MLB News (05/30)
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Royal Rumblings (05/30)
Royal Rumblings
By Brian Douglas | Kansas City Star | May 30th, 2022
Gallagher Activated; Rivero Sent Down: The Royals have activated catcher Cam Gallagher from his rehab assignment to the minors in advance of tonight's opening game of a three-game series in Cleveland. Sebastian Rivero was optioned to Triple-A to make room on the roster for the veteran Gallagher.
Right-hander Jon Heasley was also optioned to Triple-A, allowing the Royals to re-call the red-hot Carlos Hernandez from the Storm Chasers. Since optioning him to Triple-A on May 2nd, Hernandez has been on a tear -- in four starts with Omaha, covering 27 2/3 innings, he struck out twenty-five while walking just eight and scattering fifteen hits with a 0.98 ERA.
Heasley had a great season debut with the Royals through his first two starts, going 12 1/3 innings while allowing just two earned runs in a pair of Royals' victories, but allowed 17 ER over his last three starts, covering an additional 12 1/3 innings to balloon his ERA to 6.93.
Santana to Embark On Rehab Assignment: First baseman Carlos Santana will head to Double-A NW Arkansas to complete a short rehab assignment, as he's expected back with the club in time for the Royals' home series with Houston that begins on June 3rd.
Santana had been on the injured list since May 8th with a hamstring injury; and is not expected to get any at-bats at Triple-A before getting re-called back to the Royals.
It's been a rough season so far for the veteran at the dish -- slashing a .493 OPS (.153/.271/.222) through eighty-five plate appearances. He's slated to earn a total of $10.5 million this season.Comment
Series Preview: Kansas City (20-26) @ Cleveland (25-21)
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PITCHING MATCHUPS
05/30: RHP Zack Greinke (1-4, 4.08) vs RHP Cal Quantrill (3-1, 4.40)
05/31: RHP Brad Keller (1-3, 2.61) vs RHP Aaron Civale (2-1, 1.57)
06/01: RHP Carlos Hernandez (0-1, 6.23) vs RHP Zach Plesac (2-4, 4.60)
WHO'S HOT?
RHP Aaron Civale, Cleveland -- 13 IP, 11 K, 0 ER (2 starts)
3B Jose Ramirez, Cleveland -- 8 G, 12-for-29 (.414) 2B, 4 HR
WHO'S NOT?
OF Oscar Mercado, Cleveland -- 2-for-22 (.091), 2B, 6 K
2B Whit Merrifield, Kansas City -- 7G, 3-for-26 (.113), 2B, 5 K
CLEVELAND INJURED LIST
OF Franmil Reyes (ankle) -- 10-day IL
KANSAS CITY INJURED LIST
RHP Scott Barlow (elbow) -- 10-day IL
RHP Jonathan Bowlan (elbow) -- 60-day IL
LHP Richard Lovelady (elbow) -- 60-day IL
SS Adalberto Mondesi (knee) -- 10-day IL
OF Edward Olivares (quad) -- 10-day IL
IF Emmanuel Rivera (elbow) -- 10-day ILComment
Kansas City @ Cleveland (05/30 -- 06/01)
Series Recap: Cleveland Guardians
By Brian Douglas | Kansas City Star | June 2nd, 2022
Kansas City Royals at Cleveland Guardians May 30, 2022 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E Kansas City Royals (20-27) 0 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 2 0 7 10 0 Cleveland Guardians (26-21) 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 8 13 0 W: Trevor Stephan (2-3) L: Joel Payamps (0-1) S: None
Monday, May 30th, 2022
Myles Straw poked a single just over the outstretched glove of Ryan O'Hearn at first base, and Andres Gimenez scored from second base as the Indians won 8-7 in eleven innings, walk-off style. The Royals had a chance to win it in the 10th after Nicky Lopez's two-run, two-out single put the Royals up 7-5. But Josh Naylor had other ideas, smacking a two-run homerun off the Royals' closer in this one, lefty Amir Garrett, in the bottom of the inning.
