd (1-1) S: None
Sunday, April 16th, 2023
Finally, the Royals gave Zack Greinke something to smile about, as the Royals exploded for a six-run first inning, giving him all the cushion he would need, and then some, as the Royals coasted from there to a 6-0 victory, salvaging the final game of the series.
Going seven strong, Greinke scattered two hits and struck out four, throwing just ninety-one pitches to get the job done. Ryan Yarbrough cleaned up, throwing two shutout frames in relief. Greinke's seven innings is a season-high to date, and hasn't allowed an earned run since April 5th against Toronto, covering a dozen innings.
"Probably the most complete team effort we've had so far this year, including some great defensive work," said skipper Matt Quatraro. "We jumped on (Dylan) Dodd early, and while it's a bit disappointing we didn't do much offensively the rest of the way, it's hard to quibble with six runs any way you can get them. That should win you a lot of games."
Indeed, the Royals did jump all over Dylan Dodd, as the young left-hander couldn't find the strike zone very early on. He was forced from the game far too early, walking six and scattering three hits, while also allowing all six Royals runs. The Royals walked seven times in all. Jared Shuster, who was bumped from the rotation in favor of yesterday's starter, Nick Margevicius, threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief.
Part of the six-run first was Kyle Isbel's grand slam, his second career slam. Vinnie Pasquantino and Edward Olivares also drove in runs, but they did it the hard way -- via walk.
Bobby Witt Jr singled to lead off the Royals' first, and then three straight walks capped off by Pasquantino's walk scored the first run. After Matt Duffy struck out, Olivares walked to score MJ Melendez prior to Isbel's slam.
"I got one right in the happy zone," he said with a grin after the game. "I didn't think it was going to carry enough, but a homerun is a homerun whether it's just over the fence, or fifty feet past it."
UP NEXT: vs. Texas Rangers (04/17 -- 04/19)Comment
TEXAS @ KANSAS CITY (04/17 -- 04/19)
Series Recap: Texas Rangers
By Will Keeler | Kansas City Star | April 20th, 2023
Texas Rangers at Kansas City Royals Apr 17, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Texas Rangers (10-6) 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 9 0 Kansas City Royals (5-12) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 W: Jacob deGrom (2-0) L: Brad Keller (1-2) S: Spencer Howard (2)
Monday, April 17th, 2023
The Royals haven't drawn particularly well so far this season, ranking just 26th in home attendance to date. But they drew the highest amount of fans to the park since Opening Day, when nearly 16,000 came out to watch Jacob deGrom absolutely carve the Royals up in a 3-0 defeat.
Regarded as arguably the game's top pitcher, deGrom fanned a dozen over 7 2/3 innings, dazzling hitters with his fastball/slider combo, throwing in the occasional changeup and curveball. Former Royal Danny Duffy replaced him with two outs in the eighth holding a 2-0 lead, but Duffy left with wrist tightness. Closer Jose Leclerc was also replaced after getting two outs in the ninth with a finger blister.
Kansas City collected just six hits, half of them courtesy of Michael Massey, who doubled and singled twice. As of the end of Friday's game, Massey still didn't have a walk recorded through forty-six plate appearances (and a whopping sixteen punchouts), which means his BABIP is an impressive (and very likely short-lived) .400, which is 12-for-30.
The lack of offense once again overshadowed a pretty good performance from Brad Keller, who struck out five over 6 2/3 innings, throwing a season-high 102 pitches. He allowed eight hits, two earned runs, and two walks. Amir Garrett tossed 1 1/3 innings scoreless, while Scott Barlow had his scoreless appearances streak snapped at four.
Texas Rangers at Kansas City Royals Apr 18, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Texas Rangers (10-7) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 1 Kansas City Royals (6-12) 1 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 X 8 9 1 W: Jordan Lyles (1-2) L: Nathan Eovaldi (1-2) S: None
Tuesday, April 18th, 2023
Once again, the Royals put up a crooked number in one inning, and used that inning to coast to a relatively easy win, this time an 8-1 count over the Rangers. The margin of victory is the largest yet this season, and comes just a few days after the Royals put up six runs in the first inning of a 6-0 win over Atlanta.
In a seven-run fifth that lasted nearly two hours, largely due to a rain delay of seventy-two minutes, the Royals hit three homeruns (including a grand slam), scored on a bases-loaded catcher interference call, and had two pitching changes.
