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Daily Clips
June 1, 2018
LOCAL
The Royals' fastest player? Even he is surprised by the answer
May 31, 2018 By Jesse Newell/KC Star
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Young Royals fan literally jumped for joy after getting Moustakas' home-run ball
May 31, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
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With history as their guide, the Royals need to go after hitters, not pitchers, in the 2018 draft
May 31, 2018 By Rany Jazayerli/The Athletic
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Big Slick Celebrity Weekend to begin Friday
June 1, 2018 By Daniel Barnett & Stephanie Kayser/KCTV 5
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MINORS
Royals found an unsigned prospect who throws 99. He's pursuing his master's as backup
June 1, 2018 By Maria Torres/KC Star
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Lopez looking to stay hot
Royals prospect building on Fall League success with Naturals
June 1, 2018 By Troy Schulte/
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Late Wildness Plagues Chasers in 9-6 Defeat
Dodgers take advantage of free passes to even series
May 31, 2018 By Omaha Storm Chasers
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Pena's gem stymies Naturals in finale loss
June 1, 2018 By NW Arkansas Naturals
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Wilmington Suffers from Another Bad-Luck Inning
Four-Run Seventh Too Much for Rocks to Overcome
May 31, 2018 By Wilmington Blue Rocks
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NATIONAL
Kershaw set for MRI (back) after return of 5 IP
Lefty's fastball velocity dips as Dodgers fall to Phillies
May 31, 2018 By Glenn Rabney/
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Cards' Reyes to DL with 'significant' lat strain
St. Louis calls up Voit, Mayers, Gomber; O'Neill, Gant optioned to Triple-A Memphis
May 31, 2018 By Joe Trezza & Joe Harris/
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Parts of baseball are disappearing before our very eyes
May 31, 2018 By Buster Olney/
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Ten things we learned in May
June 1, 2018 By Jayson Stark/The Athletic
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MLB TRANSACTIONS
June 1, 2018 •.
LOCAL
The Royals' fastest player? Even he is surprised by the answer
May 31, 2018 By Jesse Newell/KC Star
Hunter Dozier's eyes scanned the clubhouse, going from locker to locker to make sure he wasn't leaving anyone out.
He'd been asked to guess the fastest player on the Royals' roster, and the first baseman took a few seconds before giving his best guess.
"On the team?" he said. "Maybe Whit."
Dozier was close ... but not correct. Teammate Whit Merrifield, according to Statcast's Sprint Speed metric, was second on the active roster, capable of covering 29.0 feet per second.
The fastest as of Wednesday — at 29.1 feet per second — happened to be Dozier himself.
"I did not know that," Dozier said. "That's hilarious."
Before explaining how this happened — and how Dozier's past led him to a speedier future — let's first clear up what we're talking about here.
Sprint Speed is Statcast's tool that measures how quickly a player runs in his fastest one-second window on competitive base-running plays — an amount of time that usually captures about seven maximum-effort strides. MLB's full explanation goes into further detail about how the final number is reached, as certain home-to-first and two-base runs are tracked before the top 70 percent of the player's data is averaged for the final Sprint Speed number.
Though that all can sound a bit complicated, just know the top of the Sprint Speed leaderboard looks pretty much like you'd expect.
Team Ft./Sec
Byron Buxton Twins 30.5
Delino DeShields Rangers 30.4
Billy Hamilton Reds 30.0
Adam Engel White Sox 29.9
Trea Turner Nationals 29.9
Some of baseball's fastest players take up the top five spots. And Dozier — out of more than 400 qualified — ranked 36th in the majors on Wednesday, which also was the best mark for a first baseman.
"That's pretty cool," Dozier said. "I've always considered myself a good runner — an above-average runner — but nothing like that. ... Maybe I have a little more adrenaline running up here."
His standing also was partially fueled by a poor year in the minors.
Dozier said he reported to spring training in 2015 at about 235 pounds, the heaviest he'd ever been. Coincidence or not, that was the start of a subpar offensive season, as he hit .213 at Northwest Arkansas with an overall batting line that was 25 percent worse than league average.
"I was really bulky, and I had my worst year," Dozier said. "So I wanted to lean out a little bit and stay athletic. That was the biggest thing. I just wanted to be athletic out there."
The Royals helped him stay motivated. They told Dozier he might be considered at a corner outfield position in the future, which gave him more reason to improve his conditioning.
He started working out during the off-season at EXOS in Frisco, Texas, with an emphasis on gaining mobility while also increasing acceleration and speed with quick-feet and hurdles drills.
As of this week, he says, he weighs 220.
"I think people see my size and think, 'OK, he's not going to be a runner,'" Dozier said. "And now, since I'm playing first, normally those guys don't run a lot."
The perception of his speed perhaps doesn't match reality — even if it's tough to dodge that stereotype. For example, in his 2018 Royals prospect bio on , Dozier was given a "40" run grade on scouts' 20-80 scale, with a snippet saying he moves "reasonably well for a 6-foot-4, 220-pounder" before labeling him a "below-average runner."
The data appears to say something different. There was some evidence of that on Tuesday, as Dozier hit a ball down the right-field line and decided to test the Twins' Max Kepler while going for a hustle double; the play ended up not being close at second because of Dozier's speed.
As of Wednesday, Dozier was in good company when it came to Sprint Speed. His 29.1 feet per second ranked ahead of players like Brett Gardner, Starling Marte, Christian Yelich, Kevin Kiermaier and Ketel Marte. His number also was better than Jarrod Dyson's Sprint Speed mark (29.0) during his final season with the Royals in 2016.
Unfortunately for Dozier, he fell back slightly after Thursday's game. He's down to 29.0 feet per second, which puts him in a tie with Merrifield for the top mark on the Royals' current roster.
So is it likely the two will settle who's quickest with a race?
"No," Dozier said with a smile. "I'll just let Statcast prove him wrong."
2018 Royals top Sprint Speed players, active roster Ft./Sec
Hunter Dozier 29.0
Whit Merrifield 29.0
Jorge Soler 28.3
Abraham Almonte 28.0
Ramon Torres 27.6
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Young Royals fan literally jumped for joy after getting Moustakas' home-run ball
May 31, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
It wasn't the longest home run of Mike Moustakas' career, but all that mattered was the ball cleared the fence.
Moustakas clubbed a two-run homer during the second inning of the Royals' 11-9 win over the Twins on Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium and it was a moonshot. The question was whether the ball was hit far enough.
Fortunately for Moustakas, the ball landed just past the 330 sign that signifies the distance from home plate in feet.
A young fan who was standing in the front row, reached down and picked up the souvenir and she was ecstatic. It made for a sweet moment.
Click the link to watch the video.
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With history as their guide, the Royals need to go after hitters, not pitchers, in the 2018 draft
May 31, 2018 By Rany Jazayerli/The Athletic
Every franchise has certain days that will be remembered for posterity, events that will be remembered by the fan base for years to come. September 30th will always be remembered in Kansas City as Wild Card Day, in honor of the 2014 Wild Card Game, a.k.a. The Greatest Game In Royals History. That was when the team ended the longest playoff drought (29 years) in North American sports and became the first team in baseball history to win an elimination game after being down four runs or more in the 8th inning or later — all in the same night.
And 54 weeks after that, Columbus Day brings back memories of the Monday afternoon in Houston when the 2015 Royals became the second team in baseball history to win an elimination game after being down four runs or more in the 8th inning or later. And November 1st marks the anniversary of the only November game in Royals history, when the 2015 Royals overcame a 2-0 deficit against the Mets in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the World Series and put up a five-spot in the 12th inning to win their second World Championship ever.
The 2018 Royals are not going to have a moment like that this season. No, if the 2018 Royals are to have an evening whose consequences will reverberate well after this season has come to an end, that evening won’t occur in the fall, or even in the summer. It will have to happen in a ballroom far away from the field itself. That evening will have to be Monday, June 4, when the Royals make their first five selections in the 2018 amateur draft.
For teams with no ambitions of making the playoffs, Draft Day is the most important day of the year, and no team has more of an opportunity in this year’s draft than the Royals. Thanks to the defections of Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer, as well as the Competitive Balance Pick awarded to small-market teams, the Royals have the #18, #33, #34, and #40 picks in this year’s draft. They are the only team with four of the first 55 picks, let alone four of the top 40. Their draft pool of $12,781,900 is the largest in baseball. (They will also make their second-round pick, #58 overall, before the proceedings halt on Day One of the draft.) It’s not an exaggeration to say that what the Royals do Monday night will either accelerate or delay their timeline for returning to contention by several years.
If the Royals nail these picks, they could change the beleaguered status of their farm system overnight. Consider what the Angels did nine years ago, when they had six of the first 80 picks in the draft, and used them to select Randal Grichuk (#24), Tyler Skaggs (#40), Garrett Richards (#42), and Patrick Corbin (#80) – three-fifths of a starting rotation and an everyday outfielder. Oh, and they also selected The Greatest Young Baseball Player Of All Time, Mike Trout, with the #25 pick. (The scouting director responsible for that draft, Eddie Bane, was fired a year later, and the Angels haven’t won a playoff game since, because baseball is a delightfully strange sport.)