It's the third walk-off defeat in the last five games for Kansas City, as they continue to slump into the month of June on a sour note. Joel Payamps took the loss, as he was on the mound for the walk-off hit from Straw.
Zack Greinke got the start, and was knocked around a bit -- allowing a pair of homeruns in the fourth inning to Jesus Aguilar and Gabriel Arias. Otherwise, it was a typical Greinke outing -- 5 2/3 innings, seven hits, a walk, and no strikeouts.
Aguilar was acquired on Saturday from the Marlins for Amed Rosario, who had kinda fallen out of favor with Indians' brass, especially with a nice crop of young infielders already on their 40-man roster. Aguilar had slowly been losing playing time in Miami, and was designated for assignment on Friday, only to be traded the next day.
Kansas City Royals at Cleveland Guardians May 31, 2022 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E Kansas City Royals (21-27) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 9 0 Cleveland Guardians (26-22) 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 0 W: Jake Brentz (1-3) L: Emmanuel Clase (4-4) S: None
Tuesday, May 31st, 2022
Playing their third extra-inning contest in a row, the Royals used an RBI single from Salvador Perez to escape with a 3-2 victory in eleven innings. Jake Brentz picked up his first win of the season in relief, going 1 1/3 scoreless frames.
Brad Keller made the start, but couldn't get out of the sixth inning, as he left the contest with an apparent arm injury. He left last week's start with back tightness, but ended up not needing to miss any time. Manager Mike Matheny didn't sound as optimistic regarding this latest setback, however.
"He told us he threw about a half-dozen or so pitches with some tightness," pitching coach Cal Eldred disclosed. "We noticed that his velocity began to taper off much sooner than normal, so we went out to the mound, and sure enough, he mentioned that he felt some discomfort in that arm."
Nicky Lopez led the offensive attack with three hits and a pair of RBI, scoring Bobby Witt, Jr., both times in the earlier innings. Lopez himself came around to score on Perez' single in the 11th. BWJ also had three hits, all singles, raising his average to .244 on the season, which is the highest it's been to date. He also drew a walk, reaching base four times in all.
Kansas City Royals at Cleveland Guardians Jun 1, 2022 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E Kansas City Royals (21-28) 0 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 1 0 1 8 14 2 Cleveland Guardians (27-22) 1 1 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 3 10 14 0 W: Trevor Stephan (3-3) L: Dylan Coleman (0-1) S: None
Wednesday, June 1st, 2022
The Royals set a new team record with their fourth straight extra-inning contest, and were walked off for the fourth time in a week as Ernie Clement's two-run homerun broke an 8-8 tie with two outs in the bottom of the 11th in a 10-8 defeat to Cleveland.
It's the first time a team has played four straight extra inning games since Seattle and Texas did it over an entire four-game series from September 16th-19th, 2002. To make matters worse, the Royals have seen three pitchers in the last two games exit early with injuries, adding two more in Wednesday night's game alone.
Carlos Hernandez, just re-called after an outstanding stretch in Triple-A, left after just facing six hitters with lower back tightness. The man who relieved him, righty Taylor Clarke, left limping off the mound favoring his left (plant) leg in the third inning.
These setbacks followed Brad Keller leaving the game early in yesterday's win with an elbow issue. He's expected to go on the injured list tomorrow morning.
"The last week has been really taxing on our guys," said manager Mike Matheny with a nervous chuckle following the contest. "Thankfully, we have some off days coming up over the next few weeks, so we can catch our breath a little bit."Comment
MLB News (06/02)
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Royal Rumblings (06/02)
Royal Rumblings
By Brian Douglas | Kansas City Star | June 2nd, 2022
Royals Make Host Of Roster Moves: The guy that the Royals have counted on the most in the rotation so far this year, righty Brad Keller, was placed on the 10-day injured list with what was termed as a flexor-pronator strain in his throwing elbow. It's typically an injury that can put you out for several weeks, so the Royals' usually-conservative estimate that he'll be out from three to four weeks seems to be about right.
