Is Jonathan India coming around?
Anne Rogers writes about how the Royals bullpen has become dominant.
But elite pitching has extended to the bullpen.
The Royals’ 3.02 ‘pen ERA ranks fifth in the Majors. Since April 24, the relievers have a 2.02 ERA, and they have allowed zero earned runs in 12 of the 18 games in that stretch.
“It’s creating a mindset or an expectation that we hold ourselves to,” Lucas Erceg said. “And it’s been fun to watch.”
David Lesky tries to take the series loss to the Red Sox in context.
I guess it does cause a little extra concern when the issues from the past crept up seemingly as soon as the Royals got past their “easy” stretch. That said, they played the Astros and Rays, who are probably in the general range of success level of the Red Sox, and they won five of six against those two. It’s up to you if you want to add in the Orioles because of what they’re supposed to be, but they just aren’t good enough for me to include them in a group of teams that I think will compete for a playoff spot at least into August. So while the Royals beat up on two truly terrible teams, they also beat up on two perfectly adequate teams and one team that might end up there in the end. I think this weekend was more about the ebbs and flows of a season rather than anything to get up in arms about, though I totally understand if a series with four runs scored gives you enough pause to reignite your concerns.
Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter thinks Jonathan India may be trending in the right direction.
India’s whiff rate and O-Swing (swings outside the strike zone) rates are both sub-20%, which is stellar. He does swing a lot at 39.5%, but he’s been exceptional at making contact at the plate, especially on pitches inside the strike zone, as evidenced by his 87.3% Z-Contact rate.
Regarding his effectiveness against pitch types, he’s been excellent in making contact against all varieties this season.
He’s only whiffing 16% against fastballs, 20.9% against breaking balls, and 25.8% against offspeed pitches. The higher whiff rates against breaking and offspeed pitches haven’t been alarming, as he has wOBACON marks of .411 and 0.356 on those pitches, respectively. Surprisingly, he’s been ineffective against fastballs (.225 wOBACON) despite low whiff and O-Swing rates (14.6 O-Swing%).
CBS Sports hands out team grades at the quarter-mark.
Record: 24-18
The streakiest team in baseball so far this season. The Royals went 2-9 from April 9-19 and then immediately followed it up with a 16-2 stretch. The rotation is four deep in very good-to-elite starters (Michael Lorenzen is a rock solid No. 5 too), the bullpen has been one of the best in baseball, and Bobby Witt Jr. is a star of the first order. He just needs more help. More help in addition to Maikel Garcia, I should say. Garcia’s been awesome. He and Witt have combined for a .873 OPS. The rest of the Royals have a .598 OPS. The outfield as a unit has a .620 OPS. That won’t cut it. The offense needs more juice. To date though, Kansas City has been very good. Streaky, but very good.
The Royals received Rule 5 pick pitcher Noah Murdock back from the Athletics.
MLB Pipeline updates their top 100 prospects lists with Jac Caglianone now ranked #10, while Carter Jensen falls to #88.
Sunday’s Royals game against the Cardinals will air on free, over-the-air TV.
The Diamondbacks call up top prospect shortstop Jordan Lawlar.
Evan Longoria will sign a one-day deal and retire with the Rays.
Alex Bregman says signing with the Red Sox for less money was not a diss of the Tigers.
Buster Olney at ESPN looks at what could be X-factors for this summer’s trade deadline.
How the Red Sox have mishandled Rafael Devers.
Who is the best manager in baseball?
Can Luis Arraez win a fourth consecutive batting title?
The jockey of the Kentucky Derby-winning horse is fined and suspended for overusing his whip.
The Dallas Mavericks win the NBA draft lottery despite a 1.8 percent chance of winning.
Fox will launch a streaming service this fall called Fox One.
Plastics in everyday objects may be disrupting your sleep.
Liam and Oliver continue to dominate the list of baby names.
Your song of the day is New Order with Regret.