But if the Royals shank these picks, they will suffer a self-inflicted blow that may take a decade to recover from. No cautionary tale is more stark than that of the 1997 Montreal Expos, who thanks to an exodus of free agents and the liberal dispensation of compensatory picks under the CBA of that era, garnered SEVEN supplementary first-round picks. Counting their own first-rounder, they had eight of the first 52 picks in the draft…and threw them all in the trash. Six of the eight never made the majors, and the other two (Bryan Hebson and T.J. Tucker, and no, I don’t remember them either) combined for 0.5 bWAR in their major-league careers. Given the almost unprecedented allotment of picks, it was probably the worst draft of all time…and it would take 15 years, a move to a new city, and back-to-back #1 overall picks that were not wasted (on Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper) for the franchise to fully recover.
So, the fate of the Royals for the bulk of the 2020s may be decided Monday night. No pressure, guys.
I am not a draft expert, and I do not profess to have any great insight into the players on the board. About all I know is that Casey Mize has the talent to be in a major league starting rotation this season, that Joey Bart could be the next Buster Posey, and that with the 18th pick, the Royals will miss out on drafting either player by around 16 picks. So I have no specific advice to give Kansas City on how to make this draft count.
But I do have one very important piece of general advice. The Royals will be tempted to use their wealth of draft picks to select pitchers. This temptation is understandable to anyone who has actually watched the Royals pitch this season — their 5.34 team ERA is the worst in baseball. It makes even more sense when you consider that the five best prospects in the farm system right now are all hitters: the four members of the Class of 1998 (Khalil Lee, Nick Pratto, Seuly Matias, and M.J. Melendez, all born that year) along with shortstop Nicky Lopez, who is hitting .328 in Double-A with more walks (24) than strikeouts (19). The Royals have every reason to go all-in on young arms in the draft this year.
Every reason but one: it’s the wrong move to make. The Royals, like most teams, should take The Best Player Available. And the best player available, more often than not, is a hitter.
General Manager Dayton Moore famously said, not long after he was hired by the Royals, that “pitching is the currency of baseball”. To which I’d ask, which currency? Because history tells us that pitching is the Bitcoin of baseball: a currency of wildly unpredictable worth whose true value occasionally seems unmoored to its underlying fundamentals. If pitching is the currency of baseball, it is only because every team is always looking for more, and the reason they’re always looking for more is because the pitching they thought they had is so ephemeral.
Brandon Webb was one of the best pitchers in the world from the time he debuted in 2003 through 2008 – in those six seasons he averaged 5.5 bWAR a year, and finished first, second, and second in the NL Cy Young vote from 2006 to 2008. He started on Opening Day in 2009, gave up six runs in four innings, blew out his shoulder — and never threw another pitch in the major leagues. And on the flipside, you can have someone like Corey Kluber, who was so lightly-regarded as a prospect that the Indians acquired him for two months of Jake Westbrook, and in 2011 posted a 5.56 ERA as a 25-year-old in Triple-A…and three years later wins the AL Cy Young Award and begins a five-year run of dominance that shows no signs of ending. With pitchers, past performance not only doesn’t guarantee future results, it barely even predicts them.
And what is true for pitchers as a whole is even more true for pitchers whose arms have yet to fully mature, pitchers who may be old enough to vote but not old enough to drink. Young pitchers, as Bart Giamatti once lyrically wrote about baseball itself, are designed to break your heart. This is hardly original thinking. Even the venerated Baseball America acknowledges that the risks of drafting young pitchers may force teams to rethink their draft strategies, to draft bats and buy arms. But the Royals are conservative when it comes to following changes in conventional wisdom. It would behoove them to follow them this time.
A little Royals-centric history is instructive. In their 50 seasons of existence, the Royals have used 35 first-round picks on pitchers. Two of them, Kevin Appier and Zack Greinke, are all-timers. They are also the only two first-round picks that have amassed the modest total of even 12 bWAR in their careers. By Wins Above Replacement, the third-best pitcher the Royals ever selected in the first round was…Scott Bankhead. (Sean Manaea and Mike Montgomery have the potential to change that one day.) Fourteen of those 35 players — 40% of them! — never threw a pitch in the major leagues.
By comparison, though the Royals have only used 29 first-round picks on hitters, those picks include Johnny Damon (56.4 bWAR), Willie Wilson (46.1), Alex Gordon (33.2), Eric Hosmer (15.1), Brian McRae (14.3), Mike Moustakas (12.5 and counting), and Billy Butler (11.6), all of whom had more bWAR than Bankhead did. (And George Brett was taken with the #29 pick overall, a pick that would fall in the first round today.)
From 1997 to 2001 the Royals had ten first-round picks, and used all ten of them on pitchers. Here’s a listing of all ten of them: Dan Reichert, Chris George, Matt Burch, Jeff Austin, Jimmy Gobble, Jay Gehrke, Mike MacDougal, Kyle Snyder, Mike Stodolka, and Colt Griffin. It’s easy to criticize those picks with the benefit of hindsight, but the Royals had reasons to dream on the upside of all ten of those guys. And in 2002 they went to the well an 11th time, and came away with Greinke, which is the kind of pick that explains all of that prior dreaming. But it doesn’t justify it.
If you want to write off that track record as the product of a different front office that didn’t know what it was doing, that’s your prerogative. But here’s the list of every first-round pick the Royals have used on a pitcher since Dayton Moore was hired — and we’ll even skip Luke Hochevar, who was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the week between Moore being hired and him actually beginning his duties:
Mike Montgomery, Aaron Crow, Kyle Zimmer, Sean Manaea, Foster Griffin, Nolan Watson, and Ashe Russell.
Manaea is a fantastic young starter, and if even a third of your first-round picks landed you a Manaea, they’d be well-spent. But Manaea is one out of seven. Montgomery has become a useful swingman and was on the mound when the Chicago Cubs won their first championship in 108 years, but his development route was so circuitous that he was twice traded as an afterthought before he reached the majors. And then you have Aaron Crow, and four pitchers who at this point should be happy to have Aaron Crow’s career.
But what about the second round, you say? Here’s a list of every pitcher the Royals have drafted in the second round under Dayton Moore:
Sam Runion, Sam Selman, Cody Reed, Scott Blewett, Josh Staumont, A.J. Puckett, and Evan Steele.
Reed kept the prospect shine on long enough to be included in the package that brought Johnny Cueto to Kansas City; he also has a 6.65 ERA in 70 career innings in the majors. Staumont throws 100 and occasionally even in the strike zone. And those two are the highlights.
The Royals’ woeful lack of success in selecting pitchers at the top of the draft is not the main reason why they should avoid doing so again this year, especially since an equally valid conclusion from the above is that the Royals just aren’t very good at drafting, period. No, the main reason to emphasize hitters over pitchers in the draft is simple: that’s the way championship teams are put together today.
The 2017 Houston Astros and the 2016 Chicago Cubs are the poster boys for Extreme Rebuilding: tanking for multiple seasons in order to feast on top-ten picks in the draft, and the strategy paid off handsomely for both teams. From 2011 to 2015, the Cubs had a top-ten pick every season, and used all five of them on hitters: Javier Baez, Albert Almora, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, and Ian Happ. You’re likely to see all five in the Cubs’ 2018 lineup most days, and the first four were integral parts of their world championship; three were in the starting lineup for the World Series. Meanwhile, the Cubs’ starting rotation in 2016 was Jon Lester (free agent), Jake Arrieta (acquired in trade after a 5.46 ERA in four seasons in Baltimore), Kyle Hendricks (acquired in trade as minor prospect for Ryan Dempster), John Lackey (free agent), and Jason Hammel (free agent).
Draft the bats and buy the arms, indeed.
The Astros, unlike the Cubs, did expend some of their draft capital on pitching, twice using the #1 overall pick on a pitcher…and it blew up in their faces both times. From 2010 to 2012 the Astros selected Delino DeShields #8, George Springer #11, and Carlos Correa #1 overall — but in 2013 and 2014 they used the #1 overall pick on Mark Appel and Brady Aiken. Appel has already retired from baseball without ever reaching the majors, and Aiken’s career is in serious jeopardy…but that’s not the Astros’ problem, because Aiken failed his physical before signing, and while this led to a contentious and even litigious situation for Houston, the upside was that they got a mulligan, being awarded the #2 pick in 2015 as compensation for not signing Aiken. Given a second chance, this time they wisely went back to selecting a hitter, and picked…Alex Bregman.
Springer, Bregman, and Correa batted 1-2-4 when the Astros won their first championship ever last season. And their playoff rotation? Justin Verlander (acquired at the trading deadline), Dallas Keuchel (7th-round draft pick, never a Top-100 Prospect), Lance McCullers (2nd-round draft pick), and Charlie Morton (free agent). Their other primary starters during the season were Mike Fiers (acquired in trade), Brad Peacock (acquired in trade), and Collin McHugh (selected off waivers).
The Cubs and Astros put together two of the most impressive championship runs of the century, became just the second and third team since 1998 to win 100 regular season games and the World Series…and between the two, they had just one homegrown starting pitcher (McCullers) who was acquired in the first five rounds of the draft.
Certainly there are teams that have found success in drafting and developing pitchers in the first round — the Royals faced one of them in the World Series three years ago. But the Mets are in fact a telling exhibit of both the pros and cons of such a strategy. If all the stars align, you can go to the World Series with Matt Harvey (first round), Steven Matz (second round), and Jacob deGrom (ninth round), along with Noah Syndergaard, a first-rounder who was acquired in a trade…for a 38-year-old knuckleball pitcher you had picked up off the scrap heap (R.A. Dickey). Even after losing the World Series in 2015, the Mets justifiably felt that if they could just keep those four pitchers healthy, their path to the postseason would remain unimpeded indefinitely. But they got only 93 starts out of those four pitchers in 2016, good enough to squeak into the Wild Card game – which they lost – and only 69 starts from those four in 2017, when they went 70-92, and now Matt Harvey is a Red. (And, it’s the pitcher who was taken in the ninth round, deGrom, who has emerged as the most consistent and best pitcher of the bunch).
