Royals Rumblings - News for June 27, 2025
Bobby Witt Jr. will play for Team USA!
The Royals acknowledge the need to get better, writes Anne Rogers.
“We’re all in this together,” said manager Matt Quatraro. “We’re not pointing fingers at anybody. Nobody’s blaming anybody. There’s no fault. We need to get better. We’re going to keep working at it. We’re going to prepare, we’re going to compete, we’re going to try to pick each other up. Every team goes through stuff like this, and it’s not unique.
“We’re going to be good. We’re going to keep fighting. We’re not giving up on anybody. We’re not running from anybody. We’re not running from the fact that it hasn’t been good enough. We just have to keep fighting. And that’s the best part – we say this all the time – we’ve got a game tomorrow. We’ve got a chance to turn it around.”
Jaylon Thompson writes the offensive woes are setting off alarm bells.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro summed it up succinctly: “Things will change.”
The Royals (38-43) collected five hits Thursday. In the three-game series, KC was outscored 12-1 while being swept at home again.
“There’s a good chance for us to come out here tomorrow and compete and have something good happen,” Quatraro said. “We’re not going to put our tail between our legs. We are not going to curl up in a corner and cry about it. Nobody feels sorry for us. We can ask and answer all the same questions day in and day out.”
He also writes about the development of reliever Steven Cruz.
“He’s turned from a fabulous arm, big arm-strength guy and turned into a guy that is throwing strikes,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. Cruz leaned into the Royals’ analytical philosophy. He improved his posture on the mound and worked on his secondary pitches in the offseason.
“It was to throw more cutters and fastballs up,” Cruz said of his change in approach. “Try to throw a really good slider, too.”
David Lesky writes something needs to change.
In the bigger picture, my issue with the coaching is less about the game plan and more that they seem unable to help hitters get out of slumps with any sort of speed. I think the slump itself is less of an issue than how long it takes to recover from it. So if you’re going to make a change, do it for that reason and not because they swung at the first pitch so much. I’ve gone off on a weird coaching tangent here. Sometimes I’ll go ahead and delete a paragraph like that and save it for a bigger picture newsletter, but I think it’s worth leaving here. As I get older, the more I realize that the coaches are there to guide, but the players need to perform, and I think last night, they simply didn’t perform and have nobody to blame but themselves.
Sam McDowell writes that the state of Kansas will likely extend next week’s deadline on incentives for the sports teams.
Members of Royals leadership met Tuesday with some Kansas City, Missouri, representatives, once more analyzing the Washington Square Park site just east of Union Station downtown. The Royals have inquired about avenues to achieve their original plan of downtown baseball absent another countywide vote — though, to be clear, they haven’t committed to pursuing that route.
Bobby Witt Jr. is a finalist for All-Star Game starting shortstop.
He will also play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.
Former Kansas City Athletics pitcher Diego Segui dies at the age of 87.
Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge are top All-Star vote-getters.
Mets pitcher Griffin Canning suffers an Achilles injury.
Jeff Passan at ESPN profiles A’s breakout star Jacob Wilson.
The Mariners are looking for corner infield bats.
The Angels are somehow in playoff contention.
Alex Bregman is open to an extension with the Red Sox.
Michael Busch homers at Busch Stadium - how many times has a player homered in the stadium of the same name as him?
Barry Bonds will get a statue at Oracle Park in San Francisco.
Former Rays star Wander Franco is found guilty of sexually abusing a 14-year-old.
Ravens kicker Justin Tucker is suspended ten games for alleged sexual misconduct.
Ace Bailey’s reps told the first five teams selecting in the NBA draft not to choose him.
Why is extreme heat causing roads to buckle?
Should we let flies eat our food waste?
A history of planned music albums that never happened.
Your song of the day is The Struts with Could Have Been Me.