Royals Rumblings - News for January 2, 2025

The holiday season is officially over (unless you’re Catholic I guess).

A bunch of Royals listcles from MLB dot com to start you off, first with one potential breakout prospect:

Royals: Asbel Gonzalez, OF (No. 20)

Scouts love their no-doubt center fielders, and Gonzalez has wowed plenty of Royals evaluators with his defense and speed in the middle of the grass over his first two Minor League seasons. That already gives the Venezuela native a solid floor, and he’s proven to be solid at getting on base with a .398 OBP and 11.0 percent walk rate over 41 games in the Arizona Complex League in 2024. Adding elevation and strength to his swing would go a long way toward making Gonzalez a more prominent prospect, and he’ll still only be 19 for the entire 2025 campaign.

One prediction for the Royals:

Royals: Kansas City will win the American League Central

The Guardians (92-69) are the reigning AL Central champions, ending the season with a 6 1/2-game lead over the Royals and Tigers (86-76). None of those three teams has made huge moves this winter, and while the Twins always loom as a threat because of the talent on their roster, it seems the division is once again there for the taking. The Royals went 33-19 within the AL Central last year, aided by going 12-1 against the White Sox. They won the season series against the Guardians and Tigers, and went 6-7 against the Twins. Winning the division will once again be the Royals’ goal. Several veterans are returning, and the young players now know what success looks like — and what it takes.

And finally, one breakout player at the major league level:

Royals: RHP Alec Marsh

In his second season as a Major Leaguer, Marsh posted a 4.53 ERA over 129 innings in 26 games (25 starts), serving as the Royals’ fifth starter for the majority of the year. He made four starts for Triple-A Omaha in August, when he was optioned to get a mental and physical reset, and he was excellent there. Marsh will be the first to say he had some good stretches and bad ones in ‘24, but the Royals will be looking for him to take a step forward in ‘25. They’re down a starter after trading Brady Singer to the Reds and will need their other homegrown pitchers to step up and help fill those innings. The 26-year-old Marsh should get every opportunity to do so. — Anne Rogers

Not a damn thing else happening in Royalsland at the moment, not surprising given the holidays. How about an update on how some guys are performing in winter leagues? Let’s start in LIDOM, where the regular season has wrapped up:

• Steven Cruz pitched three scoreless innings for Gigantes with four walks and three strikeouts. Gigantes finished the season 22-27 and missed the postseason.

Moving over to LVBP, where the regular season has also concluded:

• Carlos Hernández pitched 16.1 innings for Leones del Caracas as the team’s closer. He posted a 2.20 ERA, but walked eight batters and struck out just nine in 16.1 innings. Leones went 27-30 in the regular season and are squaring off with Tigres de Aragua in El Clasificado a la Serie del Comodín (a postseason play-in tournament, basically).

On to the Puerto Rican League, where we finally had a Royal appearance:

• Nelson Velázquez has been the best hitter for Criollos de Caguas, slashing .283/.435/.528 in 69 plate appearances.

Going down under now to Brisbane Bandits:

• Hyungchan Um has been the team’s starting catcher with occasional appearances at DH. He has hit .289/.327/.536 in 105 plate appearances.
• Brennon McNair has settled into a regular role in left field, batting .255/.343/.606 across 109 plate appearances.
• Nataneal Garabitos has struggled in his limited action, allowing nine runs (six earned) in 4.2 innings with seven walks and three strikeouts.

Fangraphs’ Jay Jaffe shares his 2025 Hall of Fame ballot.

Old friend Sebastián Rivero is headed to the Angels on a minor league deal.

The White Sox are acquiring left-handed pitcher Tyler Gilbert from Philadelphia.

Arrowhead Stadium was rated the most raucous stadium by far in football in a player poll.

The Sugar Bowl game between Georgia and Notre Dame was postponed after a possible terrorist attack in New Orleans.

Who are the candidates for 2024-2025 NBA MVP?

Haliey Welch largely defined (or reflected, depending on how you look at it) American culture in 2024.

Backdoor sports streaming websites Methstreams and Crackstreams have been shuttered following a crackdown. I use other websites that I will not name for this, they will never shut us all down.

Somebody had some very strong feelings on Diet Coke and now I’d like to know if anybody here does as well.

Your song of the day is Childish by Lane 8.