The Hunt For Blue October: Kansas City Royals (OOTP 25)

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MLB NEWS AND NOTES
Top overall prospect reaches the majors

By MLB.com staff
04/26/2024

TOP STORY
Top prospect Holliday called up, will be in lineup Friday: The consensus number-one prospect was called up by the Orioles on Thursday, and will be in the lineup for Baltimore as they begin a six-game homestand with three against the Oakland A's on Friday night.

In twenty-four games (all but one of them starts) with Triple-A Norfolk, he slashed .277/.404/.457 in 114 plate appearances, hitting six doubles, a triple, and three homeruns; and going 4-for-6 on steals.

OTHER HEADLINES
Guardians RHPs McKenzie, Beede out 6-to-8 weeks each with elbow, bicep injuries
D-Backs LHP Jordan Montgomery out 5-to-6 weeks with forearm inflammation
Marlins IF Nick Gordon has suspension reduced from three games to two
Mets reliever Raley has setback, could be out an additional week
Pirates LHP Gonzalez could miss up to four months with shoulder ailment

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ROYALS NEWS AND NOTES
Royals dodge injury bullet

By artoodeetoo
04/26/2024

TOP STORIES
Marsh, McArthur listed day-to-day: While other teams in the division weren't so lucky with pitching injuries, the Royals received good news on righties Alec Marsh and James McArthur -- they're both listed day-to-day with oblique and wrist strains, but neither one is expected to shelve them for any significant period of time.

OTHER ROYALS HEADLINES
Royals putting themselves in the upper echelon of teams in 2024 -- Olney
Bobby Witt, Jr., walks machine? -- The Athletic
Why Brian Bridges might be the key to restoring the farm system -- FanSided

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Team Roster/Records | MLB Standings | Statistics

Series Recap: Detroit Tigers

By Conner Smith | Kansas City Star | April 29th, 2024

Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers
Apr 26, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (16-11)	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	4	8	0
Detroit Tigers (12-14)	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	5	12	0
W: Andrew Chafin (1-0) L: Will Smith (0-3) S: None

Friday, April 26th, 2024
Brady Singer went eight innings while allowing just two earned runs; leaving with a 4-2 lead. However, the bullpen faltered late, allowing Detroit to sneak back in and eventually take the walk-off victory in the ninth 5-4.

Will Smith came on for the save, and promptly surrendered a pinch-hit solo homerun to Keston Hiura, who was just added to the active roster prior to the game. Javier Baez then singled against Smith, and eventually came around to score the winning run on a single from Riley Greene.

Salvador Perez and Nelson Velazquez each hit solo homeruns against Tigers starter Tarik Skubal, who also went eight innings while tossing a season-high 115 pitches. Playing first base with Vinnie Pasquantino given the day off against the lefty, Nick Loftin was the other big Kansas City bat, going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI.

Smith is tied for the team lead in saves, as right-hander Chris Stratton also has four. But Quatraro, who has promoted a 'closer-by-committee' approach this season, opened up the possibility of narrowing down who should close games for the first time in 2024.

In his last three appearances which includes this one, he's allowed four runs (three earned), four hits, a homerun, three walks, and just one strikeout.

"It's something that we'll look into, sit down with Brian (pitching coach Sweeney) and Paul (bench coach Hoover), and then see if that's something we can do. We've noticed the last few times out, Will's velocity has been down, so that's also something to monitor."

Toronto Blue Jays at Kansas City Royals
Apr 27, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (17-11)	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	6	1
Detroit Tigers (12-15)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	4	1
W: James McArthur (1-0) L: Alex Lange (2-3) S: Nick Anderson (1)

Saturday, April 27th, 2024
Bolstered by 7 2/3 scoreless innings from Michael Wacha, and three hits from Vinnie Pasquantino, the Royals managed to overcome losing a 1-0 lead in the ninth to post a 3-1 extra-innings victory. With James McArthur on for the save, he surrendered a one-out solo homerun to Spencer Torkelson, but notched the final two outs of the inning to send it to extras.

With ghost runner Nick Loftin on second, Dairon Blanco laced a double to the right-center gap to lead off the 10th, pushing the Royals in front. They would add an insurance tally with a sac fly off the bat of Bobby Witt Jr, but Nick Anderson was able to work around a one-out walk in the bottom of the frame to pick up his first save of the season.

Detroit righty and Kansas City native Alex Lange, who had twenty-six saves for the Tigers a year ago, was charged with the loss, allowing two runs in the ninth (one earned).

