The Hunt For Blue October: Kansas City Royals (OOTP 25)

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MLB News (9/12)

MLB NEWS AND NOTES
Reds, infielder agree to extension; Harris to make return for Atlanta

By MLB.com staff
09/12/2024

TOP STORIES
Reds, Espinal agree to extension: Cincinnati infielder Santiago Espinal will be with the Reds for the next four seasons, as he has signed an extension that will pay him approximately $23 million through 2028. He'll earn $3.3 million next season and then $4.8 million in 2026, which cover his final two arbitration seasons. After that, his number jumps up to $7.2 million for both 2027 and 2028, which would be his first two free agency seasons.

Starting the season in the minors along with injuries to his knee and foot have held him to just seventy games with the Reds, but has been productive in his limited time with the parent club. He's played second, short, third, and all three outfield positions over his career.

The Reds announced the extension via Twitter and the team's website, with GM Nick Krall calling the move 'great for both sides'. Acquired from the Blue Jays back in March in a trade for minor league pitcher Chris McElvain, Espinal is slashing .292/.356/.370 in 239 plate appearances with fifteen doubles and six steals in as many tries.

Interestingly enough, McElvain was released by the Blue Jays in April, was injured prior to suiting up for the Staten Island independent ball squad, and then released by them only to re-sign with the Reds on a minor league deal.

Braves get MLB batting leader back: Atlanta is getting one of their key players back for the final sprint to the finish, as outfielder Michael Harris II is set to return for their series with the Dodgers this weekend. Harris leads all of baseball in hitting with a .314 mark, and his 48 doubles are also atop the MLB leaderboards.

He's missed time with foot, ankle, and quad injuries with stints on the IL in mid-July and the early part of this month, but has managed to avoid rehab trips to the minors each time.

"It's huge that we'll get him back prior to the end of the season," skipper Brian Snitker said when asked about Harris' availability earlier in the week. "Just a few days ago, we were a bit concerned he might have to go to Gwinnett to get a few games in, but the injury has responded pretty well the last few days, so we're going to bring him back immediately once his ten days are up."

The 2022 NL Rookie of the Year selection made his first All-Star appearance this season, going 1-for-2 while getting the starting nod in center field for the Senior Circuit.

OTHER HEADLINES
Twins release veteran infielder Pablo Sandoval; 38-year-old likely to retire per sources
Yankees reliever Beau Burrows (elbow) placed on 60-day IL
Royals infielder Maikel Garcia (ankle) placed on 10-day IL

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Royals News (9/12)

ROYALS NEWS AND NOTES
Garcia lands on injured list; August minor league players of the month named

By artoodeetoo
09/12/2024

TOP STORIES
Garcia to 10-day IL; Mann re-called: The Royals placed infielder Maikel Garcia (ankle) on the 10-day injured list, and have re-called Devin Mann to take his place on the active roster. Manager Matt Quatraro noted that it does not appear to be a serious injury, but that they want him rested and ready for the postseason.

Garcia legged out an infield single in the fifth inning, but appeared to land awkwardly with his left foot on first base as he tried to extend his foot out to beat the throw. He limped over to the foul side of first base and sat down on the dirt as the team's training staff tended to him.

"He eventually walked off under his own power, which was good to see, but the replay really looked rather ugly," Quatraro said of the injury directly after the game. "The MRI coming back with a low-grade sprain is welcome news, so we'll see where he's at tomorrow."

The Royals opted to err on the side of caution, placing Garcia on the 10-day injured list with what was termed as a sprained ankle. Garcia is ranked third in the AL with a .304 average, just two points behind the leader, Steven Kwan of Cleveland and Gio Urshela of the Tigers. Garcia has enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title even if he doesn't play another inning this season, but it is likely that he'll return prior to the end of the season.

"Yeah, there's no anticipation that he'll be out for a very long time," Quatraro affirmed when asked about a timetable for his return to the lineup. "This is a precautionary measure more than anything."

Royals name Kudrna, Rodriguez as Players of the Month: Kansas City handed out internal awards for the month of August, naming pitcher Ben Kudrna and infielder Lizandro Rodriguez as its Pitcher and Hitter of the Month, respectively.

Despite a tough start to his Double-A stint with four earned runs over 3 2/3 innings on August 4th, he went on to give up three earned runs or less over his last four starts in the month, including a 14-strikeout, two-walk, performance on August 21st in a 6-0 win over Corpus Christi. That start covered 6 1/3 innings, allowing just one hit and no runs.

In all, he put up a 1-1 record and a 3.76 ERA in the month over five starts, striking out 41 in 26 1/3 innings, allowing just twenty-five hits with fourteen walks. His peripherals broke it down even better for him, with a 3.46 FIP and 2.29 SIERA in that timeframe.

Despite missing most of the middle of the season, Rodriguez returned to the Single-A Columbia lineup in late July; and from August on has been one of the organization's hottest hitters. In August alone, he slashed .277/.395/.521 for a .916 OPS. Included in that were six doubles, a triple, and five homeruns. He also walked sixteen times, striking out only nineteen times; and for the season, the 21-year-old has seventy walks to just sixty-seven strikeouts.

OTHER ROYALS HEADLINES
Top Royals prospects Cross, Jensen amongst Royals' contingent in 2024 Arizona Fall League
Storm Chasers to get Josh Lester back for stretch run to Triple-A postseason

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Kansas City vs Pittsburgh (9/13 -- 9/15)

Team Roster/Records | MLB Standings | Statistics

Series Recap: Pittsburgh Pirates

By artoodeetoo | Kansas City Star | September 16th, 2024

Kansas City Royals at Pittsburgh Pirates
Sept 13, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (82-66)	0	0	3	0	0	1	0	2	5	11	13	0
Pittsburgh Pirates (61-86)	2	0	0	0	0	4	0	2	0	8	13	0
W: John Schreiber (4-1) L: Colin Holderman (2-1) S: Chris Stratton (11)

Friday, September 13th, 2024
Pittsburgh may be having nightmares after a Friday-the-13th performance from a pair of Royal hitters, as Michael Massey and CJ Alexander combined to go 7-for-10 at the plate in an 11-8 series-opening win for Kansas City on the road. Alexander fell a single short of the cycle, hitting a double, triple, and a pair of homeruns in the victory, while Massey was a triple short.

However, Pittsburgh got out to a 2-0 lead in the first thanks to a homerun from Bryan Reynolds. Reynolds was tough to put out in this game, going 3-for-5. Edward Cabrera, who earned the starting assignment, recovered well after the first-inning homerun, putting up zeroes over the next four innings, but ran into trouble in the sixth with a pair of two-run bombs chasing him from the game after just 5 1/3 innings.

"He was pitching well, with command and control, but they just had some good swings on him," said manager Matt Quatraro of Cabrera, who didn't walk a batter with a half-dozen strikeouts int he game. "It was his longest outing in some time, and gave us some solid innings with our offense backing us up."

Those homeruns turned a 4-2 lead into a 6-4 deficit, but Alexander hit the first of his two dingers in the top of the eighth to tie the game at six. After Joey Bart and Connor Joe hit back-to-back RBI doubles to give the Pirates the lead in the bottom of the eighth, Alexander put the team on his back again by smoking a three-run homerun against Colin Holderman in the top of the ninth to put the Royals back in front.