On the other hand, Jordan Lyles sailed through the Rangers' order, allowing just one unearned run in 6 1/3 innings, scattering six hits along the way with two strikeouts for his first win of the season, and first in a Royals uniform.
Kyle Isbel hit his second grand slam in three days, keying the Royals' huge inning that chased starter Nathan Eovaldi from the game just prior to the rain delay. After the delay ended and the tarps removed, Danny Duffy came in for the second time in two days, and ended up leaving the game early for the same amount of time with what was later termed as 'shoulder discomfort'.
The Royals' offense also saw Franmil Reyes and Maikel Garcia pop homeruns, with the latter being his first MLB homerun. Vinnie Pasquantino was 0-for-2 with two runs scored, drawing three walks in the process. Michael Massey was 2-for-4 with a triple, only the second three-bagger the Royals have hit this season.
Texas Rangers at Kansas City Royals Apr 19, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Texas Rangers (11-7) 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 6 9 0 Kansas City Royals (6-13) 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 6 0 W: Martin Perez (4-0) L: Brady Singer (2-2) S: Josh Sborz (1)
Wednesday, April 19th, 2023
With a solo homerun in the seventh, Vinnie Pasquantino cut the Royals' deficit in half from 3-1 to 3-2, but a pinch-hit homerun off the bat of rookie Justin Foscue put the game out of reach for the Royals, as the Rangers took the rubber match of the series by a 6-2 score. The three-run homerun came against Aroldis Chapman, who left a 90 MPH splitter up in the zone and Foscue crushed it over the left field fence into the Rangers' bullpen.
Martin Perez became the third pitcher (second AL pitcher) to reach the four-win mark, allowing just two earned runs over 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven Royal hitters with just two walks and five hits scattered.
Shane McClanahan reached that milestone back on the 16th for the Rays, and the Mets' Kodai Senga turned the trick last night to become the first NL pitcher to hit that mark.
"We went into this game treating that pitch like it's his changeup," Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said in their post-game press conference of Chapman. "You're not easily going to turn on his smoke, so we went up there looking for that pitch in the right spot, and Justin put a really good swing on it."
Brady Singer's final line was pretty solid -- six innings, seven hits, five strikeouts, three earned runs -- a quality start for the ledger. But he walked three hitters, and ended on a sour note as he surrendered four baserunners (including a hit batsman) and two earned runs over his final one-plus innings, finally giving way to Dylan Coleman, who also struggled in his 1 1/3 innings of relief.
Normally very good with his command, Singer has now walked a dozen over his twenty-two innings of work so far this season to just eighteen strikeouts. He's already more than a third of the way to his entire 2022 total of thirty-five walks, but he's been able to counter that with a ridiculous 57% GB rate and zero homeruns allowed to date.
"There have been a few calls that we don't feel went his way, but he's pounding the zone down pretty consistently," said manager Matt Quatraro. "We actually think he should work up in the zone more, but I think part of it is just adjusting to a new approach."
Corey Seager was the main villain for the Royals, going 4-for-5 with three doubles to pace their offensive attack, and Nate Lowe was 2-for-5 with two runs scored. But Foscue's big blow pretty much ended any chances for the Royals to at least attempt a reasonable comeback in the game with the way the offense has been lately.
They'll take tomorrow off for travel, as they'll now embark on a road swing through Anaheim, Arizona, and Minneapolis before finally touching Kauffman Stadium grass again on May 1st.
UP NEXT: at Los Angeles Angels (04/21 -- 04/23)Comment
LOS ANGELES @ KANSAS CITY (04/21 -- 04/23)
Series Recap: Los Angeles Angels
By Will Keeler | Kansas City Star | April 24th, 2023
Los Angeles Angels at Kansas City Royals Apr 21, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Kansas City Royals (6-14) 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 5 0 Los Angeles Angels (11-9) 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 X 5 9 1 W: Jaime Barria (1-0) L: Kris Bubic (0-4) S: Carlos Estevez (2)
Friday, April 21st, 2023
With Zack Greinke dealing with a stomach bug, the Royals gave Ryan Yarbrough the spot start; and while he struck out six over 4 1/3 innings, he allowed a trio of homeruns as the Angels pounded the Royals 5-1 to claim the first two games of the series. Throwing a season-high seventy-seven pitches, Yarbrough surrendered nine hits, all five Angels' runs, and a walk.
