The news broke, as these things often do, over the weekend. In a column for the Kansas City Star, Vahe Gregorian wrote that the Royals were contemplating signing convicted child molester Luke Heimlich to a contract. Is it really surprising the Royals are linked with Heimlich? It seems like a loaded question, but this is […]
Author: Craig Brown
Now what?
The Royals have lost nine in a row. The went winless on an eight game homestand that featured games against the Cincinnati Reds (.375 winning percentage) and the Texas Rangers (.413 winning percentage). Their most recent effort, a 3-2 loss against those Rangers, ended when Hunter Dozier was thrown out attempting a delayed steal of […]
Kickstarting the rebuild
It’s on. Let’s be honest. It’s been “on” since spring training. “On” being the rebuild. The Royals stocked the farm with the draft earlier this month and the deal that sent Jon Jay to Arizona. They sold again on Monday, sending Kelvin Herrera to Washington in exchange for three prospects. I saw someone refer to […]
The Jay deal signals trade season is here
If this franchise goes on a championship run in the next five years, it’s a good bet we will flashback to this week as a pivotal moment in The Process 2.0. Not only did the Royals stock up on college arms via the draft, they executed what figures to be the first of several trades, […]
Blaine Boyer is the latest in a series of bad roster decisions
Finally. Blaine Boyer was placed on the disabled list with a back strain. (I know. Insert your own snark about his “injury” here.) This should realistically end his tenure in Kansas City. We can use all the caveats available to us this season. The Royals aren’t contending this year. They are just beginning their rebuild. […]
Jason Hammel is sick of this shift
Jason Hammel does not care for the shift. Jason Hammel gave up several soft hits through open spots in the shift tonight. He railed against the shift postgame. “I’ll probably get backlash tomorrow.. But I’m tired of it.” — Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) May 23, 2018 The comments came on Tuesday night, following an outing where […]
How To Kill a Rally, Two Outs At a Time
Another day, another loss. And two times where Royals batters grounded into double plays. This is brutal. The Royals hitters rank 13th among AL teams in B-WAR at 2.9. (Let’s not talk about the pitching. OK, we’ll digress for a moment. The Royals rank dead last in B-WAR for pitchers at -1.0. ) There are a […]
What’s the Plan?
On Tuesday, May 8, the Royals offense erupted for 10 runs in the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles. Since then, they are 2-9. In the just completed six game homestand against the Rays and Yankees, the Royals held the lead just once. On Friday, they jumped out to a 1-0 lead in their half […]
That’s Entertainment
The Royals played their 43rd game of the season on Wednesday afternoon. It was another loss. The fifth consecutive game they have dropped and the seventh of their last eight. We knew this season would be a struggle. We knew it was going to, at times, be difficult to watch. Yet here we are, over […]
That Familiar Sinking Feeling
Who knew games amongst the bottom feeders of the American League could be so compelling? Monday’s smashball was downgraded to something resembling a pitcher’s duel on Tuesday. Here enters a familiar refrain, one we need to get used to as the season unfolds: It’s difficult to have confidence in the Royals once their bullpen (non-Kelvin […]