Two more days!
The Royals get some good news on Michael Wacha after he was hit in the finger by a comebacker.
“We are really lucky, he is really lucky,” Quatraro said of Wacha, whose X-rays came back negative on Monday morning. “We feel fortunate that it wasn’t anything worse.”
“It was a little bit of a bruise probably, but in terms of pain, we anticipate him being good.”
David Lesky reacts to the final roster decisions.
But over the course of the spring, Marsh showed that he had made the improvements the Royals were looking for him to make. I wrote over the last couple of weeks about the changes in his pitch mix as he went into more of a bulk role in September. This spring, he continued that while simply throwing more strikes. Ironically, he had a bit of a rough outing after learning he had made the rotation, but prior to that, he struck out 17 and walked four in 14 spring innings. With Marsh, I think you’d be making a big mistake to expect him to take become the second or third-best pitcher on the team this season, but aside from pure stuff, what makes him so much more interesting than Lyles is that it’s certainly possible.
Fangraphs ranks the Royals’ bullpen near the bottom.
Kansas City’s bullpen is very chain restaurant-y: nobody’s really awful, but if you actually remember any of them the minute the game is over, something bad happened. We have eight pitchers projected to throw at least 50 innings, and they all occupy a very tight range of projected FIP, with just a quarter-run of spread.
In a situation like this, without a standout contributor, I’m of the mind that you should give priority to pitchers who may actually have upside remaining. Should he grab the most high-leverage innings, James McArthur is a good choice. After struggling early, the team had him start throw a lot more sliders in the minors, and he dominated down the stretch for the Royals.
Mike Hendricks and Joseph Hernandez at the Star write about how the Royals may deal with parking downtown.
The Royals would be looking to negotiate rates with private lot owners, said Sarah Dempster, Populous senior architect. She said that they would also be working with the city to establish how many spots they are willing to sell for event days.
“Certain lot owners may prefer to say ‘No we are going to keep all of our spots, this is my private lot,’ and that is certainly one approach they could take,” Dempster said. “But I know the Royals are interested in having those conversations so their patrons are taken care of and we are able to guarantee a certain number of spots.”
Savannah Hawley-Bates at KCUR writes that economists are skeptical of the community benefit agreement for a potential new stadium.
Victor Matheson, a sports economist and professor at the College of the Holy Cross, says the biggest issue with the agreement is its “vague goals” for funding with the annual $3.5 million. Like LeRoy, Matheson’s biggest takeaway is that “this community benefits agreement is entirely PR.”
“They come off saying, ‘Hey, we’re a really good corporate citizen because we are going to give $3.5 million a year — that we are going to have a great deal of input about how that money gets spent.’ And in exchange for that, all we want you to do is give us $27 million a year.”
A poll shows the stadium vote is very close.
The committee to Keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals in Jackson County criticized how Frank White has handled negotiations.
Why a group opposing the stadium tax feels they can defeat the ballot measure.
Nikki Overfelt Chifalu at Startland News profiles the man that rubs mud on baseballs at Kauffman Stadium.
Coca-Cola will be the official beverage of the Royals this year.
Zac Miller at Farm to Fountains profiles minor leaguer Andrew Hoffman.
Shohei Ohtani says he never gambled and was shocked his interpreter stole funds.
The Yankees and Mets remain interested in Jordan Montgomery.
Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald will begin the year on the Injured List.
What can we expect from Brewers rookie outfielder Jackson Chourio?
Owners will vote on whether to approve the sale of the Orioles to David Rubenstein on Wednesday.
MLBPA leader Jack Flaherty regrets his role in a recent power struggle in the union.
What do ballplayers say when Uber drivers ask what they do for a living?
LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey threatens to sue the Washington Post over an unpublished report.
The NBA is investigating Jontay Porter over betting issues.
Are you supposed to shut down your computer?
Who has the longest and shortest commute in the country?
China isn’t too happy with how its history is depicted in the Netflix hit 3 Body Problem.
Your song of the day is Bob Dylan with Gotta Serve Somebody.