Massey would later add a two-run double down the right field line to plate two more, and Jojo Romero and Chris Stratton combined to shut the Pirates down in the bottom of the ninth to secure the win. Stratton's save was his 11th of the season.

Kansas City Royals at Pittsburgh Pirates
Sept 14, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (82-67)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	0
Pittsburgh Pirates (62-86)	1	0	0	0	5	0	1	0	X	7	9	0
W: JT Brubaker (6-7) L: James McArthur (4-3) S: Quinn Priester (1)

Saturday, September 14th, 2024
The bat of MJ Melendez is starting to heat up, as he went 2-for-2 with a two-run homerun and a walk in Saturday night's game. He didn't receive much help otherwise, offensively or from the pitching, as the Royals dropped a 7-2 decision in the middle game of the series with Pittsburgh.

Daniel Lynch IV was cruising through the early innings, allowing just one earned run on three hits in four innings, striking out five in a tidy fifty-five pitches.

However, he was unexpectedly bounced from the game after that inning with a sore wrist, and manager Matt Quatraro has him listed as day-to-day. James McArthur came on for the fifth and pitched just one-third of an inning, giving up five earned runs before being pulled for Sam Long, who finished the fifth and sixth innings with no additional damage; although one of the earned runs charged to McArthur was let in by Long.

"The training staff thinks it's likely some tendinitis there, but won't know until tomorrow for sure," manager Matt Quatraro mused after the game. "I just talked to Danny a bit before coming out here, and he's a bit sore, but he could probably have gone a little further if we needed him to. Didn't want to push it."

Bryan Reynolds' RBI triple in the first off Lynch kicked off the scoring for Pittsburgh, and they held that lead until the fourth when Melendez launched his go-ahead homerun. However, it all went downhill from there as the five-spot that the Pirates put up in the sixth put the game out of reach.

Kansas City Royals at Pittsburgh Pirates
Sept 14, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (83-67)	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	2	4	12	0
Pittsburgh Pirates (62-87)	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	0
W: Alec Marsh (5-5) L: Kyle Nicolas (0-1) S: JoJo Romero (3)

Sunday, September 15th, 2024
Alec Marsh looked unhittable for six innings, with only a solo homerun leading off the fifth by Oneil Cruz being the blemish on Marsh's statline as the Royals finished off the series victory with a 4-1 win over the Pirates.

In those six innings, Marsh walked two and struck out just three, but kept hitters off-balance and didn't give up a batted ball in play of over 90 MPH until Cruz's homerun in the fifth; and even that one only left the yard at 94.8 MPH.

Kyle Isbel and Bobby Witt Jr led the way with three hits each, with Witt going deep for the 26th time in the top of the ninth for an additional insurance run. Isbel has quietly had a solid month of September, with a slash line of .378/.415/.622 (1.036 OPS), hitting four doubles, a triple, and a homerun. His homerun in Sunday's game was his 10th of the season, as he became the sixth Royal with at least ten homeruns, the most by any team in Royals history.

Josh Taylor, Chris Stratton, and JoJo Romero finished out the game with a scoreless inning each, although the two lefties in Taylor and Romero had to work around multiple baserunners to get the job done.

All five hits by the Pirates were from two guys -- Cruz with three, and Connor Joe, who pinch-hit for Rowdy Tellez in the seventh inning, collecting two. Joe doubled against Taylor in the seventh, and singled off Romero in the ninth.

Detroit is up next for the Royals at home, as the Tigers will look to try and close the gap on Kansas City and maintain their slim lead over the Astros and Red Sox for the final wildcard position.

UP NEXT: vs Detroit Tigers (9/16 -- 9/18)

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MLB News (9/16)

MLB NEWS AND NOTES
NL West rivals suffer season-altering injuries; Guardians' Florial also out for season

By MLB.com staff
09/16/2024

TOP STORIES
Arizona's Montgomery to 60-day injured list: Arizona, who looks primed to defend their NL pennant, is now suddenly down a man in the rotation as Jordan Montgomery will miss the rest of the season following back surgery to correct a ruptured disk.

After 6 1/3 strong innings on Friday, Montgomery felt some tightness in his lower back; but on Saturday, said the pain was "much, much worse", and that an MRI done later that day confirmed the team's concerns that his back tightness the day before may have been worse than originally thought.

It's a massive blow to the Diamondbacks, who have now endured season-ending injuries to two of their best players in recent weeks -- first, it was first baseman Christian Walker going down with a strained oblique, and now Montgomery, their top starter for much of the season.

Montgomery also missed all of May and some of June with a forearm strain earlier in the season. He returned in mid-June after a handful of rehab starts, and was solid out of the gate with 8 1/3 shutout innings with eleven strikeouts against the Angels on June 13th, throwing just ninety-seven pitches.

Dodgers to lose Outman for rest of season: Two-thirds of the initial starting outfield for the Dodgers now sit on the injured list, with center fielder James Outman out for the next five to six weeks with shoulder tendinitis. Teoscar Hernandez is also on the injured list with a knee injury suffered at the end of August, which pushed Mookie Betts back to the outfield after some struggles defensively at shortstop.

Rookie Andy Pages and veteran Jason Heyward are splitting time in center, with Betts in right and Chris Taylor playing in left. Miguel Rojas, who has shuttled back and forth from Triple-A, has been drawing near-daily starts at shortstop since the beginning of August.

"You know, it's going to be tough now down two guys out there, but I think this might be our best defensive alignment of the season," manager Dave Roberts noted. "Jason (Heyward), Gold Glover. (Andy) Pages has looked pretty good out there, and then Miggy Rojas doing his thing at shortstop. I don't know if James or Teo will be back, but if not, we'll have the fort held down."

At 79-70, the Dodgers currently hold the second wildcard spot, up a game on the Giants in both the wildcard and divisional races, and sit five games back of the division-leading Diamondbacks.

Guardians shut Florial down for the remainder of 2024: A promising start to the 2024 season has turned into an injury-riddled nightmare for Guardians outfielder Estevan Florial, as he was placed on the 60-day injured list with a knee injury.

Florial suffered a right knee sprain on May 24th, going to the injured list the next day. After a brief one-game rehab stint in early June, he returned to the Guardians only to land back on the injured list following one game on June 4th against Kansas City, this time with a shoulder strain in his throwing (right) shoulder that put him out through the end of June.

However, he re-injured the same knee from earlier on a subsequent rehab assignment in the first week of July, getting placed back on the injured list for another five weeks. After getting off the injured list in mid-August, he embarked on yet another rehab assignment; only to get hit by a pitch on Friday on his left knee, suffering a broken kneecap that will keep him out the remainder of the season.

"It's been a real tough season for him, but the work he did early on in the season is something that will be looked at pretty heavily," said manager Stephen Vogt, who lobbied hard to keep him on the active roster out of the spring. "We're looking forward to getting him back for 2025 and beyond."

