Royals Rumblings - News for March 8, 2024

Jaylon Thompson (The Star, of course) is writing about MLB and their new Spring Breakout games. The short version is that MLB is having a set of games in a couple of weeks with only prospects:

The Royals prospects will play top prospects from the Milwaukee Brewers’ organization. The exhibition will take place on March 17 at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. Central Time.

Only minor-league prospects will play in the Spring Breakout game. The Royals and Brewers will also play a regularly scheduled spring game the same day, at 6:05 p.m. Central Time.

Anne Rogers (MLB) also wrote about it:

What is Spring Breakout? MLB Spring Breakout is a four-day event showcasing baseball’s future: the current stars of Minor League Baseball. The inaugural edition will be held from March 14-17 at Grapefruit and Cactus league stadiums during Spring Training. A series of 16 exhibition games will be played between teams comprised of each MLB organization’s top prospects, creating a new touchpoint on the baseball calendar that celebrates our sport’s budding talent.

Thompson also profiled Michael Massey:

The Royals are slated to start Massey at second base. This offseason, KC also signed veteran infielder Adam Frazier in free agency. Frazier is expected to move into a utility role and log playing time at second base and in the outfield.

Massey has learned a lot from Frazier this spring. He enjoys watching Frazier gear up for the regular season and is picking up tidbits along the way.

“I think that is one of the cool things about having veterans around, they don’t have to say anything, you just watch what they do,” Massey said. “There is a reason those guys have seven, eight, nine, 10 years in the big leagues. They don’t keep you around here because they like you. You got to do something right.”

Yesterday, Greg linked to Anne Rogers’s story about Tyler Duffey and his cancer treatment. In The Star, Vahe Gregorian also wrote about it:

“It’s eye-opening,” he said. “Because you don’t think about it, and here we are: I’m 33, getting stuff cut out of my neck.”

Had it gone a year without being detected, he added, he “may be missing a lot more than a piece of skin.”

Early detection, though, virtually always is promising: According to the American Academy of Dermatology, the five-year survival rate for people whose melanoma is detected and treated before it spreads to the lymph nodes is 99%.

Do we have to talk about the stadium? I mean the vote is less than a month away so I guess so. Apparently, the Jackson County legislature is holding a hearing next Monday to hear from constituents:

Residents and people who own businesses and real estate that would be affected by the proposed construction of a new Royals ballpark in the East Crossroads area will have a chance to speak out Monday afternoon at the regular weekly meeting of the Jackson County Legislature.

The hearing scheduled to begin shortly after the legislature convenes at 3 p.m. would also provide a forum for anyone to comment on the proposed 40-year sales tax that, if passed on April 2, would help pay for the ballpark and renovations to Arrowhead Stadium at the Truman Sports Complex.

Legislators Jeanie Lauer and Megan Marshall, this year’s chair and vice chair of the legislature, announced the hearing Thursday, which will occur in the same chambers on the second floor of the downtown county courthouse where the legislature voted 7-2 to override County Exeuctive Frank White Jr..’s veto and put the stadiums tax measure on the ballot.

Lauer and Marshall cast the only no votes. They objected to putting the tax on the ballot before the county had negotiated new leases with the team detailing stadium financing, the responsibilities of all parties and a location for the new ballpark.

I mean, they’re not wrong. We’re still so short on details, as Matt detailed yesterday. And, yes, the vote is coming up soon! How have we spent so many months on this and barely scratched the surface on so many important particulars? It boggles the mind, but clearly the teams just want to ram this through without having to answer for all the money they’re set to receive.

The stadium talk did give us this Tweet yesterday:

Royals Media Guides are out! Oh, not for us plebes - but for the media (website has a login):

---

Royals even get some notice in national media.

