Daily Clips

June 20, 2018

LOCALRoyals' bats can't break out behind HammelHerrera is bright spot vs. Rangers as KC drops 8th straightJune 19, 2018 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/jason-hammel-lacks-run-support-vs-rangers/c-281971584

Moose, Salvy in the mix for ASG startsJune 19, 2018 By Jordan Wolf/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/mike-moustakas-salvador-perez-eye-asg-starts/c-281949710

Mondesi will get starts at SS; Esky in CF?June 19, 2018 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/royals-will-start-adalberto-mondesi-at-short/c-281962720

Kelvin Herrera makes instant impact on 'crazy' first day with NationalsJune 20, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article213506769.html

Make it eight: Rangers pounce early and extend Royals' losing streakJune 19, 2018 By Sam McDowell/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article213456574.html

With Mondesi looming, Escobar appreciates why 'unbelievable' streak about to endJune 19, 2018 By Vahe Gregorian/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/vahe-gregorian/article213497249.html

This Royals prospect went to drastic measures to inform his parents he was called upJune 19, 2018 By Sam McDowell/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article213493659.html

Royals draft pick Jackson Kowar matches Gerrit Cole, Trevor Bauer in CWS gemJune 19, 2018 By Blair Kerkhoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article213480744.html

After trading Kelvin Herrera, who will the Royals use as their new closer?

June 19, 2018 By Sam McDowell/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article213484299.html

Lightning struck when a Royals player sat on Iron Throne from 'Game of Thrones'June 19, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article213480939.html

Mellinger Minutes: Herrera's gone, what's next for Royals and worrisome about ChiefsJune 19, 2018 By Sam Mellinger/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam-mellinger/article213440954.html

Changing of the Guard? Royals set to end Alcides Escobar’s streak, experiment with Adalberto MondesiJune 20, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/399933/2018/06/19/changing-of-the-guard-royals-set-to-end-alcides-escobars-streak-at-shortstop-in-favor-of-adalberto-mondesi/

Kansas City will always be the place where Kelvin Herrera found his voiceJune 19, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/399117/2018/06/19/kelvin-herrera-kansas-city-royals-washington-nationals/

MINORSWatch Royals' minor-league star Seuly Matias take part in Class A Home Run DerbyJune 20, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article213508334.html

Meet Seuly Matias, the Royals prospect who's putting up Mike Trout statsJune 20, 2018 By John Edwards/Sporting Newshttp://www.sportingnews.com/ca/mlb/news/kansas-city-royals-prospects-lexington-top-suey-matias-future-lexington-legends-farm-systems/hdaoawbdhnc81q1xk96kw5se3

Chasers Take Series in Reno with 9-2 WinDuda homers, Chasers enjoy winning road trip before returning home ThursdayJune 19, 2018 By Omaha Storm Chasershttps://www.milb.com/omaha/news/chasers-take-series-in-reno-with-9-2-win/c-281953882

Naturals Fall As Travelers Claim First-Half TitleArkansas clinches a spot in the Texas League Playoffs in September with the 7-1 victory on Tuesday nightJune 19, 2018 By Northwest Arkansas Naturalshttps://www.milb.com/northwest-arkansas/news/naturals-fall-as-travelers-claim-first-half-title/c-282041310

Southern Division Uses Big Sixth Inning to Earn Comeback WinWilmington's Lee and Peterson Reach Base TwiceJune 19, 2018 By Wilmington Blue Rockshttps://www.milb.com/wilmington/news/southern-division-uses-big-sixth-inning-to-earn-comeback-win/c-282094868

Legends' Own Nick Pratto Named South Atlantic League All-Star Game MVPJune 19, 2018 By Lexington Legendshttps://www.milb.com/lexington/news/legends-own-nick-pratto-named-south-atlantic-league-all-star-game-mvp/c-282023206

NATIONALRosenthal: Why were the Royals so quick to deal Kelvin Herrera?June 19, 2018 By Ken Rosenthal/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/399687/2018/06/19/rosenthal-why-were-the-royals-so-quick-to-deal-kelvin-herrera/

Hurry up and wait: How MLB players deal with the mental toll of a long DL stintJune 19, 2018 By Dave Brown/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/398924/2018/06/19/hurry-up-and-wait-how-mlb-players-deal-with-the-mental-toll-of-a-long-dl-stint/

Kansas City Royals help fan attend gameJune 20, 2018 By The Miami County Republichttp://www.republic-online.com/sports/louisburg/kansas-city-royals-help-fan-attend-game/article_412967da-7165-587a-b092-839bd9c588df.html

Mendez optioned following team rules violationBibens-Dirkx recalled, will start in place of Rangers' No. 7 prospect WednesdayJune 19, 2018 By T.R. Sullivan/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/rangers-option-yohander-mendez-to-triple-a/c-281956696

MLB TRANSACTIONSJune 20, 2018 •.CBSSports.comhttp://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions

LOCALRoyals' bats can't break out behind HammelHerrera is bright spot vs. Rangers as KC drops 8th straightJune 19, 2018 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/jason-hammel-lacks-run-support-vs-rangers/c-281971584

Someday soon, the Royals' struggling offense is bound to break out.

That day wasn't Tuesday as they mustered just four hits in a 4-1 loss to the Rangers at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals have lost eight straight and 14 of 15.

The primary culprit has been the offense, which has scored 24 runs in the past 13 games. Only the Orioles (255) have scored fewer runs in the American League this season than the Royals (265).

Newcomer Rosell Herrera, acquired off waivers recently from the Reds, tried to provide a spark, recording two hits and an RBI.

"Nice job by him," manager Ned Yost said. "This is exciting to see a young kid come up. He's a switch-hitter, got a couple of hits against a quality pitcher like Cole Hamels, and made some nice plays in the outfield."

But the Royals managed just an unearned run through seven innings against Hamels, who struck out seven, and the Rangers' bullpen closed out the victory.

Royals starter Jason Hammel came into the game having gone 2-2 with a 2.56 ERA in his previous five starts. But the Rangers nicked him for two runs in each of the second and third innings.

The big blow in the second was Delino DeShields' two-run double.