In his place, the Royals promoted southpaw Angel Zerpa to the major league club for his second MLB stint in as many years, going 5-2 with a 2.83 in nine starts between Double and Triple-A, the last two starts coming with Triple-A Omaha prior to being called up.
Also making his second stint with the Royals in the last three seasons is fellow lefty Foster Griffin, who threw 1 2/3 innings with the Royals in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, only leaving due to an elbow injury that resulted in Tommy John surgery. Since he wasn't on the 40-man, Adalberto Mondesi was moved to the 60-day injured list to make room.
Griffin is replacing Carlos Hernandez, who was added to the 10-day IL with a lower back strain. Scott Barlow is also expected to return in time for tomorrow night's series opener with Houston, and will not need to detour to the minors to rehab.
Santana Returns; Garcia Optioned Back To Double-A: First baseman/designated hitter Carlos Santana was activated today from his rehab assignment in Double-A, and will likely be in the starting lineup tomorrow against Houston when the two teams begin a three-game series in K.C.
To make room, infielder Maikel Garcia was optioned back to Double-A after appearing in three games with the Royals, making two starts. He went 1-for-6 with a walk and a run scored, also appearing as a defensive replacement in the Royals' 3-2 win on Tuesday night in Cleveland.Comment
Royals Mailbag (06/02)
Royals Mailbag
By Brian Douglas | Kansas City Star | June 2nd, 2022
At the 30% of the season mark (roughly 49 games), the Royals sit seven games below .500, have fired their hitting coach, rank in the bottom-third league-wide in most hitting categories, and have fallen largely out of the race just past the Memorial Day weekend milestone. Still, Dayton Moore and the Royals' brass insist this is a contending team. It would take a minor miracle to pull that off, considering they're starting to lose pitchers left and right to the injured list, and guys like Whit Merrifield, Carlos Santana, and Hunter Dozier have yet to really get going.
As expected, the front office and coaching staff were hot topics received over the past few days. Edited for length and clarity, as usual.
Who is the real decision-maker in the front office -- Dayton Moore or J.J. Picollo?
This is the $1 million question right now. It's been pretty widely reported (and confirmed by his own words) that Moore was the final choice on firing Terry Bradshaw. Moore has always been one of the more forthcoming people in baseball over the last twenty years. But at the same time, he said he had "input from others" in the decision, and it was later found out that Picollo had a pretty big hand in the decision, perhaps so much as to completely change Moore's mind on the matter as recently as the night before the decision was made. Based on some press conferences and interviews in the wake of the firing, Moore became a little on the defensive side when it came to his role in the decision.
If there's one thing that Moore hates, it's firing people. It was past time to fire Trey Hillman back in 2010, and it might have cost the organization a few years in development. He never should have been hired in the first place. Loyalty is a good quality. But it begs the question, has Moore lost his competitive edge? Is he the right man to continue the rebuild? And if not, why would you keep anyone associated with the front office right now if you're the owner, John Sherman? He's the linchpin in all of this.
Is Mike Matheny officially on the hot seat now with the ousting of the hitting coach? Is Cal Eldred next?
Hitting coaches are typically sacrificial lambs. It's possible that the Royals fire Eldred, but I don't think it will be until the end of the season, if at all. They have a lot invested in the 2018 pitching class that has been more cold than hot since they all pretty much arrived in the last two-plus seasons, and Eldred has been their coach for the whole time. To me, Bradshaw being out has more to do with the struggles of the older guys like Whit Merrifield, Hunter Dozier, and Carlos Santana; as opposed to the slow starts that Nicky Lopez, MJ Melendez, and Bobby Witt, Jr., got off to.
The former three were supposed to be the backbone of a team that hoped to potentially be in the playoff race until the end, or near the end this season. They've been...anything but. I mean, I hate to throw around the 'W' word for a guy that this city loves, but Merrifield looks....washed. Santana is already there. Dozier just hasn't been the same since his Covid bout a few years ago.