OTHER HEADLINES
Oakland to activate RHP Mason Miller from 60-day IL; will rehab in Triple-A
Pirates' Suwinski to begin rehab assignment
Guardians send C Bo Naylor on rehab assignment
Blue Jays, Royals surge into top five in new Power Rankings

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Royals News (9/16)

ROYALS NEWS AND NOTES
Pham injured; Blanco re-called

By artoodeetoo
09/16/2024

TOP STORIES
Pham placed on IL; Blanco re-called: Recently acquired by the Royals back in late August, the Royals will now be without veteran outfielder Tommy Pham as he'll likely miss the remainder of the regular season with a lower back strain. Dairon Blanco, who recently came off the injured list and was rehabbing in Double-A, was re-called to take Pham's spot on the active roster.

He'll return in time to be eligible for the Wildcard Round roster, but it's no guarantee he'd be included regardless as the Royals have some decent veteran depth there now, especially if Blanco can stay healthy.

While Pham in his age-36 season is still an above-average baserunner with solid speed, Blanco offers more upside in that department and has posted a much better slash line with a .774 OPS (107 OPS+) in a larger sample size this season. Still, missing another veteran presence in the clubhouse, especially one that has had recent postseason experience from last season is a tough pill to swallow.

"The thing that stands out about Tommy is his intensity and desire to win," said manager Matt Quatraro in a recent interview. "He's a great player, no doubt, but that he raises the bar for those around him."

Pham doubled off in the ninth inning against Roansy Contreras in the Royals' 11-8 win on Friday, and was lifted from the game in favor of Hunter Renfroe. Quatraro initially noted he would be day-to-day, but the decision was made this morning to move him to the injured list.

Prospects get late-season call-ups: With the High-A and Single-A seasons ending in recent days, a handful of prospects from those levels have been moved up to Double-A for the final days of the Texas League regular season.

Most notably, outfielder Carson Roccaforte and shortstop Daniel Vazquez made the jump, with infielder Jack Pineda also getting promoted to Double-A. Roccaforte is the highest-rated prospect of the three, as Baseball America pegs him as the team's 28th-ranked prospect, while BNN (Baseball News Network) has him 45th.

Vazquez and Pineda aren't ranked in the team's top fifty in any publication, although there was significant fanfare around Vazquez's signing a few years ago in the international signing period as he was ranked in MLB.com's Top 50 international signees, and signed for $1.5 million in 2021.

Roccaforte was the Royals' second-round pick in 2023, hitting .238/.326/.426 in 393 plate appearances for Quad Cities before going down with a serious concussion that sidelined him for nearly six weeks. The concussion happened while running into the outfield wall chasing a flyball back on August 7th.

In addition to those three, outfielder Joe Gray, Jr., was also promoted from Double-A to Triple-A. Gray, drafted in the minor league phase of the 2023 Rule 5 last winter, has not produced much with the bat in his time in the Royals organization, but has been one of the best defenders in their system with more than 10 DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) between left and center field in Double-A in 2024.

OTHER ROYALS HEADLINES
RHP Dan Altavilla makes first two rehab appearances; eyes return prior to end of season
Double-A infielder Dickerson to miss rest of season with broken foot

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Detroit vs Kansas City (9/16 -- 9/18)

Team Roster/Records | MLB Standings | Statistics

Series Recap: Detroit Tigers

By artoodeetoo | Kansas City Star | September 19th, 2024

Detroit Tigers vs Kansas City Royals
Sept 16, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit Tigers (78-73)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1
Kansas City Royals (84-67)	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	X	3	6	0
W: Brady Singer (9-8) L: Reese Olson (9-7) S: Will Smith (13)

Monday, September 16th, 2024
It was a pitching matchup that lived up to the hype, as Brady Singer got the best of All-Star Reese Olson, as Singer carried a shutout into the eighth inning in posting a 3-0 win over Detroit to open their key late-season series.

Despite not running into any issues in the eighth, manager Matt Quatraro opted to remove Singer once surpassing the one-hundred pitch mark in favor of JoJo Romero, who picked up the final two outs before Will Smith pitched the ninth for his 13th save.

Olson went the distance in taking the loss in an eight-inning complete game, allowing just two earned runs with seven strikeouts. He just didn't get much from his offense, in no small part to Singer's best outing in over a month.

"He did some good things last week, but cleaned up some of the inconsistencies from his last start, in which he tried to do a little too much," Quatraro said. "He just went after guys, and ended up going two more innings on the same number of pitches than his last time out."

Michael Massey gave the Royals a 1-0 lead in the third with an RBI single, while CJ Alexander brought the thunder with his 10th homerun of the season, giving the Royals their seventh player with at least 10 homeruns in the season, a new team record.

Detroit Tigers vs Kansas City Royals
Sept 17, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit Tigers (78-74)	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	4	10	0
Kansas City Royals (85-67)	4	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	X	8	10	0
W: Will Klein (1-0) L: Casey Mize (5-7) S: None

Tuesday, September 17th, 2024
CJ Alexander set the tone for the Royals early, hitting a three-run homerun as part of a four-run first inning as the Royals coasted to an 8-4 win over the Tigers, clinching a series victory and tying up the season series with six wins and losses each against Detroit.

Cole Ragans labored through four innings, throwing ninety-seven pitches in allowing four earned runs, two walks, and six hits; although he did strike out seven to move into third place on the Royals' single-season strikeout list.

His seven punchouts raised his season total to 212, third behind Zack Greinke (242, 2009), and Dennis Leonard (244, 1977). He passed Bob Johnson's 206 back in 190, and Kevin Appier's 207 from 1996.

"Those guys are some of the best to put on this uniform, so it's cool to be mentioned amongst these guys," he said. "But I have to do better than four innings. It's not really helping our team if I can't get through five, six, seven innings."

Alexander also added an RBI double in the third, while Michael Massey and Salvador Perez also collected a pair of RBI to back him up.

Detroit Tigers vs Kansas City Royals
Sept 17, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit Tigers (78-75)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Kansas City Royals (86-67)	1	0	0	0	0	1	6	1	X	9	14	0
W: Daniel Lynch IV (3-4) L: Jack Flaherty (8-7) S: None

Wednesday, September 18th, 2024
Better late than never for Daniel Lynch. The up-and-down southpaw put together his finest start since joining the Royals, tossing a two-hit shutout of the Tigers as the Royals swept the series, even clinching the season series seven wins to six in a 9-0 runaway victory.

The best part of the performance? He pulled it off in just ninety-six pitches, striking out seven with a pair of walks to go with just the two hits on just four days of rest.

"He was incredibly efficient with his pitches, threw all of them for strikes, and really had them flailing most of the night," said manager Matt Quatraro. "It's the kind of performance I think we've all been looking for from him."

Detroit is probably elated to be leaving Kansas City, as they will not have to face CJ Alexander the remainder of the season (unless they meet in the postseason). Alexander went 7-for-13 in the series, hitting one homerun in each of the three games with two doubles, ten RBI, and four runs scored.

In just 171 plate appearances, Alexander already has a dozen homeruns, thirteen doubles, and twenty-five runs scored. He's also been nifty defensively at third base with 2 DRS and 3 OAA (outs above average) since coming up.

