***Official 2021 Royals Season Repository Thread***

[ChiefsCountry]

For all things Royals for the new year.

Free Agent Signings:
Carlos Santana
Mike Minor
Michael Taylor
Ervin Santana

Top 10 Prospects:
1 Bobby Witt Jr., SS
2 Asa Lacy, LHP
3 Daniel Lynch, LHP
4 Jackson Kowar, RHP
5 Erick Pena, OF
6 Nick Loftin, SS
7 Kyle Isbel, OF
8 Khali Lee, OF
9 Jonathan Bowlan, RHP
10 Carlos Hernedez, RHP

[sedated]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Don't go 5-14 against the Indians and 4-8 against the Rangers and Angels. That's the difference between .500 or better season for the Royals.

4 more losses and Royals would be picking #7 in the draft instead of #9. A .500 record gets you the #17 pick.

[KChiefs1]

The Athletic:

On Sunday, Perez compared the year to the 2011 and ’12 Royals in the sense that talented young players got their feet wet. In that sense, Perez and every one of his Royals teammates who spoke to the media during the season’s final week sounded upbeat about the future. Asked about the source of their optimism, Whit Merrifield said: “Young … pitching … talent. And a lot of it.”

Magic number: .307

In the three-true-outcome nature of baseball in 2021 (homers, walks, strikeouts), this felt like a nice segue. The Royals’ on-base percentage — .307 — was the second lowest in club history. Only 2018’s .305 on-base percentage was lower.

Magic number: 27

Fielding statistics remain perplexing to evaluate, but Baseball Savant ranked the Royals (27 outs above average) as the fifth-best defense in baseball. This makes sense, considering the Royals have four Gold Glove award possibilities.

Nicky Lopez leads 239 qualified defenders in outs above average. Michael A. Taylor ranks sixth. And Merrifield pops up at No. 39.

Magic number: 57.3

No team threw fewer first-pitch strikes than the Royals. Manager Mike Matheny is so aware of this issue that, on Sunday morning, he joked about the ceremonial first pitch thrown a night earlier by Royals vice president of communications Mike Swanson.

“Man, it was almost so good,” Matheny said of Swanson’s throw. “You know, here’s the deal. We’ve had a problem with first-pitch strikes.”

Magic number: .300

No Royals shortstop had ever finished the season with a .300 batting average. Then Lopez did it.

There’s a lot to unpack here. Lopez was not the Royals’ starting shortstop when they broke camp in Surprise, Ariz. Nor was he even on the big-league club. Instead, he was conversing with general manager J.J. Picollo and director of hitting performance Alec Zumwalt as they worked toward reverting Lopez’s swing back to what it looked like in 2018.


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[tk13]

One third of the offensive players on Baseball America's minor league All-Star team are Royals prospects.

Our 2021 Minor League All-Star team is here.

Player-by-player breakdown from the top performers throughout the season ��https://t.co/6YRmxqDDi6 pic.twitter.com/22dcRjF4oq

— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) October 5, 2021

[dallaschiefsfan]

Originally Posted by tk13

One third of the offensive players on Baseball America's minor league All-Star team are Royals prospects.

Our 2021 Minor League All-Star team is here.

Player-by-player breakdown from the top performers throughout the season ��https://t.co/6YRmxqDDi6 pic.twitter.com/22dcRjF4oq

— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) October 5, 2021

We can keep a couple of these guys down to start next season and get the benefit of an extended year (unless collective agreement changes)...but unless they just flop in ST, surely we carry one of these guys onto the opening day roster. My preference would be Pratto, because that means we've decided to a.) let Santana DH a little, spot start and mostly be on the bench or; b.) release Santana. That also let's Vinnie start playing some AAA. There's just not an obvious spot for the other two guys that demands they be on the opening day roster - unless injuries.

[tk13]

Originally Posted by dallaschiefsfan

We can keep a couple of these guys down to start next season and get the benefit of an extended year (unless collective agreement changes)...but unless they just flop in ST, surely we carry one of these guys onto the opening day roster. My preference would be Pratto, because that means we've decided to a.) let Santana DH a little, spot start and mostly be on the bench or; b.) release Santana. That also let's Vinnie start playing some AAA. There's just not an obvious spot for the other two guys that demands they be on the opening day roster - unless injuries.

I do wonder if they'll try to trade Santana. Might not be for much but you'd get more in the offseason than at the trade deadline probably. But it'd open 1B/DH up for Pratto, Dozier and Salvy.

[Deberg_1990]

They really should get Witt Jr up at the start of the season to help “sell” something to the fan base.

[dallaschiefsfan]

Originally Posted by tk13

I do wonder if they'll try to trade Santana. Might not be for much but you'd get more in the offseason than at the trade deadline probably. But it'd open 1B/DH up for Pratto, Dozier and Salvy.

Well...not sure that anyone would take that contract. But maybe I'm wrong. In a fun world, Pratto at 1B makes the infield crazy elite from the start, even if Mondesi plays some 3B to start the season. The range of that infield would be nuts. If Santana is gone and the DH position is free, that makes an early season call-up of Melendez all but inevitable. Witt Jr. still feels like a call-up when Mondesi goes on the shelf at some point, unless he's going to play one of the corner OF spots.

[dallaschiefsfan]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

They really should get Witt Jr up at the start of the season to help “sell” something to the fan base.

Unless you have an obvious spot/need, it makes no sense to burn a year for a few early season ticket sales.

[poolboy]

Well, third base and right field are barren right now

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by dallaschiefsfan

Unless you have an obvious spot/need, it makes no sense to burn a year for a few early season ticket sales.

After the Kris Bryant debacle, the new CBA is almost assuredly not going to allow teams to take advantage of something so obviously dumb.

[poolboy]

Witt Jr and Mondesi for 100 plus games next year completes me

[WilliamTheIrish]

7 years ago tonight I sat in the front row down the 3rd base line as the Royals swept the angels in the division series. LOCain made two of the best catches in a playoff game I’ve ever seen live.

[Al Czervik]

Originally Posted by WilliamTheIrish

7 years ago tonight I sat in the front row down the 3rd base line as the Royals swept the angels in the division series. LOCain made two of the best catches in a playoff game I’ve ever seen live.

Those catches from Cain were unbelievable. His diving catch...the ball was about an inch off the ground.

[dallaschiefsfan]

Originally Posted by jd1020

After the Kris Bryant debacle, the new CBA is almost assuredly not going to allow teams to take advantage of something so obviously dumb.

There's no obvious open position if Mondesi plays 3B. And further, I'm not sure how any CBA can tell a team when to move a guy up and give the boot to a veteran player playing with competence on the MLB level. Can't see MLB level players agreeing to anything of that sort.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by WilliamTheIrish

7 years ago tonight I sat in the front row down the 3rd base line as the Royals swept the angels in the division series. LOCain made two of the best catches in a playoff game I’ve ever seen live.

I went with my dad, seats were in the lower half of the upper deck between home plate and the Royals' dugout.

It was dusty up there, something in my eyes after Hosmer's home run and then Moose's home run, just taking it all in. I sadly didn't go to the WC game, so that was my first Royals playoff game... and I've never been to opening day, so I'm sure it was also the first sell out crowd.

Sports fandom really doesn't get any better than those two years.