Hammel lasted 5 2/3 innings and gave up nine hits, four walks and four runs. He also struck out four.

"The first few innings, I was sweating a lot," Hammel said. "I was having trouble gripping the ball, so just getting through that. Kind of when I ran out of sweat, I was able to feel the ball again and make more effective pitches. But [no] excuses. Just got to execute better. There was four walks, three of them come around to score. That's the thing that'll irk me tonight while I'm sleeping, trying to sleep."

MOMENT THAT MATTEREDThe Royals' sputtering offense had a chance to make a statement against Hamels in the first as he battled his command. Hamels issued a leadoff walk to Whit Merrifield, then he threw a wild pitch. Moments later, Merrifield stole third, still with none out. The Rangers played their infield back, conceding the run, but Paulo Orlando struck out on a pitch out of the zone. Hamels walked Mike Moustakas next,

but Salvador Perez rolled into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat. Perez has hit into a team-leading 12 double plays. The Royals are tied with the Astros for most double plays in the Major Leagues with 73.

"I want to say we've hit into our 76th double play of the year? 73?" Yost said. "Something crazy. It just boggles your mind that that's happened so many times."

Added Merrifield, "[Hamels] looked like he kind of lost the feel for his stuff initially, a lot of times that can snowball. But he's a veteran guy, he found it and commanded, and got a pitch when he needed it."

SOUND SMARTMerrifield, who led the AL in stolen bases with 34 last season, has 16 this season. He also is 9-for-9 stealing third base, which he did in the first inning.

Royals left fielder Alex Gordon threw out Elvis Andrus trying to score from second on a single in the ninth. It was Gordon's seventh assist this season and the 89th of his career, most in the Majors since 2010.

HE SAID IT"Kind of get tired of that. Feel like I'm playing hockey like I'm a goalie instead of a baseball player right now. I don't know what it is, but it's definitely the most times I've ever been hit since I started playing baseball. It's got to be four or five times lately." -- Hammel, on getting nailed with yet another comebacker in the first inning off the bat of Adrian Beltre

UP NEXTRight-hander Jakob Junis (5-7, 4.43 ERA) takes the mound for the Royals in the series finale against the Rangers at 7:15 p.m. CT on Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium. Right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx (0-1, 6.55) will start for the Rangers. Junis has lost four straight, including Friday's start against the Astros when he gave up six runs over 5 1/3 innings. He gave up three home runs in the game and has yielded 18 for the season.

Moose, Salvy in the mix for ASG startsJune 19, 2018 By Jordan Wolf/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/mike-moustakas-salvador-perez-eye-asg-starts/c-281949710 Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas and catcher Salvador Perez are both in the top five among their position in voting in the 2018 Camping World All-Star Ballot update released Tuesday.

Moustakas is seeking his third All-Star appearance this year in Washington, and Perez his sixth straight.

Moustakas is third on the team in batting average at .263. He leads the club in homers with 13 and RBIs with 47.

Perez sits just behind Moustakas in homers at 11. His slugging percentage of .429 is third on Kansas City. Perez is tied for third in runners caught stealing among all AL backstops.

Moustakas sits at 231,363 votes, a ways behind the Indians' Jose Ramirez, who leads third basemen with 893,530 votes.

Perez is in fourth among catchers with 344,915 votes. Wilson Ramos of the Rays leads the position, with 678,159 votes.

Fans may cast votes for starters at MLB.com and all 30 club sites -- on computers, tablets and smartphones -- exclusively online using the 2018 Camping World MLB All-Star Ballot until Thursday, July 5, at 11:59 p.m. ET. On smartphones and tablets, fans can also access the ballot via the MLB At Bat and MLB Ballpark mobile apps. Each fan can vote up to five times in any 24-hour period, for a maximum of 35 ballots cast.

Mondesi will get starts at SS; Esky in CF?June 19, 2018 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/royals-will-start-adalberto-mondesi-at-short/c-281962720

The streak may soon be coming to an end.

A day after Royals manager Ned Yost brushed aside questions about when infielder Adalberto Mondesi, presumably a big part of the team's future, may start at shortstop instead of Alcides Escobar, Yost said on Tuesday he now plans to play Mondesi some at shortstop.

Yost said he wanted to discuss the issue with Escobar first before announcing anything to the media.

"It'll probably be one time a week or two times a week, but we are going to play [Mondesi] some at short," Yost said. "And probably on those days, we're going to be moving Esky around, too. When I was in Milwaukee, Esky played center field. He can play third. He was probably one of the best athletes we had in the organization. Still extremely athletic."

One issue at stake was Escobar's streak -- he started for the 406th straight time on Tuesday, a club record and the longest active streak in the Majors.

"We talked about the streak last night a little bit," Yost said. "There will be times when he'll sit."

Escobar's response?

"He was excited about the opportunity," Yost said. "He's at a point in his career now where it will increase his value if he can play multiple positions, especially center field, third base, second base and shortstop as he can. So he was excited about that, something a little different. He understands exactly where we are with Mondesi. He was very, very, very good about the whole thing."

The Royals have little to lose by exploring new lineups and new positions for players. They entered Tuesday with a 22-50 record. And Escobar, hitting .206, was mired in a 3-for-45 slump.

"It's a good chance to experiment right now," Yost said. "There's nothing that's going to make or break us. You can start looking at things a little bit differently, and start experimenting with some things, and seeing how they look."

Who will close?Yost also said he will try several candidates to replace closer Kelvin Herrera, who was traded to the Nationals on Monday.

The options includes Wily Peralta, Brandon Maurer, Justin Grimm and Kevin McCarthy.

"Maurer has done it before," Yost said. "Peralta and Grimm have the stuff, and McCarthy has been reliable. We'll just see who takes the job."

Fillmyer upTo fill the open spot on the 25-man roster, the Royals called up right-hander Heath Fillmyer from Triple-A Omaha. Fillmyer was acquired in the offseason from the A's in the Brandon Moss trade.

Fillmyer, 24, was 4-5 with a 5.75 ERA in 13 starts for Omaha. Yost said he will pitch out of the bullpen here.