Ben Clemens is at Fangraphs with a story entitled “Cole Ragans, Highly and Appropriately Hyped.” Ok, I’m listening:

Put another way, 45 pitchers threw 75 or more fastballs at 98-plus mph last year. Ragans ranked 26th in induced vertical break, more or less average in that elite group. His fastball looked a lot like Luis Medina’s and Tanner Scott’s versions of the pitch when it came to vertical break.

That’s only vertical break, though. Ragans generates an ungodly amount of spin on his fastball, and he harnesses it quite effectively, as well. Out of that same cohort, Ragans generated the third-most horizontal movement thanks to the fourth-highest spin rate. In terms of total movement, Ragans’ hardest fastballs were third in baseball, behind only Félix Bautista and Ryne Stanek and just ahead of Eury Pérez. This is absolutely elite company, even if the shape is a bit strange.

Go on, tell me more:

Goodness gracious, that’s enticing. Ragans is sitting on one of the game’s best sliders, and he’s using it far less than he could. The fastball numbers are of course impressive, and his overall velocity is key to his success. But this slider, one he only learned last year, seems like it could be major difference maker this season.

Even crazier: He has another elite secondary option. That would be his changeup. I know “Bugs Bunny-ish” is an overused changeup description, but c’mon: (gif of absolutely sick pitch)

That’s absolutely elite stuff, and its velocity is trending the same way as everything else: up. It’s the kind of pitch that, while I can’t quite quantify this, makes everything work better; he throws it frequently enough that batters always have to worry that a changeup is coming instead of a fastball, and it sits in a similar velocity band as the slider despite breaking nearly a foot in the opposite direction.

I can’t use the gif I want to here because this is a family blog.

CBS Sports is doing team previews. R.J. Anderson covered the Royals:

What would make for a successful season?

If we have to put a number on it, we would say at least 75 wins. Arguably the most important win of the Royals season would be notching a few more player development success stories – be it with Melendez, García, or even someone not yet in the organization. Those kinds of internal improvements are necessary for most organizations, but especially those that have made several costly (and yes, risky) free-agent investments to bolster their pitching staff.

We appreciate the Royals’ winter efforts to field a better product. Now, they just need to apply the finishing touches so they can be postseason relevant again.

I’m not familiar with Cronkite News, but I guess this is who they are:

Cronkite News delivers important, impactful Arizona news on its own platforms and through news and sports organizations across the region. We have reporting bureaus in Phoenix, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. Cronkite News is a product of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. The program has full-time editors/professionals who work closely with student journalists to produce daily and enterprise news and sports content on TV, digital and social media platforms for Southwest audiences. They pitch story ideas, get assignments and report and produce multimedia stories on deadline under the direction of professional editors for Cronkite News and sports – all while meeting the expectations of this professional news organization.

So, basically, ASU’s journalism school paper? Cool. James Lotts writes a story for the outlet entitled “Kansas City Royals embrace veteran presence in clubhouse, hope to return to winning ways”:

Royals pitcher Alec Marsh, who only debuted in June of last year, believes the large influx of veteran experience is going to be invaluable for everyone on the team.

“Experience is key, especially at this level,” Marsh said. “We all got the talent but when you start getting guys that have experience, been around for that long, guys like (Wacha and Lugo), Will Smith, they’ve been through a lot of teams and they’ve been on winning teams. They know what it takes, especially on the pitching side.”

We even have listicles today!

Matt Snyder from CBS Sports takes the best player from all 30 teams and ranks them... for reasons. The Royals aren’t last!

11. Bobby Witt, Kansas City Royals Witt now has a long-term extension in hand as he takes over as face of the Royals, succeeding mainstay backstop Salvador Pérez. In Witt’s second year in 2023, as a 23 year old, he hit .276 with a 120 OPS+, 28 doubles, 11 triples, 30 home runs, 96 RBI, 97 runs, 49 stolen bases and 4.4 WAR. He’s going to get better, too.

