Weekend Rumblings - News for October 5, 2024

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Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images

If the Royals can make it there, they can make it anywhere.

David Lesky previews the ALDS against the Yankees.

You wonder a little if the postseason struggles from Judge over the last couple of seasons weigh on him. He’s had his issues, going 1 for 20 in the 2017 ALDS, but he bounced back with a big ALCS. And he was good in the 2019 playoffs until the ALCS, but in his last three trips to the postseason, he’s hit a combined .143/.208/.357 in 77 plate appearances. He does have five home runs, but he also has 25 strikeouts, which is good for a 35.7 percent strikeout rate. He is truly one of the great hitters in baseball, so you assume this is a small sample blip, but what happens if he goes 0 for 4 in game one? Even the best can get in their heads.

Gabe Lacques writes about the Royals’ amazing pitching quartet.

“JJ was kind of describing his plan and the team outlook,” says Wacha. “I saw Lugo had signed there probably about a week or two before I did, and pitching with him I knew what he brought to the table.

“He’s one of the best brains that I’ve been around, really, whenever it comes to that kind of stuff.”

Michael Rosen at Fangraphs writes about Lucas Erceg’s crazy-good change up.

What makes Erceg’s changeup good, however, seems pretty obvious to me. It goes fast and it moves a ton, almost like a lefty slider.

The changeup helps Erceg stand above other relievers with more limited arsenals. Against righties, he is mostly a sinker-slider guy, throwing his two-seamer in on the hands and then dropping his slider below the knees for whiffs. But against lefties, he relies on his four-seamer and changeup, neutralizing lethal lefties like Henderson. The results bear this out — Erceg faced roughly an equal amount of righties and lefties this season and held them both in check (.242 wOBA against righties, .279 wOBA against lefties).

Craig Brown recollects the Royals/Yankees rivalry of the 70s.

As a writer of, ahem, a certain age, I have vivid memories of the epic Royals and Yankees encounters of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. The heartbreak of the Chris Chambliss home run in ‘76. The slides and swings and the heartbreak of a Freddie Patek double play in ‘77, the year the Royals won 102 games. George Brett hitting three home runs against Catfish Hunter in Game Three in an inexplicable losing effort of ‘78. I had Royals posters all over my room and immediately pulled them all down. Who could take this kind of pain?

Finally the nirvana of ‘80, with Brett unleashing fury against Goose Gossage and dropping a pennant-clinching home run into the upper tank.

Will Kansas Citians viewing preference be the Royals or Chiefs on Monday? IT IS BOTH! IT’S BOTH!

Why Patrick Mahomes is a fan of Bobby Witt Jr.

Omaha manager Mike Jirschele was named International League Manager of the Year.

Mike Gillespie at Kings of Kauffman writes how Dayton Moore helped shape this 2024 Royals team.

The Savannah Bananas will come to Kauffman Stadium next year.

The umpiring crew for the Divisional Series were announced.

Bob Costas and Ron Darling will broadcast the Royals/Yankees series.

Ranking all 16 potential World Series matchups.

The weaknesses for each team left in the playoffs.

Kodai Senga will return from injury to pitch Game 1 for the Mets.

Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove is out for their series against the Dodgers.

Japanese pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano is coming to the States.