Unfortunately, I don't see Alec Zumwalt as the ultimate answer for hitting coach, either, although he may be able to do some good things through the rest of the season with BWJ, Melendez, Vinnie Pasquantino, and Nick Pratto as he's been credited (along with new assistant Mike Tosar) in turning around the careers of the above latter three down in the minors. It also stands to reason that he'll look to implement some things at the major league level that they've done in the minors, as Zumwalt has not been able to interact much with the major league coaching staff at all.
I do see Zumwalt, however, sticking around for the rest of the season before Tosar, John Mabry, or Keoni DeRenne (another asst. hitting coach) takes over full-time in 2023. My money is on Tosar, as he's been a big influence on Salvador Perez's power surge, with DeRenne staying on to assist, or taking over as a top hitting coach in the minor affiliates. If Mabry gets the job on a permanent basis, I might have to suspend my fandom until he's gone.
What will it take to end the Royals' relationship with Ryan O'Hearn?
O'Hearn is arguably the town's number-one whipping boy right now, and I think it's well-deserved. However, what the Royals really have is a Carlos Santana problem. He's just off the injured list and playing down in Northwest Arkansas to get his feet back under him, but the Royals really, really need something out of him when he gets back so they can offload him to a contender.
Santana's arguably the better player between the two, but his $10.5 million price tag for 2022 is looking like highway robbery on the part of the player right now. O'Hearn at around a million or so is a bit easier to swallow, even with his awful production to this point. Additionally, since he's out of options after this season and has reached the arbitration milestone, they can non-tender him this offseason; possibly to bring him back for minor league depth.
What does Vinnie Pasquantino need to do to get a look with the Royals?
Right now, it's a lack of opportunities. They have a logjam at first base and DH with Santana, Dozier, Melendez, and O'Hearn. It's unfortunate, but the way the Royals have always operated is that they will park a guy in the minors like a Pasquantino, and he'll sit there crushing Triple-A competition until an opportunity opens up. But they've reached the end of the line with at least two, if not three, of these above players. Santana can't stay healthy, and isn't productive when he is. The Royals have been hoping that O'Hearn will regain his 2018 form in 2022, but he is what he is at this point.
Dozier is a bit trickier. He's more versatile defensively than the other two, but is having the same offensive problems the others are, and he's owed money through 2024. A Dozier/Pasquantino platoon at DH would be ideal, but the aforementioned Santana and O'Hearn are effectively blocking him (this all applies to Nick Pratto, too).
Will any of the vaunted 2018 class of pitchers work out?
I've seen some good things out of Daniel Lynch and Brady Singer. Singer's turd of a performance last Friday notwithstanding, he was possibly on his way to AL Pitcher of the Month before that game. I don't have a ton of hope that Kris Bubic or Jackson Kowar figure things out, although both have been better in recent weeks down in Omaha.
Their second-rounder from that year, Jonathan Bowlan, is out for at least the next few months recovering from elbow surgery, and may not pitch the rest of the season dependent on his recovery. Jon Heasley has had some nice moments so far, but I want to see more consistency out of him, which is likely why he was sent back down. He was picked in the 13th round that year.
There are actually a couple of guys down in the minors from that class who were mostly picked much later that I also really like. I'm really paying attention to these guys -- Austin Cox, LHP (5th Round), Zach Haake, RHP (6th), Christian Cosby, RHP (14th), and Josh Dye, LHP (23rd).
Haake is a exceptionally fascinating prospect because he could probably help out the Royals in the bullpen right now with his power stuff (and the fact he'll be 26 later this season in Double-A), but J.J. Picollo has said in the past they want him to start. Why is he still languishing in Double-A then? Yes, he has some command issues (22 BB in 45 IP), but has allowed just two homeruns, and both of those were in his last start on Sunday! The Royals need guys that can miss bats, and he's put up impressive strikeout numbers in a hitter-friendly league.
I've seen a lot of talk that the Royals would be silly to not trade Andrew Benintendi. I think they would be silly if they did trade him. He's young and should sign if the Royals can get him for at least four to five years. Tell me I'm wrong.