While the Cubs and Astros have focused their rebuilding efforts on hitters, there is one team that has made a conscious decision to build around pitching, and that team — the Atlanta Braves, who have taken a pitcher with eight of their ten first-round picks going back to 2012 — is leading the NL East this year. Except that the Braves are actually winning because of their offense: behind the steady brilliance of Freddie Freeman, the unexpected resurgence of Nick Markakis, the stunning breakout of Ozzie Albies, and the emergence of Ronald Acuna, the Braves actually lead the NL in runs scored. Meanwhile, their pitching staff ranks just 8th in runs allowed.
But if you’re a Royals fan, you don’t even have to look elsewhere for proof that you can win a championship without focusing on young pitching. The 2014-2015 Royals won two pennants and a title, and only one homegrown pitcher started any of their playoff games in either season: Yordano Ventura, who was so lightly-regarded as a 16-year-old out of the Dominican Republic that he got a signing bonus of just $28,000. The other Royals to start postseason games were James Shields (trade), Jeremy Guthrie (trade), Jason Vargas (free agent), Johnny Cueto (trade), Edinson Volquez (free agent), and Chris Young (free agent).
The presence of James Shields on that list is another example of why it makes sense to focus on hitters in the draft, because Shields (and Wade Davis) were famously acquired for a package of prospects headlined by Wil Myers, who was a third-round draft pick who got first-round money to sign. The true currency of baseball isn’t pitching, it’s prospects — and if you have a need for pitching, you can always trade an elite hitting prospect to get some.
But while the Royals didn’t have a drafted pitcher make a single start for them in either postseason, their offense was anchored by three top-five overall picks in Alex Gordon (#2 in 2005), Mike Moustakas (#2 in 2007), and Eric Hosmer (#3 in 2008). And Billy Butler (#14 overall in 2004) batted fifth for them in 2014.
The last three world championship teams combined to have nine first-round picks in their World Series lineup…and zero first-round picks in their starting rotation.
The 2014 Giants did have one starting pitcher who they had selected in the first round, and he was kind of an important one for them, guy named Madison Bumgarner. And the Giants, as they frequently wind up being, are kind of the exception to the rule here, because in 2012 their World Series rotation included Bumgarner and fellow first-rounder Matt Cain, and in 2010 their World Series rotation included Bumgarner, Cain, and Tim Lincecum, also a first-round pick.
But aside from the Giants, nearly every other World Series-winning team this century won without having spent their first-round draft capital on starting pitchers. In fact, going all the way back to 1996, here’s a list of every other homegrown first-round pick who started a World Series game for that year’s champion:
2013 Red Sox: Clay Buchholz
2008 Phillies: Cole Hamels and Brett Myers
2003 Marlins: Josh Beckett
And that’s it. Even including the Giants, that’s a total of 10 starting pitchers (counting Cain twice and Bumgarner three times) who were drafted in the first round. Championship-winning teams have relied on nearly as many first-round picks in their starting lineup in the last three years as they have in their rotation in the last 22.
(Since 1996, the only other starting pitchers who were even drafted in the first ten rounds were Jon Lester, who started for both the 2007 and 2013 Red Sox; and John Lackey and Jarrod Washburn for the 2002 Angels.)
By comparison, of the last 22 teams to win the World Series, 18 of them had at least one homegrown hitter in their lineup who was drafted in the first round. The only exceptions were the 2001 Diamondbacks, who as a fourth-year expansion team were too new to have drafted and developed their own talent; the 2003 Marlins, who were built largely on Latin American talent and the prospects they got when they tore apart their 1997 championship team; and the 2006 and 2011 Cardinals, who as a franchise has long had an uncanny talent for finding hitters in the draft after the first round — the 2011 team had no first-rounders, but had Jon Jay (2nd round), Yadier Molina (4th round), Skip Schumaker (5th round), Allan Craig (8th round), and Albert Pujols (13th round).
Along with the 2015 Royals, 2016 Cubs, and 2017 Astros, the 2002 Angels also had three first-round picks in their lineup (Darin Erstad, Troy Glaus, and Adam Kennedy) along with third-rounder Tim Salmon and fourth-rounder Garret Anderson. The 2008 Phillies had first-rounders Pat Burrell and Chase Utley, along with second-rounder Jimmy Rollins and fifth-rounder Ryan Howard.
Here’s another attempt at laying it all out:
Championship Teams, 1996 – 2017
Homegrown everyday hitters drafted in first round: 27
Homegrown starters drafted in first round: 10 (San Francisco Giants 6, everyone else 4)
Homegrown everyday hitters drafted in first ten rounds: 40
Homegrown starters drafted in first ten rounds: 14
Even accounting for the fact that teams have more spots in their lineup than in their rotation, that’s a sizeable difference. And that is why, as desperate as the Royals are for pitching depth in their organization, they need to understand the historical trends, and focus on drafting players that have the highest odds of success. They did that in 2016, when they selected Khalil Lee in the third round and Nicky Lopez in the fifth, and they did that last year, when they used their first two picks on Nick Pratto and M.J. Melendez. What worked for them then should work for them now.
That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t select any pitchers on the first day of the draft. Particularly if some of the most promising high school arms fall in the draft precisely because teams have wizened up to the risks of young pitching, there may be bargains left to be had. (The best draft strategy is always to exploit market inefficiencies, which means to zig when everyone else is zagging.) But if the Royals look at the state of their farm system and decide to use all of their Day One draft capital on pitching, it will be a mistake. They wouldn’t be the first team to make it.
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Big Slick Celebrity Weekend to begin Friday
June 1, 2018 By Daniel Barnett & Stephanie Kayser/KCTV 5
An event helping children battling rare illnesses and diseases kicks off Friday in Kansas City.
It's generally full of laughs and fun but with a deeper goal of helping kids suffering in the Cancer Center at Children's Mercy Hospital.
On Friday, some of the biggest names in Hollywood will take the field at Kauffman Stadium for the annual Big Slick Celebrity Classic Game to raise money for the hospital.
The game is part of the Big Slick Celebrity Weekend, an event is in its ninth year.
Kansas City native’s Rob Riggle, Eric Stonestreet, Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis and David Koechner, joined by dozens of their celebrity friends, will step up to the plate.
Gates at the K will open at 4:30 p.m. and the softball game starts at 5 p.m.
The Kansas City Royals will also be taking the field Friday as they face off against the Oakland Athletics at 7:15 p.m. A ticket to the Royals game will also get fans into the celebrity game.
Rob Riggle’s brother in law Mark McKee helps organize the event every year. He says the event is perfect for the city.
“I am so excited. This is really just a wonderful thing for the city, it’s a wonderful time of year, a lot of energy so we are really excited,” McKee said.
And it’s not just a softball game.
On Friday morning, celebrities will visit Children's Mercy for a press conference and to meet with kids living at the hospital.
On Saturday morning, a block party, red carpet event for celebrities and kids at Children’s Mercy and bowling tournament will be held at Prairiefire in south Overland Park. A VIP party and auction will also be held at Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland on Saturday evening.
“It’s so fantastic,” McKee said. “One of the highlights of the whole weekend is taking the celebrities to the hospital and meeting the kids, playing with the kids, and then meeting with the staff.”
More than 40 celebrities are expected to attend the weekend's events.
In 2017, the weekend raised $1.7 million for the hospital.
“We are excited about hopefully beating our record from last year, and going from there," McKee said. "Next year is year 10 so that will be the big one.”
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MINORS
Royals found an unsigned prospect who throws 99. He's pursuing his master's as backup
June 1, 2018 By Maria Torres/KC Star
Royals minor-league pitcher Jacob Condra-Bogan has a routine.
He pulls himself off the mattress that lays on the living room floor of a three-bedroom home he shares with four Lexington Legends teammates, prepares himself for a workday at the ballpark of the Royals’ low-Class A affiliate and makes time for schoolwork. Sometimes it’s before games, other times late at night. Bus rides, too; he can get plenty of work done on those if the wireless internet cooperates.
He’s two online classes away from graduating Georgia Southern with a master’s degree in sports management. July is the target date.
Even though he’s 1 1/2 weeks in to a new assignment in the Legends’ bullpen, Condra-Bogan won't let life in the minor leagues get in the way of his degree.
Playing baseball might not pan out. It almost didn't once before.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty in baseball," said Condra-Bogan, who went unsigned out of college last summer. "I got drafted but I'm a free agent from indy ball. It’s important to me to have a backup plan. ... It’s my insurance policy."
The Royals signed the 23-year-old right-hander in late January out of the Frontier League, the same league where they found Class AAA Omaha reliever Kevin Lenik in last June. Since then, they’ve been with rewarded with Condra-Bogan’s ability to wield a 99 mph fastball without losing command of the strike zone.
And Condra-Bogan’s been rewarded with some stability.
As he sprawled his 6-foot-3, 220 pound body over a blue stadium chair outside the Legends’ clubhouse this week, he hesitated to discuss the uncertainty in his career and personal life. He was adopted at 15 after landing in foster care at 12.
