Daily Clips
August 7, 2018
LOCAL
Junis enjoys better command in Royals' loss
Right-hander racks up 8 strikeouts, but bats struggle vs. Cubs
August 6, 2018By Jordan Wolf/MLB.com
Glass says Royals in good hands with Moore
Owner impressed with young talent, believes club will contend in 2020
August 6, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Zobrist, daughter Blaise Royal in Kansas City
August 6, 2018By Jordan Wolf/MLB.com
Cubs prevail in new friendly confines as Royals receive little relief in loss
August 6, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
Part of Royals lore, Ben Zobrist receives hearty welcome in return to KC
August 6, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
Ben Zobrist has a lasting connection to the Royals; it’s his daughter
August 7, 2018By Rustin Dodd/The Athletic
MINORS
Chasers Best Bees 5-4 In Rain-Shortened Triumph
Jack Lopez hits seventh homer of 2018, Schwindel extends hit streak to team-best 14.
August 6, 2018By Omaha Storm Chasers
Rohlman Named Pioneer League Player of the Month
August 6, 2018By Idaho Falls Chukars
Royals Fall in Series Opener in Danville
Braves beat Royals 4-2
August 6, 2018By Burlington Royals
NATIONAL
History Watch: Five unheard-of baseball feats that we could see in the 2018 season
August 7, 2018By Jayson Stark/The Athletic
Managers on the move?; Mets need to make a decision; mystery man for Red Sox; more notes
August 7, 2018By Ken Rosenthal/The Athletic
Ankiel eyeing comeback as reliever in '19
August 6, 2018By David Adler/MLB.com
Nats complete deal with reliever Holland
August 7, 2018By Jamal Collier/MLB.com
A's get Fiers from Tigers for players to be named
August 6, 2018By Eric He/MLB.com
MLB TRANSACTIONS
August 7, 2018 •.CBSSports.com
LOCAL
Junis enjoys better command in Royals' loss
Right-hander racks up 8 strikeouts, but bats struggle vs. Cubs
August 6, 2018By Jordan Wolf/MLB.com
Right-hander Jakob Junis was largely able to keep the Cubs' powerful lineup in check on Monday night. The Royals' bullpen, however, was not.
Junis allowed one run on a wild pitch and five hits across five innings in the Royals' 3-1 loss to the Cubs at Kauffman Stadium, a promising outing spoiled by a homer surrendered immediately after he was pulled from the Interleague series opener.
"I thought it was better than a lot of my previous outings I've been having," Junis said. "Finally commanded my fastball and got ahead of hitters, and let my slider play off that. So all in all, it was pretty good."
Junis threw just 87 pitches, but manager Ned Yost knew better than to push him.
"By the end of the fifth inning that was it," Yost said. "You could tell he was starting to labor there. But he made big pitches. Slider was really, really good -- strike-to-ball, it starts on the corner and fades away, and guys bite on it.
Javier Baez was 0-for-2 against Junis heading into the sixth, but when reliever Kevin McCarthy came on, Baez took over. On the first pitch, Baez hammered his 25th home run to deep center on an 84-mph slider. Statcast™ projected the homer to travel 414 feet with an exit velocity of 106 mph.
"It was just a bad pitch," McCarthy said. "Cement-mixer slider that stayed down the middle and he got it."
Baez did more damage against the bullpen in the eighth, sending an RBI double down the left-field line off Jason Hammel to make it a two-run lead. That run was charged to Brian Flynn.
The Royals' lineup continued to struggle against Cole Hamels at home, mustering just one run in six innings against the newly acquired ace. In four career starts at Kauffman Stadium, that's the only run Hamels has allowed in 26 innings, and it came off the bat of Alcides Escobar, who knocked in Rosell Herrera with a single to left field in the second inning for the game's first run.
In the fifth, the Royals got something going with singles by Drew Butera and Alex Gordon before Hamels plunked Salvador Perez on the left foot to load the bases with two out. But Hunter Dozier grounded out to first to end the threat and Kansas City managed just two singles over the final four innings.
"He's tough on us," Yost said of Hamels. "Good fastball, not overpowering, but spots it extremely well. Pounds fastballs in, cutters in, good curveball."
MOMENT THAT MATTERED
Junis navigated out of potential trouble in the fifth. With the bases loaded and one out, Ben Zobrist grounded out, though first baseman Butera, normally the backup catcher, made an impressive throw home to get Addison Russell. Junis then got Jason Heyward to ground to third baseman Dozier, whose charging stop and throw to Butera ended the inning.
"Previously, I've been in those types of situations, I've given up a double or a home run or something, extra-base hits to cash in those runs," Junis said. "To get the ground ball and Drew to throw home and get the force, and then to get Heyward to ground out and get out of it, that's huge."
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Gordon wasted no time making another highlight reel catch, as the left fielder charged in from left to make a nice sliding catch to rob Cubs leadoff batter Anthony Rizzo of a single in the first inning.