"It's a great feeling," Fillmyer said of getting called up to the Major Leagues. "You've been waiting for the kind of news like that your whole life. You've been working your whole life for it, and I'm just grateful for it. It's awesome to be here."

Kelvin Herrera makes instant impact on 'crazy' first day with NationalsJune 20, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article213506769.html

A little more than 24 hours after speaking to reporters in Kansas City about his trade to Washington, Kelvin Herrera took the mound Tuesday in his first game with the Nationals.

It was a whirlwind for Herrera.

"Yeah," Herrera told MLB.com. "Crazy."

Herrera was crazy good in his debut, needing a mere six pitches to set down the Orioles in order in the eighth inning. His new teammates were thrilled to have Herrera.

"It's funny, you see 95 on the Jumbotron, but it looks like 104," Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton told MLB.com. "I'm not kidding. I don't know what the gurus upstairs say about his spin effect or whatever, but I'm telling you, it looks like 104 coming out of a cannon. I'm so happy he's here and he's on my team and I don't have to face him anytime in the near future."

Herrera was greeted in the clubhouse before the game by a pair of former Royals teammates who are with the Nationals: Ryan Madson and Tim Collins.

“It’s like when you move to a neighborhood, and in the neighborhood there are two neighbors that you’ve lived near before,” Herrera told the Washington Post. “Obviously, we get along really well, and that makes me feel really good.”

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo told the Post that he reached out to Royals GM Dayton Moore three or four weeks ago to express interest in acquiring Herrera.

The Nationals traded a trio of minor league players to the Royals and are paying the prorated portion of Herrera's salary, which the Post said was around $4.4 million.

As the Post story noted, paying that money allowed the Nationals to get Herrera without giving up any of their top prospects.

“I think it really affects the player return, obviously,” Rizzo told the Post. “Picking up the entire contract — the prorated

portion of the contract — was important because it allows us to make the best deal we can for the long-term future of the organization.”

Make it eight: Rangers pounce early and extend Royals' losing streakJune 19, 2018 By Sam McDowell/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article213456574.html

Over the past month, Royals starter Jason Hammel had developed better command of his pitches, a topic of conversation he frequented when crediting a string of resurgence.

But the command was gone Tuesday.

The losing streak, on the other hand, rolls on.

The Royals’ skid hit eight games Tuesday after the Rangers pounced on Hammel early and left Kauffman Stadium with a 4-1 win.

Hammel allowed all four runs in the initial three innings before settling in with three consecutive zeroes.

“Too little, too late,” he said. “I put our guys in a hole early.”

The Royals (22-51) have lost 14 of 15 games, a stretch defined most aptly by their lack of production at the plate. They are hitting .188 in June, scoring only 2.1 runs per game in 17 outings this month. That left an early explosion from the Rangers insurmountable, especially with Cole Hamels in cruise control on the mound. Texas (31-44) scored twice in the third — an output that would have been larger if not for second baseman’s Whit Merrifield’s two-out diving stop to save a pair of runs — and followed it with two more in the fourth.

Hammel (2-8) walked four and allowed nine hits over 5 2/3 innings before handing the ball to the bullpen. He did not have a clean inning in the game and threw just 55 of his 94 pitches for strikes.

“I thought it was a grind for him tonight, the first three innings especially,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He was really fighting command there, especially in the second and the third.”

This after his most promising stretch of the season. Hammel posted a 2.56 earned run average over his previous five starts. He walked only five in those games, striking out 28.

“I put traffic on with (four) walks,” Hammel said. “That’s the part that bugs me.”

A day after trading reliever Kelvin Herrera to the Nationals — continuing the rebuild process — the wait to see who will get the first chance to serve as his replacement prolongs another day. The bullpen was a bright spot, though, with Tim Hill, Brandon Maurer and Burch Smith combining for 3 1/3 shutout innings. They allowed only two baserunners.

The defense aided the pitching staff — Merrifield’s diving stop in the second; Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon threw out runners trying to score; and Salvador Perez pegged a would-be base stealer, unleashing the throw from his knees. Gordon has seven outfield assists this season.

The Rangers asked Keone Kela to finish off the encouraging start from Hamels, who improved to 4-6. Hamels yielded only an unearned run over his seven innings, deftly working out of trouble twice. Merrifield advanced to third with nobody out in the opening inning but was left stranded.

Royals outfielder Rosell Herrera hit a two-out single in the fifth to score Gordon, a run that felt like a consolation prize after the first two batters in the inning reached base. Herrera had half of the Royals’ four hits, all singles.

Hamels struck out seven and allowed seven baserunners, three of them free passes.

“He mixes it up really well,” Merrifield said. “His percentages of pitches in counts are almost identical, so there’s no tendencies to him. He mixes everything up.”

The Rangers yanked rookie left-hander Yohander Mendez from his projected start in Wednesday’s series finale, a punishment levied for breaking a team rule, general manager Jon Daniels said, according to reports from multiple Texas outlets. The Rangers did not disclose the nature of the violation. Right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx will start Wednesday.

With Mondesi looming, Escobar appreciates why 'unbelievable' streak about to endJune 19, 2018 By Vahe Gregorian/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/vahe-gregorian/article213497249.html

If there’s any measly upside to starting the season 22-50 and being mired in an overhaul, at least the Royals have been liberated from any lingering obligations to nostalgia.

They should still appreciate the recent past, of course. We all should.

But beyond symbolically and culturally, there is precious little of that left to grow on. And surely soon to be even less.

So, forward … such as it is.

“It’s a good chance to experiment right now,” manager Ned Yost said Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium before the Royals took on Texas. “There’s nothing to make us or break us. We can start looking at things a little differently.”

So the club dismantling to restock itself dealt closer Kelvin Herrera for prospects on Monday night, and now who knows if any veteran is untouchable — or should be — considering this first season of rebuilding has played out even worse than the dire forecasts.

“I really thought next year would be the year that we would really, really struggle,” general manager Dayton Moore lamented Monday — without expanding on how this fiasco might play into 2019.

Yikes.

This is why sometime in the next few days another substantial, telling shake-up awaits:

For the first time since May 7, 2015, someone besides Alcides Escobar will start at shortstop for the Royals.