“That’s a long story,” Condra-Bogan said, glancing toward the clubhouse door. A series opener against the West Virginia Power, the Pirates' affiliate in the South Atlantic League, would start in about 45 minutes. “Probably not a story for before a game.”
Yet he offered the Reader’s Digest version: He was about to start eighth grade when he was placed in a group home. His younger sister went to the Bogan family in their hometown of Duncan, near Spartanburg, S.C.
They weren’t separated long. The Bogans worked to take him in, too. A few years later, on October 7, 2009, he became Jacob Condra-Bogan.
The rest is history.
By then, he’d already made headway on becoming a ballplayer, one of the first goals he'd executed a plan for. His dad, Britt Bogan, had already set him up for the sport during their first Christmas together.
“I asked him for a baseball glove and stuff and he ended up getting me a bucket of balls, a bat, a glove, a net to throw into and a little hitting thing that swings around and comes back. Like a Hurricane Swing-Away or something like that,” Condra-Bogan said. “All out.”
The tools were all he needed to cultivate his affinity for the sport. He worked at it, often on his own, in the backyard, hitting and throwing for hours at a time. In the hot and humid South, he learned quickly to wear long pants and sleeves or “I’d get eaten up. I’d have bumps all over me.”
Years later, the same determination carried Condra-Bogan into independent baseball after the MLB draft in the summer of 2017 .
“I thought I was pretty good. I thought I had plenty of talent,” Condra-Bogan said. “I thought I was good enough to pitch anywhere. Not everyone felt the same way.”
Condra-Bogan had been a fifth-year senior who transferred from Wofford College, a four-year school, for his final season of eligibility.
He'd compiled a modest college career: Over three seasons at Wofford and one at Georgia Southern, he posted a 5.18 ERA (106 earned runs in 184 innings) and struck out 174 batters.
But he had a hard fastball, imposing stature and the accompanying arm strength that lent itself to development.
“You’re looking for one tool you can hang your hat on,” said J.J. Picollo, Royals assistant general manager for player personnel. “Arm strength with pitching is what we look for.”
Yet few scouts were looking at Condra-Bogan. His playing days seemed numbered until the Blue Jays called to draft him in the 32nd round.
The sides did not agree to terms. Condra-Bogan gave the Frontier League’s Washington Wild Things, an independent baseball team he'd thought might stall his career, a chance.
“I was OK with not being good enough but I wanted an opportunity to prove that I was good enough,” Condra-Bogan said, “to go somewhere and fail rather than give up.”
He didn’t fail. He appeared in 11 games and posted a 1.17 ERA for the independent league team in Pennsylvania.
When the season ended in September, he returned to Georgia Southern to continue his schooling and improve himself on the mound. He worked with the school’s strength coach in the weight room and monitored himself in bullpens.
When he was ready for major-league scouts to come by in January, he was throwing 96 mph consistently. The Royals, tipped off by video sent to them by one of Condra-Bogan’s coaches, won the bidding and purchased his contract from his Frontier League team.
“He’s got the arm strength,” Picollo said. “If you’re able to throw 95-96 and touch 99 most nights, able to repeat your delivery and have the physical strength and endurance to bring that velocity every night — that’s certainly the reason why we signed him.”
Condra-Bogan’s fastball touched 99 mph during extended spring training before he joined the Legends’ bullpen on May 21. Entering Friday, he’d logged five innings, allowed two hits and struck out six batters. His fastball had hovered around 95 mph in those three appearances.
It’s not far-fetched to think his velocity will continue to crop up.
But Condra-Bogan's not worried about when. Checking off goals comes naturally; this is just another one to add to the list.
“I took a gamble,” he said. “I could be throwing bullpens in January and not play until May (in the independent league). But I’m happy. It was definitely worth it. It paid off.”
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Lopez looking to stay hot
Royals prospect building on Fall League success with Naturals
June 1, 2018 By Troy Schulte/
A little familiarity and a boost of confidence can go a long way.
They've taken Northwest Arkansas infielder Nicky Lopez to the start of what likely could be his best season since being drafted by Kansas City in the fifth round two years ago.
The Royals' sixth-ranked prospect was hitting .332, which ranks sixth in the Texas League, with a .406 on-base percentage while slugging .401 heading through 50 games. All of these count as improvements over last season, which he admits was a challenge, playing a full slate of professional games for the first time.
"I struggled a little bit toward the end of last year -- had some fatigue," he said. "This year, I just wanted to come out of the blocks early and go to work."
The 23-year-old middle infielder got his first taste of the Texas League last season, but hit just .256 in 59 games. Still, he got an invitation to the Arizona Fall League, where he batted .383/.433/.568 for Surprise after experimenting with a new bat and taking some advice from the Surprise Saguaros hitting coach.
Jobel Jimenez, now the hitting coach for the Springfield Cardinals, convinced Lopez to straighten his stance and simplify his approach. Then, when equipment vendors were making their way through Arizona, he began experimenting with a new bat that was an inch longer and heavier than he was used to.
"I used it in a game and I did well and I just kept using it," he said. "And from then on, I threw all my [old bats] away and just use these."
The results helped Lopez mentally, too, considering the AFL is thought of as a finishing school for some of the game's brightest future stars.
"Once you start producing there, you're playing on the field with the best prospects in baseball," he said. "You're like, 'Hey, I belong on this field. I can do this.' The confidence boost is just unbelievable."
Lopez still remembers how he faltered toward the end of last year, when he hit just .220 after Aug. 1. His concern now is maintaining his success over a full season. To that end, he's participating in a training regime designed to add weight, hoping he can avoid the pitfalls from last year.
"Last year, I was a little fatigued toward the end," he said. "I wasn't used to the full season. Now I know what to expect."
Considering the position he's put himself in to continue advancing in the Royals system, Lopez wants all the at-bats he can get.
"It's a huge opportunity, and people sometimes take that for granted," he said. "I don't take it for granted. I know being in Double-A is a big deal, and I'm just taking it one day at a time."
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Late Wildness Plagues Chasers in 9-6 Defeat
Dodgers take advantage of free passes to even series
May 31, 2018 By Omaha Storm Chasers
The Storm Chasers took a 6-3 lead in the 7th, but couldn't overcome their own wildness in a 9-6 loss to Oklahoma City on Thursday night at Bricktown Ballpark.
Omaha took the lead in the top of the 2nd. Cam Gallagher singled, went to 2nd on a groundout, and scored on a 2-out single by Logan Moon .
The Dodgers responded with a pair of 2-out runs in the home half of the 2nd. After Jon Dziedzic retired the first two batters, Matt Beaty doubled, Rocky Gale singled in Beaty, Jake Peter singled, and Tim Locastro singled to drive in Gale for a 2-1 OKC lead.
Kyle Farmer added to Oklahoma City's lead with a home run in the bottom of the 3rd, making it 3-1.
The Chasers rallied to tie it in the top of the 6th. Adalberto Mondesi doubled, and with 1 out, Ryan O'Hearn and Cam Gallagher smashed back-to-back doubles to score 2 runs and even the game at 3-3.
Brett Pill worked 5.1 innings for the Dodgers, allowing 3 runs, 8 hits, and 1 walk. He struck out 4.
Jon Dziedzic pitched 5.2 frames for Omaha; he scattered 3 runs on 6 hits, with 3 strikeouts and 1 walk.
The Chasers surged ahead in the top of the 7th. With 2 away, Adalberto Mondesi walked, Frank Schwindel singled against Josh Sborz. Edward Paredes was brought in to face Ryan O'Hearn, and Paredes uncorked a wild pitch to allow Mondesi to score the go-ahead run. O'Hearn then singled, bringing in Schwindel, and Cam Gallagher doubled home O'Hearn to put Omaha ahead 6-3.
The lead immediately shrunk to 6-5 in the bottom of the 7th. Luis Vasquez issued 2 walks, and was relieved by Wily Peralta , who walked another to load the bases. Henry Ramos singled in 2 runs, but Peralta was able to strand the other runners to keep Omaha narrowly ahead.
But the Dodgers capitalized on further wildness from Mike Broadway (L, 3-1) in the bottom of the 8th. Broadway walked Mike Peter, hit Tim Locastro, gave up a single to Alex Verdugo, and hit Kyle Farmer to force in a run. Edwin Rios singled in another run to give OKC a 7-6 lead. Verdugo then scored on a fielder's choice, beating a throw home from Mondesi at shortstop. Matt Beaty followed with a sacrifice fly, making it 9-6.
J.T. Chargois (W, 1-0) threw a scoreless 8th inning, and was the pitcher of record when the Dodgers took the lead. Joe Broussard (S, 2) pitched the 9th for his 2nd save of the season.
The Storm Chasers (23-30) will continue the series tomorrow evening at 7:05. RHP Heath Fillmyer (3-4, 5.58) will toss for Omaha, while Oklahoma City will counter with LHP Manny Banuelos (5-3, 3.24).
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Pena's gem stymies Naturals in finale loss
June 1, 2018 By NW Arkansas Naturals
Frisco starter, Richelson Pena had everything working from the outset and stalled the Naturals hot bats with a complete-game shutout with a 7-0 score in the finale at Dr. Pepper Ballpark on Thursday night. Despite the loss, the Naturals take two of the three games and clinch the club's sixth series win in the last seven.
Pena (3-3, 2.68) scattered seven hits over the nine frames with seven strikeouts and one walk. He threw 109 pitches on the night with 79 going for strikes. It marked the second complete game of his career and the first shutout of his career.