This team isn't very good, and probably won't be for the next few years. He's a free agent at the end of the year, and likely would get a pretty nice chunk of change on the open market this offseason. He's also one of the few non-auto outs in the lineup right now, Salvador Perez being the other (although, I'm impressed with what Kyle Isbel is doing in limited action). If he can stay relatively productive through June (say, .300/.335/.475), I think he could be had for a couple of C-level prospects.Comment
Re: One Royal Way (OOTP 23)
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PITCHING MATCHUPS
06/03: LHP Framber Valdez (3-3, 4.69) vs RHP Brady Singer (2-1, 5.34)
06/04: RHP Justin Verlander (4-2, 2.81) vs LHP Daniel Lynch (3-3, 4.91)
06/05: RHP Forrest Whitley (3-1, 4.82) vs RHP Zack Greinke (1-4, 4.30)
WHO'S HOT?
Alex Bregman, Houston -- 11-for-24 (.458), 3 2B, 3 HR, 3 BB
Mauricio Dubon, Houston -- 9-for-21 (.429), 2B, 3B, HR, 5 BB
WHO'S NOT?
Bryan Abreu, Houston -- 15 IP, 17 ER, 10.80 ERA
Kyle Isbel, Kansas City -- 2-for-21 (.095)
Carlos Santana, Kansas City -- 3-for-23 (.130), 3 BB
CLEVELAND INJURED LIST
RHP Hunter Brown (elbow) -- 10-day IL
RHP Shawn Dubin (elbow) -- 10-day IL
RHP Cristian Javier (shoulder) -- 60-day IL
RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (elbow) -- 60-day IL
RHP Jake Odorizzi (elbow) -- 60-day IL
KANSAS CITY INJURED LIST
RHP Jonathan Bowlan (elbow) -- 60-day IL
RHP Taylor Clarke (knee) -- 10-day IL
RHP Carlos Hernandez (back) -- 10-day IL
RHP Brad Keller (elbow) -- 10-day IL
LHP Richard Lovelady (elbow) -- 60-day IL
SS Adalberto Mondesi (knee) -- 60-day IL
OF Edward Olivares (quad) -- 10-day IL
IF Emmanuel Rivera (elbow) -- 10-day ILComment
Houston @ Kansas City (06/03 -- 06/05)
Series Recap: Houston Astros
By Brian Douglas | Kansas City Star | June 6th, 2022
Houston Astros at Kansas City Royals Jun 3, 2022 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Houston Astros (31-21) 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 11 0 Kansas City Royals (22-28) 0 0 0 0 4 1 3 0 X 8 9 0 W: Brady Singer (3-1) L: Framber Valdez (3-4) S: None
Friday, June 3rd, 2022
Carlos Santana made a triumphant return to the lineup, hitting a three-run homerun in the fifth inning and drawing a pair of walks to help lead the Royals to an 8-3 victory in Friday night's tilt with Houston.
Kansas City could have actually scored much more, as they ended up leaving ten men on base in total. They had the bases loaded with one out in the third inning, and couldn't push any runs across. They had them loaded with two outs in the fourth as well, and could not score.
"Good to see Carlos back and swinging the bat well coming off the hamstring injury," said manager Mike Matheny, whose Royals are now 22-28 at the 50-game mark. "He's going to be pretty key for us if we're going to get back in this race."
It ended up not mattering much as Brady Singer cruised along through five pretty solid frames before encountering a rough sixth inning. He allowed three earned runs over six innings, although two of them came in back-to-back at-bats as Kyle Tucker and Yuli Gurriel went deep before bearing down and getting out of the frame.
He struck out five with no walks, allowing nine hits. Gabe Speier and Jake Brentz combined to throw three shutout frames in relief. Kyle Isbel also homered twice, giving him three for the season. He was 3-for-3 with two runs scored, three RBI, and a walk.
