Royals Rumblings - News for June 2, 2025

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02 Jun 2025 12:00

Photo by Mikayla Schlosser/MLB Photos via Getty Images

Enjoy retirement, Moose!

Jaylon Thompson writes how Michael Wacha flirted with a no-hitter on Saturday.

“I definitely tried not to think too much about it,” Wacha said. “Obviously, I knew what was going on. I just continued to try to take it to another level, keep making my pitches and keep executing like I had been pretty much all day.”...

“The art of pitching was on display,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said, via Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. “He disrupts timing. He moves the ball around.”

Anne Rogers has more.

Wacha’s changeup was particularly filthy, with the Tigers whiffing on it six times on 19 swings — “It was dancing for me there for the most part today,” Wacha said of his cambio — and he threw all his pitches for strikes. Almost all of the Tigers’ contact against Wacha was soft.

“It was close to the best outing I’ve ever seen him have,” Quatraro said.

Kris Bubic was phenomenal on Sunday, despite not getting the win.

“I didn’t throw that 1-2 heater to McKinstry with a lot of conviction,” Bubic said. “I wasn’t zoning the four-seam (fastball) well early in the game. I’ll be honest, that wasn’t my best heater. He took advantage of it and I overcooked the sweeper there in the dirt to let him score.”

Still, Bubic tied his career-high with nine strikeouts despite taking the loss. He owns a major-league best 1.43 ERA through 12 starts.

Carlos Estévez ties a club record with his 16th save by the end of May.

“He’s closing games for a reason in the big leagues,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “You know, he has a full arsenal of pitches to get people out. He stays calm in the moment and he executes his pitches. He knows what he is out there for. I don’t think he worries too much about who the hitter is. It’s more about if he executes what he is doing.”

Dan Szmborski at Fangraphs thinks it's time for the Royals to bring up Jac Caglianone.

From a projection standpoint, Caglianone was the biggest mover of the spring, going from a projected wRC+ of 72 to 96, in large part because he had so little professional experience to draw from before. As one can expect, his 14 homers and .593 slugging percentage have only excited ZiPS even more. We now have significant professional play, and in the high minors, so not only has the projection continued to improve, but the error bars have also tightened.

ZiPS now projects Caglianone, if promoted to the majors, to hit .263/.335/.459, good enough for a 120 OPS+ and a wRC+ of 118. Despite his performance this year, he doesn’t project to be an instant phenom; expecting him to come in and immediately turn into Yordan Alvarez is probably unrealistic. But the Royals don’t need him to be Alvarez — though it would certainly be nice — they just need him to be better than what they have right now.

Vahe Gregorian covers Mike Moustakas’ retirement ceremony.

“It’s just kind of how this city was with us,” Moustakas said Thursday in a phone interview with The Star.

“Every pitch, every moment, they were in it with us.” Good thing … in more ways than one.

Cole Ragans made what should be his only rehab start on Saturday.

The Royals honored Lou Gehrig’s legacy on Sunday.

The Red Sox promote former Royals outfielder Nate Eaton.

The Rockies become the third-fastest team ever to 50 losses.

X-rays are negative for Christian Yelich after he is hit in the hand by a pitch.

The Nationals scored nine runs off the Diamondbacks before an out was recorded.

Coby Mayo sparks a bench-clearing incident after trying to draw an interference call.

The Phillies demote Taijuan Walker to the bullpen.

What will the Pirates do at the trade deadline?

Pitcher Wade Miley opts out of his deal with the Reds and becomes a free agent.

First baseman Dominic Smith opts out of his deal with the Yankees.

The Thunder and Pacers might have just proved that losing in the In-Season Tournament is your team’s best path to the NBA Finals.