Eaton's two hits snapped an 0-for-23 start to the season, including a dozen strikeouts amongst those twenty-three at-bats. He also stole a base in the seventh inning, just a few pitches in front of Garcia's homerun.
"It was good to finally see him get something going with the bat," said skipper Matt Quatraro. "Here and there, he's had some barreled-up balls find the glove instead of the grass. We're just constantly telling our guys, just keep hitting the ball hard."
Kris Bubic went five innings, allowing just six hits and no walks, but allowed both Trout homeruns and only struck out a pair. The combination of Taylor Clarke and Carlos Hernandez got through the rest of the game, with Hernandez being especially impressive with three strikeouts and no runs over 1 1/3 innings to finish out the contest.
The bottom-third of the Royals' order did nearly all of the damage, as they combined to go 4-for-10. The only other hit was Bobby Witt Jr's triple to lead off the game in the top of the first. Michael Massey was the only other hitter to reach base safely, drawing a walk in the first inning after Witt's triple.
Los Angeles Angels at Kansas City Royals Apr 22, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Kansas City Royals (6-15) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 1 Los Angeles Angels (12-9) 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 X 5 9 1 W: Shohei Ohtani (3-1) L:Ryan Yarbrough (0-2) S: None
Saturday, April 22nd, 2023
With Zack Greinke dealing with a stomach bug, the Royals gave Ryan Yarbrough the spot start; and while he struck out six over 4 1/3 innings, he allowed a trio of homeruns as the Angels pounded the Royals 5-1 to claim the first two games of the series. Throwing a season-high seventy-seven pitches, Yarbrough surrendered nine hits, all five Angels' runs, and a walk.
"Zack, he's been dealing with a bit of a sickness, but he should be good to go tomorrow," said manager Matt Quatraro. "He's feeling better today than he was yesterday, that's for sure."
The Royals' bats didn't have much of an answer to Shohei Ohtani, who pitched a season-high-to-date eight innings, striking out eleven with just one walk and three hits scattered. Ryan Tepera worked around a couple of hits in the ninth to finish the game for Los Angeles.
On the zoom call with local media after the game, when asked about the state of the locker room after such a slow start, Quatraro became a little defensive, lamenting that this question kept getting asked.
"You all are relentless with this," he said with a dry grin. "Look, if we're winning games at a 30% clip one month, two months from now, okay, but it's just too early to start speculating on this stuff. There's a lot of positives going on around this team. We have one of the youngest rosters in the league, especially in our lineup. We've lost fifteen games, and we're only minus-15 or 16 in the run differential. There's a lot of runs that we've left on the field, that if one or two things go differently in a game, we'd likely have two or three more wins on our side. I understand that's baseball and how it goes, but worrying about the state of the locker room is what you all seem to want to talk about lately."
Jackie Bradley Jr led the Royals' offense with a pair of hits, including his first homerun as a Royal. Bobby Witt Jr, Salvador Perez, and Vinnie Pasquantino also collected hits for the Royals.
Los Angeles Angels at Kansas City Royals Apr 23, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Kansas City Royals (6-16) 3 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 7 9 1 Los Angeles Angels (13-9) 4 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 8 19 2 W: Matt Moore (1-0) L: Scott Barlow (0-1) S: None
Sunday, April 23rd, 2023
The Royals continued to stumble, this time wasting a 4-for-5 performance from Bobby Witt Jr in an 8-7 walk-off loss to the Angels, dropping the Royals to 6-16, losers of seven of their last nine. Vinnie Pasquantino also went 2-for-4 with a homerun, his team-best fifth of the season, as part of the Royals' three-run first inning.
It was the breakout game of the season for BWJ, who hit a pair of two-run homeruns as part of his four-hit game, also recording a stolen base in the seventh.
Manager Matt Quatraro made a bit of news around the league after last night's game, harping on a question from MLB.com's Anne Rogers regarding the team's state of mind after last night's loss, essentially saying that the local media was 'too early to start speculating on this stuff'. He was a bit less spicy after this loss, but still brought the same positivity that made him a popular figure in Tampa Bay the last handful of years.
"Yeah, the record is disappointing, but it is what it is," he said bluntly. "You know, and I think he'd tell you this himself, Zack didn't pitch as well as he would have liked, but Bobby Witt, Vinnie Pasquantino really gave us a nice lift offensively. I've said it for the past week or so, we're seeing things that make me think we're pretty close to seeing some guys turn things around."
