Daily Clips
April 4, 2018
LOCAL
In wind, rain & mud, Junis delivers KC's 1st win
April 3, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Merrifield turns stellar double play in overshift
Unlike previous seasons, Yost to employ defensive technique
April 3, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Otis likes what he sees of today's players
Former Royals center fielder returns to spend time at spring camp
April 3, 2018By Fabian Ardaya/MLB.com
Jakob Junis, defensive shift prove to be difference-makers in Royals’ first win
April 3, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
Royals request release waivers on Kyle Zimmer in hopes of bringing him back
April 3, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
Jakob Junis and his slider deliver Royals from the depths of the winless in Detroit
April 3, 2018By Rustin Dodd/The Athletic
The Royals are rebuilding—so how did they end up with one of the oldest rosters in baseball?
April 3, 2018By Rustin Dodd/The Athletic
Urban Youth Academy opening is a grand slam
April 3, 2018By Paul Thompson/Northeast News
MINORS
Blue Rocks starting pitcher Vines: "It’s amazing that I’m here."
April 3, 2018By Kevin Tresolini/Wilmington News Journal
NATIONAL
Kansas City Royals signed the first pro baseball player with autism
April 4, 2018By DJ Dunson/Yahoo Sports
Why Major League Baseball is '90% mental' now more than ever
April 3, 2018By Bob Nightengale/USA Today Sports
Nelson Cruz heads to DL with sprained ankle
Seattle calls up Motter from Triple-A to take slugger's place
April 3, 2018By Greg Johns/MLB.com
D-backs place Lamb on DL, recall righty Koch
Slugging third baseman out with sprained left shoulder
April 3, 2018By Steve Gilbert/MLB.com
MLB TRANSACTIONS
April 4, 2018 •.CBSSports.com
LOCAL
In wind, rain & mud, Junis delivers KC's 1st win
April 3, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Royals right-hander Jakob Junis was the right man for the right job.
Growing up and pitching in Rock Falls, Ill., Junis had weathered these conditions before -- as in sub-freezing wind chills, rain, wind, mud, all of which were present on Tuesday at Comerica Park.
Junis subsequently breezed through seven-plus scoreless innings in a 1-0 Royals victory over the Tigers, Kansas City's first win of the season after three losses. Junis gave up three harmless singles, walked one and struck out six.
"The wind was in my face to start with and that helped me out, gave my pitches a little more break," Junis said. "I've pitched in a lot of stuff like that growing up, being from Illinois. I'm no stranger to throwing when it's cold like that. Actually, I don't struggle with grip when it's cold. Usually only when it's hot."
Junis temporarily shelved a spike curve he learned in Spring Training and relied heavily on his two-seamer (30) and his slider (28) among his 87 pitches.
One highlight for Junis was striking out Miguel Cabrera on three sliders with two on and two out in the third inning.
"The first one he took for a strike, so we thought why not throw it again, and I threw it further outside and he swung through it," Junis said. "I was just trying to throw the last one as hard as I could, and I kind of got lucky. Threw it right at him and froze him. If we had thrown it further outside, I don't think he would have bit."
The Tigers were impressed.
"We knew he throws a slider, likes the slider," Detroit outfielder Mikie Mahtook said. "We faced him last year and that's what he did. This year, he threw a lot more two-seamers. He kept the two-seamer down, didn't make many mistakes."
Right-hander Justin Grimm pitched a scoreless eighth and may have taken the early lead as manager Ned Yost's primary setup man. Closer Kelvin Herrera finished off the Tigers in the ninth.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Cuthbert's hustle: Royals infielder Cheslor Cuthbert isn't known for his speed, but his hustle produced the Royals' run. Cuthbert fisted a blooper over Cabrera's head into shallow right field, hesitated and then ran hard into second base for a double as Cabrera fumbled the ball. Cuthbert then tagged up on Paulo Orlando's flyout to center and made it to third. Cuthbert then scored on Jorge Soler's sacrifice fly to left for the only run of the game.
"It all worked out good for us, baserunning, stuff we've been practicing all [Spring Training] about trying to find ways to take the extra base and move up 90 feet," Yost said.
The overshift works: The Royals have begun experimenting with overshifting this season, something Yost had been opposed to in previous years. It paid off in the fourth. With a runner on first and one out, Kansas City overshifted for James McCann, which put second baseman Whit Merrifield behind second base. Merrifield was able to snare McCann's liner up the middle and throw back to first to get an inning-ending double play.
QUOTABLE
"The weather conditions were rough. I went out to get [Junis] in the eighth and it looked like I was in the middle of a bank robbery. Everybody had their masks on. I thought, 'What the heck is going on out here?'" -- Yost
WHAT'S NEXT
Left-hander Danny Duffy (0-1, 11.25 ERA) will make his second start of the season in the series finale Wednesday against the Tigers at 12:10 p.m. CT. Duffy gave up seven hits and five runs over four innings in the Royals' 14-7 loss to the White Sox on Opening Day.
