***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

[CaliforniaChief]

Originally Posted by Titty Meat

Where are the Cardinals fans to tell us how Matheny sucks?

I mean maybe he learned from his first go-round, but I think he's doing a great job so far.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by RockChalk

So is he continuing to fly under the radar in that respect? Or do you think it was just one offseason of "use" and he's been clean since?

I’m just speculating. Saying “probably” is too strong. A better way to say it would be that it wouldn’t surprise me IF he had.

Think back to that year where all they talked about was his off-season diet and all the strength he added. Wouldn’t surprise me if he had a little help in building the muscle mass up.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by MAHOMO 4 LIFE!

You really think Whit has used PEDS??? Dude hasn’t grown at all, he’s stayed there same weight. He’s a contact hitter and last I checked PEDs doesn’t make you make contact better at all

They took him from a weak contact hitter to a hard contact hitter. He likely cycled on to save his career, at that point it's worth the risk. That boost helped him change his body and with elite level nutrition he's kept most of the gain..

He may still cycle on in off-seasons to help make sure he keeps it.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Without looking, here's an interesting stat. Guess who?

Who hold the Royals hitting record for most career strikeouts and "leads" this category by exactly 500 strikeouts over the #2 hitter on the list?

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

It's either Brett or Gordon. Maybe Frank White. Has to be lifer.

Originally Posted by tk13

Without looking it's surely Gordon. Brett only had a handful of seasons above 50-ish strikeouts. Gordon was a 100 K guy every year.

It’s Gordon.

[srvy]

Originally Posted by Titty Meat

Where are the Cardinals fans to tell us how Matheny sucks?

Yeah, I haven't witnessed last year and so far this year the total doofus I was led to believe by the best fans in baseball. Maybe he learned some lessons after his first stint as a manager. It seems to me the players play hard for him.

[WhawhaWhat]

NEW — He’s 6-foot-4. He runs as fast as NFL kick returners. He works out with Travis Kelce’s trainer.

And in 2020, his barrel percentage ranked above Mike Trout’s.

The story behind Michael A. Taylor’s scorching start:https://t.co/pixPYcOHXD

— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) April 7, 2021

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by srvy

Yeah, I haven't witnessed last year and so far this year the total doofus I was led to believe by the best fans in baseball. Maybe he learned some lessons after his first stint as a manager. It seems to me the players play hard for him.

Yeah. So far I've been impressed because he talked about how he really worked to learn new strategies/analytics and his managing in 2020 reflected that (rather than that statement being solely lip service) we'll see if it continues.

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

NEW — He’s 6-foot-4. He runs as fast as NFL kick returners. He works out with Travis Kelce’s trainer.

And in 2020, his barrel percentage ranked above Mike Trout’s.

The story behind Michael A. Taylor’s scorching start:https://t.co/pixPYcOHXD

— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) April 7, 2021

. @Royals CF Michael Taylor hit 20 mph this week on the SHREDmill. Fastest I’ve ever seen on here since Jacoby Ford and Travis Benjamin hit 20.2 mph in 2013. Both 4.2-4.3 guys. Between Taylor, Mondesi and Whit.. we’re gonna have a track team out there @h8rproof82 pic.twitter.com/goLdKwONJw

— Andrew Spruill (@AnDREW_XPE) February 13, 2021

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

NEW — He’s 6-foot-4. He runs as fast as NFL kick returners. He works out with Travis Kelce’s trainer.

And in 2020, his barrel percentage ranked above Mike Trout’s.

The story behind Michael A. Taylor’s scorching start:https://t.co/pixPYcOHXD

— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) April 7, 2021

Taylor’s wheels impressed long before he arrived in the big leagues. Royals All-Star second baseman Whit Merrifield watched Taylor when they were in High-A ball. From afar, Merrifield believed the Washington Nationals, who had drafted Taylor as a shortstop in the sixth round of the 2009 MLB Draft, had one of the more dynamic players in the game.

As Taylor rose through the minor-league ranks, scouting analysts pinpointed “very good bat speed that generates above-average power.” That, however, did not show in Taylor’s first three seasons in the big leagues. He debuted in 2014 but not until 2017 did he post an OPS above .654.

But, boy, was 2017 a different story. He posted an .803 OPS and hit 19 home runs. None of those long balls, though, was bigger than the bomb he hit in the 2017 National League Division Series. With the decisive Game 5 tied 1-1 in the second inning, Taylor, who was down 0-and-2 in the count to Chicago Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks, hammered a fastball over the left-field wall for a three-run homer.

Some thought Taylor was primed for a breakout in 2018, but his OPS dipped to .644. Juan Soto debuted that season and set the world on fire, pushing Taylor to the bench after the All-Star break. He didn’t sit idly by. Instead, Taylor started to retool his swing. Working with Nationals hitting coaches Kevin Long and Joe Dillon, as well as a personal hitting coach, Taylor eliminated his leg kick and adjusted his hand load. The goal: cut down a strikeout rate (30.1 percent) that ranked in the bottom 5 percent of MLB. He wanted to flatten the peaks and valleys.

“A leg kick gave me a lot of rhythm,” Taylor said after the Royals signed him, “but I felt like it made me streaky as far as timing. So getting rid of that was an effort to make more contact.”

In essence, he shifted from this …

To this…

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by Why Not?

Healthy, prime Sweeney was as good a pure hitter as you’ll ever see. The problem, as you alluded to, is healthy, prime Sweeney was a rare occurrence. And he was totally worthless in any other category outside of hitting. He was an injury prone wealthy man’s Billy Butler.

