Royals Rumblings - News for June 19, 2025

The Maikel Garcia breakout continues with yet another big game last night:

The fact that García isn’t trying to hit homers — but has now surpassed his total from last year (seven) — speaks not only to his growth as a player in his third big league season, but also to how consistent he has stayed with his approach and all of the adjustments he made with his swing over the offseason.

It’s turned him into one of the Royals’ best hitters.

“I’m just playing the game,” Garcia said. “Playing situations in the game, put the ball in play, move the runner and good things happen. Last year, I [hit] two homers in three games [at the beginning of the year]. I liked it. I was just trying to hit a lot of homers. That wasn’t good. I struggled last year. But the adjustments I did in the offseason, I feel great this season.”

Kevin O’Brien digs into Seth Lugo’s strong start this Tuesday:

The lack of hits (three), walks (one), and runs (one) allowed by Lugo was impressive. However, what stood out the most in Lugo’s outing today were the strikeouts and whiffs generated.

Over 96 pitches, Lugo generated 14 total swings and misses, suitable for a whiff rate of 31%. He also produced a CSW of 31% and only allowed an average exit velocity of 79.3 MPH. Additionally, his Stuff and other Statcast metrics looked impressive from his TJ Stats summary from Tuesday’s game.

ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel has Kansas City drafting Josh Hammond, a prep infielder from North Carolina, in his latest mock:

Hammond has a number of potential landing spots starting around No. 10 and ending somewhere in the mid-20s. Given Hammond’s two-way exploits, there are parallels here with Austin Riley, a player that Royals scouting director Brian Bridges drafted while with Atlanta. I’d expect prep pitching and/or a prep shortstop (lots of names are mentioned, especially given Kansas City’s history) at their next few picks.

Cole Ragans won’t throw for at least a couple more weeks:

It’s been nearly two weeks since Ragans has thrown a ball, and now that his diagnosis has been confirmed, the Royals will keep him shut down for another two weeks before re-evaluating him. A clearer timeline for his return may emerge once he’s ready to begin a throwing program, but it seems unlikely that he’ll be able to rejoin the rotation before the All-Star break. As long as Ragans is out, Noah Cameron’s job as the fifth starter should be secure.

J.J. Picollo denied reports that the team is exploring trading away veterans at the deadline.

Keith Law redrafts the first round of the 2015 draft. ($) Kansas City used the 21st pick of that draft on Ashe Russell, who never got past rookie ball.

Old friend Ryan O’Hearn could be an X-factor in next month’s trade deadline.

Orioles minor leaguer Luis Guevara passed away in a jet ski crash.

Oneil Cruz may have figured out how to play center field.

Rafael Devers is happy to play wherever the Giants ask him to.

The Red Sox reportedly used AI to conduct interviews for a position in their baseball ops department.

The Yankees might never score again.

Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg is in advanced talks to sell the team.

Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter is purchasing the Los Angeles Lakers for a record $10 billion.

Oregon’s state legislature signed off on $800 million to draw an MLB team to Portland.

LSU and Coastal Carolina will play for the National Championship this weekend in Omaha. Coastal bludgeoned Louisville to advance to the final, while LSU came back for a walk-off win thanks to a defensive meltdown by Arkansas.

There is a very large tiger encircling the College World Series.

Former NFL player and Kansas City Chiefs employee Ramzee Robinson is suing the team for racial discrimination.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s 2022 draft class is shaping up to be one of the best ever.

In a recent experiment, ChatGPT, an AI model that has received billions of dollars of investment, was trounced in chess by an Atari 2600 on beginner difficulty.

Residents of Venice are voicing their opposition to Jeff Bezos’s planned wedding there this weekend.

A screening of the original 1977 version of Star Wars highlighted just how different it was from the version that most people know.

Your song of the day is You Wear a Crown But You’re No King by blessthefall.