A couple story lines continued for the Naturals (26-27) even with Pena's fine start. Elier Hernandez extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the fourth inning and is now 20-for-42 over the 10-game stretch. Alex Liddi prolonged his hitting streak to 11 games with a ninth inning double off Pena. Liddi owns the second-longest active streak in the circuit.
Northwest Arkansas starter, Foster Griffin (2-6, 5.76) worked 5.1 innings, allowed seven runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts and no walks. Relievers, Sam Selman and Walker Sheller worked the final 2.2 innings. Selman retired all five hitters he faced over 1.2 frames while Sheller allowed one hit in the eighth.
The road trip continues for Northwest Arkansas with a three-game set against the Midland RockHounds (Oakland Athletics) on Friday night at Security Bank Ballpark in Midland, Texas with a 7:00 p.m. pitch.
Right-hander, Zach Lovvorn (3-2, 4.53) will make his second consecutive start against the RockHounds after tossing 7.0 innings of one-run baseball in a win against them last week. Opposite of Lovvorn is right-hander, Kyle Friedrichs (2-3. 7.93) for Midland.[pic]
Wilmington Suffers from Another Bad-Luck Inning
Four-Run Seventh Too Much for Rocks to Overcome
May 31, 2018 By Wilmington Blue Rocks
Another pitcher's duel at Frawley Stadium ended with the Wilmington Blue Rocks (21-32) falling victim to another bad luck inning against the Frederick Keys (23-29) on Thursday night with a 5-2 loss. A four-run seventh inning by the Keys was the difference maker as the Blue Rocks couldn't close the gap in the later innings. Wilmington starter Daniel Tillo worked five full innings and only gave up one hit and one earned run.
Blue Rocks' left fielder Nick Heath drew a lead-off walk and would move to second on a sacrifice bunt. Kort Peterson hit into what should have been an inning-ending double play, but Peterson just beat the throw by a step to keep the frame alive and move Heath to third. Xavier Fernandez hit a grounder up the middle that was just slow enough for him to get on base and score Heath for the early 1-0 lead.
Frederick managed to tie the game without a hit in the top of the second. Back-to-back walks given up by Tillo would provide the tying-run. Keys' catcher Yojhan Quevedo grounded into another double play situation, but Oliver Nunez overthrew the ball to first base that brought home Collin Woody to tie the game at 1-1.
The Keys would take their first lead of the game in the seventh inning. A leadoff double by Quevedo proved vital as he moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and hustled home to score on a wild-pitch to put Frederick on top 2-1. Wilson Garcia would add some insurance after doubling to right to score three runs. On the play, Preston Palmeiro blew through the stop sign and scored on a close play at the plate that would have been an out, but Meibrys Viloria had the ball come out of his glove on the tag attempt to make it 5-1.
The Blue Rocks did not go down without a fight as Nunez hustled out an infield-single to bring Fernandez home and make it a 5-2 ballgame in the bottom of the ninth. Heath went up to bat as the tying-run for Wilmington with two outs, but he jammed a pitch deep into center, but Keys' outfielder Cole Billingsley tracked it down to end the game.
Wilmington will travel down to Salem for a quick three game road trip with game one taking place on Friday, June 1 at Haley Toyota Field. The Blue Rocks will have righty Jace Vines (2-6, 5.43 ERA) to open the series. The Red Sox will send fellow right-hander Jake Thompson (2-3, 5.13 ERA) to the mound. Fans can catch all the action with Matt Janus on the call on 89.7 WGLS-FM.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
Outfielder Khalil Lee reached base three times in Thursday's loss with a pair of walks and double. The two walks pushed his league-leading total to 39 on the season. The 19-year-old is top-ten in all of Minor League Baseball in that category. Lee closed out the month of May with a .284 average to go along with an on-base percentage of .429 thanks to a team-leading 20 walks in 28 games.
Starting pitcher Daniel Tillo turned in another strong outing on the mound for the Blue Rocks. The southpaw did not factor in the decision and lost his no-hitter with two outs in the top of the fifth inning on a two-out single by Keys' outfielder Ryan McKenna. It marked the fourth time this season the lefty has carried a no-hitter through the middle innings with two coming with Low-A Lexington. With Wilmington, he also had a no-hitter through the sixth inning on May 26 against Salem in his Frawley Stadium debut before it was broken up on an infield single.
The Blue Rocks finished the home stand with a 3-4 record against Salem and Frederick. Wilmington took three of four games against the Red Sox before getting swept by the Keys in the final three games of the homestand. Wilmington is now 15-26 against Northern Division competition.
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NATIONAL
Kershaw set for MRI (back) after return of 5 IP
Lefty's fastball velocity dips as Dodgers fall to Phillies
May 31, 2018 By Glenn Rabney/
Clayton Kershaw returned to the mound Thursday for the first time in more than four weeks and left after five innings with more questions than answers, as he will be going for an MRI on his back Friday in Los Angeles. Depending upon the results of that test, the Dodgers' 2-1 loss to the Phillies could be the least important aspect of the game.
Kershaw gave up a single to Cesar Hernandez on the first pitch of the game, but escaped trouble as Aaron Altherr grounded sharply into a double play and Odubel Herrera lined out to second. Touching 90 mph with his fastball, Kershaw wasn't in dominant form, but that could be chalked up to rust from the time away.
In the second inning, Kershaw walked Maikel Franco, gave up a single to Nick Williams and saw Jorge Alfaro drop a single in front of center fielder Cody Bellinger to score Franco. Replays appeared to show that Franco never touched home plate, but the Dodgers didn't challenge the play.
From that point on, Kershaw seemed to cruise, allowing only one more baserunner. But he also wasn't throwing his fastball much, and when he did, it was topping out at 87-88 mph.
"He was very efficient," said manager Dave Roberts. "As the game went on, he was swing and miss, some soft contact."
However, Roberts started to notice that something wasn't quite right.
"I just saw that his stuff started to back up." he said. "The fastball, slider and the curve, everything seemed to kick down a bit."
Kershaw gave up only a single over his last two innings -- even striking out the side in the fifth, but he did that without throwing a fastball.
"There was a little something," Roberts said. "His back tightened up during the outing, so that could have contributed to the lack of velocity."
Kershaw was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the fifth, when the Dodgers tied the game. Yasiel Puig led off with a double, advanced to third on Breyvic Valera's groundout and scored when Enrique Hernandez singled on a sharp ground ball deflected by first baseman Carlos Santana.
The Phillies retook the lead in the seventh, when Kingery singled with two outs and scored from first on a double by Alfaro, who was thrown out at third base by Puig.
Kershaw's line looked decent, considering the layoff: one run on four hits and one walk with five strikeouts, throwing 62 pitches, 42 for strikes. Unfortunately for Kershaw, the final pitching line doesn't tell the entire story.
"Beyond frustrating," he said. "I felt like I was out of the woods. I was feeling good and then to have that crop up."
The Dodgers are likely to be overly cautious and not take any chances with their star pitcher.
"Obviously with Clayton's history you want to make sure there is some concern," Roberts said. "You want to make sure that he's well, so we're going to kind of dig into it and see if there is anything too it."
Kershaw will not travel with the Dodgers for their series in Colorado but will stay in Los Angeles and have the medical staff check him out closer.
"Because of his history, we just make sure what we're dealing with," Roberts said.
Kershaw tried to take some of that history out of the equation.
"[The injury in] 2016 is entirely different. That was very, very severe," he said. "If I can compare it to anything, maybe comparing it to last year, maybe feeling it but it might not be that bad.
"My back has felt unbelievable until today. The shoulder is fine. ... I'm frustrated and disappointed that I can't contribute to the team. Being on the DL is no fun. ... But maybe I can avoid that, we'll have to see what happens."
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Cards' Reyes to DL with 'significant' lat strain
St. Louis calls up Voit, Mayers, Gomber; O'Neill, Gant optioned to Triple-A Memphis
May 31, 2018 By Joe Trezza & Joe Harris/
A day after Alex Reyes' long-awaited season debut was truncated after four innings, the Cardinals placed Reyes on the 10-day disabled list Thursday with what general manager Michael Girsch said was "a significant" right lat strain.
"It is not going to be a couple starts [that Reyes will miss], it is going to be more than a few starts," Girsch said. "We don't have all the information yet, so we don't know beyond that how long it's going to be, but it is not a minor injury and we're gathering more information."
The right-hander, who threw 73 pitches in the Cardinals' 3-2 loss to the Brewers on Wednesday, missed all of the 2017 season due to Tommy John surgery. Having another setback after a 22-month recovery was a tough pill to swallow for Reyes and the Cards.
"I don't know how to properly describe it," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "You could see it in his eyes. He was beyond sad."
Reyes' velocity began to drop in the fourth inning against the Brewers, prompting the Cardinals staff to check on him. He was able to finish the inning with pitches back in the mid-to-upper 90's.
Reyes assured the staff he felt fine, but then realized something was wrong after the game.
"Postgame when the adrenaline went away, he was stiff and sore," Girsch said. "Stiff and sore enough that we knew we were going to DL him."
However, Reyes and the Cardinals were surprised at the extent of the injury after doctors checked him out Thursday morning. The club is in the process of setting an appointment for Reyes to see a specialist for a second opinion.
