Royals Rumblings - News for March 21, 2024
One week until Opening Day!
Several spots on the roster remain up for grabs with a week left of Spring Training:
The locks right now include Will Smith, Nick Anderson, John Schreiber, Chris Stratton and James McArthur. It seems likely that Angel Zerpa is going to make the team, giving the Royals a durable multi-inning reliever.
One bullpen spot should go to a rotation hopeful listed above. And with Jake Brentz (hamstring) sidelined for six weeks, there are three candidates for the final spot: Matt Sauer, Josh Taylor and non-roster pitcher Sam Long.
Jaylon Thompson at the Star highlights Will Klein in his Before the Crown series:
Klein noted his curveball is an important pitch. He uses it to balance his high-powered fastball and slider. He struggled with the command and it led to increased walks. The curveball wasn’t where he wanted it to be. He needed to unlock the desired curveball spin and direction. “I was like, ‘I don’t want to cast it, but I don’t want to yank it,’” Klein said. “So it was all over the place. And this offseason I was getting to the point where I just throw it as hard as I can.” Well, it worked. Klein regained his control with the curveball by applying a bit more force. “I was just going to throw my curveball hard every time,” Klein said.
David Lesky at Inside the Crown investigates who could make their big league debuts in 2024:
I think we can see a lot of productivity from a few of them for sure, but the issue with a farm system lacking top-end talent is that generally great careers come from top-end minor league talent. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t more help on the way for the Royals, and maybe some that can get to that next tier if things turn around a bit in the system this season. So today I want to dig in to a bunch of players who have a real shot to make their debut in 2024. It’s hard to know everyone. I definitely wouldn’t have predicted Cropley or James McArthur last season. Heck, McArthur wasn’t even in the organization at this time last year. But I’ll get a few of these right.
The people running the “Vote Yes” tax campaign for the Royals and Chiefs previously worked on the presidential campaigns of Ted Cruz and Ron DeSantis. ($)
Speaking of which, after weeks of blowing past their self-imposed deadlines and driving away community groups during negotiations, the teams have announced details on community benefits agreements.
Farm to Fountains highlights some prep prospects that the Royals could target in the first round of this summer’s draft.
The Los Angeles Dodgers kicked off the 2024 season with a win over the San Diego Padres in Seoul yesterday. At the time of posting, they are in the later innings of their second game.
Both of those teams have a chance to make major league history this season in unique ways.
The Miami Marlins could make one of the best starting rotations in baseball out of pitchers currently on the IL.
Cincinnati’s Brandon Williamson is joining the list of roughly seven million pitchers that will start the season on the IL.
There were big changes in this week’s college baseball Top 25 as many ranked teams lost their weekends.
Cricket is finally beginning to catch on in the United States. ($)
Inside the world of Caitlin Clark, her meteoric rise to fame, and ambitions to be the best to ever do it.
Jon Rahm is bringing the flavors of Basque country to the Masters Champions Dinner.
The next few months will be momentous for ESPN as they work out their direct-to-consumer service. ($)
With pedestrian fatalities reaching new heights, perhaps it’s time to innovate the pedestrian way of life.
You might be surprised at just how many different companies websites are sending your data to.
Your song of the day is Beginnings Are Such Delicate Times by Hans Zimmer.