The Royals are rolling.
The Royals offense continues to click, writes Jaylon Thompson.
“They have just been relentless,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “Some of it’s been early in the game and we expanded later. Some of it has been consistent throughout the game. I think that’s a testament to the guys up and down the order not giving up, giving good at-bats and passing the baton to the next guy.”
Michael Massey left last night’s game with back tightness.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro said Massey departed as a precaution. Massey reiterated that he is confident he will be fine. The 29-year-old second baseman is considered day to day.
“You don’t want to turn it into something that’s longer than it needs to be,” Massey said. “I felt it during the day. It didn’t make sense to stay out there and take a chance. Just some back tightness. I wanted to get some treatment and try to loosen it up.”
Craig Brown praises Seth Lugo’s curveball.
You know about the strikeout numbers from Lugo this year. About how he recorded 14 strikeouts in his first five starts of 2024 and in his next five starts he punched out 44 batters. Using that fifth start as a line of demarcation, Lugo has upped his spin rate on his curveball as the season has progressed. Through his first five starts of 2024, Lugo’s average spin rate on his curve was 3,268 RPMs. If you go back and revisit the table above, you’ll notice that spin was less than he’s currently averaging.
Over his next five starts, Lugo was averaging a spin rate of 3,365 RPMs on his curve . That’s about a three percent increase. Is that enough to turn an already good pitch into a devastating weapon? The proof seems to be in the whiffs.
In his start against the Angels last week, Lugo threw the pitch 19 percent of the time and recorded 10 outs on it. Including seven strikeouts. Yep…seven strikeouts on the curve.
David Lesky looks at the Royals starting pitching depth for 2025.
So what’s the point of all of this other than to show that the Royals are building an honest-to-goodness pitching pipeline? I believe the Royals have put together a situation where they can use what they have to fill in the gaps. The question that I would have is how aggressively they want to fill those gaps. They’re not trading Ragans. And I don’t see a world where they trade Lugo. But I think they should be looking to see what they can get for Singer, and if they believe their process can be replicated, should/could they even be dangling Marsh?
Trey Donovan at Farm to Fountains defends Kyle Isbel.
Although Isbel has been a proverbial “black hole” in the lineup, the data points more towards him being unlucky with some fixes needed to be made. Per Baseball savant, Isbel is ever so slightly below average in a lot of stats but stands out by not whiffing or striking out. Throw in a couple of numbers that have gotten better as the season as gone on and Isbel has a recipe to get to that 90+ wRC+ club.
Royals players wore a special t-shirt for a good cause.
The Royals announce that Shaquille O’Neal will perform in a concert at Kauffman Stadium.
Justin Verlander passes Greg Maddux to become tenth all-time in strikeouts.
The Braves sign infielder Joey Wendle.
Yankees owner Hank Steinbrenner says their current payroll is not sustainable.
Who is the favorite in the AL West?
It’s not that easy to trade a reliever off to a hot first half.
Can Shohei Ohtani become the first DH to win MVP?
Why Angel Hernandez is such a lightning rod. [NYTimes/The Athletic]
The NBA on TNT may be ending over a $200 million dispute.
How we got pay-for-play in college sports.
Doctor Who teases its strangest villain yet.
A study shows that daily marijuana uses outpaces daily alcohol use.
Your song of the day is Michael McDonald with What a Fool Believes.
