If the Royals really want to salute the Negro Leagues, they’ll do a win like the Monarchs so often did.
The Royals, for all intents and purposes, haven’t had many superstars during their 56-year existence. George Brett and Bobby Witt Jr. are about the list. Sure, there have been plenty of stars, but it takes a different level to be a superstar. However, there was a Major League team before the Royals which was absolutely chock full of them. No, not the Athletics. I am, of course, talking about the Kansas City Monarchs.
Jackie Robinson, Buck O’Neill, and Satchell Paige all played for the Monarchs, and they weren’t even close to the only baseball behemoths to do so. John Donaldson is often credited with either inventing or perfecting the slider, a key pitch in the arsenal of great pitchers even today. Ernie Banks played for the Monarchs before becoming Mr. Cub. Hilton Smith won a pitching triple crown for the Monarchs while also being a great hitter.
To put it another way, the Royals have one player who was Hall of Fame caliber when he played for the team. Perhaps Zack Greinke, Carlos Beltran, and Bobby Witt Jr. will join that list in future seasons. Maybe even Jac Caglianone will get there some day. But the Monarchs had 10 different players during their time who all would go on to join the MLB Hall of Fame. That’s pretty cool.
Anyway, as you might have guessed from the rambling up top, the Royals play the Dodgers today and it is the Salute to the Negro Leagues game for 2025. Unfortunately, for the second year in a row, the teams will only wear special caps, not the throwback uniforms Royals fans have become accustomed to seeing. But maybe the caps and memories will be enough to get the Royals to pull off their first (and last) home series win in June 2025.
Kris Bubic, who has been the Royals’ ace to this point, will go for the Royals. The team gave him a few extra days off earlier this month, and, coincidentally or not, his last three starts have not been nearly as good as the 12 that preceded them. He has a 5.74 ERA in those games, though a 2.90 FIP suggests he hasn’t been bad so much as unlucky. I could also argue about how impactful poor ball and strike calls were in his Yankees start, but no one wants to hear me harp on that again.
For the second straight game, the pitching-weak Dodgers will use an opener. Lou Trivino will go for the Dodgers to start. He appeared in relief Friday night, completing 1.2 innings with one strikeout and one hit allowed. I can’t find any news about who might be pitching after him. He has appeared as an opener once this season and pitched a 1-2-3 inning against the Padres. To this point in the year, he has a 4.06 ERA and a 5.12 FIP, so it would behoove the Royals to jump on him.
Lineups
Bubic takes the bump this afternoon as we Salute to the Negro Leagues!
Today’s #Dodgers lineup at Royals:
— Los Angeles Dodgers (Bot) (@dodgersbot.bsky.social) 2025-06-29T15:34:12.000Z
Not much to note in the starting lineups, other than the Royals seem to think they’ll be seeing a lefty today with Mark Canha and Drew Waters both in the game.