Royals Rumblings - News for September 18, 2024

Another 30/30 for Bobby!

BBobby Witt Jr. becomes the first shortstop with two 30/30 seasons, writes Anne Rogers.

Witt became the first Royal ever to record a 30-30 season in 2023 when he hit 30 home runs and swiped 49 bags. And he’s just the eighth player to record back-to-back 30-30 seasons, joining Ryan Braun (2011-12), Alfonso Soriano (‘05-06 and ‘02-03), Vladimir Guerrero Sr. (‘01-02), Barry Bonds (1995-97), Ron Gant (‘90-91), Bobby Bonds (‘77-78) and Willie Mays (‘56-57).

James McArthur has a Grade 1 ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) sprain.

“We are going to shut him down probably five to seven days just depending on how he feels,” manager Matt Quatraro said of McArthur’s timeline. “We are very hopeful it’s not a season-ending injury.”

Brittany Ghiroli at The Athletic writes why its good for baseball that the Royals are good.

While MLB has added measures to try to help combat the sport’s tanking epidemic, getting teams to consistently try, front offices to assume risk and owners to open their wallets has been another problem altogether.

Witt’s otherworldly season (he will easily clear 10 fWAR) would make him a shoo-in for American League MVP if not for the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge. It also comes after a spring in which Sherman OK’ed an 11-year, $288.8 million contract extension for the Royals young star, which could be worth as much as $377 million over 14 years when it’s all done. It’s the most lucrative deal in franchise history.

Again, if Kansas City — one of the smallest markets in baseball — can do it, why can’t everyone else?

Mike Petriello lists Lucas Erceg and Kris Bubic as relievers who could dominate in the post-season.

Based on the returns so far, it’s fair to wonder if he’s ever going back. Bubic’s 3.33 ERA doesn’t stand out, but the 2.18 FIP absolutely does, and 31 K’s to four walks is stellar. As you’d expect from a now-healthy pitcher working in short stints out of the bullpen, the velocity is way up, from 91.7 to 93.2 MPH on his fastball, and a changeup that is now 5 MPH faster than it was three years ago. But it’s this, too. It’s the shelving of the curveball that didn’t work, and the addition of a slider that plays better.

Craig Brown reviews Seth Lugo’s last start.

The hard stuff was up as noted previously. The slurve missed consistently low. He was able to nick the corners, but not as much as usual. He was living in the meaty portion of the zone. Also, it just seemed like Lugo had difficulty putting hitters away. He would jump ahead in the count 0-1 or 0-2 and then let the batter right back in, delivering a pitch or two (or three) out of the zone. Was he trying to be too fine? I don’t think that was the case. It was just the Detroit hitters were able to lay off those pitches that were well out of the zone. A dazzling array isn’t as effective if he’s not hitting his spots.

Bobby Witt Jr. is among the young stars Baseball America writes about that could impact the playoffs.

The Twins topped the Guardians last night, keeping the Royals at five games back, but just 1.5 games ahead of Minnesota.

Would Francisco Lindor be more valuable to the Dodgers than Shohei Ohtani?

Victor Robles may have the dumbest stolen base attempt of the season.

What went wrong with the Rangers this year?

The White Sox are hiring a former Navy SEAL with no baseball experience to overhaul the front office.

Could Emmanuel Clase become the first closer to win the Cy Young since 1992?

Nathan Eovaldi unlocks his player option for 2025.

The Guardians lose outfielder Steven Kwan to injury.

The Mets honor Grimace with a purple seat.

Minor league teams are abandoning California towns.

Looking for traces of baseball in North Korea.

Can any of these 0-2 NFL teams make the playoffs?

Are Americans generous?

Earth may have had rings like Saturn millions of years ago.

The former MoviePass CEO admits the $9.95 ‘unlimited’ ticket scheme was fraud.

Your song of the day is Muse with Uprising.