Thus will end Escobar’s club-record streak for consecutive starts at 406 as of Tuesday night.

For context, the last shortstop to have a longer streak was Cal Ripken Jr., who set the major-league record with 2,216 straight for Baltimore from 1982-96.

Of course, the Royals could extend Escobar’s overall starting streak by playing him at second base, third or even center field, Yost said, on the first day Adalberto Mondesi starts at short and tries to begin to lay claim to the job for years to come.

However it’s administered, count Escobar, who was hitting .206 and just 3 of his last 48 at the plate entering the game Tuesday, among those who know the time has come to give way.

In fact, when told about the team’s intention to soon start Mondesi at short a few times a week, Yost said Escobar brought up the idea of trying to mentor him.

In an interview with The Star earlier Tuesday, the smooth-fielding, erratic-hitting Escobar said he wasn’t scared of what needed to take place and was prepared to do whatever he could for Mondesi.

“He’s a really good kid; I told to him, ‘Anything you need, just let me know and I’ll be here for you, man,’ ” he said, adding that he knows one day soon “the future” will be due.

It’s tempting to say this was overdue, and the streak might seem trivial in any big-picture sense.

But it was a point of enormous pride for Escobar, who as of Tuesday had added 73 games to it since it appeared his ties to the Royals would be severed when he entered free agency after last season.

And it’s been part of something Moore said the Royals admired about him and wanted “to manage” respectfully.

Something that spoke to what Yost and Moore consider Escobar’s unique makeup of genetics and sheer will.

Like fellow Venezuelan Sal Perez, Yost said, Escobar’s love of the game and sense of duty is such that “it’s like you spit on them when you tell them they’ve got a day off.”

Words Escobar hasn’t heard in more than three years and seldom before that through 1,370 big-league games. That has included three seasons in which he played all 162 games — the only Royal to do so even once.

The streak is “unbelievable, and I’m happy for that,” Escobar said.

“Unbelievable” is a fine word for much of what has happened with Escobar in his time with the Royals, which began with the organization essentially acquiring Lorenzo Cain and him for Zack Greinke in 2010.

It has included Yost sticking with him when he was overmatched at the plate in 2011 to prime the pump for when it mattered more.

It’s featured the illogical impact of him as a leadoff hitter who seldom walked and the whole wacky swing-at-the-first-pitch thing that helped make him the ALCS MVP in 2015

and led to an inside-the-park home run in the first inning of the 2015 World Series.

It also has featured an improbable return to the team this year as the Royals sought to move on but found him available at a bargain rate of $2.5 million with up to $1.5 million more in potential bonuses.

They also signed him as a measure of where they thought Mondesi stood.

As much as the Royals knew Mondesi, 23, has to learn to perform at this level, they also were wary of how overwhelmed at the plate he often has been in stints over two seasons (hitting .181 in 188 at-bats, although 5 for 11 in 10 games last September).

They also were and are concerned about what he has lacked in comparison to Escobar.

“We just didn’t trust the overall health of (Mondesi), unfortunately,” Moore said Monday. “He’s a tremendous talent, as you know, but he’s got to stay on the field. If he doesn’t stay on the field, he does nobody any good. It’s just unfortunate, but that’s the truth.”

Now, as Yost put it Tuesday, “we want (Mondesi) to play the game” and explore the potential of the blend of speed and power he flashed again Monday with an RBI double.

And … they want him to play shortstop, the apparent end of another era.

“That’s pretty big, seeing somebody different at short,” Yost said. “But, you know, it’s exciting, too. Because now you’re starting to give other younger players opportunities to see what they can do.”

This Royals prospect went to drastic measures to inform his parents he was called upJune 19, 2018 By Sam McDowell/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article213493659.html

Heath Fillmyer left a ballpark in Reno, Nevada, just before midnight on Monday, hours after receiving the best news of his professional life.

A promotion to the major leagues. The Royals summoned him to fill the roster spot opened by Kelvin Herrera’s trade to the Nationals earlier in the evening.

Fillmyer, a starter in Triple-A Omaha’s rotation, was eager to share the news with the people he figured would most be excited — his parents, his sister and his girlfriend. But after numerous phone calls to his father and several more to his mother, he could not reach them. Each had already fallen asleep on the East Coast.

The news could not wait until morning, he said. So he requested his girlfriend drive to his childhood home in New Jersey and pound on the front door until his parents awoke from the noise. She obliged.

“She actually had to go over and knock on the door and bang it down a little bit,” Fillmyer said. “They finally woke up and heard the news. It was awesome.”

The ensuing few hours were predictably chaotic — scheduling flights, making traveling arrangements and the like. On Tuesday, Fillmyer’s first day in a Royals uniform, his parents, sister, girlfriend and a few friends were in attendance at Kauffman Stadium.

Fillmyer, 24, received the news of his promotion during the first inning of Omaha’s game Monday in Reno.

“It’s a great feeling — been waiting for news like that your whole life,” Fillmyer said. “Been working your whole life for it. I’m just grateful.”

It grows more difficult now, as Fillmyer attempts to prove he belongs. He had a 5.75 ERA in 13 starts for the Storm Chasers. He will move to the bullpen in Kansas City.

On Tuesday, he took over a locker previously owned by Herrera in the northeast corner of the clubhouse.

“He’s got four pretty good pitches,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We’re gonna see if he can throw them all for strikes consistently.”

Royals draft pick Jackson Kowar matches Gerrit Cole, Trevor Bauer in CWS gemJune 19, 2018 By Blair Kerkhoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article213480744.html

Jackson Kowar hears them. So does Brady Singer. Florida’s top two pitchers are being cheered and greeted by two fan bases at the College World Series. The Gators of course.

Also, Royals followers who are getting a close-up of the team’s top two selections in the draft earlier this month.

“They’ve been awesome to me and Brady,” Kowar said. “Everyone has come up to us and said how excited they are. It’s great they’ve come here to see us.”

Their excitement will be difficult to contain with what they saw on Tuesday. Kowar dominated Texas with 13 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. The Gators won the elimination game 6-1.

The strikeout total was the most in a College World Series game since 2010, when Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer each recorded that many for UCLA.