Greinke was tagged for four runs on six hits in the first inning, but allowed just three hits, a walk, and no runs over the next three before giving up a solo shot to Mike Trout in the fifth. Greinke ended up being tagged for a dozen hits over five frames, allowing five earned runs in what has easily been his worst start to date.
"I mean, my fastball is in the mid to upper 80's now, so if it gets left out over the plate, it's going to get crushed," Greinke said in his usual dry, sarcastic deadpan. "Still, aside from getting touched for the homerun ball a bit, I felt pretty good out there."
UP NEXT: at Arizona Diamondbacks (04/24 -- 04/26)Comment
Re: Straight Outta Kauffman (OOTP 24)
Series Recap: Arizona Diamondbacks
By Will Keeler | Kansas City Star | April 27th, 2023
Kansas City Royals at Arizona Diamondbacks Apr 24, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Kansas City Royals (7-16) 0 1 1 0 3 4 0 1 0 10 13 0 Arizona Diamondbacks (12-12) 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 7 10 1 W: Dylan Coleman (1-0) L: Zach Davies (1-3) S: Scott Barlow (3)
Monday, April 24th, 2023
Arizona made things reeeeeeeeal interesting in the bottom of the ninth, but Scott Barlow and the Royals held on for a 10-7 victory to open a three-game series with the D-Backs. Kyle Isbel hit his third grand slam of the season in the fifth inning (no other player has more than one), and fell just a triple short of the cycle in going 4-for-5 to finally push his average over the Mendoza line to .209.
It was a bullpen game pretty early on for both teams, as Brad Keller made it through just four innings (103 pitches!) before giving way to Dylan Coleman, who got the Royals through the next 2 1/3 before Jose Cuas got Christian Walker to roll into a double play to end the seventh. Then, manager Matt Quatraro made an interesting move. He put Nate Eaton -- a position player -- on the mound for the eighth, and after the game, Quatraro noted that Eaton was a pitcher in college, and actually came to the mound in this one with three different pitches -- fastball, slider, changeup.
"We tried to push our guys as far as they were comfortable going," said Quatraro. "Brad threw a lot of pitches in the early going, guys were just spoiling good stuff which ran him up a bit. Dylan (Coleman) was outstanding, just one walk and no hits. We took Jose (Cuas) out early, as we don't have any days off in the near future, and we're trying to keep guys as fresh as possible. We put Nate out there with the idea he'd go two innings up 10-4 to finish out the game, and he did a nice job all things considered."
Eaton couldn't get through two, as he finished the eighth inning, but couldn't get the first two hitters of the ninth as he allowed an infield single to Corbin Carroll before walking Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Aroldis Chapman faced the next three hitters, getting only one out before Scott Barlow came in to pick up the save. It wasn't the cleanest outing for Barlow, either, working around a walk.
"Ideally, we wouldn't have to have that kind of set-up, but if I had to do that kind of bullpen set-up again? I'd definitely do it," Quatraro noted. "Nate's a real versatile player, someone that can play multiple spots and apparently pitch it pretty good, too."
Kansas City Royals at Arizona Diamondbacks Apr 25, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Kansas City Royals (8-16) 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 2 1 7 13 1 Arizona Diamondbacks (12-13) 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 8 0 W: Taylor Clarke (1-1) L: Drey Jameson (2-1) S: Aroldis Chapman (1)
Tuesday, April 25th, 2023
Kansas City used a balanced offense, overcoming an early 4-1 deficit to post a 7-4 victory over the Diamondbacks to earn their first series victory since beating San Francisco in the first road series of the season, and their first wins in back-to-back games since April 7th-8th against those same Gaints.
Vinnie Pasquantino hit a two-run homerun in the fifth inning to pull the Royals to within one, just one inning before Franmil Reyes stepped up and tied the game with his fourth homerun of the season. Pasquantino's homerun one inning prior was his sixth of the season, which is the high-water mark on the squad.
In all, the Royals pounded out a baker's dozen hits, with five different players collecting at least a pair of hits each. Bobby Witt Jr went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a pair of stolen bases, while Kyle Isbel backed up his 4-for-5 in Monday night's game with another two hits. Jackie Bradley Jr also continued his remarkable start to the season, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. JBJ's eleven walks are tied for second on the team with MJ Melendez, and is slashing .233/.411/.372 through fifty-seven plate appearances.
"It's great to see some of these hard-hit balls find some grass, build up some confidence as we get into the meat of the schedule," said manager Matt Quatraro. "We're also getting consistent production, meaning we're not just shooting our shot in one, maybe two innings; it's spread out over multiple innings, three or four at a time."
