Royals Rumblings - News for October 3, 2024

Postseason baseball is coming to Kansas City!

Bobby Witt Jr. has led the Royals to the ALDS:

That set up Witt’s sixth-inning moment. Kyle Isbel singled with one out in the sixth, and Massey followed with two outs as the Royals lineup turned over. Once again, the Orioles faced a decision of whether to pitch to Witt with a man on third and a base open.

Once again, they elected to challenge the 24-year-old, although this time they made a pitching change beforehand. Witt smoked a sinker against Yennier Cano up the middle. It took 4.14 seconds for Witt to race down the line, not enough time for Jordan Westburg’s diving stop and throw behind second base.

The pitching came up big to shut down Baltimore’s offense ($):

On Wednesday, five different relievers combined to pitch 4 2/3 scoreless innings, including closer Lucas Erceg, who notched his second save of the series.

“We all knew the kind of guys we had out there,” said reliever John Schreiber, who recorded three outs. “The stuff we’ve had. The arsenals that everybody has. It’s just amazing to see everybody click all at once.”

The defense also played a huge role:

In the third inning, Royals outfielder MJ Melendez ran down a line drive on the warning track. The liner was tailing away from his defensive position, but he found a way to corral the baseball before hitting the outfield wall. Melendez’s catch had a 5% catch probability. Additionally, the line drive would’ve been a home run in 27 of 30 MLB ballparks, per Baseball Savant. An inning later, Massey saved a potential run from scoring. He made a diving catch to rob former Royal Ryan O’Hearn of a run-scoring single. Massey ranged to left and snared a line drive with full extension. He gathered himself and threw a strike to first baseman Yuli Gurriel to record the second out of the inning.

Rustin Dodd revisits the trade that brought in Cole Ragans ($):

That the Royals even had Chapman in the first place was a harbinger of a revamped front office. Chapman had suffered through a turbulent and ineffective last season in New York in 2022. But the recommendation to sign him had come from Royals assistant general manager Rene Francisco, who had witnessed Chapman working out in Miami.

“Trust me on this,” he told Picollo.

Interesting post from CBS Sports’s R.J. Anderson:

It’s interesting that he notes Lugo and Wacha here — both guys pitched for San Diego last year, where Michael King is currently enjoying a ton of success using a similar approach. Regardless, could the Royals actually be ahead of the curve on something?

The Detroit Tigers rallied late to sweep the Houston Astros.

Jackson Chourio homered twice to help the Milwaukee Brewers force a game three against the New York Mets.

The San Diego Padres finished off the Atlanta Braves to advance to the NLDS.

Jose Altuve is urging the Astros to re-sign Alex Bregman.

Justin Verlander is not ready to hang it up.

MLB attendance this season increased for the second year in a row for the first time since 2011-12.

Why are there so many day games during the Wild Card round?

In this year’s postseason, there’s no such thing as an upset.

Diamond Sports Group is dropping their broadcast deals with all MLB teams sans Atlanta.

Pete Rose has nobody but himself to blame for his tarnished legacy.

The late Dikembe Mutumbo will be remembered as much for his humanitarian efforts as for his prowess on the court.

Victor Wembanyama made new teammate Chris Paul look comically small at media day.

Disney may be losing its status as a cultural juggernaut. ($)

The death toll of tropical storms is much higher than official numbers indicate.

Pink Floyd is selling their music rights to Sony.

Your song of the day is Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd.