Royals Rumblings - News for May 20, 2025
Can the Royals patch the rotation together?
Kris Bubic enjoys pitching near his hometown in northern California, writes Jaylon Thompson
Bubic grew up in Cupertino, California, which is just an hour south of Oracle Park. For years, Bubic watched as the Giants made lifelong memories. Now, he gets a chance to create his own once in a place he has always loved.
“It’s special,” Bubic said. “It may be biased or unbiased, but I think it’s the nicest stadium in the big leagues with just how scenic it is. The park has been there for about 25 years now. So just growing up and going there, I have sat in just about every area of the ballpark.”
David Lesky reacts to the injuries to the rotation.
That means they can go with some bullpen days if they want. Seth Lugo is eligible to come off the IL on May 30 against the Tigers. If he can go that day, the Royals will only need to cover two starts - this Wednesday and one of the last two fames of the Reds series next week. Both games are either right before an off day or two days before, which means that bullpen game could be fine and allow the bullpen a chance to recover. Matt Quatraro has said this a couple of times, but the way they pitch leading up to those games will likely tell us the story about how they handle these games.
Craig Brown reflects on the Chris Stratton signing.
In some ways, a move like this harkens back to the GMDM era. Dayton Moore did a number of things by a certain book. One of those was, he would wait 40 games or so before making moves like this. While there were a number of moves and methods Moore made that I disagree with, I can’t really argue against this. Especially when the player can be stashed at the end of the bullpen like the Royals did with Stratton. Still, it’s been clear for some time that Stratton did not have a future on this team. It happens.
Pete Grathoff talks to Darryl Motley about how he got lost during the 1985 championship parade.
“My car and Onix Concepcion’s car got separated from the parade,” he recalled. “The parade was gone. It was just two cars, and we were going through town, people everywhere. We came up here, people hanging in the trees and they split for us ... but we were lost. It happened.”
Anne Rogers writes about how the Royals help some Latin ballplayers an education after their baseball careers are over.
How will the Phillies replace Jose Alvarado?
Chipper Jones and Marquis Grissom will manage the Futures Game at All-Star Weekend.
How Christian Yelich is carrying on the legacy of Bob Uecker.
Baseball will experiment with Hawk-Eye technology for check swing challenges in the minors.
Can Aaron Judge make a run at .400?
What could Bo Bichette get in free agency?
The Padres release outfielder Oscar Gonzalez to pursue opportunities in Japan.
Catchers have been pretty good at the plate this season.
Comedian John Oliver picks the minor league team that he will re-brand.
Brock Purdy gets a rare no-trade clause in his mega-deal with the 49ers.
What we learned from the opening weekend of WNBA action.
NASA scientists are able to revive long-dormant thrusters on Voyager 1, the farthest spacecraft from Earth.
Dick’s Sporting Goods is buying Foot Locker.
Sesame Street lands on Netflix.
Your song of the day is Alice in Chains with Them Bones.