Royals Rumblings - News for March 19, 2025

MLB.com examines one player in each camp that is making the biggest impression, with pitcher Daniel Lynch IV representing the Kansas City Royals.

There aren’t too many roster battles for the Royals this camp, but Lynch has made the biggest one — the fifth starter battle — at least an interesting conversation. His spring ERA jumped to 3.21 after allowing three runs in four innings on Thursday, admitting he got out of his delivery a bit that led to lack of execution, but his stuff has looked solid in five Cactus League appearances and he still hasn’t walked a batter in 14 innings while striking out 11. Kris Bubic might still be viewed as the frontrunner for the Royals’ fifth-starter spot, but Lynch has still made it a battle. And now the Royals have to decide if the lefty has earned — and would help them more — in a bullpen spot rather than simply using him for Triple-A depth.

David Lesky looks at how he thinks Kansas City will deploy their pitchers come Opening Day at Inside the Crown. [$]

The rotation from one through three looks the same. Is that a good thing with two veterans getting a year older? I think it is for at least 2025. The bullpen got another new piece later in the winter and gets back an injured part that was supposed to help take it to the next level. With health, I think the Royals have a chance to have a top-five rotation and a top-five bullpen in the American League, which, by ERA, was true for the Mariners and Tigers last year. The staff, if all goes well, should give them a chance almost every day and, thus, a chance all season long.

Royals Data Dugout puts out their final Opening Day roster prediction and why veteran Chris Stratton is winning the final bullpen spot.

We may not like it (because it’s not our money) but no team in MLB is eager to pay a guy $4+ million to pitch somewhere else. That’s one of the cases for carrying Stratton over Hernandez, at least for a few weeks or a month. The other arrow pointing toward Stratton is walk rate — his 6.3% mark this spring is half of Hernandez’s, who’s always had a proclivity for free passes. If I’m choosing the final piece of a ‘pen, even if the options aren’t great (are they ever?), give me the guy who’s at least going to throw strikes in a 10-2 game and get us to the next day.

FanGraphs’ Michael Baumann’s positional power rankings have Kansas City’s second base group sitting 16th, with a focus on Michael Masey.

I like Michael Massey despite my better judgment. The former Illinois standout is probably a couple notches shy athletically of being able to stay at second base. He’s a career .242 hitter with a 4.7% walk rate. He makes good contact, and lots of it, but he doesn’t hit the ball that hard. Still, he pulls the ball and hits it in the air, which resulted in 33 extra-base hits, including 14 homers, in just 356 plate appearances in 2024. For the Royals, who had a lineup of Bobby Witt Jr. and eight guys who might as well have gone up there holding a table leg, that meant Massey started all six playoff games, five of them in the leadoff spot. And he did pretty well, going 7-for-23 with two walks.

FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens looks at the first basemen crop, with Kansas City ranking a bit better at 12th here. Clemens’ primary focus is one aspect of Vinnie Pasquantino’s game.

We’re squarely into the first base dead zone at this point. The Royals have the highest upside of that group, in my eyes, because a fully operational Pasquantino doesn’t belong in this tier. The biggest knock on him has been health, but when he’s right, I think he’s more 30-40% above average as a hitter than 15-20%, and that extra offense is very valuable when it comes to standing out from the pack. Of course, Pasquantino has rarely been healthy, which makes counting on him trickier. Nagging injuries cost him time and weighed on his production throughout the 2024 season, and that’s after missing the majority of 2023 thanks to a shoulder injury. The promise is there – scalding contact quality, great bat control, and a good sense of the strike zone – but putting all three together while keeping his body intact has proven difficult.

Athlon Sports’ Jake Elman looks at some common complaints with Kansas City’s powder blue look this season.

The overall reaction to the jersey and pants combo on X (formerly Twitter) was relatively positive. However, most fans had one shared complaint: the white hats must go. “Those hats are hideous,” one fan wrote. “They look like something you’d find for sale in a truck stop bargain bin.” “Not a huge fan of the white panel hats/helmets,” another added.

Whether you like the look or not, the Royals are offering a Powder Blue Six-Pack ticket deal, with an exclusive Salvy Home Run Salute Bobblehead.

Bat Boys Baseball caught up with the Royals in Arizona and got the scoop on some walk-up songs for 2025. What would your walk-up song be?

MLB.com broke down each Opening Day starter matchup, but the Guardians are the only AL team that hasn’t announced their starter for next Thursday’s game yet.

For WIBW and MeTV viewers, here is the Royals local broadcast schedule for 2025.

Former Royals starter Brady Singer spoke about joining the Cincinnati Reds and his new manager, Terry Francona.

The Los Angeles Dodgers selected the contract for former Royals pitcher Matt Sauer.

Chicago Cubs top prospect Matt Shaw talks about making his MLB debut in the star-studded Tokyo games.

Molly Knight has a first-person view of the Tokyo Series, with some underappreciated hype from Japan. [$]

SB Nation’s James Dator has a glowing review for MLB The Show 25, calling the newest installment “the best it’s ever been.”

The Atlanta Braves trade Angel Perdomo to the Los Angeles Angels for either a PTBNL or cash.

Meanwhile, the Braves signed 15-year MLB vet Craig Kimbrel to a minor-league deal with a clear path to the major-league bullpen.

Southpaw Patrick Corbin is joining a Texas Rangers rotation already feeling the injury crunch.

A woman has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Adan Manzanao. The Kansas City reporter and Telemundo anchor was found dead in his hotel room shortly before the Super Bowl in New Orleans.

Midnight release parties are back with the newest installment of the “Hunger Games” book series.

AP’s Jake Coyle says, “‘Eephus’ is the best baseball movie since ‘Moneyball’.”

The wait is over. Two astronauts stuck aboard the International Space Station for nine months returned to Earth Tuesday.

A London thief was convicted Tuesday after stealing a golden latrine valued at more than $6 million.

Today’s song is the newest single from Missouri native Chappell Roan, “The Giver”.