At the time, Allard Baird paid Sweeney big bucks and then let Damon and Dye go, and traded Beltran for some stiffs (John Buck, Teahen and some pitcher). As soon as Sweeney signed the contract, his health went to shit. I look at the Royals won-loss records in the years after Sweeney signed, and there were multiple 100 loss seasons. That's not all on Sweeney, but he certainly did nothing to help them win.

[KChiefs1]

https://theathletic.com/2501974/2021...orth-watching/

Who are the most entertaining non-contending MLB teams?
by
Brittany Ghiroli

So, in the fourth hour of the Kansas City Royals’ Opening Day game against the Texas Rangers, I found myself thinking not “Why am I still watching?” but “The Royals are pretty entertaining.”

Apologies to diehard Kansas City fans, but I’m going to jump on that bandwagon now. Who else could make the list now? Sure, the Orioles and Pirates may be good someday, but to me, this is about pure watchability now, not in a few years.

Kansas City Royals
2020 record: 26-34

Last playoff appearance: 2015

2021 PECOTA preseason projection: 71-91

Why are we watching?
Royals general manager Dayton Moore said they “expect” to win this year, and while he’s as effervescently positive as the TV character Ted Lasso, it’s not just lip service. The Royals spent in the top half of baseball on free agents this year, locked up Salvador Pérez to a four-year extension and added veterans Carlos Santana and Andrew Benintendi to a lineup that has struggled to score runs. Their defense could also be a real strength. Sure, the Royals aren’t ready to compete with the Chicago White Sox or Minnesota Twins yet, but there’s plenty to like about them.

Who are we watching?
Kyle Isbel had three hits in his big-league debut. Young starters Brady Singer and Brad Keller are 24 and 25, respectively. Top pitching prospects Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch and Jonathan Bowlan are expected to be in the 2021 plans. Santana could have a bounce-back season. Free-agent signee Michael A. Taylor, 30, was one of the storylines of the opening series. Taylor, never given a real chance in Washington, can change a game with his defense and speed, and if he can contribute offensively, it could be a huge boon. Big-name prospects Bobby Witt Jr. and Asa Lacy are also waiting in the wings.

[Great Expectations]

Any idea of why we pushed Keller back to tomorrow and brought Junis up?

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by Great Expectations

Any idea of why we pushed Keller back to tomorrow and brought Junis up?

https://www.mlb.com/royals/news/jako...-series-finale

Junis brings new cutter into duel with Bieber
by
Anne Rogers

The Royals will start right-hander Jakob Junis for Wednesday’s series finale against Cleveland, the club announced during Tuesday’s off-day.

It will be a scheduled bullpen day, with Junis likely only throwing a few innings before handing it off to the rest of the bullpen. The Royals would like Junis to be available at the end of the White Sox series this weekend, so they won’t push him too hard.

“It’s something that we’ll feel out,” Junis said Tuesday. “More than likely it’ll be a couple of innings. … They told me they want me to start the game and have that same mentality that I have out of the bullpen -- not worried about going deep, just worry about coming out and being nasty for a couple innings.”

Junis threw two combined scoreless innings in relief Saturday and Sunday with three strikeouts. The Royals put Junis in the ‘pen to start the season but gave him a swingman role because he’s built up to go multiple innings. Junis warms up quickly, which helps him in the bullpen -- he only has to throw seven pitches before being ready to head to the mound -- and he’s embracing the reliever mentality of throwing his best stuff for shorter outings.

“As a starter, you’re responsible to go five, six innings, take that load off the bullpen, and that’s a big responsibility to carry a game that long and still put up good numbers and keep your team in the game,” Junis said. “Out of the bullpen, it’s more, ‘I got one inning here to get three outs,' and do whatever you can to throw up a zero and pass the ball to the next guy. That’s been a lot of fun so far. I think we have a lot of good pieces down in the bullpen and all have confidence in each other to do that and keep the line moving.”

Junis had pitched in consecutive days over the weekend for the first time in his career and said he felt fine -- even better the second day.

“It’s been fantastic,” manager Mike Matheny said. “I’ve been really impressed. I was happy we were able to use him back to back, and very happy to [hear him say] yesterday that he felt better than he did the day before. So all those things are pointing in a really good direction. He seems to be embracing this role. And he’s looked very good.”

Throughout Spring Training, Junis’ focus was on his developing cutter, and he’s been able to lean on the pitch heavily in his two short outings. It’s his second-most-used pitch behind his four-seamer, and he got two strikeouts on it along with a base hit. The added pitch, along with Junis' signature slider, will help him keep hitters off balance, especially as he’s stretched out.

“The shape of it is different compared to how it was in Arizona for the last few outings, just adjusting to the extra adrenaline that comes with being in a real game with fans and stuff," Junis said. “Trying to lock that true cutter shape -- it’s coming with time. It hasn’t been what I wanted the first couple outings, but it’s been good enough. Gotten the job done, stayed off of barrels. I know it could be better, so that’s been promising as well.”

Junis and the Royals' bullpen will face Cleveland ace Shane Bieber on Wednesday.

Right-hander Brad Keller will start Thursday’s game in Chicago, giving him a full week in between starts after he allowed six runs in 1 1/3 innings on Opening Day against the Rangers.

The Royals also announced Tuesday that reliever Scott Blewett and catcher Meibrys Viloria cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. Blewett will be at the alternate training site and Viloria was sent to Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

[Great Expectations]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

Yeah. So far I've been impressed because he talked about how he really worked to learn new strategies/analytics and his managing in 2020 reflected that (rather than that statement being solely lip service) we'll see if it continues.

Having Hahn close out the game Tuesday was solely based on analytics. So far Matheny has been much better than advertised by the BFIB.

[tk13]

Didn't realize we were facing Bieber today. Guess we'll see how good our offense is.