Brady Singer continues to fight his command, as he walked four hitters while striking out just one. He did get through five and one-third innings while only running into any real trouble in the fourth, when he gave up all four of his earned runs. Still, ten baserunners in just over five innings didn't sit well with the Royals' starter.
"There's nothing physical or anything that's causing it, it's just a rough stretch that I'm dealing with right now," Singer said when asked if he wasn't feeling 100%. "Thankfully, the offense really picked us up and we were able to pick up another win."
In four of his five starts, he's walked at least three; and including this start, he's walked four in a single start twice.
"There's something to be said for trying to be too fine, not wanting to give up homeruns, but it's taking me 90, 95, 100 pitches and not getting out of the fifth or sixth inning," he went on to say. "Just have to focus on trying to get deeper into games and attacking hitters more."
Kansas City Royals at Arizona Diamondbacks Apr 26, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Kansas City Royals (9-16) 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 11 0 Arizona Diamondbacks (12-14) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 W: Kris Bubic (1-4) L: Zac Gallen (2-3) S: Scott Barlow (4)
Wednesday, April 26th, 2023
When Jordan Lyles left the game after just two-thirds of an inning due to a lower back issue, Kris Bubic entered the game and gave the Royals 6 1/3 superb innings out of the bullpen, throwing ninety-seven pitches to help the Royals sweep the Diamondbacks in their house, culminating in a 3-1 victory. Bubic scattered six hits and a walk while striking out five. Amir Garrett and Scott Barlow each pieced together scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth, respectively, with Barlow picking up his fourth save in five tries.
"The plan was to start Kris tomorrow night in Minnesota, but we went ahead and bumped him up, and we'll give Ryan (Yarbrough) the start tomorrow night," said manager Matt Quatraro. "Kris did a great job for us in a pinch."
However, Quatraro also delivered some potentially bad news -- Bubic indicated he dealt with some arm discomfort through the final inning of his outing, and he'll be re-evaluated later today, as he flew back to Kansas City to have the team doctors give a second opinion.
Kansas City also received some key hits from some unlikely sources -- Nicky Lopez and Nate Eaton each hit their first homerun of the season, and combined to go 5-for-7 with three runs scored, two homeruns, two doubles, and a walk. Bobby Witt Jr also went 2-for-5 with a stolen base, his fifth in the last four games.
Witt Jr's two hits extended his hitting streak to eight games, and since April 15th is 16-for-50 (.320) with a double, triple, and a pair of homeruns.
"One of the things that I was informed of when I got here, was that Bobby was a bit of a notoriously slow starter," Quatraro noted. "He's really getting into a rhythm at the plate, and now it's bled over into his baserunning, as he's such a weapon for us on the basepaths."
UP NEXT: at Minnesota Twins (04/27 -- 04/30)Comment
MLB NEWS (04/27)
OAKLAND MAKES FIRST BIG MOVE IN RELOCATION SAGA
The biggest news of the season so far happened over the weekend, as the Athletics' organization made the first real step in relocating from the Bay Area, entering a contract to purchase a 49-acre plot of land just off the Las Vegas Strip. The amount of the contract for the land is unknown at this time.
There's still a lot to unpack when it comes to what's next, and nothing is guaranteed at this point. They still have to figure out how to come up with the remaining $500 million of the $1.5B project, with $1B coming from Las Vegas itself. It's widely expected some sort of additional sales tax or bond issue will be brought up to the voters of Clark County to help finance, but they'll have to get through MLB first and apply for relocation. If that is approved, the other owners will have to approve the move, which is widely expected to be the case.
For the past handful of years, the A's have been working parallel deals, with both cities offering up to $1B to help defray some of the costs of building a new stadium, although Oakland reportedly couldn't offer the same guarantees when it came to public funding. In an interview with Jeff Passan of ESPN, team president Dave Kaval said: "This is a massive deal for our franchise and for the whole league."
Is it, though? The A's have been flirting with relocation for the better part of the last fifteen to twenty years. O.co Coliseum is one of the worst facilities not only in baseball, but possibly in all of professional sports -- it was the home of the NFL's Raiders for a long time, as we all know, and the situation hasn't improved since they left prior to the 2021 season.
One of the other pressing questions -- will the team keep the A's? Yes, per Kaval.
