Daily Clips
October 26, 2017
LOCAL
Moore, staff examining KC's late-season slide
Postseason hopes dashed after club got back into AL Central race in July
October 25, 2017By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Royals minor-league pitcher was hit in face by a line drive in Winter Leagues
October 25, 2017By Pete Grathoff and Maria Torres/KC Star
MINORS
Royals' Lopez stays hot with two more hits in AFL
October 25, 2017By William Boor/KC Star
NATIONAL
Altuve, Stanton named Aaron Award winners
Astros 2B gets first AL nod; Marlins OF takes home second NL trophy
October 25, 2017By Mark Newman/MLB.com
MLB TRANSACTIONS
October 26, 2017 •.CBSSports.com
LOCAL
Moore, staff examining KC's late-season slide
Postseason hopes dashed after club got back into AL Central race in July
October 25, 2017By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
The nagging question Royals general manager Dayton Moore and his staff have asked since the season ended is simple: What happened over the season's final two months?
The Royals were sitting at 55-48 on July 30, on the day they traded for White Sox outfielder Melky Cabrera to beef up the offense. Earlier in the week, Moore had acquired a trio of arms -- Trevor Cahill, Brandon Maurer and Ryan Buchter -- to bolster the pitching staff.
It was all in place for the Royals to make the postseason. They were two games behind the Indians in the American League Central and 2 1/2 games ahead of Tampa Bay in the race for the final AL Wild Card spot
But the Royals played the final two months at nine games under .500. The question of what went wrong still puzzles Moore.
"I've asked myself that quite a bit over the last few weeks," Moore said. "We've talked about it with our leadership team. Baseball is unpredictable. When we started the season, the offense was really struggling and the pitching was good. We couldn't put it all together and I think we were [10-20] at one point.
"But then from the beginning of May until the end of July, we were one of the better teams in the American League, at least record-wise. Then we had some misfortunes with our starting pitching -- whether it was underperformance or injury. We just couldn't compensate for that."
Indeed, if there was one area that let the Royals down over the final two months, it was pitching. The starting pitching faded, and an overworked bullpen wore down.
The Royals' rotation posted a woeful 6.25 ERA in August and a 5.51 ERA in September. The bullpen, which was red hot in July and posted a league-best 2.00 ERA that month, collapsed down the stretch as well, putting up a 5.36 ERA in August and a 4.85 ERA in September.
"The lack of production out of our starting pitching showed," Moore said. "Our bullpen started to wear down. Ned [Yost], I thought, managed the bullpen as best he could. There really wasn't anyone hurt. There was some speculation about Kelvin [Herrera's health] for a while, but [trainer] Nick Kenney assured us he was OK."
Setup man Joakim Soria missed several weeks with an oblique strain. And an ineffective Herrera eventually lost his closer's role, but not before some devastating blown leads.
"I just think they all wore out a little bit," Moore said. "But I think it's a variety of things. As I have said before, to win a Major League game, you have to do a variety of things well. In the last four or five years, we won in multiple ways. But our bullpen has always been our calling card. It's what has carried us. It did at times this year, but I think we just had too many letdowns in major areas."
Starter Danny Duffy missed time in August and September because of a low-grade pronator strain. Right-hander Ian Kennedy never seemed to recover from an early-season hamstring injury. Left-hander Jason Vargas, who was so dominant prior the All-Star Game, posted a 6.66 ERA over the final two months.
And the offense didn't go without blame. It set a club record by going 45 straight innings without scoring during one stretch in the second half.
Royals minor-league pitcher was hit in face by a line drive in Winter Leagues
October 25, 2017By Pete Grathoff and Maria Torres/KC Star
In June, the Royals signed free-agent minor-league pitcher Kevin Lenik and he had a nice season down on the farm.
Lenik had a 1.69 ERA with four saves in five opportunities in 19 outings during stops at three affiliates in the Royals’ system. On Oct. 13, Lenik was assigned to Tigres de Licey in the Dominican Republic for Winter League play.
Unfortunately, Lenik was hit hard in his first outing — figuratively and literally. He allowed four runs (all unearned) on two hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning. He left the game after a batted ball hit him in the left eye.
Scary stuff, particularly because the ball went out to the right fielder. In an Instagram post, Lenik said he suffered two fractured bones.
Lenik also tweeted a photo of how he looked after the incident, and it’s frightening.
The good news is the injury seems to be healing. Lenik shared this picture of getting a haircut, and that left eye looked back better.
That will be Lenik’s only appearance for Licey. The team’s assistant general manager said Lenik has left the country.
MINORS
Royals' Lopez stays hot with two more hits in AFL
October 25, 2017By William Boor/KC Star
Hitting a baseball is no simple task, but Nicky Lopez has been collecting knocks with ease in the Arizona Fall League.
