Last week, Jared Perkins and Preston Farr of Farm to Fountains and I interviewed Omaha Storm Chasers reliever Walter Pennington on “KC Chase to the Pennant.” Pennington has been absolutely electric with the Storm Chasers, which is encouraging after his robust Cactus League campaign. In 10 outings and 17.2 IP with Omaha, Pennington has a 1.53 ERA, a 0.68 WHIP, a 35.8% K%, and a K-BB% of 31.3%. Dominant may not be an adequate word to describe Pennington’s start in Triple-A. Walter Pennington threw 2.0 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts pic.twitter.com/CTlFRbRX5O — Omaha Storm Chasers (@OMASto ..read more

Before Sunday’s series finale against the Tigers, Jaylon Thompson, the Royals beat writer for the KC Star, shared this news regarding the Royals replacement for Alec Marsh, who was recently put on the IL. The #Royals are slated to start Jonathan Bowlan on Monday. He is expected to be called up from Triple-A Omaha in advance of the series opener vs the #BlueJays. Bowlan is 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA in Triple-A this season. He has 21 strikeouts and allowed just 6 runs in 21 innings. — Jaylon T. Thompson (@jaylonthompson) April 28, 2024 With Jordan Lyles on the inactive list, it seemed likely that ..read more

When the Royals picked up Adam Frazier late in the free agency period, there was some mixed fanfare among Royals fans with the move. Many Royals fans didn’t understand Frazier’s acquisition at first. After all, Frazier had been primarily a second baseman with the Pirates, Padres, and Mariners from 2016 to 2022, and the Royals seemed set at second base with Michael Massey and possibly Nick Loftin. Last year in Baltimore, the Orioles did utilize Frazier a bit in the outfield to give him more value in the field. Nonetheless, Frazier was still rated as a below-average defensive outfielder in Balti ..read more

The Royals won 2-1 against the Blue Jays in Thursday afternoon’s series finale with Toronto (despite a ridiculous three-hour and thirty-eight-minute rain delay). Good things come to those who wait.#HEYHEYHEYHEY pic.twitter.com/LTcU7GgmLb — Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 25, 2024 The win helped cap a 4-3 homestand against the Blue Jays and Orioles, two teams expected to compete for playoff contention in the AL East in 2024. Furthermore, the Royals also improved their record to 16-10 for the year, guaranteeing Kansas City a winning month in April. This strong 26-game start is encouraging ..read more

Royals fans certainly know about Salvador Perez’s bat this season. Even though he will turn 34 in a few weeks (May 10th, to be specific), Salvy is having one of the best seasons of his career at the plate thus far. In 21 games and 86 plate appearances, he is hitting .333 with a .428 wOBA and 180 wRC+, including six home runs and 22 RBI. His 1.2 fWAR is already higher than the two seasons combined (0.5 fWAR). 3-run Salvy Smash pic.twitter.com/32W8woyMwK — Royals Daily (@RoyalsDaily_) April 21, 2024 Granted, it is likely that Salvy will cool off at some point. After all, it’s challenging to c ..read more

I will go to the rubber game between the Orioles and Royals at the K this afternoon. I wanted to get a quick post in before the game. Here’s the latest edition of the “Jottings” as I focus on my latest piece for Farm to Fountains; top Royals prospect Blake Mitchell’s strong start in low-A Columbia and a look at a few players in Omaha who could be options down the road for the Royals. A Look at Melendez’s Home and Away Splits This Year In my latest post for “Farm to Fountains,” I looked at MJ Melendez’s season thus far and noticed an interesting pattern: MJ is a much better hitter at home than ..read more

Even though the Royals did not have a game on Thursday, they made some serious news as they announced their first roster Major League roster move of the year. INF Nick Loftin has been optioned to Omaha (AAA). A corresponding move will be announced tomorrow. — Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 18, 2024 Even though a corresponding move hasn’t been announced, Michael Massey will likely be called up from his rehab assignment in Omaha. Massey is mashing in Omaha, hitting .433 with a wRC+ of 220 in seven games and 32 plate appearances with the Storm Chasers. This isn't déjà vu, Michael Massey ..read more

Royals GM JJ Picollo emphasized the importance of improving the starting pitching this offseason. His first move was acquiring free agent Seth Lugo, who previously pitched for the San Diego Padres and New York Mets. The Royals inked Lugo to a three-year deal worth $45 million, with the first two years guaranteed and the final year a player option. Free agent RHP Seth Lugo and the Kansas City Royals are reportedly in agreement on a 3-year contract. pic.twitter.com/2PVMXYmNUV — MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 12, 2023 Even though it was a step in the right direction for a starting pitching ..read more

On Sunday, the Royals lost 2-1 to the New York Mets. The loss clinched the series for the Mets and was the first Royals series loss since their first road series of the year in Baltimore. The #Royals fall 2-1 to the #Mets on Sunday. Salvador Perez left with a groin injury. KC now heads to Chicago for a three-game series against the #WhiteSox next week. Here is a recap of all the action. https://t.co/PIlIYXOzyR — Jaylon T. Thompson (@jaylonthompson) April 14, 2024 After winning seven in a row in the last homestand, including sweeps of the White Sox and the Astros, the Mets series was a sob ..read more

The Royals started the season 2-4, thanks to tough series losses to the Minnesota Twins and the Baltimore Orioles, two playoff teams from a season ago. What made the series losses challenging wasn’t just the fact that the Royals lost both, but how they lost them. The Royals were in striking distance of winning the first two games against the Twins at Kauffman Stadium in the Opening homestand of the year. They also blew two games against the Orioles in the final innings, as Baltimore earned walk-off victories in games 1 and 3 of the Royals’ first road series of the 2024 season. The Royals could ..read more