"I was impressed with how James came back after the homerun and continued to attack the zone," manager Matt Quatraro said when asked about McArthur's blown save in the ninth. "He threw seven pitches, all but one for strikes, and struck out a pretty tough lefty hitter in (Kerry) Carpenter to end the inning."

Kansas City's bats have fell a bit silent after a hot streak prior to the most recent homestand. Pasquantino's three hits, including a double, comprised nearly all of the offensive output in the game. MJ Melendez was 1-for-3 with a couple of walks, a run scored, and a stolen base; but until Blanco's double, the offense was nearly non-existent facing veteran starter and familiar foe Kenta Maeda.

Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers
Apr 28, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (17-12)	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	11	0
Detroit Tigers (13-15)	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	X	3	8	1
W: Jack Flaherty (3-3) L: Alec Marsh (3-1) S: Alex Lange (6)

Sunday, April 28th, 2024
Kansas City squandered a golden opportunity in the ninth inning, getting men on second and third with nobody out against Tigers closer Alex Lange, but the K.C. area native shut the door after that, sandwiching a pair of strikeouts around a pop-up as the Royals fell 3-2 to drop the rubber match of their first trip to Detroit this season.

Dairon Blanco led off the inning with a sharp single to right, and Maikel Garcia then doubled in the next at-bat. However, Blanco had to pause to make sure that Garcia's line drive cleared the second baseman's glove, and then Tigers outfielder Parker Meadows did an excellent job at getting the ball back to the infield to prevent Blanco from going first-to-home on the Garcia double.

"I think we send Dairon home if he doesn't have to stop and wait," manager Matt Quatraro mused after the game. "Unfortunately, that hesitation might have cost us the game, but it wasn't really his fault. It was also an excellent job of situational awareness by (Parker) Meadows there, too."

Lange struck Bobby Witt Jr out before coaxing a pop-fly out from Vinnie Pasquantino. Still, Freddy Fermin and his .330 average came to the plate with a chance to put the Royals in front with a single, but Lange struck him out on a superb slider that had him reaching.

"Don't know you can get a much better situation than that," Quatraro went on to say. "Chances are, one of those guys would come through, and it's disappointing that we couldn't even get the ball out of the infield."

Kansas City begins a three-game series tonight at Toronto, who checks in at an AL-best 20-9. The Royals, however, own the season series to date, winning three-of-four in Kansas City just last Monday-Thursday.

UP NEXT: @ Toronto (04/29 -- 05/01)

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MLB NEWS AND NOTES
Rizzo hits 300th round-tripper

By MLB.com staff
04/29/2024

TOP STORY
Yankees' Rizzo socks 300th career homerun: Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo passed a major milestone in last night's 4-1 win over Milwaukee, pounding a solo homerun in the fourth inning for his 300th career homerun.

He would later add another in the top of the 10th, a two-run homerun as part of a three-run inning to secure the victory.

"300 is a big number, and I am thankful for the ability to get to this milestone. But it's all about the team today, my accomplishments are just one piece to the Yankees puzzle," he said after the game. "We're still not where we'd like to be record-wise, so there's still a lot of work to do."

OTHER HEADLINES
Reds RHP Hunter Greene to have MRI on elbow today
Padres, White Sox strike deal to send C Carlos Perez to San Diego for two prospects
MLB.com Power Rankings hold steady; Guardians, Red Sox flip spots
Mets OF Tyrone Taylor out 3-to-4 weeks with knee strain suffered on morning run
Nationals promote top prospect James Wood

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ROYALS NEWS AND NOTES
Massey back to the injured list

By artoodeetoo
04/29/2024

TOP STORIES
Massey headed back to the IL: After just five games with the Royals, Michael Massey is headed back to the injured list -- this time for an intercostal strain on his left side, which are the little muscles in between the rib bones.

He reportedly suffered the injury while diving head-first into home plate in the second inning of the Royals' series-opening loss against Detroit, and was removed from the game as a precaution.

He was originally listed as day-to-day by team officials after Friday night's game, but was limited in workouts on Saturday and Sunday; and after an MRI revealed a low-grade strain, he was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactively to Friday night.

A corresponding move hasn't been announced yet -- many that report on the organization believe that it will be Hunter Renfroe (back), who is slated to come off the 10-day injured list later today.

"Absolutely, it's a shame as he was striking the ball really well on his rehab assignment and then back up here with us," manager Matt Quatraro addressed the situation following the Royals' 3-2 defeat on Sunday. "We're hoping it's not too lengthy of an IL stay, but we'll see where he's at on Monday and go from there."

Quatraro estimated that the injury could keep him out anywhere for two to four weeks, and would likely require another rehab stint afterwards.

