Royals Rumblings - News for July 22, 2024

Seth Lugo is “THE SURGEON”

Anne Rogers writes about Seth Lugo’s first complete game of the season.

“The way he controlled that game, I thought it was the right decision,” Quatraro said.

Chants of “LUGO, LUGO” filled Kauffman Stadium after the Royals finished their sweep of the White Sox and improved to 55-45 through 100 games of the season.

“I had chills out there,” Lugo said. “The ‘Lugo’ chants, that was special. It’s something I won’t forget.”

Sam McDowell writes about what Lugo has brought to the team.

There’s even more reason to pound the zone. Lugo threw twice as many strikes as balls Sunday. The habit has a way of becoming noticed.

Earlier this year, Witt developed a nickname for him: The Surgeon.

Lugo, as Witt explained it, has all the tools that he needs to dissect hitters.

We’ll see if the moniker sticks.

Anne has more on why the Royals released Jordan Lyles.

Lyles had been pitching in simulated games in Arizona, but given his months-long absence, the Royals did not think he was ready to jump back into the Major Leagues and be a part of their 13-man pitching staff. With the 30 days up on Friday, the Royals had to make the decision and subsequent roster move before Saturday’s game.

“This is still sort of an ongoing thing, so out of respect to Jordan and the personal nature of it, we don’t want to comment too much,” Royals senior vice president/assistant general manager Scott Sharp said. “We wish him well moving forward. The organization was, due to certain rules and restrictions, we were in a position where we had to make a decision. The best decision for the organization was to release Jordan Lyles.”

David Laurila at Fangraphs talks to Cole Ragans about adjustments he has made.

Ragans has “gone through phases” where that has happened, including earlier this year where he found himself dropping his arm slot “three or four inches” when throwing his slider. A change to where he stood on the rubber contributed to the undesirable difference. He moved from the third base side to the first base side during the offseason and remained there throughout spring training and for his first few regular-season starts.

“What I’d wanted was more horizontal approach angle, especially versus lefties with the curveball,” explained Ragans, who has a 3.16 ERA and a 2.67 FIP on the season. “Left on left, I’d kind of be coming from behind their ear. But doing that kind of messed up the feel of certain pitches, especially the slider; I was yanking it, making sure that it didn’t stay middle. We decided to move back to the third base side, and from there the slider got back to where it needed to be.”

Craig Brown has a short reaction to the Royals’ draft class.

From my perspective, I can understand why the Royals are thrilled that Jac Caglianone fell to them at number six. It’s the first draft in some time that the team selected the best player available on the board, rather than going an alternate route in the first round as some sort of grander strategy. That’s probably a function of the talent in the draft as a whole and new scouting director Brian Bridges.

KCUR notes that Royals attendance is beginning to pick up.

The Dodgers sign former Royals reliever Nick Anderson.

Clayton Kershaw will make his season debut Thursday.

Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez hits for the cycle.

Braves second https://apnews.com/article/sundance-film-festival-new-location-finalists-eaf673661e38b41bf007d5f817e7cf7fbaseman Ozzie Albies is out eight weeks with a wrist injury.

The Mariners release former All-Star first baseman Ty France.

The Cardinals have interest in White Sox pitcher Erick Fedde.

The Diamondbacks are planning to be buyers at the trade deadline.

The Yankees and Red Sox are interested in Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon.

Adrian Beltre, Joe Mauer, Todd Helton, Jim Leyland are officially inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame.

How draft bonus pools reduce leverage for draftees.

Dan Szymborski looks at the prospects that ZIPS liked for 2024.

Xander Schauffele wins his second major by taking the British Open.

Kyle Larson wins his first Brickyard 400

The asexual animals that steal genes to make their own medicine.

Soda cans are exploding on Southwest flights due to sky-high temperatures.

After 40 years in Park City, the Sundance Film Festival is looking for a new home.

Your song of the day is LCD Soundsystem with All My Friends.