UP NEXT: vs San Francisco Giants (9/20 -- 9/22)

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MLB News (9/19)

MLB NEWS AND NOTES
Veteran Paxton back on the market

By MLB.com staff
09/19/2024

TOP STORY
Dodgers release James Paxton: With veteran relievers Joe Kelly and Daniel Hudson getting healthy and back on the active roster, the Dodgers have decided to part ways with lefty James Paxton, who had been moved to the Dodgers' bullpen for the past six weeks since Clayton Kershaw returned from the injured list.

Paxton has been pitching well for the Dodgers out of the pen, posting a 2.89 ERA in 9 1/3 innings, covering eleven appearances with eleven strikeouts to just three walks. This gives him a chance to catch on with another club, although he won't be eligible for the postseason with whichever team he potentially signs with.

Arizona, Kansas City, Atlanta, and the New York Mets have all expressed interest in the big left-hander, with the former two having dealt with multiple pitchers landing on the injured list in recent weeks.

OTHER HEADLINES
Mets grant the release of RHP Jorge Lopez
San Diego LHP Adrian Morejon (elbow) to miss remainder of season
Detroit LHP A.J Puk to go on 'brief' rehab assignment, per manager A.J. Hinch
Rox release southpaws Austin Gomber, Ryan Yarbrough

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Royals News (9/19)

ROYALS NEWS AND NOTES
Alexander having big second half; Triple-A Omaha preps for postseason

By artoodeetoo
09/19/2024

TOP STORIES
Alexander making 2025 case: Salvador Perez and Bobby Witt Jr rightly get a lot of the ink that is spilled in the local media, but rookie infielder CJ Alexander has kind of taken the city by storm in recent weeks, bursting onto the scene with a dozen homeruns and thirteen doubles in 171 plate appearances.

"He's really emerged as a guy we can count on in the middle-third of the order," said manager Matt Quatraro. "There was a point a few weeks ago when we thought, maybe the league has figured him out a bit, but he's really made a nice comeback over the last few weeks since then and has been a big help for us."

As recently as a couple of weeks ago, I would have thought the Royals would be in the market for an infield bat, especially a left-handed one. But he has at the very least forced his way into the conversation at third base next year; if not outright penciling himself in the starting lineup there to begin 2025.

He was the 'throw-in' in the Drew Waters deal that brought him, Waters, and minor league pitcher Andrew Hoffmann over from the Braves for a first-round compensatory draft pick a few years ago in July 2022. Waters himself has had a solid 2024 campaign, although a recent slump has limited his at-bats somewhat.

After a .703 OPS campaign in Triple-A last season, Alexander got off to a great start in Triple-A this season, as he was leading the International League in OPS (.979) at the time of his call-up to the Royals just after the All-Star break.

Yes, he still has strikeout issues and could stand to take a few more walks, but the offensive output along with his solid defense so far (zero errors, 2 DRS, 3 OAA) in roughly 320 MLB innings, mostly at third base, is likely going to give the Royals pause before going out and spending a gob of cash.

He could also be a solution in one of the corner outfield spots, as he looked pretty natural as an outfielder in spring training and in the seven innings he played in left field earlier this season, where his plus-arm and decent athleticism could be a real weapon.

Omaha on hot streak as postseason approaches: It's been a great month of September for Omaha, as they've gone 11-4 so far in the month to include winning the last seven games. They've now surged ahead of Nashville for the top spot in the West Division of the International League by one game, and they're three ahead of the Iowa Cubs. The magic number is now three, meaning they likely need at least two wins and at least one loss; or one win and two losses by the Sounds over the next three days to win the division.

Omaha skipper Mike Jirschele, who was the Royals' third-base coach from 2014 through 2022, said that the success for this season lies with his assistant coaches and the players he's had throughout the season. His roster is a veteran-heavy roster, as most Triple-A teams have. However, the Royals currently have nine players thirty or older, including four that are thirty-three or older. That nine also includes Dan Altavilla, who is on a rehab assignment and is likely to return to the Royals, perhaps as soon as this weekend.

"We couldn't be here without the contributions of the staff and guys like Dane (pitching coach Johnson) and Bijan (hitting coach Rademacher), and the guys in Tripp and Dave under them who make this all happen," he said. "We feel good about where we're at health-wise heading into the postseason, and again, we have a great training staff here that gets these guys ready to go day in and day out."

One of the big keys to their recent success has been outfielder Gavin Cross, one of the team's top prospects (and 9th overall pick in 2022) who has seemingly found his stride since coming up to the Triple-A level. Cross is 20-for-71 (.282) since being called up, with two doubles and seven homeruns. He also has eleven walks in the same timespan, leading to an on-base mark of .393.

Omaha will finish up their road series at Louisville with three more contests through Saturday, and then should learn their fate shortly after that if the division has not been decided as of then.

OTHER ROYALS HEADLINES
Double-A NW Arkansas has season end with 6-4 loss to Arkansas; finish with worst record in Texas League
Despite being on IL; Royals infielder Maikel Garcia now in tie with Steven Kwan for AL batting lead

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San Francisco vs Kansas City (9/20 -- 9/22)

Team Roster/Records | MLB Standings | Statistics

Series Recap: San Francisco Giants

By artoodeetoo | Kansas City Star | September 23rd, 2024

San Francisco Giants vs Kansas City Royals
Sept 20, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	6	0
Kansas City Royals (86-68)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	7	1
W: Logan Webb (13-10) L: Alec Marsh (5-6) S: Ryan Walker (2)

Friday, September 20th, 2024
Down 2-0 to begin the bottom of the ninth against one of the best starters in the NL in Logan Webb; the Royals made things interesting with a double from Nick Pratto to lead off the inning, followed by a triple from Bobby Witt Jr, but Ryan Walker came in for Webb and slammed the door shut by retiring the final three hitters to hand the Royals a 2-1 loss.

With one run over six innings, Alec Marsh put together one of his best performances of the season. He didn't walk a batter, scattering four hits and seven strikeouts. It was all for naught in the defeat, though.

It was a key victory for San Francisco, keeping themselves a half-game ahead of the Reds for the third and final wildcard spot in the National League.

After the Witt triple, Michael Massey smoked a groundball to Nick Ahmed at short, holding Witt at third for the first out. However, Salvador Perez hit a bouncer to short; and this time, Witt took off for home on contact only to see Ahmed cut him down at the plate on a nice play for the second out.

Walker then received another solid defensive play to end the game with first baseman Wilmer Flores scooping up a hot groundball from CJ Alexander on an unassisted putout to end the contest.

San Francisco Giants vs Kansas City Royals
Sept 21, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	3	0
Kansas City Royals (87-68)	2	3	0	2	0	0	1	0	X	8	16	2
W: Brady Singer (10-8) L: Trevor Rogers (4-5) S: None

Saturday, September 21st, 2024
The day after getting shut down by Logan Webb in a 2-1 loss, Brady Singer returned the favor to the Giants on Saturday, allowing no earned runs over 7 1/3 innings in an 8-1 whitewashing of San Francisco.

Singer picked up the victory, becoming the fourth Royals pitcher to reach the double-digit mark in wins, joining Cole Ragans, Michael Wacha, and Will Smith.

Kansas City got on the board early and often, getting out to a 5-0 lead after just two innings and chasing Trevor Rogers from the game after just 2 1/3 innings.

