Royals Rumblings - News for June 25, 2024

Oh yea, wins are fun!

Michael Massey returned, but he won’t play the field for a bit, writes Jaylon Thompson.

“We knew we were going to have Michael back starting today as long as everything went good last week,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “So, he is fine and he is able to swing the bat, run the bases and slide. We are going to be cautious with the defense and there is going to be a progression he’ll go through.”

Massey will operate as a designated hitter for the foreseeable future. The Royals plan to allow him to continue building up his defense over the next few weeks.

C.J. Alexander talks to Anne Rogers about his first trip to the big leagues.

“I’ve just been trying to relax and not do too much,” Alexander said of his season so far. “Staying within myself and kind of just going out there to win instead of getting caught up in the stats and yourself. It’s just switching the focus to, ‘How can I help the team win?’ It just flipped that mental switch in your head to think about not doing a bunch of crazy things. You’re just trying to help the team win.”

Craig Brown notes that the bats are to blame for the recent slide.

The temptation is there, after the abjectly miserable performance from the bats, to ignore everything else that happened in Texas over the weekend. Yeah…there’s really not much else there. However, the starting pitching was still mostly good. Brady Singer gave the Royals five innings of one-run baseball before John Schreiber and Sam Long coughed up five runs of their own in the sixth inning. Wacha was back on Saturday and he likewise allowed just a run in five innings. That was the Zerpa eighth that put the game well out of reach. Then on Sunday Alec Marsh allowed three runs in 5.2 innings. By this point one run or 20. It didn’t really matter.

This wasn’t like the Yankee series of a little over a week ago where New York looked like the better team. This was just one side not showing up at all, aside from the starters.

David Lesky responds to calls from fans that the Royals should be sellers.

I don’t know if those deals get it done or not, but I also think you’re getting the point here. The system is either too bad to matter and there shouldn’t be anyone you wouldn’t be willing to give up other than maybe two or three guys, or you’re not willing to move on from some guys who might actually be okay. I’m fine saying no to trading top top prospects for rentals who don’t have any control beyond this season with this team, but it’s a double standard to say the system stinks but the Royals shouldn’t be trading from it to get better. Because I do believe organizations owe something to fans and cities when winning is a possibility.

Royals Weekly doesn’t want to see the Royals give up much at the deadline though.

Here’s the problem with that. The Royals have a weak farm system that other teams know is weak. In order to get a player in trade who would make any difference to the playoff push, the Royals would have to hollow out an already weak farm system.

As an organization, they’re still in the early stages of building a sustainable winner. Knee capping the farm system for one playoff push doesn’t make a lot of sense in this context.

Mets closer Edwin Diaz gets a 10-game suspension for using a foreign substance.

The Giants all wear #24 in honor of Willie Mays.

Clayton Kershaw is shut down from his rehab with shoulder soreness.

Bradford Doolittle at ESPN hands out his mid-season awards.

The end is nigh for the core of the 2016 championship Cubs team.

The Rockies won’t trade Ryan McMahon, but who could they deal?

The Pirates are ready to be buyers at the trade deadline.

Zach Neto is a lone bright spot for the Angels.

Padres pitcher Matt Waldron is bringing back the knuckleball.

Tennessee wins the College World Series.

The Florida Panthers win their first Stanley Cup but Edmonton’s Connor McDavid wins the Conn Smythe trophy for playoffs MVP.

The Chiefs release Isaiah Buggs after two off-field incidents this off-season.

How social media has impacted language.

Actors didn’t always need to get buff for their movies.

The highest-grossing concert tour of the year (not counting Taylor Swift) so far is....Madonna?

Your song of the day is The Pretenders with Back on the Chain Gang.