David Lesky looks at the Kansas City Royals lineup being back to a familiar sight after Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia’s returns Monday.
The first pitch of the game could not have gone any more poorly. The rest of the game was probably a whole lot more like what JJ Picollo and Matt Quatraro envisioned when the season started. Michael Wacha tried to get a fastball over for a first-pitch strike, but Jeff McNeil pounced and hit it 375 feet over the right field wall to give the A’s a 1-0 lead. But
the Royals’ new-look, old-look lineup came right back in the bottom of the first. While there were some semi-tense moments, the game was never really in doubt. Not everything worked, but the players they thought would produce all year were finally in it together.
That’s not to say that they didn’t spend plenty of time together earlier in the year when there was something to play for, but I can only imagine the sigh of relief Quatraro let out when he finished writing this lineup down. It’s not perfect, but it just works better when you can get Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino in there to drop Salvador Perez a spot and put together some really impressive balance. It’s a lineup that, at its best, can work a pitcher. They showed that last night, forcing former Royals prospect Mason Barnett to throw 83 pitches in just 2.2 innings before he was chased.
I thought the plate appearances were particularly good last night. Maybe it was the opposing pitcher. Maybe it was getting back home. Maybe it was just one of those nights. But the lineup looked long, and it started early.
Preston Farr analyzes Lucas Erceg’s arsenal attack in 2026 amidst his struggles and before the Royals would announce his demotion to Triple-A Omaha.
It’s not just the sinker, either. Erceg’s slider has seen a drop in whiff rate over the last two seasons, falling from 37.5% in 2024 to 29.6% in 2026. Similar issues can be found with the four-seamer. Although the changeup by itself isn’t especially effective, Erceg needs the pitch mix to be his best self on the mound. He doesn’t spin the ball especially well, and his four-seamer doesn’t have amazing shape. Instead, Erceg relies on excellent horizontal life from both his four-seamer and changeup.
The changeup itself wasn’t effective this season. Perhaps that ineffectiveness led Erceg to throw fewer pitches this season. After all, hitters hit .542 against the offering. Erceg’s in-zone whiff rate on the pitch fell from 32% in 2024 to just 9.1% thus far in 2026. For that reason, it doesn’t appear that “throw the changeup more” is the easy fix. However, for Erceg to bounce back in 2027, it appears crucial that he either rediscovers — or reinvents — his changeup so that the rest of his arsenal can play back up the way we saw in 2024.
An attendee at Tuesday’s Kansas City Council committee meeting was forcibly removed following his objections over unfair procedures.
Videos taken from inside the Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee meeting show the man, identified by The Star as Darrell Miller, complaining that supporters of the new Kansas City Royals stadium were being allowed to speak longer than the allotted two-minute public comment period. “If you all are going to have a meeting, at least be fair and just,” Miller said, before guards placed hands on him to try and remove him from council chambers. “If you’re going to tell us to stop at two minutes, … get your hands off of me.” Miller continued objecting as several people moved to remove him from the meeting room. He can be heard telling security guards to “get your hands off of me,” repeatedly as they try to grab his hands. Video shows him being pulled out as he pushed back against multiple people in security guard outfits and plain clothes.
New renderings of the proposed downtown Royals stadium were released ahead of Tuesday’s meeting as well. What are your thoughts?
KCTV 5 broke down the stadium specifics and situation ahead of the unanimous approval from that committee meeting.
Field of Schemes has a more… blunt breakdown of the proposal surrounding the Royals stadium.
This is a world-historically terrible agreement for taxpayers, with a near-record $1.9 billion stadium being covered 60% by the public while they receive virtually 0% of the proceeds — and, in fact, would lose far more money from all those tax breaks than any meager non-baseball revenue the city might receive. The total public cost would almost certainly be in excess of $1.5 billion, and could reach $2 billion, either of which would be a new record for the largest MLB stadium subsidy ever.
Kansas City Stack writes about the massive bet Kansas City is taking to keep baseball in the metro.
There is no defense for disruption. At the same time, stadium opponents had to know their voices would make no difference in the outcome. The votes were settled long ago.
In Kansas City, there is an escape valve for this frustration: the petition process. The people can always go over the heads of politicians and ask the public for a vote.
Here, though, Lucas and others are trying to short-circuit that process. He and others believe — rightly or wrongly — that they can delay or defeat that vote, and protect the project, if they lock in the deal in time. Which means, like, now.
The effort to sidestep a vote has political implications, of course, even though many of the councilmembers rushing to finish the deal will be long gone from office once the stadium is up and running.
But the speed carries a price tag, too.
Whether it is hitting or pitching, Bleacher Report points out Kansas City’s ineffectiveness with runners in scoring position.
When the bases are empty, the Royals are…fine. On offense, they have a .709 OPS with 80 solo home runs, compared to a .727 OPS against with 77 solo home runs allowed. But when runners are in scoring position? Yikes. Going one step beyond the numbers above, Kansas City has a .580 OPS in its 114 plate appearances with the bases loaded, while opponents have a 1.045 OPS in 110 plate appearances. Now that’s how you flirt with the worst record in baseball.
Two former Royals rank among Nippon Professional Baseball’sbest in Chris Bzozowski’s latest report.
The Royals’ lost production due to injury pales in comparison to other teams in FanGraphs’ latest analysis.
Joe Posnanski recounts a baseball story about President George H. W. Bush.
Lee Judge looks at what makes the Little League World Series one of the sport’s most unique events, but “it’s evolved into something that we probably shouldn’t be doing.”
Lance Brozdowski looks at whether the Tampa Bay Rays have already fixed Freddy Peralta’s mechanical issues.
The Field of Dreams viewership numbers were not good.
Jay Jaffé remembers Tommy John following John’s passing.
Is inducing weak contact a replicable skill? RotoGraphs and Foolish Bailey make the case.
Colon cancer survivor Trey Mancini announces MLB retirement.
ESPN co-founder Bill Rasmussen passes away at 93 following battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy rejoins team following his wife’s blessing.
The New York Giants are reportedly signing running back Najee Harris.
AP predicts the winners of college football’s most prestigious individual awards ahead of the sport’s return.
SEC once again dominates AP’s preseason Top 25, even if not holding the top spots.
More than 80 dogs were rescued from a dog-hoarding situation in Kansas City.
The iconic Western Auto Sign was relit Tuesday following an extensive renovation.
Today’s song is Church on Cumberland Road by Shenandoah.