"Getting that early lead is such a huge lift for a pitcher," said manager Matt Quatraro. "It just allows the pitcher, in this case it was Brady, and they can just go out and pitch loose and not have to worry about one or two hits losing you a game."

Bobby Witt Jr and Salvador Perez each hit RBI singles to give the Royals a 2-0 lead in the first, and Nelson Velazquez's two-run homerun keyed a three-run second inning in giving Kansas City the early advantage.

Robbie Ray wasn't a ton better, as he stewarded the Giants through the fifth inning, but allowed two earned runs in his 2 2/3 innings. It wasn't until Tayler Saucedo, the third straight lefty employed by San Francisco; came in that the Giants steadied the ship somewhat, but the damage had already been done.

Perez and Dairon Blanco each collected three hits, with Blanco also stealing a base and scoring twice. Witt singled and also added a triple in the fourth against Ray. Velazquez's homerun was his first with the Royals since April 26th, nearly five months ago.

San Francisco Giants vs Kansas City Royals
Sept 22, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	3	12	0
Kansas City Royals (88-68)	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	X	5	7	0
W: Cole Ragans (12-6) L: Blake Snell (12-7) S: Mitch White (1)

Sunday, September 22nd, 2024
Kansas City's offense did all of their damage in one inning, plating five runs against Blake Snell in the fourth inning; and they used that salvo to coast to a 5-3 victory over the Giants. The win clinched a playoff berth for the Royals, their first since 2015.

The win also pushed the Royals record to 88-68; twenty games over .500, which is a season-best mark. Cole Ragans only went 5 2/3 innings, but managed to pick up his 12th victory of the season, putting him atop the leaderboard on the team.

He figures to have one more start prior to the season's end, but manager Matt Quatraro noted that with the clinching of the playoff berth, it's time to start thinking of how to set the rotation and potentially resting certain regulars to have them ready to go.

"It's crossed our minds, certainly," he said, when asked about the rotation and giving some starters a few days' rest if the schedule and standings allowed. "Especially on the pitching side, where we need our best guys to be 100% ready to go when called upon."

Quatraro also mentioned that if it was a situation where a division title or home field advantage was on the line, he might be more apt to play regulars in the final games, but that it's "too early to say either way" on that.

Mitch White, who spent a good chunk of the season with the Giants before getting claimed off waivers by the Royals from San Francisco, picked up the save.

UP NEXT: at Washington Nationals (9/24 -- 9/26)

[artoodeetoo]

MLB News (9/23)

MLB NEWS AND NOTES
Blue Jays getting healthier; Crews to miss rest of season

By MLB.com staff
09/23/2024

TOP STORY
Nationals' Crews to miss rest of season; placed on 10-day IL: Ahead of their series with the Royals beginning tomorrow, the Nationals have placed outfielder Dylan Crews (back) on the 10-day injured list with a back strain, effectively ending his 2024 season.

He suffered the injury in the fifth inning of the Nats' 5-3 loss at the Cubs on Sunday legging out a double. He slid head-first into second, but sat on the field for several minutes in pain after the slide. He was eventually lifted from the game and listed as day-to-day, but the organization decided to shut the young outfielder down for the remainder of the season.

"It was a tough decision as he needs all of the experience and at-bats he can get, but in the interest of keeping him healthy, it's best that we just shut him down and prevent something worse from happening," said manager Dave Martinez.

Crews, the top pick in last year's draft and a consensus top-ten prospect, has been roughly a league-average player in his brief stint with the Nationals, posting a .724 OPS (97 OPS+) with one homerun, ten doubles, and four triples, playing mainly in center field.

Blue Jays get big lift prior to postseason: While still not being 100%, the Blue Jays are activating right-hander Jose Berrios (right index finger) from the injured list. The minor league regular seasons are now all completed, so there are no rehab assignments available.

"It's sink or swim time," said manager John Schneider of Berrios' return. "It's unfortunate we can't send him to Buffalo to get his feet back under him, but that's the reality of the time of year we're in."

Toronto also is dealing with some injury problems down the stretch, with fellow right-hander Chris Bassitt day-to-day (ankle), and outfielder George Springer has been playing through a low-grade oblique strain for the past few weeks.

OTHER HEADLINES
Pirates reliever Bubba Chandler in stable condition after being struck by line drive; diagnosed with bruised lung
Royals infielder and AL hitting leader Maikel Garcia set to return tomorrow following IL stay
Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez to return from 60-day IL; will be playoff-eligible

[artoodeetoo]

Royals News (9/23)

ROYALS NEWS AND NOTES
Wildcard spot clinched; Pham, Harvey could miss wildcard round

By artoodeetoo
09/23/2024

TOP STORIES
Royals clinch first postseason berth since 2015: With their 5-3 win over the Giants on Sunday, they were able to pop the top on some champagne in the locker room and celebrate getting back to the postseason for the first time since 2015, which is when they beat the Mets four games to one to win their second World Series in team history.

"To do it in front of the home fans on Fan Appreciation Day...that's a great way to send them home with a win and the opportunity to come watch us in the postseason," said manager Matt Quatraro following the Sunday victory. "I mean, we've been either selling out or nearly selling out home games for the past month or so, even with schools in the area going back in session, and that's just great support that we have here."

The Royals welcomed over 2.33 million fans through the gates (2,332,178 to be exact) in 2024, which is the most since 2016. Fans who pre-purchased tickets for the postseason will now have those locked in for the most part, as they wait and see if they'll have the chance to attend potentially two home contests in the wildcard round.

They're off for the final time this season today, but they'll enter play tomorrow just one game behind Baltimore for the top Wildcard position, which would mean the Royals would get home field advantage in that round if they can surpass them. Baltimore has a bit easier road to maintain that spot, as they play the Yankees and Twins, both teams that are well out of the playoff hunt at this point. The Royals get Washington for three in the nation's capital beginning tomorrow; but finish with three at Atlanta, who own the league's best record.

There's also the off-chance that the Royals could get the Blue Jays in the wildcard, as they are only a game up in the AL East on the Orioles. The Royals do own the season series with Toronto four games to three, while the Royals tied with the Orioles at three wins each. The Blue Jays also have the toughest six-game stretch of the three teams mentioned here, with a Boston team that is just one game out of the final wildcard spot, and then a Miami team that has posted a 12-9 record in September.

Kansas City has the distinct tie-breaking advantage over both clubs, as in addition to owning the season series with the Blue Jays, they also far outpace the Orioles intra-division for the next tiebreaker, with the Orioles needing a sweep of the Yankees to just get to .500 in the AL East, while the Royals have a 34-19 mark against the AL Central (admittedly, much of that buoyed by the terrible White Sox).

Harvey, Pham's playoff status in doubt: In the midst of the Royals celebrating their first berth in the postseason in nearly a decade, they received some negative news on the injury front today as outfielder Tommy Pham (back) and closer Hunter Harvey (shoulder) both reportedly aren't 100% assured of returning for the postseason, per an article from Anne Rogers of MLB.com, who spoke with team officials close to the situation.

While the Royals have some nice depth in the outfield, Harvey not being available for the first round would be a swift kick to the gut. He was the most dominant closer in the league up until his shoulder injury, notching a dozen saves in thirteen tries, allowing just one earned run in sixteen innings with the Royals, covering seventeen outings.