Lyles to take leave of absence: Right-hander Jordan Lyles is out indefinitely to attend to a personal matter, per a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Lyles has appeared in nine games so far this season, pitching to a solid 3.46 ERA in 13 innings of work.

Rosenthal's report also noted that the Royals "aren't hopeful" he'll be back anytime soon, and that the nature of the personal matter was not disclosed.

With Lyles moving to the inactive list, the Royals added veteran right-hander Tyler Duffey to the 40-man roster and re-called him from Triple-A Omaha. With a career 4.57 ERA in 477 MLB innings in stints with Minnesota and the Cubs, Duffey should provide a bit more of a steadying veteran presence in the bullpen.

OTHER ROYALS HEADLINES
Right-hander Hernandez to begin rehab stint; will build up as starter
Royals' farmhand A.J. Block's long road back to the mound

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Team Roster/Records | MLB Standings | Statistics

Series Recap: Toronto Blue Jays

By artoodeetoo | Kansas City Star | May 2nd, 2024

Kansas City Royals at Toronto Blue Jays
Apr 29, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (18-12)	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	4	7	0
Toronto Blue Jays (20-10)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
W: Cole Ragans (5-2) L: Bowden Francis (3-2) S: None

Monday, April 29th, 2024
A two-run homerun from Bobby Witt Jr, and RBI hits from Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia helped key a 4-0 victory over the Blue Jays to open a three-game road series with the AL's top team. The win also clinched the season series with Toronto with two games remaining.

I say "helped", because Cole Ragans was fantastic against the Blue Jays' lineup, confounding them for 7 2/3 innings of shutout baseball. He allowed just two hits and three walks, striking out seven.

Angel Zerpa and Chris Stratton combined to keep Toronto off the scoreboard over the final 1 1/3 innings to finish out the game.

"That's a bad, bad man right now," manager Matt Quatraro said of his top pitcher. "He's pitching with a ton of determination and fire right now; it's setting the tone."

With the win, Ragans became the first pitcher in the AL to reach the five-win mark. The first pitcher overall to do it was DL Hall of the Brewers on Saturday in a 4-3 win over the Yankees.

Both Blue Jay hits came off the bat of Bo Bichette, both singles. The rest of the Toronto lineup was 0-for-25, walking three times with seven strikeouts.

Kansas City Royals at Toronto Blue Jays
Apr 30, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (18-13)	2	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	9	1
Toronto Blue Jays (21-10)	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	2	1	6	6	0
W: Tim Mayza (1-1) L: James McArthur (1-1) S: None

Tuesday, April 30th, 2024
For the second time in the last five days, the Royals held a lead in the eighth inning, only to see it evaporate as the Blue Jays scored twice in the eighth, and then walked the Royals off in the ninth with an Alejandro Kirk single in a 6-5 defeat.

Amazingly, Toronto never led throughout the game, only taking the lead on the final play of the game with Kirk's walk-off hit. The Royals scored two in the first and three in the third, taking a 5-2 lead after three frames.

Seth Lugo wasn't his sharpest self, scattering three hits and four walks over five innings, allowing three earned runs with four strikeouts to his credit. The Royals' bullpen troubles began in the seventh with the normally-reliable John Schreiber needing three hitters to get the final out of that inning, before Nick Anderson allowed the first three hitters to reach against him as he started the eighth, surrendering the game-tying hit on a double by Bo Bichette before getting pulled after a strikeout of Isiah Kiner-Falefa for the first out.

Will Smith recorded the final two outs of the eighth, but James McArthur came on to preserve the 5-5 tie to send it to extras, but was on the bad end of Kirk's hit with two outs.

"Let this one slip away a bit," said McArthur after the game, a bit despondent. "I just left the fastball out over the plate a bit much, and he did to it what most good hitters do and hit it pretty square."

Aside from the top four hitters in the order that combined for eight hits, only Hunter Renfroe and Nick Loftin did anything noteworthy, with Loftin's two-run double to go 1-for-4, and Renfroe's two walks in his return to the lineup.

Kansas City Royals at Toronto Blue Jays
May 1, 2024	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (18-14)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	8	3
Toronto Blue Jays (22-10)	0	0	3	0	2	1	0	0	X	6	7	0
W: Chris Bassitt (4-3) L: Brady Singer (1-3) S: None

Wednesday, May 1st, 2024
With the calendar turning over to May, Toronto took advantage of several Royals miscues, and some erratic-ness from Brady Singer to post a 6-1 victory over the Royals, taking the series two games to one. It ended a streak of the last four losses being by one run, as the last time the Royals lost by more than one run was a 5-0 loss at Baltimore back on April 21st. It's only the fourth loss by five or more runs this season.

