Holy crap Michael Massey. Web gem of the year candidate.

And people wanted to can Massey early on!!!!! He's a ballplayer.....period!!!!

Missed our shot. If the Royals had gotten one more hit last inning Greinke probably hits but it didn't happen. Pinch hit for him in the 5th. Might have been the last chance to see Greinke take an at bat.

Michael Massey has been making some amazing plays with the glove, so he doesn't need to be a beast at the plate to have a lot of value. All he needs to do is be at or above .700 OPS and he's a really value piece for the future. He's really started to come along over the last month at the plate. We'd be pretty set at infield when Vinnie comes back if he can keep up what he's done over the last month.

He’s been good since about May 1. .775 OPS or something like that. Very playable with his glove … and it he’s .800+ you’ve got a really nice piece.

Isbel is a stud in the OF.

McArthur with that solid 24.00 ERA. Great trade.

Since May 2nd, either didn't play May 1st or no game on that day he has a .756 OPS and that's with a pretty low BABIP of .256. Seems he may be a little unlucky. During that time his 162 game pace is 22 2Bs, 24 HRs, and 76 RBIs. That's some pretty good power numbers from a 2B with his glove.

He really had an astonishingly bad first month of the season that has kept his numbers low.

Drew Waters is also starting to look like he might actually be as good as he showed last year. He had an absolutely horrendous first 21 games and got his OPS down to .476, but over his last 35 games he's an .809 OPS and his 162 game pace during that time has him at 23 HRs, 74 RBIs, and 23 SBs.

He's really good in CF isn't he? This is what I was hoping to see, at least some steps forward and improvement. We've seen it from Bobby Witt Jr (23)., Maikel Garcia (23), Michael Massey (25) Drew Waters (24), and Freddy Fermin (28)(didn't expect anything from him). That's a lot of youth to get excited about and if Vinnie can come back without any lingering issues, then that's 6 pretty young guys with lots of control left. Just need the pitching to come around and hopefully they make a move to go after a couple pitchers. If our pitching wasn't so horrendous, then this is a terrible you could get pretty excited for next year if the other guys continue to do what they are doing.

Melendez is only 24 too. I would not give up on him. He's not Moustakas but we can hope for a similar trajectory maybe, a big time HR hitter in the minors that took a little bit to adjust to the big league level. Melendez still definitely has pop in his bat and he takes walks but strikes out a lot. Him and Pratto still have a couple years to figure it out.

Not a ringing endorsement for former Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Filed to ESPN: Former White Sox reliever Keynan Middleton documents dysfunction as he saw it in Chicago. ‘No rules&#39;: Ex-White Sox pitcher rips club&#39;s culture <a href="https://t.co/Z03bbDpZE8">https://t.co/Z03bbDpZE8</a></p>&mdash; Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/JesseRogersESPN/status/1688390093197729794?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Hot take. Royals will pass the White Sox in standings by the end of the year

I'm not counting either of them out. Just bringing up and praising the guys that have been showing something. I'd love for those 2 to contribute and be real pieces.

Gavin Cross promoted to AA....after hitting 206 in 350 single A at bats..

There's plenty of raw talent in Melendez. If the Royals (or someone else) can unlock it, they'll have a heck of a player on their hands.

His batted ball numbers are good even at the big league level. He strikes the ball well and he does it often. But he has a hole in his zone and he chases too much crap. So he can't put that raw power to use.

I feel like the approach issues may be hard to get around but there has to be a mechanical change that can keep him from swinging through as many hittable pitches as he does. There's a lot to like in there but it's just not working.

Hell, send him to Driveline or something. Have someone outside the organization work with him to see if they can untangle a hitch in his swing or something. That's the kind of guy a team like the Royals should be looking to acquire/repair but it doesn't do them any good if they can't diagnose/develop the guys from within their own system first.

He's a canary in the coalmine to me. If the Royals can't figure out how to make a productive big league hitter out of Melendez, they need to make changes to their staff to address that. He's exactly the kind of player they need to be developing into a difference maker. They just can't afford to let players with his tools plateau and/or regress.