The Cardinals made a flurry of other moves Thursday, optioning outfielder Tyler O'Neill and right-hander John Gant to Triple-A Memphis and recalling first baseman Luke Voit, right-hander Mike Mayers and left-hander Austin Gomber in corresponding moves.
O'Neill, who hit home runs in three consecutive games from May 19-21, was hitless in his last 13 at-bats with 10 strikeouts during that span.
"Certainly after that hot start he was struggling, but also he just needs to play," Girsch said. "With how well Harrison [Bader] is playing as our fourth outfielder and getting some playing time as a starter, O'Neill is just not going to get a lot of playing time up here."
Gomber, who this past week was named as Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week, was recalled to the Majors last month but did not appear in a game for St. Louis. The rookie left-hander is 4-3 with a 3.60 ERA in nine starts for Memphis. He will be used as a reliever.
Mayers, who has appeared in 10 games (1-0, 2.63 ERA) for St. Louis this season, was optioned on Wednesday to make room for Reyes, but has immediately been returned to the roster as an injury replacement.
The right-handed-hitting Voit had a short stint on the Cardinals' roster in early May, but never saw any game action. He's batting .237 with one homer and 12 RBIs in 34 games for Memphis this season.
Injury updates
• RHP Carlos Martinez (right lat strain) will throw 60-70 pitches in a rehab start at Double-A Springfield on Thursday night. Girsch would not rule out starting Martinez in place of Reyes on Tuesday if all goes well.
• C Yadier Molina (pelvic injury with traumatic hematoma) resumed baseball activities and is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Saturday at Springfield.
• RHP Matt Bowman (right finger blisters) threw a bullpen session. He will throw a couple more sessions before a decision is made as to when he will return.
• RHP Luke Gregerson (right shoulder impingement) began a throwing program.
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Parts of baseball are disappearing before our very eyes
May 31, 2018 By Buster Olney/
The remodeled dugouts in Wrigley Field have shifted the sightlines for Cubs manager Joe Maddon as he goes about his work each day. In the old home dugout -- the sanctuary for generations of Cubs, from Ernie Banks to Kerry Wood -- Maddon had an unencumbered view of his third-base coach.
But in the new dugout, Maddon sometimes has to peer around or over a railing to see Brian Butterfield, who is in his first year coaching third for Chicago, and Maddon says he’s still trying to get comfortable in his 2018 spot. And the box for the third-base coach in Wrigley is so close to the dugout that Maddon doesn’t really need to run through a series of elaborate signs, anyway, because he just tells Butterfield, in a stage whisper, what he wants.
There is this, as well: A lot of the plays initiated by the manager -- plays that were once at the heart of the sport -- are disappearing, as the use of analytics continues to develop. When Maddon was asked before Sunday’s game against the Giants about using the hit-and-run, for example, he mentioned he has just a few hitters for whom he would call one.
Maddon is hardly alone in this. “There’s almost nothing for me to do [during a game],” another longtime manager said recently. “You change the pitchers, and you wait for somebody to hit a home run. You’re not doing nearly as much stuff as you used to. You don’t even think about doing some of that stuff.”
Stuff, like the hit-and-run, or the squeeze bunt, or pitchouts, or stolen bases.
The game’s three true outcomes -- the strikeout, the walk, the home run -- have increased exponentially, and like invasive species, they are swallowing other parts of the game.
The number of stolen bases has been in steady decline over the past decade, as these numbers dug out by ESPN’s Sarah Langs show.
MLB steals, year to year:
2009: 2,970
2010: 2,959
2011: 3,279
2012: 3,229
2013: 2,693
2014: 2,764
2015: 2,505
2016: 2,537
2017: 2,527
2018: 749 (on pace for 2,479)
The change is mostly about the game’s growing aversion to risk. In a conversation this spring, the Cardinals’ Tommy Pham talked about how percentages dictate the decisions on whether to run -- and how a stolen-base rate below 80 percent just wasn’t acceptable in the way it used to be. Because of this, some runners are either ordered to stay in place or they don’t really look for opportunities. With offenses around baseball increasingly reliant on home runs, managers often prefer to cut down the risk for outs on the bases. Players such as Jose Altuve have mentioned the heightened risk of injuries when running the bases, and in spring training, Altuve predicted he would not run as much this year, and of course he was right. Altuve came into 2018 with a streak of six consecutive seasons of 30 or more steals, and he has only six so far.
With the threat of baserunners diminished, the number of pitchouts has naturally regressed, too:
2009: 478
2010: 550
2011: 554
2012: 478
2013: 309
2014: 335
2015: 257
2016: 194
2017: 129
2018: 23 (on pace for 74)
The decline in pitchouts is also due to the heightened emphasis on the execution of each pitch, through analytics, and front offices and managers -- or, in many cases, the front offices through their managers -- are very much against the idea of a pitch being intentionally thrown out of the strike zone, because it could swing the ball-strike advantage toward the hitter. “The advantage gained that time when you might guess right and [throw out the] guy at second is more than [squandered] by what you lose if your pitchers repeatedly go to [a count of] 2-1, rather than 1-2,” a National League manager said.
Through studies on the value of each out, there also has been an increasing unwillingness among managers to call for the sacrifice bunt:
2009: 1,635
2010: 1,544
2011: 1,667
2012: 1,479
2013: 1,383
2014: 1,343
2015: 1,200
2016: 1,025
2017: 925
2018: 261 (on pace for about 850)
As fewer position players are asked to drop sacrifice bunts, the play probably gets less consideration because fewer players know how to do it. On a Sunday Night Baseball game earlier this season, the Cardinals’ Jedd Gyorko came to the plate in a situation that for years prompted almost an automatic call from the manager for a bunt. Alex Rodriguez mentioned that he believed this to be exactly the right strategy, and heck, even with 696 home runs in his career, the bunt was part of Alex’s repertoire when he played: He had 16 sacrifice bunts, all in his first six years in the majors. Hank Aaron had 21 sac bunts to his credit, Willie Mays 13, Derek Jeter 97.
But bunting wasn’t really a consideration for Gyorko -- just as it is not for a lot of his peers -- because in six years in the majors, he does not have a sacrifice bunt.
Stats LLC tracks hit-and-run attempts, and there continues to be a steady erosion in the prevalence of this play (the numbers are through games of last Saturday), and this year could represent a record low, again:
2009: 1,885
2010: 1,927
2011: 2,029
2012: 1,783
2013: 1,752
2014: 1,599
2015: 1,579
2016: 1,566
2017: 1,463
2018: 495 (on pace for 1,546 -- a tick up over last year)
The explanation for this dip is simple: With more and more hitters compiling strikeouts at a higher rate, a manager would be more reluctant to call for a hit-and-run because there’s now a greater chance for a swing-and-miss and a throw to second -- a greater chance for a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play.
Whether you love the analytics and the alterations to the strategy they have brought or you prefer the small-ball part of baseball, there is no debating this: The game is changing quickly, and dramatically.
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Ten things we learned in May
June 1, 2018 By Jayson Stark/The Athletic
As we pack up our leftover Memorial Day cheeseburgers, we wave adios to the month of May. We know the Mets, Blue Jays and D-Backs are happy to see it go. But Scooter Gennett, Ross Stripling and the phenomenal Gleyber Torres… not so much.
So what has month No. 2 of this fascinating baseball season taught us? Great question. And we’re ready for it – with our indispensable list of 10 Things We Learned in May:
1) THE AL (NOT) WILD CARD RACE
There has never been a season in the history of baseball that gave us three 100-win teams in the same league. But guess what? We’re stampeding in that direction as we speak.
Red Sox pace: 111 wins
Yankees pace: 109 wins
Astros pace: 101 wins*
(*-Astros’ Expected W-L, of 44-14, would put them on pace to win 123!)
Yeah, yeah. We know what normally happens to “paces” when the season still has over 100 games left in it. But bear with us here, because this item isn’t really about paces, or even history. It’s about this:
Isn’t it obvious that – with all due respect to the Brewers, Nationals, Indians, Mariners or anyone else you might want to tweet us about – the Red Sox, Yankees and Astros are the three best teams in baseball? We think it is. We also think most people in baseball agree. So please allow us to proceed with this premise. Thank you.
So if that’s obvious, what does that mean? Alas, it means that one of them won’t be permitted, by MLB’s proper authorities, to win any division, barring emergency realignment.
And what does that mean? It means we already know, on June 1, that the Yankees and Red Sox are under massive pressure to avoid the AL Wild Card Game, whatever it takes. And who even knows what “whatever it takes” might entail when we get closer to the trading deadline. But let’s just say they’ll definitely be grabbing a shopping cart.
“There’s a really good chance one of these teams could win 100 and lose in a one-game playoff,” says one exec. “Or even if they win the one-game playoff, then they have to go play at Houston, or the Red Sox, or the Yankees, in a five-game series? That’s a tough, tough road. So I think we’re looking at an amazing race to avoid the one-game playoff.”
Right. Amazing. Do those teams even want to know that in the eight Wild Card Games that didn’t match clubs with the same record, the team with the best record has lost half of them? That’s how precarious it is to even play in that game. The Pirates could fill them in if they need more details.
Of the many epic Yankees-Red Sox races we’ve seen in the wild-card era, this one might top them all – because we’ve never seen one in which the “loser” was a team with 95-plus wins, sentenced to walk the Wild Card Game tightrope. Whew. Stay. Tuned.
2) THE DODGERS BELIEVE IN REINCARNATION
Was it really just about two weeks ago that the Dodgers were 10 games under .500? And 8 ½ games out of first place in the NL West? OK, so much for that death knell.