Merrifield turns stellar double play in overshift
Unlike previous seasons, Yost to employ defensive technique
April 3, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
As right-hander Jakob Junis continued to put up zeroes in the Royals' 1-0 win over the Tigers on Tuesday, he also did so with the help of some terrific defense -- and a new commitment by manager Ned Yost to overshifting.
The Tigers were beginning to mount a rally in the fourth inning when Nicholas Castellanos reached on an error to lead off. With one out, James McCann sent a rocket headed toward center field.
ut Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield snared the liner with a diving stop to his left, then threw out Castellanos, who had strayed off first base, for a double play. Merrifield wouldn't have been near the ball without the Royals aligned in an overshift toward third base.
"When it works, it's great," Merrifield said. "If it works more than not, stick with it. "The [analogy] I think the analytical people use is that Vegas might lose one night, but over the course of a month, the odds are in Vegas' favor."
For years, Yost resisted the temptation to overshift. Not anymore.
Yost's explanation?
"I just didn't believe we needed it since we won a World [Series] championship without it," Yost said. "It didn't make any sense, but this is a different group. And there's enough data out there to support using it."
Yost also believed that his former teams -- the two World Series teams in 2014 and '15 -- were athletic enough that overshifting wasn't necessary.
But with a new group of players, Yost has conceded it's time to try it.
"In talking with our analytical department and with [senior director] John Williams, they've been very strong proponents of the shift the last couple of years," Yost said. "With this group of players, I'm more apt to be more experimental. In my mind, it's harder when you have a more established group of players and throw something like a shift on them.
"But with this new group, I'm OK with it. If you shift 2,000 times over the course of a year, it will save you a bunch of hits. Let's give it a wholehearted try and see. Let's get out of our comfort level a little bit, or at least me out of my comfort level."
On at least two occasions on Monday, an overshift toward third base prevented two hits up the middle and into center field (one of the ground balls was fumbled by Merrifield for an error).
"There were a couple of times [right-hander Jason] Hammel turned around and kind of tipped his cap because we were positioned right," Yost said.
So far, the Royals infielders and pitchers have bought in, sort of.
"The analytics department thinks it's good for us," Merrifield said, "so I'm going to do what I'm told to do.
"You're going to take some hits away. There's also going to be 24 hoppers right to the second baseman that I won't be able to get to [because I'm in short right field], but you have to live with that."
Hammel has grown accustomed to the overshifts. He played for Joe Maddon, who was one of the early believers in the strategy, with the Rays and Cubs.
"I think a couple of balls that got through [Monday] maybe wouldn't have [without the overshift]," Hammel said. "But that's the give and take. I prefer straight up, but that's not the way the game is going right now."
But Yost is all in.
"You will [get burned] sometimes," Yost said, "but these are smart guys and they work the numbers. It's got to be a 75 percent chance it works. You're playing the odds. It doesn't mean you're going to be right all the time. There's 82s and 66s [percentages] -- there are no 100s. You play the percentages."
Royals request waivers on Zimmer
The Royals have requested unconditional release waivers on right-hander Kyle Zimmer, the team's first-round pick in the 2012 Draft. Zimmer was designated for assignment last week.
If Zimmer clears waivers, the Royals are hoping to bring him back.
Otis likes what he sees of today's players
Former Royals center fielder returns to spend time at spring camp
April 3, 2018By Fabian Ardaya/MLB.com
At his first Spring Training in 34 years, former Royals center fielder Amos Otis couldn't help but be impressed.
Not by the ballplayers. Sure, they can throw 100 mph, he said. But what first caught his eye came in the team's clubhouse in Surprise Stadium, as he saw the big leaguers' vast spread of breakfast options.
"Oh man, I was just eyeing the breakfast they had in there," Otis said. "They had these guys breakfast and stuff. When I was in camp, they'd just have a couple of hard-boiled eggs and some orange juice and that's about it, really. So much has changed."
Much has changed on the field, as well. Otis was one of several Royals alumni in camp last month as part of the club's 50th anniversary season, instructing the organization's Minor League prospects over the course of the next week alongside some of his former teammates, including John Mayberry, Dennis Leonard and Freddie Patek. Otis saw the young talent that surrounded him, as well as how the game itself has changed since he last set foot on a professional diamond.
"It was a different era when I played," he said. "I was watching them in the 2015 World Series and in the seventh inning they're bringing in [Kelvin] Herrera and he's throwing 100 [mph], Wade Davis comes in and throws 100, bringing in [Greg] Holland and he throws 100. We didn't have that in my day. We had the starters, but our relievers like [Dan] Quisenberry threw like 75 miles an hour. It's just a different time."