Houston Astros at Kansas City Royals Jun 4, 2022 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Houston Astros (31-22) 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 11 0 Kansas City Royals (23-28) 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 X 7 10 0 W: Daniel Lynch (4-3) L: Justin Verlander (4-3) S: None
Saturday, June 4th, 2022
Homeruns from Whit Merrifield and Salvador Perez were the catalysts for the Royals' 7-2 win over the Astros; clinching their first series victory, as well as back-to-back wins, since May 6th and 7th at Baltimore. A single by Nicky Lopez, followed by a homerun from Merrifield off Justin Verlander put the Royals up 2-0 just two hitters into the bottom of the first.
After the Astros tied the game with single tallies in the fourth and sixth, Perez's 19th homerun of the season gave the Royals the lead that they wouldn't give back, as they went on to add three more in the eighth to pad their advantage.
"It's good to see us string some hits together against a pretty solid group of pitchers like they have," manager Mike Matheny said, referring to the Astros. "Whit's been swinging the bat better lately, Sal has seen some good pitches to drive."
Daniel Lynch picked up his fourth win of the season, tying Collin Snider for the team lead. He went 6 1/3 innings, striking out three with one walk while scattering seven hits. Michael A. Taylor picked up three hits, including a stolen base.
Houston Astros at Kansas City Royals Jun 5, 2022 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Houston Astros (32-22) 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 1 0 7 11 1 Kansas City Royals (23-29) 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 5 7 1 W: Zac Rosscup (1-0) L: Zack Greinke (1-5) S: Ryan Pressly (12)
Sunday, June 5th, 2022
The Astros' duo of Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman proved to be too much for Royals' pitching in the final game of the series, as the two combined to go 7-for-8 with a double and four RBI, as they handed the Royals a 7-5 defeat to close it out.
Kansas City actually held a slim lead in the late innings, thanks to another outstanding outing from former Astro Zack Greinke. The veteran righty allowed just two earned runs in 6 2/3 innings, but left the game with two men on due to an earlier throwing error by rookie third baseman Bobby Witt, Jr.
Gabe Speier entered the game to face Yordan Alvarez in relief of Greinke, but his ensuing single kicked off back-to-back-to-back hits from he, Tucker, and Bregman to plate both of the unearned runs, and he would go on to allow Alvarez to score on Bregman's hit. A solo homerun to Jason Castro to lead off the eighth finally chased him from the game in favor of Dylan Coleman.
"I think we missed some opportunities earlier in the game to get some runs on the board, so I'm not going to lay it all at Bobby's feet," said skipper Mike Matheny. "But that's a play that you have to have in that situation, and he'll get better for it."Comment
MLB News (06/06)
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Royal Rumblings (06/06)
Royals Mailbag
By Brian Douglas | Kansas City Star | June 6th, 2022
Royals Make A Trade! Well, kind of. The Royals swapped minor league southpaws, sending Marcelo Martinez to the Tigers for Matt Walker. Martinez has consistently out-performed his actual career minor league ERA of 4.00, posting FIP and SIERA figures of 3.73 and 3.03, but with recent draftees like Alec Marsh, Jon Heasley, and Zach Haake working their way through the upper minors, the Royals have tapped into that depth to get a bit younger.
Drafted in the 13th round in 2019 out of Illinois State, Walker finally got his first real taste of pro ball last year in his age-22 season with the Single-A affiliate of the Tigers, the Lakeland Flying Tigers.He went 4-1 with a 4.09 ERA in twenty-five appearances (four starts), striking out sixty-two in 61 1/3 innings, allowing just three homeruns, which helped him achieve pretty tidy FIP and SIERA marks of 3.38 and 3.99, respectively.
However, he fell off the pace this year when getting a promotion to High-A West Michigan, posting a 6.95 ERA with eighteen walks in 22 innings there. He struck out twenty-eight with FIP and SIERA figures of 4.78 and 4.20, respectively, which reflect a bit of poor luck compared to the high ERA.