They’re 10-4 since. They’re only four out all of a sudden. They had Clayton Kershaw return to a mound near them Thursday. And now everything around them in their division seems to be lining up their way.
The Diamondbacks? They just went 8-19 in May. That allowed them to join Billy Joe Robideaux’s 1987 Brewers as the answer to this Ugly May Trivia Question: Name the only two teams in history to play sub-.300 baseball in May after finishing April with a .700+ winning percentage and at least 15 games played. (H/T Elias Sports Bureau.)
The Rockies? True, they’re in first place – but with a minus-17 run differential. The Giants? Yeah, they’re getting Madison Bumgarner back – but they have a minus-49 run differential. And the Padres? They’re averaging fewer runs per game than Mookie Betts. (OK, not really, but they are hitting .229 as a team.)
Only four teams in the last three decades have made the postseason after plummeting 10 games under .500 at any point – none since the 2009 Rockies. So are we seeing reason to believe the Dodgers can be the fifth? Hey, we just gave you a bunch of reasons.
“The Dodgers,” says one rival exec, “are going to win that division by seven games.”
3) THE WHIFFS KEEP ON COMING
You might remember that April was the first month in history with more strikeouts than hits. Miraculously, May is going to just miss being the second.
It was so close that strikeouts were winning as recently as four days ago. But fortunately for hitterkind, some offensive craziness busted out, leaving us with these May totals:
Hits 7,020
Strikeouts 6,959
Nevertheless, this season has still produced nearly 300 more strikeouts than hits. And we remain on pace for nearly 42,000 strikeouts this season. That wouldn’t be just a record. It would be 5,000 more whiffs than a mere five years ago and 10,000 more than 12 years ago.
And of course, it means lack of action remains a huge issue. At this rate, there will be nearly 7,000 fewer balls put in play this year than just three years ago. So when you hear the commissioner telling Ken Rosenthal it might be time to consider “aggressive” changes, this is what he’s talking about.
“I’ll be honest with you,” says one long-time executive, sounding an alarm that everyone in his sport should heed. “I don’t know if I like the game anymore. I mean, I love it. But I’m not liking where it’s going.”
4) THE RAYS ARE BREAKING PITCHING (AS WE USED TO KNOW IT)
The last time those Tampa Bay Rays made it to the postseason (a mere five years ago), it wasn’t too complicated to sum up the reason:
David Price, Alex Cobb, Chris Archer, Matt Moore, Jeremy Hellickson.
They used to call that a “starting rotation” – and one of the best in the whole darned American League, we might add. But antiquated terms like “starting rotation” don’t even appear in the Rays’ dictionary anymore, because right before our eyes, over the last few weeks, they’ve been reinventing pitching as we used to know it.
Of their last 12 games, only six have been started by an actual “starter.” The others have been “opened” by “openers,” who are relievers who merely happen to be out there when the game starts – just not for long. And that strategy has led the Rays down a road never traveled by any pitching staff ever, unless you count the Pinellas County Tee-Ball League:
— They’ve already had 15 different relievers finish a game. That’s the most in the American League.
— They’ve already used 21 different relievers in total. Yep, that’s also the most in the league.
— Because of all their meet-the-bullpen days, they’ve already had 11 different “starts” by a pitcher who got eight outs or fewer. The record of 35 – by Bob Giallombardo’s 1958 Dodgers – is well within reach.
— In a related development, they’re also up to 16 “starts” of 10 outs or fewer. So they have an even better shot at that record, which is 42 – by Red Embree’s 1949 St. Louis Browns.
— Finally, here’s one more record the 2018 Rays are almost certain to break: They’ve already had four games in which their “starter” was taken out of the game – by design – even though he hadn’t bothered to give up an actual hit yet. The record for most “starts” like that in a season is just five, by Babe Ruth’s 1916 Red Sox and Edinson Volquez’s 2017 Marlins. That one should fall by Father’s Day.
This doesn’t seem like the time for another debate about whether this is good for baseball, bad for baseball or a threat to everything Americans have always cherished about life. We just know that no matter what you think of it, the Rays have a winning record. But at the same time, they’re breaking the craft formerly known as “pitching” – breaking the roles, breaking the stats, breaking the entire concept of fantasy baseball.
But on a selfishly bright note, it’s keeping modern baseball journalism alive and well. So there’s that.
5) THE ASTROS ARE BREAKING HITTING (AS WE USED TO KNOW IT)
So perhaps you’re asking yourself: What if every team decided to go down the Rays’ road and do away with starting pitchers, in the old-fashioned Hey, ya think it’s possible for one guy to throw all nine innings tonight sense?
Well, here’s how your subconscious should answer that question: Have you seen the Astros lately?
We could flood you with fun tidbits about how this is going to be the most dominating starting rotation of all time – because, basically, it clearly is (if they all stay healthy). But here’s another way to look at this group:
Slash line of opposing hitters who have to face them: .196/.260/.330. That’s not good.
Now here’s what we should make of that: It means the Astros’ starters – all five of them – are turning an entire sport’s worth of the best hitters on the planet into… Corky Miller!
Hey, we always loved Corky Miller, America’s favorite backup catcher. But his career slash line looked like this:
.193/.277/.306.
His claim to fame: Among all non-pitchers in the 21st century who got at least 600 plate appearances, he owns the third-lowest batting average.
Now remind yourself that, essentially, that’s what every hitter looks like when they face the Astros’ starters. And that is, frankly, insane.
6) RUSSELL MARTIN IS THE NEW YOGI ZOBRIST
Remember when we used to think of Russell Martin as just your basic iron-man catcher, gritting his way through 128 games a year in shin guards, leading staffs toward the Octoberfest, acting like his usual hard-nosed self?
Sure you do. But that was soooo April.
The Russell Martin of May, on the other hand, was a regular multi-positional whirling dervish who was liable to wind up anywhere on any given day, from shortstop to the cotton-candy stand. Let’s review the last four games he’s played in:
Saturday – starting catcher
Sunday – starting shortstop
Monday – starting leftfielder
Tuesday – starting third baseman
If you’re thinking, “Whoa, I’ve never seen anything like that,” there’s an excellent explanation. Here goes:
— Martin started 1,296 major-league games as a catcher before starting his first game as a shortstop. And who else has done that? No one has done that! The Elias Sports Bureau tells us he’s the first man ever to start a game at shortstop after playing 1,000 games as a catcher. (And the only other man to catch 300+ games and then start a game as a shortstop was Mickey Owen, for the 1943 Brooklyn Dodgers.)
— And who else has ever started four consecutive games at catcher, shortstop, third baseman and anywhere in the outfield? Guess what? No one else has done that, either! Elias reports he’s the first player since 1900 who even started at all of those spots in the same week.
— Finally, let’s just throw the outfield part of this discussion into the on-deck circle and ask: When was the last time you saw any player start games as a catcher, shortstop and third baseman in the same season? You have to go all the way back to 1980. Last to do it, according to Elias, was Dave Roberts – the former No. 1 overall pick in the 1972 draft, not the current manager of the Dodgers. But that 1972 Dave Roberts also mixed in a little outfielding at another point that season. In fact, in July, he did start consecutive games at catcher, short and right field. He just didn’t get back to third base for another month. So he was no Russell Martin.
Then again, we’re not even sure how to describe this Russell Martin anymore. Is he Yogi Berra or is he Yogi Zobrist? His manager, that cagy John Gibbons, is being coy about that. So don’t touch that laptop! Who knows where he’ll wind up next?
7) MANNY MACHADO HAS AN EXIT (VELOCITY) STRATEGY
Manny Machado has hit 16 home runs. We mention that because he still plays for the Baltimore Orioles – a team with 17 wins. And we mention that because the season is two months old!
So we know what you’re thinking: Has anyone ever hit more home runs than his team had wins over a full season?
And the answer is: C’mon, man. Of course not. The closest any player has come is four, according to Stats LLC. There was Sammy Sosa versus the 1999 Cubs (Cubs – 67, Slammin’ Sammy – 63). And there was Wally Berger versus the 1935 Boston Braves (Braves – 38, Wally World – 34). But that’s as close as anybody has gotten.
In the meantime, we know what else you’re thinking: How could Manny possibly be the first to pull this off when he has basically zero shot to finish the season in Baltimore anyway?
Well, good point! And that’s an even better reason not to spend a lot of time calculating Manny’s bombs versus Orioles wins in your spare time. The Orioles entered June 21 1/2 games out of first place. No team has been that far out heading into June since Jeff Stone’s 1988 Orioles – that fabled juggernaut, once covered by Ken Rosenthal, that kicked off its season by going 0-21.
And no team has even been 20+ out after May since Buddy Bell’s 2006 Royals. That team traded Jeremy Affeldt, Matt Stairs and five other veteran players leading up to the trading deadline. This Orioles team could rival that.
But the auction will revolve around Manny. The only questions are when, where and what position he’ll play on his new team. And despite what you may hear on the rumor mill, none of that has come into focus. But that’ll change!
8) MOOKIE BETTS IS SMELLING HISTORY
Just wanted to mention this. Mookie Betts is awesome. As great as he was in April, the Red Sox’s charismatic leadoff force was just as great in May. And that wasn’t easy. Take a look at his May and March/April slash lines. Could they be more similar?