Sam Dykstra at MLB Pipeline ranks the top 10 Spring Breakout matchups:

8. Jacob Misiorowski, RHP (MIL No. 2, MLB No. 33) vs. Blake Mitchell, C (KC No. 1, MLB No. 94) Welcome to your first Spring Training, kid. The Royals are understandably excited about their 2023 first-rounder’s coming full-season debut, given his plus raw power and immense arm strength behind the plate, but he’ll have his hands full if he gets an at-bat against Misiorowski on March 17. The top Milwaukee pitching prospect has some of the most wicked stuff in the Minors with an upper-90s fastball and plus-plus slider, and he should be a handful for any Kansas City prospect in this showcase environment.

Lastly, Apple TV’s Friday Night Baseball is back. There must be a typo because the Royals will have a game listed:

Friday, May 10 9:30 p.m. ET Kansas City Royals at Los Angeles Angels

“Friday Night Baseball” is produced by MLB Network’s Emmy Award-winning production team in partnership with Apple’s live sports production team, bringing viewers an unparalleled viewing experience. Each game will feature state-of-the-art cameras to present vivid live-action shots, and offer immersive sound in 5.1 with Spatial Audio enabled. “Friday Night Baseball” will again utilize drone cameras for beautiful aerial stadium shots, as well as player mics and field-level mics to immerse fans in the gameplay and stadium atmosphere. Fans in the U.S. and Canada will also have the option to listen to the audio of the home and away teams’ local radio broadcasts during “Friday Night Baseball” games.

---

I don’t know why I even bother with OT this time of year. Yet, I’ve already started writing the next half dozen. There’s so much news to go around. Royals blogs are up next on our trek towards 4000 words this week.

I’m a little mad at Greg. David Lesky’s article from Tuesday didn’t make Minda’s Rumblings on Wednesday. But Greg picked it up yesterday. I only mention this because it’s all about Brady Singer and my new unofficial Royals 2024 Slogan: “Probably Sucking”.

Speaking of old news, I feel like I’m on solid ground doing this one. Of course, we all saw the sad news this week that U.L. Washington passed. Bradford Lee did a nice front page memorial article. However, one of my favorite blogs, U.L’s Toothpick, well, he was their namesake and Darin Watson had some nice words about him:

On the other hand, I hoped he wouldn’t be offended by the name. A guy who had more than 700 hits in the majors and started for a World Series team ought to be remembered for more than playing with a toothpick in his mouth. “Hey, you’re the toothpick guy!” might get old after a while. Washington was a coach, a husband, a father. In all those roles, he probably touched more lives than we can imagine. I’m sure those people will remember him fondly. That makes anything he did on a baseball field pale in comparison.

Just a reminder, Watson is doing a “This Date in Royals History”, following the 1984 Royals. Spring Training has sprung:

The Royals scratched out a run in the first inning, and three pitchers made it stand up as Kansas City picked up a 1-0 win over Philadelphia at the Phillies’ spring training site in Clearwater...

Danny Jackson worked an impressive three shutout innings, followed by three more from Joe Beckwith. Larry Gura continued to pile up the zeroes over the last three frames, with a little luck involved. In the bottom of the ninth, Philadelphia’s Alejandro Sanchez reached base with two outs. Francisco Melendez banged a double, but Sanchez, trying to score, missed touching home plate and was tagged out by Don Werner to end the game.

Craig Brown talks about “The dog days of spring”:

We’ve officially hit the portion of spring training where I’m anxiously looking for the fast forward button. Yes, it was great to have pitchers and catchers report almost a month ago. The sound of the baseball zipping through the air and the pop when it hits the mitt is beautiful after four months without. Same for when the position players report where excitement and optimism abound when the sound of bat meeting ball cracks across the desert.

Even the first few games stir a bit of excitement. Baseball is finally back!

And then, I dunno, I get kind of bored. Maybe I shouldn’t admit it, but Spring Training is just a gigantic tease that lasts forever before the real thing starts. I’m much more into the real thing. Certainly, there are things I’m watching and looking for as the exhibition season grinds on, but really, I’m just looking forward to Opening Day when the statistics and standings are real.