In 4 2/3 innings, Singer was tagged for seven hits and five runs, although only three of them were earned as the Royals played arguably their worst defensive game of the season with three errors. Rookie Rule 5 pick Matt Sauer gave the Royals 3 1/3 innings of great relief, only surrendering a walk and an unearned run with one strikeout.

"After using six pitchers last night, Matt being able to finish out the game for Brady was a nice lift for us as we head into the off-day tomorrow," manager Matt Quatraro stated in the post-game press gaggle outside of the visitors' locker room. "

Offensively, there was little to write home about other than, yet again, the top four hitters in the order combining to go 6-for-16 with a couple of doubles and the lone RBI. MJ Melendez, who was dropped to seventh in the order for this game, went 2-for-4 with a double, but no other hitter reached base safely aside from a free pass drawn by Kyle Isbel.

After an off-day today, the Royals will begin a six-game homestand with the defending champion Rangers for three, and then Milwaukee for three after that beginning next Monday.

UP NEXT: vs Texas (05/03 -- 05/05)

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MLB NEWS AND NOTES
Pirates debut top prospect; Fried makes Braves' history

By MLB.com staff
05/02/2024

TOP STORY
Pittsburgh's Skenes makes MLB debut: It wasn't quite the debut that he would have liked to have, but Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Paul Skenes made his MLB debut on Wednesday night in front of roughly 5,000 fans in Oakland Coliseum; tossing 1 2/3 innings in relief, allowing two hits, one run, and a walk with no strikeouts.

Skenes' debut marks the eighth of the pre-season top ten prospects by Baseball America to reach the majors this season. Some, like Texas' Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford, and Milwaukee's Jackson Chourio and San Diego's Jackson Merrill were on the roster from Opening Day.

Yet another Jackson, Baltimore's Jackson Holliday, was re-called for his debut a week ago and has struggled to a .547 OPS, but in just twenty-nine plate appearances.

Only number-two prospect Ethan Salas (San Diego) has not yet reached the majors, as he is in Double-A right now. Number-six prospect Junior Caminero received a cup of coffee with the Rays last year after the Wander Franco revelations, but is back in Double-A in Tampa's organization, where he's hitting a pretty robust .337 with ten homeruns so far.

OTHER HEADLINES
Braves' Max Fried wins NL Pitcher of the Month, 34 2/3 consecutive IP without earned run
Giants acquire RHP Mitch White from Toronto for cash considerations
O's Burnes wins monthly AL pitching award; Pads' Pauley, Boston's Abreu win rookie honors for April
Reds' Greene to the IL with forearm strain; could miss 2-3 weeks

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ROYALS NEWS AND NOTES
Royals promote Pratto; pitching depth takes another hit

By artoodeetoo
05/02/2024

TOP STORY
Hernandez out for season: The Royals' pitching depth took a serious blow earlier this week, when it was revealed that Carlos Hernandez will require surgery on his elbow after his first rehab start of the year on Tuesday.

Manager Matt Quatraro mentioned earlier that Hernandez would build up his stamina as a starter with the intention of being able to use him in a swing role. He was phenomenal in his only appearance, striking out seven in three innings, but felt a twinge in his pitching elbow facing the final hitter of that inning, and several MRI's have revealed the same fate.

"It's a really, really tough break for him," Quatraro lamented after the Royals' 6-1 loss on Wednesday. "He misses a bunch of time in the spring with a back issue, and then comes back and ready to get back into the swing of it, and then there goes the elbow. He's a hard-working individual, so I don't have a doubt he'll be back, but it's a tough break for him and big loss for us as a team."

With Hernandez going on the 60-day injured list, that opens up a spot on the 40-man. Southpaw Josh Taylor is expected to come off the 60-day IL within the week, but will very likely have a rehab assignment of his own before returning to a major league mound. Hernandez is the second pitcher in the last week to get moved off the 40-man roster due to outside circumstances, as Jordan Lyles is likely to be away from the team for the remainder of the 2024 season for personal reasons. Tyler Duffey was added to the 40-man and re-called to the Royals in that instance.

There is some speculation that Dan Altavilla, a veteran reliever with a 2.61 ERA currently in Triple-A could get that new opening, or another long-time MLB vet such as Luis Cessa (also having a very nice year in Triple-A) could get the spot. A move has not been announced, and may not for several more days as it does not involve someone on the active roster.

OTHER ROYALS HEADLINES
Velazquez optioned after weeks-long slump; Pratto re-called