MAY .372/.434/.766/1.200
MARCH/APRIL .344/.439/.733/1.173
This guy is so consistent, he’s baseball’s Mr. Robot. Now check out this short list of men who had a 1.150+ OPS in April and May of any season in the teens (2010-18).
José Bautista 2011 – 1.312 April/1.267 May
Josh Hamilton 2012 – 1.182 April-1.187 May
Chris Davis 2013 – 1.171 April/1.210 May
Mike Trout 2017 – 1.151 April/1.280 May
So if Mookie keeps up this pace – and obviously, he thinks that’s perfectly doable – he would wind up with this stat line:
.359/.437/.750/1.187, 48 HR, 56 doubles, 153 runs, 194 hits, 37 SB
You know who has had a season like that in the history of baseball? Nobody has had a season like that in the history of baseball. And the guy who is having it is 5-foot-9, 180 pounds.
“You know, we’re always looking to find athletes,” says one NL scout, “because you can’t teach hand-eye coordination. Then you see this kid. He’s got lighting-quick hands. He’s a 300 bowler. He’s a premier athlete with premier hand-eye coordination. It’s the perfect storm to have a superstar.”
9) THERE’S A NO-HIT BID EVERY 20 MINUTES
“You look at your phone,” says one GM, “and there’s a no-hit alert every single night.”
Yep. It’s Julio Teheran one night. It’s Nathan Eovaldi the next. Oh, it isn’t quite every day. But as our friend, Sarah Langs, of ESPN Stats and Info, keeps pointing out, we’ve already had 25 no-hit bids through six innings this season – in two months!
And how many were there all last season? That would be 24 – in six months.
There were 11 more of them in May, which of course comes to about one every three nights. But if we keep up this pace, we’d see 73 no-hitters carried into the seventh inning this year – which would be 22 more than the previous two years combined. Of the last 10 seasons, the only year when there were even half that many, according to Elias, was 2015 (when there were 46).
So what does that tell us? It’s never been harder to hit. That’s what.
Hits per game have dropped to their lowest rate in nearly 50 years (8.40 per team). League-wide batting average? Also at its lowest rate since 1972 (.246) – and down nine points since last year.
“I’ve actually gotten to the point,” says one pitching coach, “where I feel sorry for the hitters. We just have so much information these days. We know exactly where they’re going to hit it, and we have somebody standing there. And we know exactly where they can’t hit it, and we’re going to throw it there.”
10) NOTHING BEATS THE TROUT/OHTANI SHOW
If the postseason started today – and that’s unlikely – we regret to report that it would be starting once again without the Angels. They sit 4 ½ games back of Seattle for the second wild-card spot.
We express that regret not because (caution! Twitter narrative alert!) we obviously hate your team and love the Angels. We express it merely because, as we watch two teams with massive star power meet in the NBA finals, we can’t help but imagine how much fun it would be to watch a team with two star-bright attractions like Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani show up on the October stage.
We’re now two months into this season. And it’s just now beginning to hit us how special it is to have two men on the same team doing things we’ve just about never seen done. Anywhere. How incredible are these two guys? Here’s how incredible….
TROUT:
THE BEST SEASON EVER? Mike Trout is on pace to finish this season with 14.5 Wins Above Replacement, according to baseball-. Since 1900, the only position player who has ever had a 14-win season is that Babe Ruth guy – with 14.1 in 1923. The only position players not named Ruth who have even had a 12-win season are Carl Yastrzemski (12.5 in 1967) and Rogers Hornsby (12.1 in 1924). In other words, we could be watching (gulp) The Greatest Season of All Time!
THE 50-30 CLUB? If he keeps going at this rate, Trout would finish the season with 51 homers and 34 stolen bases. So who else has had a 50-homer, 30-steal season? Nobody, of course. Most steals in a 50-homer season: 24, by Willie Mays and A-Rod.
THE 30-SB, 0-CS CLUB? One more on Trout the base-swiper: He’s 12 for 12 this year. Which puts him on a pace for 34 steals – and zero caught-stealings. So how many men have stolen 30 bases without being caught since caught stealing became an official stat nearly 70 years ago? Right. That would be none. The record: 23-for-23, by Chase Utley in 2009. Most steals with no CS by a home-run champ: four, by Dave Kingman, 1982.
TROT OR WALK? We could do a thousand of these, but let’s add one more, just because it’s fun. Trout is on pace for 96 extra-base hits and 142 walks. Your complete list of men who had that many XBH and that many BB in the same season: Babe Ruth (three times) and Barry Bonds (2001). Conclusion: Do we truly comprehend yet that we’re watching the greatest player since the Babe?
And speaking of the Babe…
OHTANI:
SHOH-BABE? Shohei Ohtani the hitter has launched six home runs. Shohei Ohtani the pitcher has given up five home runs. Who’s the last man to pitch as much as Ohtani and hit more homers than he allowed? That would be the Bambino, of course – in 1919 (hit 29, allowed 2).
We could compare Ohtani to Ruth all day long. But now, for something a little different, let’s compare Ohtani to the guys he’s playing with and against in 2018. It’s pretty crazy!
OHTANI THE HITTER
STAT OHTANI COMPARES TO
SLG 0.553 Bryce Harper .556
OBP 0.376 Bryce Harper .382
OPS 0.929 Bryce Harper .937
AVG. EXIT VELO 94.2 Giancarlo Stanton 92.9
OHTANI THE PITCHER
STAT OHTANI COMPARES TO
ERA 3.18 Stephen Strasburg 3.13
OPP AVG 0.196 Luis Severino .196
OPP SLG 0.319 Max Scherzer .314
WHIP 1.08 Stephen Strasburg 1.06
AVG FB VELO 97.7 Luis Severino 97.6
OPP EXIT VELO 87.3 Justin Verlander 87.0
In other words, Ohtani the hitter is essentially Bryce Harper, with a higher batting average. And Ohtani the pitcher is a cross-section of four of the most dominating aces in the game – Verlander, Scherzer, Severino and Strasburg. And most amazing of all, we’re talking about a real person.
Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout play on the same baseball team. Has any team ever employed two men like this? We can’t recall one – maybe because it’s possible we’ve never seen two men this talented playing baseball at the same time.
It’s only June. So it’s a long way from October. But if the next four months were to lead those two players to October? Ha. We’d sign up for that![pic]
MLB TRANSACTIONS
June 1, 2018 •.
Jun. 1st, 2018
|TEAM |PLAYER |TRANSACTION |
|[pic]WAS |Edwin Jackson |Released (exercised opt-out |
| | |clause) |
May. 31st, 2018
|TEAM |PLAYER |TRANSACTION |
|[pic]LAA |Ian Krol |Outrighted to Minors |
|[pic]CIN |Tony Cruz |Sent to Minors |
|[pic]ATL |Peterson, |Sent to Minors |
| |Dustin | |
|[pic]LAA |Ian Krol |Refused Minor League Assignment |
| | |- Free Agent |
|[pic]STL |Carlos Martinez|Sent to Minors For |
| | |Rehabilitation |
|[pic]MIN |Tyler Duffey |Called Up from Minors |
|[pic]TEX |Ryan Rua |Sent to Minors |
|[pic]STL |Mike Mayers |Called Up from Minors |
|[pic]OAK |Carlos Ramirez |Sent to Minors |
|[pic]OAK |Khris Davis |Removed From 10-Day DL (Strained|
| | |right groin) |
|[pic]TEX |Adrian Beltre |Removed From 10-Day DL (Left |
| | |hamstring strain) |
|[pic]WAS |Ryan Madson |Removed From 10-Day DL (Pectoral|
| | |muscle strain) |
|[pic]DET |Ronny Rodriguez|Purchased From Minors |
|[pic]OAK |Paul Blackburn |Sent to Minors For |
| | |Rehabilitation |
|[pic]LAD |Pat Venditte |Sent to Minors |
|[pic]ATL |Peter Bourjos |Purchased From Minors |
|[pic]STL |Alex Reyes |Placed on 10-Day DL (Right lat |
| | |strain) |
|[pic]PHI |Drew Hutchison |Designated for Assignment |
|[pic]OAK |Liam Hendriks |Sent to Minors For |
| | |Rehabilitation |
|[pic]STL |Luke Voit |Called Up from Minors |
|[pic]PHI |Mark Leiter |Called Up from Minors |
|[pic]LAA |Oliver Drake |Acquired Off Waivers From |
| | |Cleveland |
|[pic]MIN |Aaron Slegers |Sent to Minors |
|[pic]ATL |Blair, Aaron |Released |
|[pic]LAD |Clayton Kershaw|Removed From 10-Day DL (Left |
| | |biceps tendinitis) |
|[pic]PHI |Rhys Hoskins |Placed on 10-Day DL (Fractured |
| | |jaw) |
|[pic]PHI |Cozens, Dylan |Called Up from Minors |
|[pic]SEA |Gordon Beckham |Sent to Minors |
|[pic]CLE |Ben Taylor |Sent to Minors |
|[pic]WAS |Trevor Gott |Sent to Minors |
|[pic]STL |John Gant |Sent to Minors |
|[pic]SEA |Dee Gordon |Removed From 10-Day DL |
| | |(Fractured right great toe) |
|[pic]CIN |Curt Casali |Traded From Tampa Bay (for cash |
| | |considerations) |
|[pic]NYM |Todd Frazier |Sent to Minors For |
| | |Rehabilitation |
|[pic]CLE |Nick Goody |Transferred to 60-Day DL (Right |
| | |elbow inflammation) |
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