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Royals Rumblings - News for October 9, 2024

Post-season baseball returns to Kansas City.

Seth Lugo talks to Jaylon Thompson about his approach for Game 3.

“Execute pitches, stay in the strike zone, but if you leave it over the middle of the plate they’re going to put a good swing on it,” Lugo said. “If it’s borderline, they’re probably going to take it.

“If you get some calls you put pressure on them. That’s pitching.”

Vahe Gregorian wrote about the unique experience of being at a Chiefs fan where everyone was keeping tabs on the Royals.

And even during the game, as acknowledged by Mahomes — a Royals investor who has befriended Witt.

“One hundred percent,” he said, smiling. “I was trying not to (follow the Royals game). I really wanted to focus on (the Chiefs) game and look after (or) maybe get a scoreboard kind of shot of it. And they gave us a couple of those.”

Somehow, though, even as he was throwing for 331 yards, Mahomes was feeling the pulse of the Royals game.

Bill Ladson at MLB.com wrote about Michael Massey’s performance.

“If you contribute to a winning team, they will never fire you. That’s all I try to do,” Massey said. “I really don’t worry about what my average is or the homers that I have. I try to contribute and win games.”

Nathalie Alonso at MLB.com writes about Yuli Gurriel’s veteran presence.

And there are his intangible contributions: He says he has tried to pass on all his knowledge to his teammates, many of whom have little postseason experience.

“Practically none of them have been in the playoffs, and everyone knows it’s a little different,” said Gurriel. “What I try to do is talk a lot with them so they enjoy the games and things turn out better for them.”

Melanie Martinez-Lopez also writes about Royals veterans.

“I think it helps a little bit to get some good at-bats from the veteran guys that have been in the postseason before,” Perez said. “Anything that I can get from a veteran guy to help, I think it’s good. But I think it’s good. Anything to help.”

Mike Petriello writes that the series now moves to a true hitter’s park - Kauffman Stadium.

That, in some cases, is based on some fancy math. But it can be explained pretty simply, too, by nothing more complicated than “team OPS in 2024.” The Royals, as a hitting team, had an OPS 62 points higher at Kauffman, thanks to their .741 mark at home and .679 on the road. (The Yankees hit three points worse at home, by comparison.) It’s the third-largest home-field hitting split, and one of the two above them is, as you’d expect, the Rockies, who basically play on the moon.

Michael Baumann at Fangraphs writes that Maikel Garcia is keeping the line moving.

Garcia has drawn only one walk, but when he does make contact with the ball, usually in the zone, he’s been hitting it hard. Five of the 11 balls he’s put in play this postseason have come off the bat at 100 mph or more; in the regular season, it was 120 out of 481, or 24.9%. What he’s not doing, unfortunately, is hitting the ball in the air. Garcia has hit just one fly ball in four games, which is why he’s hitting .400 for the postseason but slugging, well, also .400.

Anne Rogers writes about the homegrown nature of this Royals club.

“It’s very humbling to look out and go, ‘Wow, the first four hitters in our lineup are homegrown,” Royals vice president of player personnel and former scouting director for those Drafts Lonnie Goldberg said. “At the end of the day, the foundation is those players. And you just want to thank all these people for their work and their time when it wasn’t going well, just staying focused and believing in the kids, staying hungry when we weren’t piling up the wins.”

David Lesky focuses on the slumping stars on the Royals.

I honestly don’t know if this is a good thing or not, but they did all of this with Witt and Pasquantino going a combined 0 for 9. That means those two are a combined 0 for 19 in the first two games. And in those two, the Royals have scored nine runs on 20 hits. Should we lament the fact that the Royals have gotten all this production outside of two of their best hitters but could have had big games if those big bats had hit? Or should we celebrate the fact that the offense outside of the two who help to carry the offense haven’t gotten going? I guess it sort of depends on your world view. If you’re an optimist, it’s the latter. If you’re a pessimist, it’s the former. I’d say there’s a pretty good chance if you’re a Royals fan, you’re a bit more on the pessimistic side, but there’s an argument to be made that it’s a positive.

Craig Brown recaps the Game 2 win.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter looks at the unlikely heroes for the Royals.

Aaron Judge’s struggles aren’t just going to go away.

The Mets beat the Phillies and are just one win away from the NLCS.

The Dodgers fall to the Padres and face elimination.

Padres manager Mike Shildt defended Manny Machado against accusations he threw a ball at Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

The Rockies extend manager Bud Black.

MLB will produce games for the Guardians, Brewers, and Twins after Diamond Sports drops them.

Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler was robbed of his watch while wearing it.

A doctor proposes banning two-strike foul balls as a way to prevent pitcher injuries.

All-Star reliever Mark Melancon joins the coaching staff at San Diego State.

Legendary Cuban pitcher Luis Tiant dies at the age of 83.