"We've been around since 1901," he said in the ESPN interview with Passan. "Charter member of the American League, the Athletics. We've already been in three markets. We feel strongly that the A's are such a powerful brand, it's something we're going to continue with the Las Vegas A's."
The mandate by MLB to have a decision is set to run out after next season, but it seems unlikely a stadium would be ready by then. They could extend the lease with Oakland temporarily, or play at their Triple-A team's site for a few years in Vegas while the stadium is completed. Commissioner Rob Manfred was nothing but positive after the contract was announced.
"We support the A's turning their focus on Las Vegas and look forward to them bringing finality to this process by the end of the year," he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Wednesday.Comment
ROYALS MAILBAG (04/27)
ROYALS MAILBAG -- VOL. 1; ED. 1
The 2023 season is now well underway, and the Royals have gotten off to a slow start with a 9-16 record, although they are coming off a sweep of the Diamondbacks on the road. Four games with Minnesota remain on tap beginning tonight before they'll head back home for their longest homestand to date beginning May 2nd, as they'll square off with Baltimore, Oakland, and the White Sox for ten games total.
Who is an 'under-the-radar' type prospect who could have a Vinnie Pasquantino-like impact?
For context, Pasquantino was drafted in the 11th round back in 2019, so we're looking for someone that was drafted in a later round, or not drafted at all, that could be a contributor as soon as this season.
There are several prospects in mind, but Tucker Bradley is the best comp I can come up with. Signed as a free agent after the five-round 2020 draft, Bradley is someone that the coaching staff and front office have absolutely raved about in the last year. In nearly one-thousand plate appearances in the minors to date, the outfielder been one of the most consistent bat-on-ball prospects in the system with a decent strikeout rate of just 19.2%, while working to an 11.2% walk rate, also solidly above-average.
He won't hit for power like Pasquantino does, which limits his ceiling, but maybe a more apt description of Bradley's game might be Andrew Benintendi. His contact-heavy, line-drive approach would work well in cavernous Kauffman Stadium, or if the new proposed ballpark downtown is spacious like the K is.
Still, despite the lack of out-of-the-park power, his career minor league slash is .290/.378/.448, which is nothing to sneeze at. He's also a good base-stealer, swiping 34-of-42 bases in his short career to date.
After the shortened draft concluded in 2020, Bradley was one of the top handful of players still left on the board, and the Royals were in on him quickly after the draft ended, signing him to the max-allowed $20,000 bonus at the time. Bradley specificially cited Kansas City as a desired destination for him, as he mentioned the hitting apparatus that was in place in the minors under Alec Zumwalt, now the Royals' full-time hitting coach.
Was Matt Quatraro justified in media criticism last week?
Yes and no. There haven't been any rumors of any 'state of the locker room' issues, and he's right, it's just way too early to speculate that kind of stuff as a reason why the team got off to such a slow start. That said, this is a results-oriented business; there's some palpable frustration coming from reporters (via fans and consumers of media), also amongst grumbling that ownership is worried too much about a potential new downtown stadium than trying to make the team better.
They don't generally solicit questions from readers/consumers directly, but reporters that cover the beats for these teams ask questions that reflect where the fanbase is. For what it's worth, this reporter is very well-regarded around the league, and is one of the more thoughtful ones out there.
Quatraro is also one of the newer-age managers that is really in tune with statistics and advanced analytics (coming from the Rays, he should be!). I mean, the Royals are one of the unluckier teams in league with exit velo's; and they have a pretty poor record with one-run contests, which are subject to a lot of statistical noise. They have one of the worst records in the league, but their run differential suggests they're two or three wins better per Pythag, mainly due to their strong starting pitching to date.
Do they need to be better? Yes. Any way you slice it, 9-16 is poor and shouldn't be acceptable in any situation. It took a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks just to get to that win total, and it's not going to get any easier when they go to the Twin Cities to finish off the road trip (and the month). The good news is that Bobby Witt Jr appears to be hitting his stride after his usual early-season struggles, currently riding an eight-game hitting streak, and hitting safely in ten of his last eleven games; and Pasquantino has had a superb road trip to date with seven hits, including a couple of homeruns, through the first six games of the trip.
What would a potential BWJ extension look like?