The move clears some more experienced depth in the upper minors, as the Royals immediately promoted Haake from Double-A to Triple-A to take Martinez's spot on the Storm Chasers' roster. He's expected to make his first start with his new team on Thursday.Comment
Series Preview: Toronto (23-30) @ Kansas City (23-29)
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PITCHING MATCHUPS
06/06: RHP Kevin Gausman (3-4, 3.53) vs LHP Foster Griffin (0-0, 0.00)
06/07: RHP Nate Pearson (0-2, 5.25) vs LHP Angel Zerpa (5-2, 2.83*)
06/08: RHP Alek Manoah (4-3, 4.17) vs RHP Brady Singer (3-1, 5.21)
WHO'S HOT?
None.
WHO'S NOT?
Yusei Kikuchi, Toronto -- 17 2/3 IP, 15 K, 20 ER
Gabriel Moreno, Toronto -- 2-for-25 (.080), 2B, 6 K
TORONTO INJURED LIST
LHP Ryan Borucki (elbow) -- 60-day IL
KANSAS CITY INJURED LIST
RHP Jonathan Bowlan (elbow) -- 60-day IL
RHP Taylor Clarke (knee) -- 10-day IL
RHP Carlos Hernandez (back) -- 10-day IL
RHP Brad Keller (elbow) -- 10-day IL
LHP Richard Lovelady (elbow) -- 60-day IL
SS Adalberto Mondesi (knee) -- 60-day IL
OF Edward Olivares (quad) -- 10-day IL
* denotes Double-A and Triple-A stats combined for 2022Comment
Toronto @ Kansas City (06/06 -- 06/09)
Series Recap: Toronto Blue Jays
By Brian Douglas | Kansas City Star | June 9th, 2022
Toronto Blue Jays at Kansas City Royals Jun 6, 2022 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Toronto Blue Jays (23-31) 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 10 1 Kansas City Royals (24-29) 5 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 X 7 11 1 W: Matt Peacock (1-1) L: Kevin Gausman (3-5) S: Scott Barlow (6)
Monday, June 6th, 2022
Kansas City jumped all over the Blue Jays from the start, clubbing five doubles in the first inning in building a 5-0 lead. They would later hold off several comeback attempts to post a 7-5 victory to open their series.
Toronto wasted little time in getting back into the game against Foster Griffin, making his second career MLB start, his first since early on in 2020.
They scored a pair in the second inning, and another pair of runs in the third to pull to within one. Bobby Witt, Jr.'s error helped score one run in the second; and then Griffin lost the strike zone in the third, issuing a pair of walks to go with a couple of singles and a sac fly. The Royals added a run in the bottom of the third to keep Toronto at arms' length.
Three different Royals had a pair of hits, with Andrew Benintendi leading the way by going 2-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI. Carlos Santana and Michael A. Taylor also collected a pair of hits for the Royals, who have won three of their first four games on the current homestand.
A scary moment early on -- Whit Merrifield was replaced in the first inning after his double, as he was hit on the knee by a thrown ball on the play at second. Per manager Mike Matheny he is listed day-to-day, but isn't expected to miss any time absent a setback.
Toronto Blue Jays at Kansas City Royals Jun 7, 2022 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Toronto Blue Jays (24-31) 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 1 6 11 0 Kansas City Royals (24-30) 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 5 10 0 W: Tim Mayza (2-0) L: Dylan Coleman (0-2) S: Jordan Romano (15)
Tuesday, June 7th, 2022
Up 3-0 heading into the seventh, the Royals seemingly had the Blue Jays on the ropes until Bo Bichette's two-out, three-run homerun against Gabe Speier tied the game at three, and then they went on to score three more times as the two teams went back and forth in the late innings in a 6-5 Royals defeat.
Just one inning after Bichette's homerun, Matt Chapman and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. each collected RBI hits to tie the game at five, just a half-inning after the Royals re-took the lead in the bottom of the seventh on Santana's two-run single.
Santana reached base four times, going 1-for-2 with the go-ahead hit and three free passes. Nicky Lopez extended his hitting streak to eleven games, and Whit Merrifield and Michael A. Taylor also each had two-hit games.