The Royals' No. 11 prospect added two more hits to his collection on Wednesday as he paced the Surprise offense in a 6-4 win over Glendale.
After going 2-for-4 with two runs scored, Lopez is batting .417 and has a hit in all nine games he's played.
"It's not easy, I know that," Lopez said after his sixth multi-hit effort. "I'm just trying to seek the fastball, that's the biggest thing to me. The best way to hit the off-speed is not see the off-speed, hit the fastball. I'm seeing it pretty well right now and hopefully it keeps going."
The 22-year-old is off to a fast start in the Fall League, and part of that is because he's feeling refreshed. Lopez, the Royals' fifth-round pick from the 2016 Draft, admitted he felt a bit fatigued after completing his first full season.
However, after taking some time off after the season before heading to Arizona, Lopez is back to feeling 100 percent, and the results are obvious.
"It was my first full season, had to get used to it," Lopez said. "But now I know what to expect, and the two weeks after were a pretty big help and now coming here, it's a lot of fun."
While rest is a major factor, Lopez also made some adjustments to his swing.
After batting .295 through 70 games with Class A Advanced Wilmington, Lopez was promoted to Double-A Northwest Arkansas where he hit .259 in 59 games against advanced competition.
Lopez is facing off against more upper-level pitching in Arizona, but he has modified his swing a bit as he continues to develop.
"I've been working with the hitting coach here, getting some tips from them," Lopez said. "I've been standing up a little bit taller. I used to have a wide base and I was open a little bit, so I closed it up, narrowed it up a little bit, just going straight to the ball."
And he went right after the ball in Wednesday's win, reaching base in each of his first three plate appearances.
Lopez led off the game with a base hit and scored three batters later via an RBI groundout from Kevin Padlo (Rays' No. 28).
Francisco Mejia (Indians' No. 1, No. 13 overall) evened the score in the bottom half of the frame as he hit a solo homer, his second of the AFL. However, the tie game didn't last long as Lopez scored again in the third.
Lopez worked a walk to lead off the frame, stole second base and crossed the plate after an RBI single from Brandon Lowe (Rays' No. 13).
While Lopez did the damage early in the game, his Royals teammates -- Elier Hernandez and Nick Dini -- helped break the game open as each drove in a run in Surprise's four-run eighth.
Glendale attempted to mount a rally in the ninth as Yusniel Diaz (Dodgers' No. 5) and Bobby Bradley (Indians' No. 3) each came through with RBI doubles, but the rally fell short.
NATIONAL
Altuve, Stanton named Aaron Award winners
Astros 2B gets first AL nod; Marlins OF takes home second NL trophy
October 25, 2017By Mark Newman/MLB.com
Jose Altuve of the Astros and Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins were presented on Wednesday with the coveted Hank Aaron Award as the most outstanding offensive performers in their respective leagues, based on a combination of voting by fans at MLB.com and a special panel of Hall of Famers led by the award's legendary namesake.
Aaron joined Commissioner Rob Manfred at Dodger Stadium before Game 2 of the World Series presented by YouTube TV to hand out the trophies to the two All-Stars, who represented an overall regular season that was off the charts offensively in MLB.
"Jose Altuve and Giancarlo Stanton are two of our sport's elite offensive performers," Manfred said. "While they have contrasting styles of play, Jose and Giancarlo demonstrate that talent, character and work ethic -- attributes synonymous with the life and career of Hank Aaron -- are the keys to success in our great game. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I congratulate both players on their many contributions to a memorable 2017 season."
"I am very proud of these two young men for their great accomplishments on the field, as well as how they carry themselves off the field," said Aaron, who hit 755 career home runs. "Not only are Jose and Giancarlo two tremendous baseball talents, but they also are wonderful ambassadors of our great sport and truly epitomize everything that is dear to me about baseball."
Altuve, appearing in uniform before rejoining his Astros teammates for Game 2, became the first Houston player to win a Hank Aaron Award. He received the American League honor after becoming the first player to lead either league in hits outright for four consecutive years. The Venezuela native led the Majors in batting average by hitting .346 while leading the AL with 204 hits. Altuve finished tied for second in the AL in runs (112); ranked third in steals (32), OPS (.957) and on-base percentage (.410); and was seventh in slugging (.547). He had 24 home runs, 81 RBIs and 39 doubles.
Leading the Astros to 101 victories, Altuve hit a Major League-best .441 (26-for-59) with a .661 slugging percentage and a 1.190 OPS in close-and-late situations. The five-time All-Star also batted .361 from the seventh inning on and .342 with two outs. He became just the fourth right-handed hitter in Major League history to reach 200 hits in four or more consecutive seasons (per the Elias Sports Bureau), joining Michael Young (2003-07) and Hall of Famers Kirby Puckett (1986-89) and Al Simmons (1929-33).
