Royals Rumblings - News for September 5, 2024

Back in the win column.

It was a relief to snap the losing streak yesterday:

That approach hasn’t changed, but seven losses in a row isn’t what the Royals wanted, especially in the middle of this stretch of 20 games against teams who currently hold a playoff spot. The Royals are 5-9 so far in that gauntlet but have a firm grip on their own playoff spot. Despite trailing Cleveland by 4 1/2 games, Kansas City is tied for second with the Twins (who own the head-to-head tiebreaker) in the division, and the Royals have a 5 1/2-game lead as the third Wild Card team.

“Nobody wants to lose, right?” Quatraro said. “And when you string a whole week of games together where you don’t win any of them, it wears on you. Mentally, physically, it makes it tougher to believe in yourself. However, it had to happen, whether it was a blowout or close game, it was good to get a win because that’s what we’re trying to do here all year.”

The Royals hope Tommy Pham can provide a late season lift, as he did last night:

Pham drew interest from the Royals at the trade deadline. It’s clear the organization valued his maverick characteristics. He brings an edge that can fuel a team for long stretches.

The Royals hope to lean into Pham’s leadership over the next several weeks, and perhaps longer. He admittedly hates to lose and that mentality is necessary when games matter most.

“If I could get 27 more guys on the team to hate losing like me and bring more of a winning culture,” he said, “that can be very beneficial for us in this race.”

Michael Lorenzen is one pitcher traded at the deadine that has changed his game since arriving ($):

Yes, that’s in a Texas Rangers uniform because their center-field camera is a lot better. Lorenzen has thrown almost as many sweepers in one month with the Royals as he threw in five months with the Rangers. His fastball shapes still aren’t dominant, but the righty is more of a weapon when he’s throwing the sweeper, and kudos to Kansas City for seeing this underused pitch and upping its usage.

This new Royals regime has done this with a few of their pitchers, upping certain breaking balls and reducing the usage of fastballs and other harder pitches. This looks like another sign that they’ve upgraded their pitching coaching and development.

The Royals could have a strong wave of prospects ready to come up in 2026:

With so many standout showings this season, it begs the question: when will they be ready to make their big league debut? Prospects are just that, and the only real value is once they’re on the big league roster providing at-bats or innings. For many of the key prospects above, the timeline seems to point to 2026. Outfielder Gavin Cross and Javier Vaz may be a year earlier and could reach the big leagues as early as next season. Others, such as Blake Wolters and Hiro Wyatt, could be a year later with a 2027 debut most likely. However, 2026 should be seen as more or less the arrival of the Royals’ next young core.

ICYMI, our very own RoyalTreatment was featured on SBNation’s main page yesterday with his piece on Bobby Witt Jr. and the MVP race.

The three best teams right now might all be in the NL West. ($)

Kyle Schwarber tied Alfonso Soriano’s 2003 record for most leadoff homers in a season.

Shōta Imanaga and two Cubs relievers combined to no-hit the Pirates.

Whit Merrifield is displeased with the current state of pitching.

Several top-flight English teams visited MLB parks while on tour this summer, giving some international soccer stars their first closeup look at baseball.

Elvis Andrus will officially retire with the Rangers tomorrow.

Cubs left-handed pitcher Justin Steele is headed to the IL with an elbow injury.

Texas shortstop Corey Seager may miss the rest of the season with a hip injury.

Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe will face off in the US Open semifinal with each having a chance to become the first American man to reach a Grand Slam event finals since 2009.

American Jessica Pegula upset Women’s #1 Iga Świątek to advance to her first US Open semifinal.

George R.R. Martin isn’t a fan of some changes made in HBO’s House of the Dragon.

Millions of new users have joined Bluesky since Brazil banned X, The Everything App.

Your song of the day is Station station by Miynt.