Otis, a member of the Royals Hall of Fame, emerged as a five-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner in center field for the Royals from 1970-83, serving as one of the faces of the franchise in its infancy -- including its first-ever postseason appearance in '76. The glove-first outfielder evolved into a well-rounded force in his prime. He finished his career as a .277 hitter with 193 homers to go with 341 stolen bases.
Surrounded by remnants of his past, the nostalgia was heavy.
"I decided to come back," Otis said. "I'd turned it down for quite a few years, but I came down to fantasy camp and I enjoyed myself and had a few flashbacks. This is like the same thing.
"I get flashbacks to when I was their age. I was young, and you see some of these guys that just remind you of yourself. That's important. That's one of the reasons why I like to be with these kids."
While the chance to kick back and reminisce was strong in Otis' week at camp, so too will be the lessons he strives to push on to the next wave of Royals.
"The one thing I want to impress on them is the dedication and the passion of playing the game and your work ethic so that you don't fall behind," Otis said. "Somebody's always trying to take your job, so keep that determination and work hard and don't give up. You'll have the chance to make it to the big leagues, and if you're in the big leagues, then just keep that passion going."
Jakob Junis, defensive shift prove to be difference-makers in Royals’ first win
April 3, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
Royals manager Ned Yost ushered a group of reporters out of his Comerica Park office Monday morning, eager to work on his game plan against the Tigers before the teams’ first matchup of the season.
A lot more defensive shifts, he said, were going to be put into use. About 2,000. More than he’d ever wanted to incorporate in the past.
John Williams, the Royals’ senior director for quantitative analysis, and baseball operations assistant Michael Cifuentes had preached the benefits of shifting the infield alignment to limit base hits for years. The analytics finally won Yost over.
"They feel like if we could shift 2,000 times over the course of the year, then it’s gonna save us a bunch of hits," Yost said. "Let’s give it a whole-hearted try and see. I don’t want to say 'experiment' but let’s get out of our comfort level."
Relying on the stats can be a gamble, but in Tuesday’s 1-0 win on a rain-dampened field, second baseman Whit Merrifield cashed in on the chances.
He dived to his left and snagged what might have been a line-drive hit up the middle by Tigers catcher James McCann, then doubled up runner Nicholas Castellanos, who was too slow to get back to first base. The double play ended the fourth inning and drove a stake through the last chance the Tigers had to break through against Royals starting pitcher Jakob Junis.
"My first reaction was, 'Shoot, there goes a hit,' " said Junis, who recorded a scoreless start for the first time in his career as a major-league starter. "But then we got an out and a double play."
The shift was the difference-maker in Junis’ sterling season debut. The right-hander retired the next nine batters he faced. When Tigers outfielder Mikie Mahtook lined a single into center field in the eighth to break a string of 11 consecutive outs, Yost turned to reliever Justin Grimm.
Grimm retired all three batters he faced, keeping Junis in line to earn the Royals’ first victory of the season.
Junis struck out six and allowed only three hits and a walk. He made use of an effective slider, throwing three in a row to strike out Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera and strand two runners in the third inning. It was the same pitch Junis used to strike out Jeimer Candelario, who had one of the Tigers’ hits against Junis, and Mahtook.
“The first one he took for a strike, so we thought why not throw it again?" Junis said. "I was just trying to throw the last one as hard as I could and I kind of got lucky. Threw it right at him and froze him. If we had thrown it further outside I don’t think he would have bit.”
And for the first time this season, the Royals pitching staff — including closer Kelvin Herrera, who pitched a perfect ninth and earned the save — didn’t squander an early lead provided by a Jorge Soler sacrifice fly. Even though the Royals (1-3) left four runners on base, Cheslor Cuthbert’s double-turned-run was all they needed to enter the win column for the first time in 2018.
All thanks to analytics.
"The (analogy) I think the analytical people use is that Vegas might lose one night," Merrifield said, "but over the course of a month, the odds are in Vegas’ favor.”
Royals request release waivers on Kyle Zimmer in hopes of bringing him back
April 3, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
Kyle Zimmer's career in the Royals organization has not yet ended.
The Royals on Tuesday announced they requested unconditional release waivers on the right-handed pitcher. Zimmer, 26, was designated for assignment on Thursday, hours before the season opener, to clear space on the 40-man roster.
MLB gives teams a week to decide what to do with players they have designated for assignment. The Royals either had to trade Zimmer or place him on the waiver wire. The other 29 teams have until Thursday to claim Zimmer and put him on their 40-man roster.
Since being selected fifth overall in the 2012 draft by the Royals, Zimmer has never stayed healthy long enough to complete a minor-league season. He totaled 259 innings in his first years in the farm system, which he was once headlining as the top prospect.