HE SAID IT
"It's a step in the right direction. I was struggling before, and I think I'm making strides and building off previous outings. Hopefully I can keep moving forward." -- Junis, on his fourth straight start allowing four or fewer earned runs since returning from the disabled list
UP NEXT
Royals right-hander Brad Keller (4-4, 3.39 ERA) will start the second game of the series against the Cubs at 7:15 p.m. CT on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium. The rookie racked up a career-high nine strikeouts in his last start, a no-decision against the Tigers on Thursday. The Cubs will counter with former Royals prospect Mike Montgomery (3-4, 3.90 ERA), who is 2-0 in three games (two starts) against Kansas City.
Glass says Royals in good hands with Moore
Owner impressed with young talent, believes club will contend in 2020
August 6, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
The 2018 Royals are on a club-record pace for losses, but team owner David Glass told MLB.com by phone on Monday that general manager Dayton Moore has his "100 percent support."
"He absolutely does have my support," Glass said. "We all need to, myself and the fans, hang with Dayton. He built us into a [World Series] champion before and I am certain he will do so again. I think he's the best GM in the business."
Glass said he is dismayed by this season. The Royals entered Monday's series opener against the Cubs on pace to lose 112 games, which would shatter the club record of 106 in 2005, a season before Glass hired Moore.
"Losing [stinks]," Glass said. "No one is pleased with this. But in talking with Dayton and our baseball operations people, we believe we are headed in the right direction."
Glass said he is encouraged by the amount of young talent evident in the low Minors. Glass said he also has been impressed with some of the prospects he has seen in person -- he has often made the 30-minute drive from his home in Bentonville, Ark., to Springdale, home of the Royals' Double-A Northwest Arkansas team.
"I think that young talent is the real deal," Glass said. "I think we are stocked with good young talent from [Class A] Lexington and below to Double-A. I've had a chance to see that talent coming through Northwest Arkansas and it's impressive. You have Khalil Lee [ranked as the club's No. 2 prospect by MLB Pipeline]. And this [Nicky] Lopez kid [No. 7 prospect] that we sent to [Triple-A] Omaha, he's going to be a good one.
Glass added he was pleased with the positive reviews of this year's MLB Draft in which the Royals used their first five selections on college pitchers.
"It's no secret that our pitching hasn't been very good," Glass said. "But we've got those college kids and they will develop faster [than high school picks]. We've got a chance for all of this talent to really come together at once and come up together, like Dayton was able to do with the last group.
"I think the fans are really going to enjoy this next group of kids, just like they did the last one. The fans in Kansas City are great and they're knowledgeable -- they can recognize the talent and they will support us in this process. I think it will be a lot like 2013, and 2014, and 2015, when the fans really related with the players."
Glass said he believes this rebuild will be different than Moore's first with the Royals.
"When I look at it, I see Dayton rebuilding it with the idea of sustaining that success over a long period," Glass said. "He's really focused on stuffing the pipeline with talent so there doesn't have to be a winning period and then dropping off to a losing period. He wants to sustain the success and you do that by really focusing on continuously stocking the system."
And how long does Glass believe it will be before the Royals are contenders again?
"I think by 2020, we'll be right in the middle of it again," Glass said.
Zobrist, daughter Blaise Royal in Kansas City
August 6, 2018By Jordan Wolf/MLB.com
It makes sense that Cubs utility man Ben Zobrist would choose Kansas City for his daughter's first baseball game, considering her connection to the city and the Royals.
Zobrist welcomed his daughter, Blaise Royal Zobrist, to Kauffman Stadium on Monday as he returned to the place where he captured his first World Series title and welcomed his third child in 2015. Zobrist received a warm ovation prior to striking out in his first at-bat and he logged two hits with a run scored in the Royals' 3-1 loss.
In just a matter of days, Zobrist reached monumental milestones in his personal and professional life in Kansas City. It was just the next day after the World Series championship parade when Blaise was born.
Now a member of the Cubs, Zobrist is happy to look back on the memorable -- if not hectic -- period in his life, and his daughter's connection to it all.
"She was there, even though she doesn't realize it," said Zobrist, a catalyst at second base for the Royals in their title run three years ago. "She was a part of it, and just to know that she was with us even though she doesn't remember it is special for our family."
As for the middle name, it was only fitting that the Zobrists would pick something so tied to that stop in Ben's career. While it may have been brief, it's an experience he'll never forget -- even more so now that he has a constant reminder.
"We just loved it," Zobrist said. "We thought it worked for either a boy or a girl, and we were excited to put it in there at some point. Especially once we won, it was just like, you know what? She will never remember, she won't know. But we all will."
Cubs prevail in new friendly confines as Royals receive little relief in loss
August 6, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
The chants rained down from the announced crowd of 32,339 on Monday night at Kauffman Stadium.