They aren't without options to close games in the postseason, although none of them have been as good as Harvey has been. Will Smith leads the Royals with a baker's dozen saves, although Quatraro has opted to go with JoJo Romero (four saves) in the ninth inning in recent days. Chris Stratton has also saved eleven games, which is a career-high. John Schreiber has five saves, although he allowed runs in four of those opportunities.

Pham was on the bubble for a postseason roster spot regardless, but this seems likely to keep him out of action in the wildcard round. He has a .470 OPS in twenty-one plate appearances with the Royals, and a .653 OPS in 103 PA between the Royals and Rays this season.

OTHER ROYALS HEADLINES
Royals option pitchers Will Klein, Sam Long to Omaha; activate Kris Bubic, Dan Altavilla from 10-day injured list
Storm Chasers, Sounds begin first-round playoff series in International League play Wednesday
Royals activate Maikel Garcia; place IF Nick Loftin (hamstring) on 10-day IL

[artoodeetoo]

Kansas City vs Washington (9/24 -- 9/26)

Team Roster/Records | MLB Standings | Statistics

Series Recap: Washington Nationals

By artoodeetoo | Kansas City Star | September 27th, 2024

Kansas City Royals vs Washington Nationals
Sept 24, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (89-68)	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	4	12	0
Washington Nationals (57-100)	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	9	0
W: John Schreiber (5-1) L: Robert Garcia (5-5) S: JoJo Romero (6)

Tuesday, September 24th, 2024
Daniel Lynch IV pitched six solid innings, allowing just three earned runs and no walks with seven strikeouts. He didn't figure into the decision, however, as he left the game down 3-2. MJ Melendez hit a pinch-hit solo homerun in the seventh to tie the game at three, with the Royals eventually needing extras to pull off the 4-3 victory.

Salvador Perez hit a two-out single to score Kyle Isbel in the 10th, with the Royals centerfielder sliding around a tag attempt on a nice throw from outfielder Alex Call that was just slightly offline.

Lynch should figure in as one of the three starters in the upcoming wildcard series, and his latest performance didn't dispel that notion at all. He did give up a pair of homeruns, but they were of the solo variety. He scattered six hits in all over the six innings.

"He's been absolutely fantastic for us over the last few months with the injury hits we took in the rotation," Matt Quatraro said of his starting pitcher. "I've said it before, but he's taken this opportunity and really run with it."

JoJo Romero picked up his fourth save of the season, fending off all three hitters with the 'ghost' runner at second. John Schreiber had a shaky ninth inning to preserve the tie, allowing two hits and a walk, but managed to strike Call out with the bases loaded to strand them all.

Kansas City Royals vs Washington Nationals
Sept 25, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (89-69)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	3	0
Washington Nationals (58-100)	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	1	X	5	11	0
W: Josiah Gray (11-12) L: Alec Marsh (5-7) S: Robert Garcia (11)

Wednesday, September 25th, 2024
Bobby Witt Jr hit a pair of solo homeruns, but unfortunately for the Royals, that was the extent of the offense as Josiah Gray shut Kansas City down outside of that in handing the Royals a 5-2 defeat.

Kansas City collected just three hits in all, the other one coming off the bat of pinch-hitter Devin Mann in the seventh, which was a double.

Gray pitched six no-hit innings, but Witt broke the no-hitter up with his first solo blast, just two pitches into his at-bat in the seventh. Washington skipper Dave Martinez pulled Gray despite that, with Gray approaching 100 pitches to that point.

"To me, there wasn't any need to push him further," he said. "He said that he could push through another inning, but his velocity was down a bit in the sixth, and I knew that he probably didn't have much more left in the tank."

Witt would come up later in the ninth with the Royals down 5-1, and tanked another solo bomb to cut the deficit to three. The two homeruns give him twenty-eight on the season as he looks to become the first shortstop in MLB history with multiple 30/30 seasons. He's already met the stolen base threshold, but needs two more homeruns over the next four games to pull off the feat.

Former Royals farmhand Robert Garcia, who last pitched in the Kansas City organization back in 2021, has taken over as the Nationals' closer after the trades of Kyle Finnegan (Rangers) and Hunter Harvey (Royals).

After two scoreless frames in Tuesday's game, the southpaw Garcia picked up the one-out save in Wednesday night's game, his 11th of the season.

Kansas City Royals vs Washington Nationals
Sept 26, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (90-69)	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	5	9	0
Washington Nationals (58-101)	0	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	X	5	11	0
W: Kris Bubic (2-3) L: Robert Garcia (5-6) S: JoJo Romero (6)

Thursday, September 26th, 2024
It was a game of homeruns, as all nine runs scored between the two teams on Thursday were scored on a homerun. The Royals managed to come out on top thanks to a pair of homeruns in the top of the ninth, storming back from a 4-2 deficit to claim a 5-4 win over the Nationals.

In the ninth, manager Matt Quatraro lifted Nick Pratto in favor of Salvador Perez against DJ Herz with Hunter Renfroe on first base following a single, and immediately parked a 98-mph dead center fastball over the left field wall to tie the game at four. Drew Waters then went deep for his sixth homerun of the season, again on a dead-center 2-2 fastball from Herz.

"We had originally planned to give Sal the day off with the day game so soon after last night's game," said Quatraro. "But the opportunity presented itself, and I told him to be ready early on in the fifth or sixth inning in case we kept the game close in the late innings. From there, he was bugging me to get him in there."

JoJo Romero came on for the save in the ninth, working around a couple of walks by striking out a pair of Nationals hitters to end the contest. It was his fifth save since joining the Royals, and his sixth overall for the season.

Kansas City now enters the final series of the regular season having already wrapped up a postseason spot, but are tied with Baltimore for the top wildcard spot with a chance to earn home field advantage for that series.

UP NEXT: at Atlanta Braves (9/27 -- 9/29)

[artoodeetoo]

Kansas City vs Atlanta (9/27 -- 9/29)

Team Roster/Records | MLB Standings | Statistics

Series Recap: Atlanta Braves

By artoodeetoo | Kansas City Star | September 30th, 2024

Kansas City Royals vs Atlanta Braves
Sept 27, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (90-70)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	7	0
Atlanta Braves (100-60)	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	X	5	11	0
W: Max Fried (19-8) L: Cole Ragans (12-7) S: Raisel Iglesias (48)

Friday, September 27th, 2024
Making his final regular season start, Cole Ragans was tagged for three early runs in the first inning, and the Braves used that opening salvo to hold the Royals off the rest of the way to claim a 4-2 victory in the final series opener of the regular season. Bobby Witt Jr hit his 29th homerun of the season in the fourth inning, pushing him to within one of thirty, which would make him the first full-time shortstop in MLB history to post multiple 30/30 seasons (30 HR, 30 SB).

After that shaky first inning, Ragans recovered to allow just one earned run over the next six innings, but took the loss to fall to 12-7 on the season. He scattered six hits, two walks, and fanned five while allowing four earned runs in all. John Schreiber pitched the eighth inning, working around a one-out walk to post a scoreless frame.