It's tough to say right now. Up front, he's not getting anything close to Wander Franco's extension, or even Ronald Acuna Jr's eight-year, $100M deal signed recently (at least right now). I think BWJ has comparable talent, but the production hasn't been there yet. That said, I think there is a reasonable market for him -- Washington recently signed catcher Keibert Ruiz to $50 million over the next eight seasons. Shortstop and catcher are two premium defensive positions, so that kind of cancels out. But BWJ outshines Ruiz in pretty much most offensive categories with the exception of fewer walks and more strikeouts.
Despite that last snippet, Witt has a better OPS+ (100 to 90) and wRC+ (96 to 91) than Ruiz, so it stands to reason that over the long-term, Witt Jr is likely a better investment, even considering he'll cost more over the long run. I do think it will take a double-digit year commitment, but I'm less sure on the AAV -- it could be structured in a way that doesn't challenge the Royals' payroll in future years -- I don't want to speculate on that quite yet.
This all assumes that both sides are talking extension -- the Royals have come out and said that they would love to entertain an extension, but there's really nothing to be gained for either side at this point. The Royals entering into something too hastily, unless it was incredibly team-friendly, wouldn't be in their best interest. It's also not in Witt's best interest, unless the Royals blow him away with something in Franco's ballpark or better (Tatis Jr?), which isn't happening.
A huge 2023 campaign could certainly change the calculus, however, and that might be what the Witt camp is waiting for. On the flip side, a major injury could also hamper his future value down the road, so that's something else for his camp to consider.
Have we seen the last of Hunter Dozier in a Royals uniform?
I don't think so, by a longshot. Remember, he's under contract at least through next season, although it's certainly possible they'll look to move him before then if he can return to some semblance of his form from 2019 post-injury. He doesn't really have any platoon splits to fall back on; he's only slightly better over his career against LHP as opposed to RHP, with an OPS+ of 101 to 99.
Right now, the timetable for Dozier's return is likely going to be a month or more, as he'll need a stop in Omaha to knock some rust off before getting back to the major league club. He's resumed normal activity in recent days, so it appears he's on schedule at the very least.
The question is, who does he bump from the roster? The player called up in his place, Maikel Garcia, has shown pretty well in his limited action so far, with a .715 OPS and a couple of homeruns on his ledger. He's also a more athletic version of Dozier, with his ability to play multiple spots. Nate Eaton has picked things up in the last week, going 4-for-8 with two doubles, a homerun, four runs scored, and two walks against no strikeouts in his last three starts. Franmil Reyes has been a strikeout machine, but he's generally made pretty loud contact when he doesn't with four homeruns, third on the squad behind only Sal Perez and Vinnie Pasquantino.Comment
KANSAS CITY @ MINNESOTA (04/27 -- 04/30)
Series Recap: Minnesota Twins
By Will Keeler | Kansas City Star | May 1st, 2023
Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins Apr 27, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Kansas City Royals (9-17) 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 Minnesota Twins (17-9) 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 X 4 8 0 W: Sonny Gray (4-0) L: Ryan Yarbrough (0-3) S: Jhoan Duran (5)
Thursday, April 27th, 2023
With his solo homerun in the fourth to break a 3-3 tie, Byron Buxton essentially provided the game-winning hit all the way back in that inning as the Royals couldn't get much of anything going after that in a 4-3 loss to open a four-game road series with their division rival Minnesota.
Kansas City missed some opportunties early on to add to their totals, but baserunning errors or simple lack of situational hitting did them in. In the first inning, MJ Melendez and Bobby Witt Jr worked back-to-back walks against Sonny Gray, who would go on to get the win despite allowing four more free passes. But a double steal failed, as Melendez was thrown out at third base with one out, and then Salvador Perez flied out to end that inning.
Again, the first two hitters reached in the second inning, as Kyle Isbel homered, followed by a Michael Massey double. Nate Eaton then walked, setting up Jackie Bradley Jr's sac bunt to push both runners into scoring position. But they barely were able to capitalize, as Nicky Lopez's groundout plated one, followed by a Melendez strikeout to end the inning that started out so promising.
"It was kind of the theme of the game," said manager Matt Quatraro. "We had traffic on the bases in the early going, and just couldn't deliver the knockout blow." The Royals added a tally in the third on an RBI double from Isbel, but they were held off the board the rest of the game by Gray and a trio of relievers, capped off by Jhoan Duran's save.
Kansas City also got runners into scoring position in the sixth and eighth innings, but couldn't capitalize on those chances either, as they stranded them with two outs. In all, they left nine men on base.