“Obviously, that’s really cool,” Kowar said. “Those guys are doing pretty well for themselves right now.”

The total is the highest since the college baseball championship moved to TD Ameritrade Park in 2011, and no pitcher in the last 40 years has recorded as many as 13 strikeouts in Omaha while pitching fewer than seven innings.

Kowar lasted 6 2/3, leaving the game after 121 pitches.

He mixed fastballs that touched 98 mph with a biting slider and change-up to fool the Longhorns throughout the afternoon

“When you have stuff like that it’s one thing,” Texas Coach David Pierce said. “But when you mix stuff with command, that’s when you’re a first rounder.”

Escaping a first-inning jam proved important. The Longhorns put runners on first and third with one out. But Kowar struck out the final two.

“It was huge getting through that first inning and just being able to settle in,” Kowar said.

He struck out the side in the third and sixth innings and worked out of another jam with help in the seventh.

A single and double put Longhorns on second and third to open the inning. With rain starting to fall, Kowar fanned the next two, and reliever Jordan Butler completed the inning with another strikeout.

“My main focus there was to avoid the big inning,” Kowar said.

Kowar was the Royals’ second choice, No. 33 overall. Singer, who lost to Texas Tech in the Gators’ opener on Sunday, was No. 18 overall. With their five picks on the draft’s first day, the Royals selected a rotation— five college pitchers.

That wasn’t necessarily the intention going into the draft but the Royals believed they couldn’t pass up Singer and Kowar, who were part of Florida’s NCAA title team last season.

Singer has been the Gators’ top starter this year, Kowar the No. 2 and on a college path that included a couple of detours.

Kowar signed Clemson out of Charlotte (N.C.) Christian but changed his mind when the Tigers coach was fired. Florida Coach Kevin O’Sullivan had spent eight years as a Clemson assistant, so Gainesville, Fla., was a logical landing spot.

But a condition he had developed in high school caused a lung to collapse during his freshman season. Florida reached the College World Series in 2016. Kowar did not.

With the victory, Kowar improved to 10-5 this year, 25-6 as a collegian and continued to reverse a late-season malaise in which he dropped three in a row. The streak stopped with a stellar seven-inning, one-run performance against Auburn in the Super Regional.

With Tuesday’s victory, the Gators are scheduled to play on Thursday and Singer and Kowar delay their professional lives for at least that long. There has been little contact between the Florida pitchers and Royals since the draft.

“They're kind of leaving us alone until the end of the season, which is great,” Singer said. “We’re here right now and our goal is to win a national championship. We’re here to compete.”

After trading Kelvin Herrera, who will the Royals use as their new closer?June 19, 2018 By Sam McDowell/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article213484299.html

Kelvin Herrera was the last remaining piece of the vaunted HDH bullpen that guided the Royals to back-to-back World Series appearances.

But the Royals’ dominance in the ninth inning actually predates that trio. The trade of Herrera to the Nationals on Monday leaves a void in the Royals’ bullpen they have not felt in a decade. Because even before Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland, there was a resurgent year from Jonathan Broxton and four dominant seasons from Joakim Soria.

In fact, since 2008, the Royals have had a relief pitcher record at least 23 saves in every season, and seven of the 10 have posted earned run averages of 2.27 or better.

That streak is almost certain to end considering this year’s Royals team is yet to win 23 games, and they’re nine games shy of the halfway point in the season. Also, there’s this: No one player will fill the role vacated by Monday’s trade.

“All of them,” Royals manager Ned Yost replied when asked who will get a chance to close out games. “Opportunity exists down there. We’ll have to see who takes advantage of it.”

The bulk of the chances, though, figure to fall to four primary options. There’s Brandon Maurer, a former closer for the Padres before joining the Royals’ bullpen in a 2017 trade. Maurer has 35 career saves, but he entered Tuesday with a 13.50 earned run average in 2018. Yost said he would also consider Kevin McCarthy, Justin Grimm and Wily Peralta.

“I’ll look at different guys, but I would prefer one guy to emerge, take advantage of the opportunity,” Yost said. “But it’s wide-open right now.”

Among that group, only Maurer has served in a closer’s role. Grimm has four career saves. All came with the Cubs — three in his career year of 2015 and one in 2017. McCarthy and Peralta have never recorded a major-league save.

Asked about the potential to be moved into that closer role, McCarthy said he’s “not really thinking about that at all, really. I think anyone in the ‘pen can get it done.”

The ninth inning requires a unique mentality. Not every player can replicate his success from middle relief when tasked with recording the final three outs. Yost said Tuesday he knew he had future closers in Davis and Herrera, even when Holland was serving solely in the position. In truth, Yost added, he would’ve felt comfortable with placing two more options from those pennant-winning teams into the ninth inning — Ryan Madson and Luke Hochevar.

On Tuesday, he acknowledged more of a wait-and-see approach.

“You got a pretty good idea who can handle it before (they’re put into that spot), but they still have to prove that they can handle it,” Yost said. “You provide an opportunity for guys, and some guys can take advantage of it, and some guys can’t.”

Lightning struck when a Royals player sat on Iron Throne from 'Game of Thrones'June 19, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article213480939.html

Royals manager Ned Yost is an avid television watcher and quickly burns through a series on Netflix while walking on his treadmill each day.

But there's a popular show he's not really interested in watching: HBO's "Game of Thrones."

The irony is that Tuesday is "Game of Thrones" night at Kauffman Stadium, and the Royals will be giving out a bobblehead of Yost on the Iron Throne.

"No, I've never seen 'Game of Thrones.' Not one show, I don't even know where it's at. Is it HBO or something?" Yost said. "I don't have HBO."

However, at least one family member likes the show and is intent on getting a bobblehead.

"It's driving my daughter-in-law crazy. (She says), 'Make sure you get me one' ... but I don't have an idea what it is, to be honest with you," Yost said.

Some Royals players are fans, however, and they took the opportunity Tuesday afternoon to get a photo on an replica Iron Throne at Kauffman Stadium. It's on display for fans at the game, so Drew Butera, Kevin McCarthy and Hunter Dozier took their place on the iconic item.