Lefty Angel Zerpa was the second straight Royals starting pitcher to make his season debut, after Foster Griffin made his first Royals start since 2020. Zerpa went four innings, allowing just one hit with four strikeouts over that span, but walked five and threw ninety-two pitches in just those four frames.
"He battled pretty well out there without his best stuff," said manager Mike Matheny of Zerpa. "He's a guy that we've watched progress over the past few years, and most of his pitches that missed the zone didn't appear to miss by a whole lot. I thought he threw well, even if the stat line doesn't look terribly clean."
A tense moment for Toronto happened in the bottom of the eighth, as right fielder Teoscar Hernandez slammed into the right-field wall near the foul pole chasing a flyball. He hung onto the ball for the out, but had to be removed from the game after suffering an apparent shoulder injury; and also appeared to be a little woozy after the collision, as well.
He was replaced by Raimel Tapia, and Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo listed Hernandez as day-to-day.
Toronto Blue Jays at Kansas City Royals Jun 8, 2022 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Toronto Blue Jays (24-32) 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 6 11 0 Kansas City Royals (25-30) 1 2 0 1 1 2 0 0 X 7 11 0 W: Brady Singer (4-1) L: Alek Manoah (4-4) S: Josh Staumont (5)
Wednesday, June 8th, 2022
Three RBI on three hits from Nicky Lopez helped lead the Royals over Toronto 7-6 to claim their second straight series victory, days after taking two of three from the wildcard-leading Astros.
In addition to extending his hit streak to a dozen games, his double broke a 1-1 tie in the second to give the Royals a small lead that they would maintain throughout the entire game, as the Blue Jays were constantly playing catch-up.
It wasn't his most outstanding performance, but Brady Singer gutted through 5 1/3 innings to pick up his fourth victory of the season, becoming the third Royals pitcher to reach that mark so far.
He only walked one with two strikeouts, allowing four earned runs on seven hits. Josh Staumont picked up his fifth save of the season, getting four outs as he came in with two down in the eighth.Comment
MLB News (06/09)
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Royal Rumblings (06/09)
Royal Rumblings
By Brian Douglas | Kansas City Star | June 9th, 2022
Three Royal Minor Leaguers Honored: Omaha first baseman/designated hitter Vinnie Pasquantino and Columbia infielder Francis Grullon were honored by their respective leagues as their Batter of the Month for the month of May.
The 24-year-old Pasquantino hit eleven homeruns in the month, driving in seventeen runs and scoring twenty-three runs. He hit .345, also hitting ten doubles and a triple in the process.
Columbia, which is the Royals' Single-A affiliate for the Carolina League in Columbia, S.C., claimed that league's Batter of the Month in Grullon. Just twenty-one, Grullon hit .363 with five homeruns, a dozen two-baggers, and a pair of triples with nineteen runs scored.
A third Royals farmhand also earned league-wide honors, this time in the Texas League -- infielder Michael Massey, who could be someone to watch out for later this season, earned his second Texas League Player of the Week honor of the season.
After a bit of a slow start to the year, Massey hit .264 with eight homeruns in May, and is slashing .419/.457/.806 through thirty-six plate appearances so far in June, including the past week. That includes three doubles and ten runs scored.
Speier to 10-day IL; Kincanon Re-Called: It's been about three weeks since the Royals claimed him from the White Sox, but the Royals have promoted righty reliever Will Kincanon from Triple-A in the wake of lefty Gabe Speier going on the 10-day injured list with a shoulder problem.
He appeared in one game for Chicago earlier in the season, a 9-7 loss to Cleveland on the Southside. He went two innings in that game, allowing just one hit and striking out three. He was surprisingly designated for assignment on the 17th, and was claimed by the Royals on the 19th.
He mainly throws two pitches; a heavy sinker and slider from a sidearm slot, much like current Royal Collin Snider. However, he mixes in a solid changeup about 5% of the time as well, while Snider only has thrown six changeups all season long.Comment
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