"I'm more nervous now than I was yesterday while I was playing. I don't know why," Altuve said in accepting the trophy. "But I feel blessed to be here. I thank God for the opportunity to be sitting here with Giancarlo with the Commissioner and Mr. Hank. What can I say? Thanks to all the Hall of Famers and fans that made this dream come true.
"This is so important for me. And even more that I'm in uniform. Nothing against you, Giancarlo, but this means a lot for me to win this award and be in my jersey, still playing for my city back in Houston."
For Stanton, this marks his second Hank Aaron Award in the National League, following his 2014 recognition. In his eighth season, Stanton put on a spectacular show by leading all Major Leaguers with franchise records of 59 home runs and 132 RBIs, both career highs. His 59 roundtrippers were the most in a season since 2001, leading MLB's overall record binge of 6,105. Of Stanton's total, 26 gave the Marlins the lead, matching Hall of Famer Jim Rice (1978) for the second most in MLB since 1974, behind Mark McGwire's 30 in '98.
Stanton -- a Southern California native now watching his boyhood-favorite Dodgers club go against Altuve's Astros -- batted .281 with 32 doubles, 85 walks, a 1.007 OPS and a .376 on-base percentage. Stanton homered nine times in 10 games from Aug. 4-13, a Marlins record for a 10-game span, and 23 times in 35 games from July 5 to Aug. 15. His 18 homers in August tied Rudy York (1937) for the most hit in the month. Stanton finished 2017 with 267 career homers, a total that is the eighth most through a player's first eight seasons -- two ahead of Hall of Famer Ted Williams (265) and two behind Hall of Famer Ernie Banks (269). Stanton's 28 multihomer games since his rookie season of '10 are the most in MLB.
"I'd like to thank the voters and Hank for his kind words and always supporting me," Stanton said. "Yeah, it's my second one, but it's just as special. And just hearing from all the old-school players on what type of player Hank was and the attitude he brought, it's similar to how I design my game. So I appreciate it and it's a great honor for me."
Manfred said his favorite part of Stanton's season was his incredible August eruption, when he ran away with the Majors' home run lead. Stanton was asked what it felt like to be in that zone.
"Try to do everything the exact same every day," Stanton said. "It was a fun challenge. If I didn't hit one for a few days, getting back at it to contribute and try to make something happen. But I'd say the biggest part was just having a plan and sticking to it, and knowing who's out there on the mound."
Stanton deflected a pair of questions about his future in Miami, where there is a new ownership group.
"I think we're all going to take care of that after the World Series," said Stanton. "... I don't know, to be honest. I've had thoughts on both sides, but I don't know any specifics."
Established in 1999 to honor the 25th anniversary of Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's all-time home run record, the Hank Aaron Awards are officially sanctioned by MLB. Fans voted for the recipients on MLB.com, and for the eighth straight year, a special panel of Hall of Fame players led by Aaron joined fans in voting. The Hall of Fame panel includes some of the greatest offensive players of all time, such as Roberto Alomar, Johnny Bench, Craig Biggio (in attendance for Altuve at the ceremony), Ken Griffey Jr., Eddie Murray and Robin Yount. These Hall of Famers -- who combined for 17,010 hits, 8,844 RBIs and 2,275 homers -- were all personally selected by Aaron to lend their expertise to select the best offensive performer in each league.
Past winners of the Aaron Awards include Kris Bryant and David Ortiz (2016); Josh Donaldson and Bryce Harper ('15); Stanton and Mike Trout ('14); Miguel Cabrera and Paul Goldschmidt ('13); Cabrera and Buster Posey ('12); Jose Bautista and Matt Kemp ('11); Bautista and Joey Votto ('10); Derek Jeter and Albert Pujols ('09); Aramis Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis ('08); Alex Rodriguez and Prince Fielder ('07); Jeter and Ryan Howard ('06); Ortiz and Andruw Jones ('05); Manny Ramirez and Barry Bonds ('04); Rodriguez and Pujols ('03); Rodriguez and Bonds ('01-02); Carlos Delgado and Todd Helton ('00); and Ramirez and Sammy Sosa (1999).
MLB TRANSACTIONS
October 26, 2017 •.CBSSports.com
New York Mets / Tyler Pill / Outrighted to Minors
New York Mets / Travis Taijeron / Outrighted to Minors
New York Mets / Erik Goeddel / Outrighted to Minors
New York Mets / Phillip Evans / Outrighted to Minors