Kansas City Royals vs Minnesota Twins Apr 28, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E Kansas City Royals (10-17) 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 4 7 0 Minnesota Twins (17-10) 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 0 W: Dylan Coleman (2-0) L: Jhoan Duran (1-1) S: Scott Barlow (5)
Friday, April 28th, 2023
Bobby Witt Jr's two-out RBI single in the top of the 10th pushed Kansas City to an extra-inning win over the Twins, giving the Royals their first dub over the Twins this season, and evening up their four-game series at one win each.
Witt pounded out three more hits, including a pair of doubles and a stolen base. He was also thrown out trying to steal in the 10th, his first time being caught this season.
Despite giving up three solo homeruns, Zack Greinke still put up a solid stat line -- 7 2/3 innings, seven hits, one walk, three strikeouts, although didn't factor into the decision. Scott Barlow pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his fifth save, striking out a pair in the process.
"It was great to come out on the winning end of one of these close games for once," manager Matt Quatraro quipped. "Bobby came up for us in the 10th with a big, clutch hit, and Scott (Barlow) locked it down in the bottom of the inning."
Witt Jr's game-winning single was the third of his three hits on the day, as he also doubled in each of his previous two at-bats. Maikel Garcia also went 2-for-4 on the day, including his first MLB triple.
Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins (Game One) Apr 30, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Kansas City Royals (10-18) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 4 0 Minnesota Twins (18-10) 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 X 5 9 0 W: Tyler Mahle (3-2) L: Brad Keller (1-3) S: Jhoan Duran (6)
Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins (Game Two) Apr 30, 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Kansas City Royals (10-19) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 9 0 Minnesota Twins (19-10) 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 X 4 7 0 W: Jovani Moran (1-1) L: Aroldis Chapman (0-1) S: Jhoan Duran (7)
Sunday, April 30th, 2023
Thanks to some inclemeent weather that rolled through the Twin Cities on Saturday, the Twins and Royals met up for a day-night double header, with the Twins taking the first game 5-2. In the nightcap, Salvador Perez hit a two-run homerun to give the Royals a 3-2 lead heading into the eighth, but a two-run double from Kyle Farmer in the bottom of that frame was the game-winning hit as Minnesota also claimed the second game by a 4-3 score.
Tyler Mahle nearly went the distance in the first game, going 8 1/3 innings before getting run from the game after a Bobby Witt Jr double with just one out. Witt ended the month on a high note, going 4-for-8 in the two games with a double and a stolen base, although he struck out four times. He's reached base safely in his last twelve games, and has hit safely in fifteen of his last nineteen games. Vinnie Pasquantino was 3-for-8 in all with a double in the first game, and a solo homerun in the second.
Jorge Alcala, called up from Triple-A as the 27th man on the roster, could only get one out in relief of Mahle before having to yield to the closer, Jhoan Duran. Duran came in with two men on base and allowed one to score, but got Michael Massey to fly out to left with two men on to end the first game. Duran would also pick up the save in the nightcap, working a full inning.
"Just a tough way to end the trip," said Royals manager Matt Quatraro. "After getting knocked around by the Angels last week, we won all three in Arizona, and split the first two games here before tonight. Feel like we missed an opportunity here to get a .500 road trip."
Aroldis Chapman got the first two outs of the eighth in the second game, only to then issue back-to-back walks to put runners on first and second. Instead of going to Scott Barlow for a four-out save, Quatraro opted to bring in Jose Cuas despite only stranding three-of-nine runners on the season to date.
"We had a good matchup, I thought," Quatraro mused afterwards. "The ball wasn't hard hit, and it took a pretty funny hop on Nate (Eaton), and it allowed the runner from first that extra second or two to get home."
On the plus side, Brady Singer looked like the pitcher that graced the mound on most days for Kansas City -- six innings, five hits, two walks, eight strikeouts -- his manager was pleased at his performance.
"He threw ninety-eight pitches and almost seventy strikes," he noted of the right-hander. "He took a good approach in attacking the zone, and while he gave up a couple of homeruns, they didn't do a ton of damage and we were able to stay in the game all the way through."
Witt Jr's two hits extended his hitting streak to eight games, and since April 15th is 16-for-50 (.320) with a double, triple, and a pair of homeruns.
"One of the things that I was informed of when I got here, was that Bobby was a bit of a notoriously slow starter," Quatraro noted. "He's really getting into a rhythm at the plate, and now it's bled over into his baserunning, as he's such a weapon for us on the basepaths."
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