The top one-third of the Royals lineup accounted for all of their offense, with Maikel Garcia, Witt, and Salvador Perez combining to go 7-for-12 with a double, homerun, and both runs scored. The rest of the lineup? 0-for-21 with one walk and six strikeouts. Garcia's two hits raised his average to .303, tying him for second with Detroit's Gio Urshela through Friday's action.

Witt collected three hits in all, singling in the first and seventh innings, sandwiched around his homerun. Perez hit an eighth-inning double as part of his 2-for-4 day.

"We just didn't capitalize on some opportunities," said manager Matt Quatraro. "We put guys in scoring position in the third, sixth, and eighth innings and couldn't take advantage. Need to get more out of the middle of the order, and we just didn't have that."

Kansas City Royals vs Atlanta Braves
Sept 28, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (91-70)	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	8	0
Atlanta Braves (100-61)	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	4	9	0
W: Mitch White (3-1) L: Spencer Schwellenbach (0-2) S: JoJo Romero (7)

Saturday, September 28th, 2024
With his second-inning two-run homerun in the Royals' 7-4 victory over Atlanta on Saturday, Bobby Witt Jr made MLB history as the first shortstop in MLB history to have multiple 30/30 seasons, with thirty homeruns and thirty-two steals. He also has thirty-five doubles and five triples to his name.

"He's worth the price of admission for sure," said manager Matt Quatraro of BWJ. "He's becoming one of those players that when you go on the road, it might draw additional fans of other teams out to the ballpark to see him play, especially in these cities where you may not see him for another couple of years in person. It's not unlike when Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani come to Kansas City; you get more people out who want to see them play as well as your team. You're watching greatness with these kinds of players, and Bobby is one of them. Chances are high he's going to do something outstanding to help his team win, like a homerun, a triple, or a diving play in the field."

Kansas City jumped out to a 5-0 lead after just two innings on right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach, who has been pushed into service at the MLB level thanks to a myriad of injuries to starting pitching, namely Chris Sale, Bryce Elder, and Spencer Strider. Schwellenbach surrendered five earned runs in just 2 2/3 innings, striking out three with one walk.

Kansas City's Daniel Lynch IV also had his start cut short, but he left due to back tightness, and was listed as day-to-day by Quatraro after the game. Lynch was replaced after 2 2/3 by Mitch White, who moved to 3-1 on the season with three solid innings, allowing just one earned run on four hits with two strikeouts. The Royals have dealt with a horde of injuries in the second half to key pitchers, with Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, and Hunter Harvey all on the shelf.

Five additional pitchers worked after White's three innings, with JoJo Romero picking up his seventh save of the season with a scoreless inning in the ninth. Chris Stratton, Josh Taylor, John Schreiber, and Will Smith all worked portions of an inning leading up to Romero's scoreless ninth.

The win also clinched the top wildcard spot for Kansas City, ensuring them home field advantage in the wildcard round against Baltimore, who dropped Saturday's game to the Twins by a 6-4 score to give the Royals a one-game advantage in the standings. Even a loss and a Baltimore win on Sunday would not make a difference, as the Royals hold the intra-divisional advantage over the Orioles.

Kansas City Royals vs Atlanta Braves
Sept 29, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (92-70)	0	6	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	9	8	0
Atlanta Braves (100-62)	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	6	1
W: Dan Altavilla (1-0) L: AJ Smith-Shawver (7-6) S: None

Sunday, September 29th, 2024
Once again, the Royals used a big second inning to put the Braves away early, scoring a half-dozen runs in that frame as the Royals cruised to a 9-3 win over the Braves to take the series two games to one. The win was also history-making, as the Royals have now completed the largest single-season turnaround in MLB history, going from 56 to 92 wins year-over-year, eclipsing the Diamondbacks' 1999 season in which they went from sixty-five wins in 1998 to one-hundred the following season.

With the Royals clinching the top wildcard spot after Saturday night's win, the Royals sat stars Bobby Witt Jr and Salvador Perez, and also put righty Alec Marsh on the mound as the team's starter for the day. Marsh, per manager Matt Quatraro, is likely to pitch out of the bullpen in the upcoming wildcard series; meaning that the Royals feel good about the status of Daniel Lynch, who left the game early on Saturday with back tightness.

Despite going just 4 1/3 innings on eighty-nine pitches, Marsh pitched well for large stretches of time, only allowing three earned runs with six strikeouts. Dan Altavilla and Josh Taylor combined to throw 4 2/3 scoreless innings, each going 2 1/3. Altavilla picked up the victory, his first as a Royal.

"We figured today might be a bit of a bullpen game, so we had some guys push themselves a bit more," said Quatraro of his bullpen. "Dan (Altavilla) threw just thirty pitches over two-plus innings, and Josh Taylor was super-efficient with just twenty-five over two-plus, so we feel good about where our bullpen is headed into the playoff."

Freddy Fermin and Kyle Isbel each had two hits and two RBI for the Royals, while Nick Pratto ended his season on a high note with his fourth homerun of the season, a three-run shot as part of the Royals' six-run second.

The Royals and Orioles will begin their series tomorrow night from Kansas City, as they look to advance to the ALDS for the fourth straight time in as many appearances since 1985.

UP NEXT: vs Baltimore Orioles (10/1 -- 10/3)

[artoodeetoo]

MLB News (9/30)

MLB NEWS AND NOTES
Breaking down the playoff matchups

By MLB.com staff
09/30/2024

TOP STORY
Four bold predictions for the postseason: Now that the regular season has concluded, the 2024 MLB postseason begins Tuesday with the best-of-three Wild Card Series. Boston closed strong with wins in thirteen of their last seventeen games to clip both the Astros and Tigers, ending Houston's remarkable streak of reaching the ALCS, which had been intact since the 2016 season.

Detroit has now missed the postseason every year since 2015, which is tied (along with the Angels) for the current longest streak of missing the postseason in the league. The Kansas City Royals ended both teams' World Series hopes in 2014, as they went on to fall in seven games to the Giants that year.

This is the third year of the 12-team postseason format and the playoffs begin tomorrow. Here is this year's postseason bracket:

AL Byes: Cleveland (1), Toronto (2)
AL Wildcard: Kansas City (4), Baltimore (5)
AL Wildcard: Texas (3), Boston (6)

NL Byes: Atlanta (1), Milwaukee (2)
NL Wildcard: Los Angeles (4), New York (5)
NL Wildcard: Arizona (3), Cincinnati (6)

Now, for the predictions!

Neither top seed will make the World Series

This might not sound like a super-bold prediction, but top seeds making the World Series are quite commonplace so it's usually a surprise when it doesn't happen. Since 2016, only two seasons did not see at least one of the top-seeded teams in the postseason make the World Series, with 2021 and 2023 being the exceptions. In fact, both number-one seeds in Tampa Bay and Los Angeles made the World Series with the Dodgers winning it all in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Both number-ones have glaring flaws -- Cleveland struggles to hit for power (or really for extra bases at all), and the Braves really only have one starter that they can rely upon currently due to injuries. Perhaps in a short series, Atlanta's top-ranked offense can overcome suspect starting pitching, but their formidable bullpen could still get exposed in a six or seven-game series if they can't get innings from starters not named Max Fried.