I feel like Craig can take a little playful ribbing as I remind him that he wrote an article with the same name back in 2021: “The dog days of spring”. I could have sworn I remember the sentiment because he captured it well back then, too.

Blog Roundup:

• Zac Miller at F2F (that’s what we’re abbreviating Farm To Fountains as now, ok? Or should we go with FTF?): “Royals’ “Spring Breakout” roster is full of intriguing prospects”
• Kevin O’Brien at F2F: “Could Nick Pratto Bump Nelson Velazquez From the Opening Day Roster?”
• Michael Farina at F2F: “AL Central Preview: Detroit Tigers”
• Trey Donovan at F2F: “Which Royals have had the best spring so far?”
• Jackson Ogden at F2F: “The Best Player at Each Position in the AL Central”
• Mike Gillespie at KOK: “1 former KC Royals player is red hot, while 2 others are ice cold”
• Jacob Milham at KOK (slideshow warning): “3 former KC Royals we’ll be glad are gone in 2024 and 2 we’ll wish stayed”

---

We’ve made it to another COVID anniversary. Yay? As longtime readers of Fridays know, I use March 11 as the anniversary of COVID in the US. I wrote about it at the 6-month anniversary on September 11, 2020. Then in March 2021 and September 2021. 2022 was my hiatus year, but I was back to mark the “occasion” last March.

We’re now into year 4. After being the 3rd leading cause of death in the USA in 2020, 2021, and 2022, last year it dropped to 4th as “Unintentional Injury” passed it. Still, a 47% decrease year-over-year is good news. Life is generally back to normal for most people. I know that 2023 felt like the first “normal”-ish year for me since before the pandemic. There are still times when I’m a little more reticent to go out in the winter months when numbers are high. I still see a decent number of masks in the grocery store in the winter months here in Houston. But, generally, people have found their new normal.

Maybe next year will be the final year I write about it. But I still feel a need to acknowledge it, even if I don’t dwell on it at length.

---

Onto something more upbeat, though I’ll tie it back to the previous part a little.

I think we can all agree that when I start talking about (non video game) music, I’m even dumber than when I’m talking about my other OT stuff. So just to make ourselves all clear: we’re starting from the baseline of “blustery guy talks gibberish about stuff he doesn’t really get”, capiche? Warning: we’re going to talk a little music the next two weeks. A little. Again, not my forte.

The number of artists I could name since 2000 is embarrassingly low. So it’s not really surprising that even though today’s music came out last year, I’m just stumbling across it now. Back in 2019, I wrote some uninformed ramblings (rumblings?) about Fall Out Boy after I discovered them in NBA2K.

Surprisingly, I mostly nailed it last time with:

After poking around on Youtube and Wikipedia, it seems like “FOB” has two “periods”. The first is that punk period that I remember from 2003-2008. Then the band “takes a break” and doesn’t do any new music for 5 years and most people just assume they’re done... But then they come out with a new sound that is more mainstream rock and sounds about as close to that 80s arena rock as I’ve heard in a while... {blah, blah, more recent history} ... However, their most recent one, MANIA, sounds like it was a developmental mess and I wouldn’t be shocked to see them break up again.”

They took a break after MANIA but then came back last year. Apparently this new album is perhaps the start of a “third era” for the band, trying to bridge the gap between the previous two while moving forward... I dunno. Again, music not my thing.

The first track is, as I believe the kids are calling it, an absolute banger. (Just to confirm I’m old: no one under 15 has used that term in at least a decade, right?) It had a number of fans and even a few critics ready to declare the band “back”.

