Daily Clips
June 27, 2017
LOCAL
Salvy, Hosmer need final AS polling push
Voting ends Thursday at 10:59 p.m. CT
June 27, 2017By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
His country in turmoil, Royals’ Escobar balances baseball with thoughts of Venezuela
June 27, 2017By Rustin Dodd/KC Star
Royals’ Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez are in solid position to start All-Star Game
June 27, 2017By Rustin Dodd/KC Star
Royals place Nathan Karns on 60-day DL, reinstate Brian Flynn
June 27, 2017By Rustin Dodd/KC Star
The 2017 Royals or ‘Baseball, I can’t predict it’
June 27, 2017By Sam Mellinger/KC Star
How the home plate umpire changed the game in Royals’ 8-2 loss
June 27, 2017By Lee Judge/KC Star
MINORS
Gallagher Knocks in 3 in 14-3 Defeat
Chasers swamped by Colorado Springs' outburst in series opener
June 27, 2017Omaha Storm Chasers
Vallot's Homers Not Enough in Loss
Rocks Let Five Run Lead Slip Despite Strong Performances
June 27, 2017Wilmington Blue Rocks
Columbia blanks Legends 4-0
June 27, 2017Lexington Legends
Royals, Blue Jays Suspended Monday
Royals Leading 12-3 in the Sixth, Power Outage Halts Play
June 27, 2017By Matt Krause/Burlington Royals
MLB TRANSACTIONS
June 27, 2017 •.CBSSports.com
LOCAL
Salvy, Hosmer need final AS polling push
Voting ends Thursday at 10:59 p.m. CT
June 27, 2017By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer and catcher Salvador Perez continued to lead in the voting for their positions in the latest Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot update, with four days left.
Hosmer, who helped Team USA win the World Baseball Classic in March by hitting .385 with a .615 slugging percentage, leads Toronto's Justin Smoak with 1,419,887 votes to 1,348,233. Hosmer, the reigning All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, is hitting .302 with nine home runs and 32 RBIs this season.
Royals manager Ned Yost urged Royals fans last week to get on board and support Hosmer, and his pleas seemed to have helped.
Perez, a four-time All-Star, is hitting .290 with 15 home runs and 43 RBIs. Perez has 2,150,233 votes to the Yankees' Gary Sanchez's 1,337,651. Perez's first career grand slam last Wednesday helped the Royals rally past the Red Sox, 6-4.
Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas, who has 19 home runs, has pulled within less than 500,000 votes of the leader, Minnesota's Miguel Sano, who has 1,550,240 votes to Moustakas' 1,067,150.
Fans may cast votes for starters at MLB.com and all 30 club sites -- on computers, tablets and smartphones -- exclusively online using the 2017 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot until Thursday at 10:59 p.m. CT. On smartphones and tablets, fans can also access the ballot via the MLB.com At Bat and MLB.com Ballpark mobile apps.
The Esurance All-Star Selection Show will take place on Sunday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN. Following the unveiling of the 2017 All-Star starters, reserves and pitchers, fans should return to MLB.com and cast their 2017 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote for the final player on each league's All-Star roster. Then on Tuesday, July 11, while watching the 2017 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard live on FOX, fans may visit MLB.com to submit their choices for the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet with the 2017 MLB All-Star Game MVP Vote.
The 88th Midsummer Classic, at Marlins Park in Miami, will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 160 countries. ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage, while MLB Network, MLB.com and SiriusXM will have comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information about MLB All-Star Week and to purchase tickets, please visit AllStarGame.com and follow @AllStarGame on social media.
His country in turmoil, Royals’ Escobar balances baseball with thoughts of Venezuela
June 27, 2017By Rustin Dodd/KC Star
Alcides Escobar has never endured a season like this. He has never performed this poorly at the plate, even after years of declining offense. Never felt the mental weight of a slump this deep. Never felt the pressure of looming free agency, either.
“I’ve never been in this situation,” said Escobar, the Royals’ 30-year-old shortstop.
And yet, when Escobar discusses the challenges of 2017, he is not just talking about the batting average that finally surpassed .200 or the career-worst .506 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging). On most nights, when the game is over and the at-bats are done, Escobar returns to the clubhouse and grabs his phone, scouring the latest news from back home.
His home country of Venezuela is in turmoil, the scene of daily protests, civic unrest and political violence. There are food shortages and economic turmoil. Escobar cannot go a few hours without looking to see the latest developments.
“It’s hard,” Escobar said in a recent interview in Spanish. “When you get to the stadium you have to focus on your job. But when it’s done, you start looking at Twitter and Instagram and reading the news and your mind just goes back to Venezuela.”
On Twitter, Escobar’s feed has become a repository for news and articles on the growing political and economic chaos. Every day, he consumes articles on DolarToday, an American-based site that has aggressively covered the country’s political climate.