The Guardians could also be without top pitchers Tanner Bibee and Logan Allen, at least for the ALDS, as the former currently on the shelf with an elbow strain. Allen is dealing with a back strain. Triston McKenzie was named the AL Pitcher of the Month for September, but still owns a pretty ordinary 4.70 ERA for the season; and his peripherals of 5.42 (FIP) and 3.72 (SIERA) disagree on his performance when you dig a little deeper.

Ohtani steals a base, homers, and strikes out a batter -- in the same game

Plenty of pitchers have homered and struck out a batter in the same game in the postseason (22 to be exact), but none have stolen a base in that scenario -- that has a good chance of changing in this postseason, as it's been confirmed that Shohei Ohtani will be available to pitch in the postseason per manager Dave Roberts.

Ohtani made three relief appearances in the waning days of the regular season, and the results were not good, predictably, as it may take some time to get ramped up. In six innings, he allowed ten earned runs, four homeruns, and four walks with only four strikeouts, but his velocity was still good as he routinely hit the mid to upper 90's with his fastball.

Boston makes a deep run...but falls short

After starting September with a 4-5 record, Boston ripped off wins in thirteen of their last seventeen games of the regular season to nip both Houston and Detroit for the final wildcard spot. They should carry that momentum through their series with the Rangers, who don't match up well with the Red Sox and their strikeout-heavy pitching staff. Despite a team ERA in the bottom-third of the league, Boston had the second-most pitching fWAR in the league.

How did they do that? They piled up the strikeouts, and managed to still walk very few batters. Boston accumulated the ninth-best K% rate (23.9%), while simultaneously posting the third-best BB% (7.2%). The high team ERA was heavily BABIP-influenced, as their opponents' .310 BABIP was the sixth-highest in the league. They allowed the fifth-most hits, and the fourth-worst inherited runner score (IRS%) in the league at 32.7%.

The Rangers are prone to strikeouts as they posted a 23.1% rate in that respect; and had a bottom-third walk rate of just 8%. Some of their biggest offenders were catcher Sam Huff (35.9%), Adolis Garcia (32%), and Josh Jung (26.3%).

Boston also fared well against Toronto, who they would face in the ALDS if they get to that point. They went 6-7 against the Jays, including 4-3 at Fenway. I have a hard time picking Boston to go to the World Series if they get to the ALCS, as they would likely have either Cleveland or Kansas City, who seem to be a bit more complete than the Red Sox are, but at that point, anything can happen.

Brock Wilken will make the Brewers forget about Rhys Hoskins -- kind of

With Hoskins and almost sure-fire NL ROY Jackson Chourio's sixty-three combined homeruns out for the foreseeable future, the attention will turn to rookie Brock Wilken, the Hoskins clone that was taken with their first pick in last year's draft out of Wake Forest.

The homeruns haven't quite been there, with just five in 174 plate appearances since being promoted from Double-A, but still has a .769 OPS (115 OPS+) in that time and boasts a solid 10% walk rate, which is pretty good for a rookie that didn't take a single at-bat in Triple-A.

He's actually improved on his strikeout rate since coming up from the minors, as he fanned 29% of the time with Double-A Biloxi, but his exit velocity has gone down as he has swung and made contact on 19% of pitches, up from 15% in the minors.

The pitching is good enough to cover up some drop-off in production from their loss, but Wilken will likely have to play a larger role in the postseason for the Brewers to win their first-ever World Series this month.

[artoodeetoo]

Royals News (9/30)

ROYALS NEWS AND NOTES
Postseason roster released for wildcard round; Garcia falls short in AL batting race

By artoodeetoo
09/30/2024

TOP STORIES
Royals release initial postseason roster: Fourteen position players and a dozen pitchers were placed on the playoff roster for the upcoming Wildcard series with Baltimore. The Royals received some very positive news when it was announced that closer Hunter Harvey would be activated and added to the postseason roster. That likely bumped Edward Cabrera off the roster, who was one of the best early-season acquisitions around the league.

Other notable exclusions from the roster were right-handers James McArthur and Dan Altavilla. Devin Mann, who looked impressive as a hitter in his brief seventeen-PA stint so far, was added to the postseason roster in favor of an additional pitcher. Cabrera has a 3.79 ERA, but has been up-and-down after a hot start with the Royals early on in the season.

Tommy Pham (back) was also ruled out for the series, but should be available provided the Royals advance to the ALDS. Pham has been battling his back for the past few weeks, and is not quite at 100%, per manager Matt Quatraro. Infielders Nick Loftin (hamstring) and Vinnie Pasquantino (ribcage) are also expected to be out, but both could perhaps be available if the Royals reach the World Series.

The expected pitching matchup tomorrow night will be righties Brady Singer and Tyler Wells, although Baltimore skipper Brandon Hyde has not named a starter for Wednesday night's game opposite Cole Ragans. It's driving speculation that if the Royals win tomorrow, Corbin Burnes could throw in Game Two in a do-or-die situation on four days' rest.

Thursday, should it be needed, would likely go to Miles Mikolas or Grayson Rodriguez against Daniel Lynch if Burnes pitches on Wednesday.

Here is the Wildcard roster in its entirety:

PITCHERS (12) Kris Bubic, Hunter Harvey, Daniel Lynch IV, Alec Marsh, Cole Ragans, JoJo Romero, John Schreiber, Brady Singer, Will Smith, Chris Stratton, Josh Taylor, Mitch White
CATCHERS (2) Freddy Fermin, Salvador Perez
INFIELDERS (6) CJ Alexander, Maikel Garcia, Devin Mann, Michael Massey, Nick Pratto, Bobby Witt Jr
OUTFIELDERS (6) Dairon Blanco, Kyle Isbel, MJ Melendez, Hunter Renfroe, Nelson Velazquez, Drew Waters

Storm Chasers, Sounds tied at two wins each: In the International League semis, Omaha and Nashville are tied at two wins each in the best-of-seven series, with the two squaring off again tonight at 6 PM in Nashville. They've split the last two games, with the Storm Chasers claiming a 4-3 win on Saturday night, while dropping a 6-2 decision yesterday.

Saturday's victory saw Josh Lester and Mike Brosseau light the way, with each hitting a homerun in the fourth inning to completely erase the Sounds' 3-0 lead at the time and put the Storm Chasers in front by one. After Nashville tied the game at three in the bottom of the fourth, Brosseau would add an RBI single in the fifth.

Omaha's bullpen would stand that lead up throughout the rest of the game, with Walter Pennington giving the Royals three shutout innings in relief to get the victory. TJ McFarland earned the save, his second of the series.

Nashville would win the second game by a 6-2 score, jumping all over Luis Cessa in the first inning by scoring four earned runs in the first two innings in all to take an early 4-0 advantage. Andy Yerzy's three-run homerun, his second homerun of the series, was the big blow in the first inning.

Dillan Shrum and Cam Devanney each hit homeruns for the Storm Chasers, who will look to take a 3-2 advantage in tonight's contest.

OTHER ROYALS HEADLINES
Royals prospects begin Arizona Fall League play tomorrow night
Royals claim top home record in the league with 55-26 mark
Maikel Garcia finishes third in AL batting race with .302 average