Jaylon Thompson writes about Carlos Estévez’s decreased velocity, but the Royals trust his process.
The performance was staggering. Estévez didn’t allow a run but issued three walks. His velocity was down and it set off a few alarms. Estévez did pitch better two days later against the San Francisco Giants — but there’s still a ways to go.
“(Estévez) said he felt extremely out of whack,” Quatraro told reporters after the Rangers game. “And that’s what it looked like. You know, we still need a little
more velo to come. As he gets in sync, hopefully that is the case.”
Pete Grathoff writes about how some Royals players visited Six Flags and the KC Star editors chose an ABSOLUTELY DIABOLICAL headline for it. Seriously. “Royals players visited Six Flags and it went horribly wrong for one of them”. COME ON.
Isaac Collins threw up on a ride, that’s what happened. Deep sigh.
New Royals outfielder Isaac Collins barfed while riding on a roller coaster. That’s the kind of thing that is certain to be brought up at least once or a dozen times by his teammates this season.
Jaylon Thompson projects the Royals Opening Day roster.
MLB.com reported that Massey will stay behind in Surprise, Arizona, to continue getting at-bats and resume testing. Massey must show he can run at full speed and have no lingering effects. His status could go down to the wire as the club mulls whether a possible injury list stint is needed. If Massey is cleared, he is expected to take one of the remaining roster spots. From there, the final spot could come down to Tolbert or Nick Loftin.
MLB mothership has an article predicting stat leaders in various categories.
Batting average
AL: Bobby Witt Jr., Royals
One of the elite players in all of baseball, Witt has produced 18.5 fWAR over the past two seasons, certainly the type of figure that would be worthy of an MVP Award or two. But there’s one problem for Witt there: Aaron Judge. Even so, Witt’s 395 hits over the past two seasons easily led the Majors, with Luis Arraez coming in second with 381. Witt also led the Majors with a .332 batting average in 2024.
Mike Petriello wrote about Cole Ragans’ Cy Young chances.
We had to go look up that Ragans has an 8.44 ERA [Spring Training], because we did not know or care about that, but it’s also not what’s worth thinking about. There’s really only two things that matter in spring for pitchers; the first is health, obviously, and the second is learning what you can about the way pitches are moving, in terms of velocity, shape and movement, since there is information there in small samples.
That being the case, the only thing more notable in Eno Sarris’ Spring Training Stuff+ leaders (a “stuff model” being a way to evaluate the physical characteristics of a pitch) than little-known Angels prospect Walbert Urena tearing up the Cactus League was Ragans, at No. 2.
Caleb Moody at Kings of Kauffman makes the case for Luinder Avila and Steven Cruz to be in the bullpen to start the season.
Jacob Milham writes about the catching depth behind Perez and Jensen.
The Blue Jays signed GM Ross Atkins through 2031 and manager John Schneider through 2028.
Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong looks like he’ll get an extension.
Mets star prospect and 2024 first-round pick Carson Benge looks like he’ll make the opening day roster.
Andrew McCutchen will make the opening day roster for the Rangers.
Braves pitcher Spencer Strider will start the season on the IL.
Potential winners and losers from the upcoming ABS.
Utah State Men’s CBB coach Jerrod Calhoun takes the same job at University of Cincinnati.
Travis Kelce’s contract with the Chiefs has a funny cap stipulation that becomes relevant next offseason. Please do not bring this stuff to MLB.
Seattle Seahawks WR and Super Bowl Champion Jaxon Smith-Njigba got a massive extension, tops at WR in NFL history.
The Tony-winning revival of Merrily We Roll Along has a pro-shot that will be available for streaming on Netflix beginning April 4. It stars Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe, and Lindsay Mendez.
Your song of the day is the cast of Merrily We Roll Along with their 2024 Tony show performance of Old Friends. This is my wife’s doing if you’re not a musical person. Blame her.