The Star's John Sleezer shot the video above and while Butera was on the Iron Throne, lightning struck in the background. It made for a great image.

"That would be sick, that lightning bolt in the background," Butera said in the video.

While Yost hasn't seen "Game of Thrones," he didn't rule out watching it one day.

"Maybe I would like it, maybe I wouldn't," Yost said. "There are a lot of things that I thought I wouldn't like that I ended up liking, like 'Breaking Bad' or 'Sons of Anarchy.' (I thought) I'm not going to watch that and watch it and love it."

Mellinger Minutes: Herrera's gone, what's next for Royals and worrisome about ChiefsJune 19, 2018 By Sam Mellinger/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam-mellinger/article213440954.html

This is a baseball cliche, but not as much when it's true, so here goes:

Kansas City watched Kelvin Herrera grow up.

The Royals saw it from the inside-out, of course. They signed him on a whim as a 16-year-old for $15,000, and he said then that he would not let them down. The sentiment was pure, but also unnecessary.

The Royals would not be let down with such a small investment, no matter the outcome, but Herrera's rise mirrored the franchise's. He and Sal Perez were each signed on the first scouting trip the Royals made after Dayton Moore's hire sparked a reinvestment into Latin America. The total bill was less than $100,000 for the two stars. The return was incredible.

Herrera was never the centerpiece, but always part of the heavy lifting. He was at his best as the first letter in HDH, the Royals' collection of closers who effectively ended games

after six innings, lifted the franchise to the top of baseball, and changed the way the rest of the sport viewed relievers.

He struck out nearly one out of every four batters he faced with a devastating combination of a high-90s fastball, Bugs Bunny changeup, and a slider he developed late that took him from good to great.

He was, always, among the most liked players in a clubhouse full of friends. Making the 2015 All-Star team changed him. He was always kind, easygoing away from the mound, but a little unsure of his place at the game's highest level. He saw making that team as validation, that people around the game saw him as more than a setup reliever.

Some may have looked at it as a gift from Ned Yost, the Royals' manager who chose the team that year. Herrera saw it as something more.

He is now among the game's best closers, and this is pacing for his most effective season. He leaves the only organization he's ever known for a playoff chase with the Nationals, joining a roster full of stars — Bryce Harper, Max Scherzer, Anthony Rendon, Stephen Strasburg and others.

Maybe he'll face Lorenzo Cain in late September, or even October, meaningful baseball again for two talents who deserve it.

The question in Kansas City is whether the Royals got enough in return. Kelvin Gutierrez is a 23-year-old third baseman with power potential. He is now the Royals' No. 8 prospect, according to MLB.com. Blake Perkins is a 21-year-old switch hitting outfielder with lots of athleticism but a bat that has not yet caught up. He is now the Royals' No. 15 prospect. Yohanse Morel is just 17 years old with a mid-90s fastball. A lottery ticket.

Conventional wisdom would've had the Royals wait this out. Forty-two days remain between now and the July 31 trade deadline, so patience may have created more of a market, and driven teams to part with higher-rated prospects. The Royals have rarely operated by conventional wisdom.

Moore and his assistants have been working on this and other trades for weeks, maybe months. Club officials had expressed frustration that teams weren't willing to trade more top-shelf talent, but they have also long ignored prospect rankings and trusted their own eyes.

Most of baseball didn't think they got enough in the Wil Myers trade. Cain never made a list of top 100 prospects, and he turned out to be the best player on the 2015 World Series champs. Herrera never made a list, and look what happened with him.

The Royals' self-trust has backfired at times, the same way conventional wisdom has backfired on others. But it also helped produce back-to-back pennants, and one of the most remarkable accomplishments in modern baseball history — a small-market champion, pulled up from the bottom.

We will see soon enough whether the Royals were right here. We will see soon enough more trades, with Mike Moustakas the most logical candidate, though the market is said to be cold and Royals fans likely to be disappointed with the return.

Losing weight stinks in the beginning, because you can't eat what you want and you're not yet seeing the results. But this

is what a rebuild looks like. Herrera will be a free agent after the season, and in part because of him, the market for relievers has been trending up for years.

He deserves that. He's earned it. He's better off for this chance. The Royals hope the same can be said for their future.

This week's reading recommendation is my friend Kent Babb on Tina Ball's stroke and the Ball family dynamics, and the eating recommendation is the smash burger inspiration from Kenji Lopez-Alt, which I saw from Mitchell Schwartz. If you try it, pro tip: wallpaper scrapers are not dishwasher safe

Tweet: Is there anyone from this Royals run that will be more confusing to look back at than Alcides Escobar?

I see it differently. Not confusing, but illustrative. No player's individual story better represents the Royals' rise than Alcides Escobar.

There is a case for Mike Moustakas — Dayton's first official pick, lots of hype, then lots of struggles, then broke out like a bull in the 2014 playoffs.

A case for Alex Gordon — Kansas City's most hyped athlete in a generation, then a broken prospect, then a position switch because they were out of ideas, then the game's best left fielder for a period of three or four years.

A case, even, for Sal Perez — the first big leaguer created from a reinvestment to international scouting, a flawed but terrifically talented player, high energy, lots of fun, the single past Donaldson on a pitch 17 feet off the plate, and the World Series MVP.

But Escobar's is pretty incredible, too. He — and Lorenzo Cain, who has his own case here — would never have been with the Royals if not for a string of events he had no control over.

First, Zack Greinke had to remake himself as a baseball player, overcoming a social anxiety disorder that nearly wrecked his career to be baseball's best starting pitcher.

Then, the Royals had to stink so bad and Greinke had to be so fed up that he demanded a trade. Then, the Royals' first choice of trade had to blow up when Greinke refused to sign a long-term contract with the Nationals.

THEN — and only then — did the Royals talk to the Brewers, who offered a trade built around Escobar, Cain, Jake Odorizzi, and Jeremy Jeffress.

Escobar was part of The Core, and in the beginning his role was the example of just how much Ned Yost believed — Escobar would hit in pressure situations in 2011 because he'd need to succeed in pressure situations in 2015.