I absolutely love the song: the classical start and light piano intro that is replaced by hard rock. The rest of the song is just fast and fun. I also love the video (below) with its hokey 80s claymation style. There are also some other bits that are are really nice like the throwaway bookshelf shot with a bunch of band puns like: Catch-182, The Weezer of Oz, Crime and Punishment at the Disco, Good Charlotte’s Web, and Of Modest Mice and Men. Or the part about “Joe had been transformed into a large raccoon” - lead guitarist Joe Trohman was taking time from the band due to mental health reasons but they still wanted him represented in the video.

Yes, there are so many nonsensical parts: a bunch of the video’s plot doesn’t make any sense and the lyrics for Fall Out Boy have always seemed more about good hooks and rhymes than making cohesive sense. Most of their hits fall into the categories of “emo angst” or “demented love songs” or both. But that’s ok, there’s lots of room for that in music. And this one just hit the right chords for me.

Aside: Like many things, I think music gets crystallized after we stop listening to it regularly. So, for me, I could hold my own on 90s alternative trivia and name songs in a couple of notes. However, once the clock struck 2000, if it wasn’t a band I knew before, I probably don’t know of it. And I’m not talking about music that you run across but don’t really care for. I am aware of Taylor Swift and I think I could name a couple of songs of hers. She seems to be quite good - it’s just not my music.

However, if I had to name a favorite band of this century, I’d struggle with that question. And you can’t cheat and be like “Foo Fighters” - yes, they made a lot of music in the last two decades but they were founded back in 1994. I mean they have to be a band that started after you stopped listening regularly. So for those out there who don’t pay attention to music, do you have a favorite band that came out after your “music listening” period? FOB might actually be mine. It’s definitely the one I’ve listened to most while skating.

If you want to just skip this paragraph, I was going to bring us back to the OT topic for a second. It has me thinking about “post-COVID” times and how COVID and the pandemic are starting to weave their way into music. This album is absolutely dripping with nihilism, even by Fall Out Boy’s standards. Some if it is probably because they’re getting to be middle-aged (“We’re taught we gotta get ahead, yeah, no matter what it takes; But there’s no way off the hamster wheel on this rat race”). But the words most repeated in the song are: “Sending my love from the other side of the apocalypse; And I just about snapped, don’t look back; Every lover’s got a little dagger in their hand”. Genius, which is a... questionable (crowd sourcing)... interpreter of lyrics said that the apocalypse refers both to the long time since their last “failed” album but also COVID.

This isn’t even getting into another track, What a Time to Be Alive, that isn’t even subtle (First verse starts: “Sometimes, you wonder if we’re ever lookin’ back / At a picture of 2019 / And sayin’, “That’s the way, the world, it used to be / Before our dreams started burstin’ at the seams”). I think we can conveniently slot one of last year’s Friday Rumblings songs, MammothWVH’s “Another Celebration at the End of the World” into this category, too (and I’m not going to miss a chance to revisit that awesome song). I suppose, like any major generational event (9/11, Vietnam, The Great Depression, etc), it’s all but guaranteed to influence music for years to come.

Now that I’ve totally oversold it so it can’t possibly live up to how much I like it, here’s the video, ready to disappoint you:

As a bonus, I also really like the third single, “Hold me like a Grudge”. I don’t like the sound as much as “Love From the Other Side”, but that’s more because of how much I like the song above. It feels like Fall Out Boy mixed with heavy does of Michael Jackson and a little “Another one Bites the Dust”. It feels very “modern” 80s, if that makes sense.

The video is awesome and was, justifiably, nominated for an MTV Music Video Award. It picks up right where 2007’s “This Ain’t a Scene” ends which, in turn, picks up right where 2005’s “Dance, Dance” ends (also, Pete’s calling from that video at about the 3:20 mark). The band has fallen apart and there’s a rip in the space-time continuum that’s wiping them from history. If Pete Wentz can’t get the band back together to play a show before they’re erased, the world will be destroyed. NSFW language warning in the intro.

Side note, apparently, they went on Jimmy Fallon and played in their costumes from the video. As a YouTube comment said: “Imagine not being a Fall Out Boy fan & thinking this is what they actually look like”.