Royals Rumblings - News for July 22, 2025

Wrigley Field was very friendly.

Seiya Suzuki hit a foul ball into his beans last night, then struck out on a pitch clock violation. Pete Grathoff has more.

Royals catcher Salvador Perez said Suzuki never communicated with Vondrak. “I think the ball hit him somewhere and he never called timeout. That’s why he confused the umpire,” Perez said.

“And I think the umpire asked, ‘Are you calling timeout?’ ... and he never said anything ... “So he didn’t answer and the umpire said it’s a violation, you strike out. If you get hit by a pitch or something like that, tell the umpire or use your timeout.”

John Rave had a big night in front of friends and family.

Rich Hill is getting called up today.

“He throws a ton of strikes,” Quatraro said. “He’s very athletic and keeps himself in great shape. He can move around the mound well. He can change arm angles. So, everything that he’s always done, he’s still capable of doing it.”

David Lesky sees the Marlins series as a lost opportunity.

And it’s just so frustrating because it’s not difficult to see how this team could be far more than on the periphery of the Wild Card race. I’m not going to go through the merits of buying or selling. We know where they likely are. I’ll repeat quickly. I don’t think they’ll look at anything short-term unless the cost is something they don’t have an issue trading, but I do think they will look to buy in the longer term. That means they’ll look for players who can help beyond 2025 and if they help in 2025, great. I actually think that’s the right play given the roster. But I also think we’re going to look back on this season with this pitching staff as a huge missed opportunity.

ESPN now has Seth Lugo ranked #4 in their list of trade candidates. [$]

Lugo has posted mid-3.00s or lower ERAs for five seasons despite having below-average fastball velocity and good-not-great strikeout rates. His ability to strand runners and limit hard contact comes in part thanks to his nine different pitches. With a Nathan Eovaldi-type contract awaiting Lugo in free agency, Kansas City could opt to move him, especially if Cole Ragans’ injured shoulder doesn’t improve.

Best fits: Chicago Cubs, Houston, Toronto, San Diego, Los Angeles Dodgers

Bubic is listed #8.

Jim Bowden has an article on the latest he’s hearing about the trade deadline.

The Royals have been looking to improve their outfield offense for a while and they hoped to be buyers at the deadline; however, if they fall further out of the wild-card race, they could pivot to try to take advantage of the seller’s market by offering starting pitcher Seth Lugo and closer Carlos Estévez. There has been some buzz in the industry that they would dangle either infielder Maikel Garcia or second baseman Jonathan India if they could land a power-hitting outfielder of equal value in a contender-to-contender type of swap. In addition, if they start winning, they could offer one of their plethora of catching prospects to get a bat to boost their offense, which ranks 29th in homers and runs.

Craig Brown makes sense of the Adam Frazier trade.

On the surface, it’s a strange move. Frazier was in Kansas City last summer and absolutely did not impress. He hit just .202/.282/.294 and posted -0.5 fWAR, the only time in his career he was in the negative at the end of the year. But Frazier, of all the veteran outsiders the Royals had on their roster last year, was the glue guy of the bunch. A leader of sorts. The younger guys seemed to gravitate toward him. I know, I know…clubhouse chemistry and all that. After 2014, though, and the Raúl Ibañez team meeting, I look at things like that quite differently.

Anne Rogers writes how Steven Cruz honored his mentor, Carlos Estévez by having his cleats painted with an All-Star designation.

The Phillies win on a tough catcher’s interference call in the tenth.

Paul Skenes tosses six shutout innings in his second-half debut.

Shohei Ohtani gave up a homer, then hit a homer.

The Mariners call up pitching prospect Brandyn Garcia.

The Cardinals are shopping pitcher Erick Fedde.

The Mets are reportedly willing to trade some infield depth and are looking to bolster their bullpen.

What could the Orioles do at the trade deadline?

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Why is Mookie Betts slumping?

MLB is working towards allowing players to participate in the 2028 Olympics.

The Erie Moon Mammoths - a creation of comedian John Oliver - make their debut.

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How TV taught us to become conspiracy theorists.

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