“It’s where I was born and raised,” Escobar said. “I always offer support to my people. I know something better will come.”
Escobar, of course, is not alone. On opening day, there were 77 Venezuelan players on major-league rosters, more than 10 percent of the league. Outside of the United States and the Dominican Republic, the South American country of 31 million people has produced the highest concentration of major leaguers in the world. Many of them are among the game’s greatest stars, from Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera to Houston’s Jose Altuve to Salvador Perez, Escobar’s friend and teammate.
Their country is also caught in the grips of a worsening domestic crisis as anti-government protesters continue marching in the capital city of Caracas, opposing President Nicolas Maduro, the successor to Hugo Chavez. Across baseball, more and more Venezuelan players have begun speaking out against the violence against protesters. Yet many remain reluctant to publicly criticize the government. Escobar has sought to occupy a space in the middle.
“It’s my country,” he said. “I love my country.”
Every day, he retweets articles about the protests. In May, Escobar spoke about his country in a video for La Vida, a branch of the Hall of Fame that celebrates Latin baseball.
“I hope it doesn’t become worse,” he said, looking toward the camera. “I hope that we don’t see more deaths, that we don’t have more violence.”
The message came a month after Perez addressed the situation in an Instagram post, stating that he was neither a “Chavista” — a supporter of former president Chavez — nor in opposition.
“I love you my #venezuela,” Perez wrote. “It hurts me to see all that is happening to you, it’s enough already with so much violence, hungry children, lack of jobs, GOD please take care of all those people!!!”
Escobar was born in La Sabana, a coastal town that sits nearly 70 miles northeast of Caracas. His family remains out of harm’s way, he says, living more than two hours from the capital. Escobar also has been granted permanent residence in the United States, allowing him to stay here full time in the offseason. Yet, he still spends at least a month in Venezuela each offseason, visiting family and seeing old friends.
“I still have about 90 percent of my family there,” he said.
His home is never far from his mind. The uncertainty has come at one of the most uneasy moments of his career. As the Royals (37-37) prepared to open a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday, Escobar was batting .210 with a .230 on-base percentage. According to Weighted Runs Created Plus, an advanced metric that measures total offense, Escobar has been the worst offensive player in baseball. He will be a free agent when the season is over.
The Royals could pursue a reunion with Escobar via a cheap, short-term deal. Yet they also have an internal replacement waiting in the wings in Raul Mondesi. Escobar has hinted that he would welcome staying in Kansas City, where his postseason heroics contributed to two World Series runs and a world championship. Yet he also recognizes the business aspect of the game.
“It’s been a hard year,” Escobar said. “Thank God, we’ve been playing better as a team.”
For now, the lack of production has not affected his playing time. One year after playing in all 162 games, Escobar has started all 74 games. Earlier this year, he broke the franchise record for consecutive games played. Royals manager Ned Yost still sees value in Escobar’s defense in the middle of the diamond.
“There’s more to this game than just the offense,” Yost said. “There’s more value to a player’s position in that lineup than swinging the bat.”
For Escobar, quiet offensive production has been part of the package for the last three seasons. But the numbers have never dipped quite like this. Always a free swinger, Escobar has swung at more than 52 percent of all pitches this season and 35.3 percent of pitches outside the strike zone. The latter ranks 18th in baseball among hitters qualified for the batting title. In recent weeks, the Royals have continued to stress better plate discipline.
“You break down what he does on pitches in the strike zone, it’s pretty good,” Yost said. “Especially breaking stuff in the strike zone. Where he gets into trouble is swinging at pitches outside the zone.”
For reasons that Escobar cannot quite explain, his eyes, hands and body don’t always operate in sync at the plate. For now, the battle continues.
On most days, Escobar heads to the batting cage and tries to adopt a simple approach with hitting coach Dale Sveum. Yet in the quiet moments, when the work is done, he returns to his phone. There are more stories about Venezuela, more news to catch up on. The stream is endless and daily, and Escobar says he can’t forget his home.
“It’s a point of pride for me, for them, for every one of us,” Escobar said. “Coming from another country to triumph in the United States fills us with pride.”
Royals’ Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez are in solid position to start All-Star Game
June 27, 2017By Rustin Dodd/KC Star
If the recent trends hold, Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer is well positioned to start in the All-Star Game for a second straight year.
Hosmer maintained a lead this week in the fan balloting, amassing 1,419,887 total votes. Toronto first baseman Justin Smoak was second with 1,348,233. Oakland’s Yonder Alonso (1,076,984) and Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera (1,011,382) have started to fade.
While Hosmer has surged in recent weeks, Royals catcher Salvador Perez appears a virtual lock to start for the American League yet again. With 2,150,223 votes, Perez has a more than 800,000-vote lead on second-place Gary Sanchez of the New York Yankees.
Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas, second baseman Whit Merrifield and center fielder Lorenzo Cain have also made moves in the voting, though they do not appear likely to overtake the leaders at their respective positions. In the voting released Monday, Moustakas was fourth at third base, while Merrifield was fourth at second. Cain was 12th among American League outfielders.
Starting pitcher Jason Vargas could also join Hosmer and Perez at the All-Star Game, which takes place on July 11 in Miami. Hosmer, who grew up outside Miami, was the Most Valuable Player of the All-Star Game last year in San Diego.
The All-Star Game rosters will be unveiled at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Royals place Nathan Karns on 60-day DL, reinstate Brian Flynn
June 27, 2017By Rustin Dodd/KC Star
The Royals reinstated left-handed reliever Brian Flynn from the 60-day disabled list Monday and optioned him to Class AAA Omaha. To create space on the 40-man roster, the club placed starter Nathan Karns on the 60-day disabled list.
The procedural roster maneuvering, which came as the Royals prepare to open a three-game series in Detroit, allowed the team to preserve inventory on its 40-man roster. The Royals have a full 40-man roster and will need to make another corresponding move to clear space when Karns returns.
On the disabled list since May 21, Karns is eligible to return on July 20. He was unlikely to rejoin the roster before then after being slow to return from a forearm issue that surfaced on May 19 during a start in Minnesota. After experiencing lingering tightness, Karns was shut down for a week before beginning a throwing program last week. He will likely need weeks to build his arm strength back up.
Flynn had been on the 60-day disabled list since sustaining a broken rib and three nondisplaced fractures in his vertebrae in a scary fall before spring training. He fell 12 feet while replacing roofing panels on his barn at home in Oklahoma in the days before leaving for Surprise, Ariz.
He began a 30-day rehab assignment at Class AAA Omaha on May 27. Flynn has logged a 10.95 ERA in 12 1/3 innings, allowing five homers and 15 earned runs. He’s also struck out 14 against just two walks. He’ll continue working out of the bullpen in Omaha.
Starting rotation will need help on Saturday
Matt Strahm is set to make his third start on Tuesday as the Royals open a three-game series against the Tigers in Detroit. The club, however, will require an extra starter on Saturday when it plays a doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium.
Ian Kennedy and JakobJunis will start the second and third games in Detroit. Jason Vargas will start Friday against the Twins. That leaves right-hander Jason Hammel to start one game against the Twins on Saturday. The club could use the 26th-man rule to recall left-hander Eric Skoglund to start the other game.
Skoglund started Monday night for Omaha at Colorado Springs. He would be on regular rest Saturday.
The 2017 Royals or ‘Baseball, I can’t predict it’
June 27, 2017By Sam Mellinger/KC Star
You can invent a reason if you’d like, if you need that sort of thing. If that makes you feel better.
The Royals spent the first 30 games as the worst team in baseball, and they’ve spent the last 44 as the second-best team in the American League. There is no fundamental change that happened with this group after losing 1-0 to the Indians on May 7.
Nothing that we know about, anyway.
And, actually, nothing that many within the organization know about either.
“Baseball,” one said. “I can’t predict it.”
The Royals are perfectly even now, 37-37, a week or so shy of the season’s halfway point. They have been terrific, and they have been atrocious. They once scored 10 runs total over eight games, and they later scored 42 over five. They once allowed seven runs total over seven games, and they’ve twice allowed 10 or more in consecutive games.
But at least two truths are starting to emerge.
The first is that the general manager Dayton Moore, who at one point figured to face one of the toughest decisions of his 11 years in charge, will almost certainly not be trading any players of major significance away at the July 31 non-waiver deadline.
Eric Hosmer was always unlikely to be traded, but Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Jason Vargas and a few others made sense in a traditional buyer-seller deadline deal.
But .500 is good enough to be close in the American League Central, which only figures to be weaker over the second half of the season if the Tigers and White Sox lose energy or trade away talent or both.
There is also an emerging belief among some AL talent evaluators that the Royals would not necessarily need to win the division to make the playoffs. At the moment, the second wild card would go to the Indians. After Houston, only four wins separate the next 10 teams in the AL.
Even if the playoffs remain unlikely, it would make sense on all levels for the Royals to pursue a realistic chance in the last year before a core of stars reach free-agency.
The second truth is that the Royals should only get better. Three years ago, with his team below .500 in what the front office and coaches knew could be a make-or-break season for their own employment, a lot of us chuckled when manager Ned Yost declared his group a second-half team.
But he’s been proved right.
In 2014, the Royals were 48-50 on July 21 and 41-23 the rest of the regular season.
In 2015, well, that year they were the best team in the league from start to finish. But in 2016, they were 51-58 on Aug. 5 before a rally put them within dreaming distance of a playoff spot in early September.