He played beautiful defense, and wasn't much of a hitter but ran like hell and would take neither a strikeout or walk. Other than his above-average speed, he is one of the worst candidates imaginable to be a leadoff hitter, but danged if the whole thing didn't work better when he was the leadoff hitter.

It made no sense — none. The world essentially knew he would swing at the first pitch — an ambush! — but the world kept throwing him first-pitch fastballs over the plate anyway. He hit the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning of the

first World Series game in 2015 for an inside the park home run. He was the MVP of the ALCS that year, too.

He has played, over and over and over again, 405 consecutive starts after last night. From 2014 to 2016 — on teams beginning each season with World Series goals — no Royals player had more plate appearances.

Now, of course, he is not what he used to be. The flaws in his plate approach have been further exposed, the pitch recognition has not improved. He ranks 158th among 159 regular hitters in OPS. If not for the Royals' particular loyalty, he would almost certainly not be playing everyday, and the Royals' best version of themselves includes him not playing everyday as Adalberto Mondesi works his way into the big leagues.

You say confusing, and sure, I can see that.

But, more than that, what I see is the Royals' story told beautifully through a talented, flawed, exciting ballplayer who once made an All-Star team and won a Gold Glove and now has an uncertain future.

Yeah, that was bad.

If I was going to be objective and not root for myself, I would recognize that the Royals are now 22-50, which is a pace for 112 losses. I would recognize that they just traded their nails closer and are likely to trade their best power hitter. I would recognize that Jorge Soler is hurt and unlikely to be as productive going forward as he's been thus far, that Jake Junis has given up 12 runs and six homers in his last two starts, and that saying the Royals have lost seven straight and 13 of their last 14 is true but also sort of missing the point because losing 50 of 72 on the year is pretty dreadful, too.

Most of all, I would recognize that this team needs to finish 41-49 to avoid 100 losses, and has given no indication that it is capable of such sustained mediocrity.

I would recognize that, yes, it's true that losing 100 games is difficult. Nobody did it last year, only one has done it in the last four, and only 23 this century. I would recognize that, yes, less talented teams have avoided 100 losses, in part because to lose 100 games you need to be more than bad — you need to be unlucky, lose the close ones, give games away that you every right to win, and generally spend six months searching for answers that never come.

I would recognize that all of that is true, but this group here is currently approaching the season's midpoint with the eye of the tiger. They have met every challenge so far, starting with the day before opening day when they lost their star catcher to a luggage mishap.

So, I want you to know I see what's in front of us.

But, dangit, I've gone this far. I'm going to stick with my stance until loss No. 100 which, by the way, at the current pace will come in game No. 144 — Tuesday, Sept. 11 at home against the White Sox if you want to get tickets.

Tweet: At what point does there need to be some accountability for the Royals historically poor season and rather bleak outlook moving forward?

Couple points here.

First, and I know people get sick of me saying this but it's true: LOTS of folks wanted "some accountability" for the Royals in June and July of 2014. Lots of those folks quickly turned into the most positive Royals fans you've ever met, and lots are back here now wanting accountability again.

This isn't accusatory. Just the truth.

The Royals are a bit of an empty vessel right now. They're not going to fire the manager, but at some point I think it's going to be clear that both sides are better off moving on.

You can talk about firing the general manager, but even if we ignore the reasons that won't happen* I have made the case here a few times about why it shouldn't happen.

*Which include the thought of David Glass firing the guy who gave him a World Series championship and multiplied the franchise value by nine.

Basically, the case: if you fire Dayton Moore, you're going to want to hire someone exactly like him.

The Royals stink right now, and Moore and the people who work for him are responsible for that. Far too many of their specific player moves have backfired, regardless of the logic at the time, and they missed in the 30,000 foot view by not being more assertive about trying to rebuild or win after 2015.

But this same leadership group brought the franchise back from the ashes once before. You can ding them for certain mistakes, and it's true it took longer than it should've or they expected, but they won the dang World Series. That's pretty good.

There was a long time people said they'd be happy the rest of their lives if the Royals won a championship, or that all they wanted was for competitive baseball. Well, we've had that, and a team like the 2018 Royals was always going to be here.

Moore doesn't get a lifetime pass. But I do think we should wait more than 2 1/2 years after the parade* to talk about firing the guy.

*Drink.

Changing of the Guard? Royals set to end Alcides Escobar’s streak, experiment with Adalberto MondesiJune 20, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/399933/2018/06/19/changing-of-the-guard-royals-set-to-end-alcides-escobars-streak-at-shortstop-in-favor-of-adalberto-mondesi/

Let the experimenting begin.

With his team free-falling in the standings, Royals manager Ned Yost revealed on Tuesday that young shortstop Adalberto Mondesi (above) will replace Alcides Escobar in the lineup at least once or twice a week.

The decision will end Escobar’s streak of consecutive starts, which sat at a major-league-leading 406 games after Tuesday’s 4-1 loss against the Rangers. The Royals, however, believe it is time to move toward the future and to evaluate Mondesi at what could be his full-time position heading into 2019.

“It’s time to look at Mondi a little bit at short and move Esky around a little bit,” Yost said.

Escobar, for now, will still draw most of the starts at shortstop, while Mondesi mixes in at second base. Yet Escobar, who has made all but one of his 1,341 career starts at shortstop, could also spend time at second base, third base and center field, Yost said.

Escobar has never started a professional game in center field. He did make one start in right field for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2010, one year before he was packaged with Lorenzo Cain, Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress and sent to Kansas City for Zack Greinke.

Yost, however, recalled seeing a young Escobar patrol center field during instructional league while in the Brewers system.

“I still think he’s got the capability of playing some center field,” Yost said. “It’s a good chance to experiment right now. There’s nothing that’s going to make or break us.”

For the Royals, the Mondesi experiment at shortstop offered a window into the club’s thoughts for the future as it entered Wednesday at 22-51, on pace for a club-record 113 losses. For Escobar, the move signaled what could become a transition to a part-time player after eight years as the team’s starting shortstop.

“The team right now is not doing really good,” Escobar said. “[Yost] needs to do something. He can do whatever he wants because he’s the manager. And he’s talking about rotating — playing third, outfield, second.”