“MVP,” some shouted.
“Let’s go,” cheered others.
Most were not meant for anyone wearing a Royals uniform, but instead for the visiting Cubs as the teams began a three-game series one day after the locals returned home from a 3-7 road trip. In fact, Cubs fans were the most vocal of those gathered. They cheered so enthusiastically when Royals made outs that these confines might as well have resembled the friendly ones located 520 miles away on the North Side of Chicago.
The Royals received little relief. The din of “Let’s go, Royals” was outdone by the “Let’s go, Cubbies” chant. The outsiders were the ones rewarded Monday night, as the Royals lost to the National League Central Division-leading Cubs 3-1.
On a night where a 22-minute rain delay caused just a minor inconvenience in the fourth inning, the Royals were hurt most by their bullpen after it took over in the sixth inning. Kevin McCarthy threw a first-pitch slider to the Cubs’ Javier Baez and was forced to pay when it stayed in the middle of the zone. The ball cracked off Baez’s bat with an exit velocity of 105.8 mph, no doubt about its trajectory as it hurtled an estimated 415 feet to center field and into the outstretched glove of a man wearing an unbuttoned Cubs jersey in the Pepsi Porch.
“It was just poor execution,” McCarthy said.
The homer was Baez’s 25th of the season and it drove in his team-leading 87th run. He added to that total in the eighth with an RBI double off Jason Hammel, who had just entered the game in relief of Brian Flynn.
“If you don’t throw this guy a strike, he is still going to attack,” manager Ned Yost said. “You don’t have to throw this guy a strike. ... He’s just dangerous. He’s like Salvy. You just never know. He’ll swing at pitches way out of the zone. But if you make (mistakes) he’ll drive it out of the ballpark.”
Royals starting pitcher Jakob Junis, who in his last outing against the White Sox allowed four earned runs but received a win, had long been removed from Monday’s decision. He departed after five innings, the game tied 1-1. The only run scored against Junis crossed the plate on a wild pitch that advanced former Royals second baseman Ben Zobrist from third base after he hit a triple to lead off the fourth inning.
Junis struck out eight and yielded five hits in five innings, the last of which elevated his pitch count to 87. After punching out Cubs left fielder Ian Happ to start the fifth, Junis allowed Addison Russell and Albert Almora Jr. to stroke back-to-back singles. He then walked first baseman Anthony Rizzo on four straight balls thrown away from the left-handed hitter.
But the Royals defense nipped the threat within minutes. Zobrist hit a ground ball to first base, where Drew Butera fielded and threw the ball to catcher Salvador Perez to cut down Almora at the plate for the second out. When the next batter grounded a ball to the left side, third baseman Hunter Dozier scooped it off the grass and threw to first base to throw out Jason Heyward and end the inning.
“To get the groundball and Drew to throw home and get the force, and then to get Heyward to ground out and get out of it, that’s huge,” Junis said.
The Royals, whose 76 runs scored after the All-Star break ranked fifth among American League teams entering Monday, mustered little against Cubs starter Cole Hamels, whom they faced twice this season and achieved mixed results against when he was still with the Texas Rangers.
Like the last time he pitched in Kauffman Stadium on June 19, Hamels constrained the Royals to one unearned run. This time, however, he allowed one earned run on seven hits and struck out two batters in six innings. Alcides Escobar was the only one to mar his line, as he roped an RBI single that scored Rosell Herrera and opened the scoring in the second inning.
“He’s tough on us,” Yost said. “Good fastball, not overpowering but spots it extremely well. Pounds fastballs in, cutters in, good curveball.”
Whit Merrifield and Adalberto Mondesi were the only Royals starters not to record hits against the Cubs as the Royals fell to 34-78.
Part of Royals lore, Ben Zobrist receives hearty welcome in return to KC
August 6, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
In the waning moments of his three-month tenure with the Royals three years ago, second baseman Ben Zobrist had limited time to revel.
His attention was split between winning a World Series championship and the well-being of his wife, Julianna, who was pregnant with their daughter Blaise. She was days away from giving birth to the couple’s third child.
Yet Julianna watched in New York as Zobrist scooted around the bases and scored in the 12th inning of what became a World Series-clinching Royals 7-2 defeat of the Mets in Game 5. She watched him celebrate, his glove lost in abandon on the Citi Field infield as the winners of the 2015 World Series converged around closer Wade Davis. Later, she and the couple’s two oldest children, Zion and Kruse, joined the mayhem.
The entire time, Zobrist said on Monday afternoon in Kansas City, “my wife basically held (the baby) in.”
It’s a story he’s told often in the years since his name became a part of Royals lore. But he seemed happy to tell it again sitting in the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, where the Royals were hosting him and the Cubs. His daughter, who was given the middle name Royal as homage to the family’s brief time in Kansas City, was set to attend her first game here. The moment, he said, felt special.