Escobar, 31, is batting .204 with a .250 on-base percentage in 73 games. His .538 OPS ranks as the second worst in the majors behind Baltimore’s Chris Davis (.454). Escobar will be a free agent again this offseason after signing a one-year, $2.5 million deal in late January.

Escobar ranks in the top 10 in franchise history in games (1,178, ninth), at-bats (4,447, eighth) and hits (1,149, ninth). He ranks second behind George Brett in postseason hits, recording 42 across 2014 and 2015.

He’s also posted an OPS-plus of 66 across the last four seasons, which ranks second worst in the majors during that time behind Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton. His days as an every-day player could be coming to an end.

“He’s at a point in his career where it will increase his value if he can play multiple positions,” Yost said. “Especially center field, third base, second base and shortstop, because he can.”

On Monday, Yost summoned Escobar for a brief chat and informed him of the club’s plans. They spoke about his streak of consecutive starts, the longest in Royals history. Escobar told Yost he was happy to mentor Mondesi, his possible replacement, at shortstop.

“I didn’t mention that,” Yost said. “He mentioned that.”

One night later against the Indians, Escobar did what he has done in every regular-season game since a Sept. 25, 2015 against the Indians: He started at shortstop.

Yost likes to call Escobar a “shark” because he appears to be composed of cartilage and not bone. On Tuesday, he likened

the gift of a day off to spitting on his player. He has long maintained that he does not require rest.

“Whatever happens, happens,” Escobar said. “I can’t control that. I want to play every day.”

Still, the streak will soon come to an end.. On Tuesday, Escobar finished 0 for 3 with a strikeout while flashing the defensive prowess that once won him a Gold Glove. In the top of the third, he retrieved a ball in shallow left field after an error by Mike Moustakas and threw Isiah Kiner-Falefa out at home plate. The numbers, however, indicate that Escobar is no longer among the elite at the position.

It is unclear, of course, whether Mondesi, 22, can replicate Escobar’s steady glove. His offensive production offers its own question marks after he batted just .181 (34 for 188) across short stints in 2016 and 2017.

The Royals, however, can afford to take an extended look in the second half before deciding if Mondesi can handle the job full-time in 2019. Mondesi was out of the lineup on Tuesday as Yost continued his plan of easing him into the lineup. But the managerial-imposed limit of three to four starts per week could end by the second half.

“You can start looking at things a little bit differently,” Yost said. “And start experimenting and seeing how they look.”

The Royals, of course, have spent much of the season placing regulars outside of their comfort zone. Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas have both started at first base. Whit Merrifield made his career debut in center field, and Alex Gordon drew regular duty in center in parts of April.

The piecemeal approach is a hallmark of a losing team. There could be more duct tape and glue on the way. The club entered Tuesday without a closer after trading Kelvin Herrera to the Washington Nationals on Monday night. (Yost says the team will start with a committee at the back and hope one pitcher emerges.) The Royals will also need to find room for Hunter Dozier when first baseman Lucas Duda is activated from the disabled list following a rehab assignment. They will likely spend much of the second half auditioning young pitchers in various roles.

On Tuesday, the experimenting began with an announcement from Yost. It is not clear when the Royals will finally put an end to Escobar’s streak. But someday soon, Yost said, they will.

“It’s change,” Yost said. “It’s a different change.”

Kansas City will always be the place where Kelvin Herrera found his voiceJune 19, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/399117/2018/06/19/kelvin-herrera-kansas-city-royals-washington-nationals/

It is a warm Sunday morning in Oakland, eight days before his final day in the Royals bullpen, and Kelvin Herrera is telling a story. It will only take a second. He has pitched in the major leagues for eight seasons, making two All-Star Games and winning one World Series. In a few days, the Royals will trade him to the Washington Nationals for three minor-leaguers. On that night, he will stand misty-eyed in front of a group of reporters at Kauffman Stadium, talking about the organization that raised him. But before all that

happens, he wants to tell you about his first day in the United States.

He was a 17-year-old pitcher from the Dominican Republic. He had flown to Surprise, Ariz., to take part in a fall instructional league at the Royals complex. And when he gets to this part of the story, he’s already laughing.

“OK, I’ll be honest with you,” he says. “So I got a lot of family that lives in New York. They’ve got a lot of pictures of big-ass buildings and stuff — and a lot of people walking around. So when I got to Surprise, I was like: ‘Where am I? What is this? This is the U.S.?’”

It is true that Surprise, a retirement community of strip malls, chain restaurants and urgent-care facilities on the northwest edge of Phoenix, is not the best introduction to America. But Herrera is worried that his sarcastic sense of humor will not translate to the printed word, especially when he is speaking in his second language, so he wants this in the right context.

“That was my first impression,” he says, his face deadpan. “Pretty disappointed with it.”

Moments later, Herrera laughs again. He is 15 minutes into a 30-minute interview, a conversation in which he will tell me about his childhood in the Dominican Republic, his struggles learning a new language, his late friend Yordano Ventura, and a career with the Royals that probably should not have been. He will not tell me about the time he tricked a recently acquired teammate into thinking he was an ill-tempered jerk who couldn’t speak English, or the times he trolled members of the Royals training staff with scholarly vocabulary words, but we’ll get to that later.

Before the stories are over, Royals general manager Dayton Moore will call him “one of my favorite people.” Manager Ned Yost will say he’s gone from a “boy to a man.” Catcher Salvador Perez will call him a “brother”, and reliever Kevin McCarthy, will call him “one of the funniest people I know.”

But first, Herrera is sitting on a bench in Oakland, continuing a conversation that began seven years ago. It is one that begins with a simple admission about an unexpected tryout when he was 16 years old.

“I was the hardest thrower,” Herrera says. “But I was the smallest one and the skinniest one. I was not a very promising guy.”

Kelvin Herrera was 21 years old when we first met. This was at the Futures Game in Phoenix. He was a 5-foot-10 minor-league reliever who could touch 100 mph on a radar gun. I was a 25-year-old reporter at the hometown newspaper who had talked my way into covering the All-Star Game.

In the hours before the annual prospect showcase, I found Herrera in the international clubhouse, where he had a Royals cap pulled over his head. We exchanged introductions and I asked if he had a few minutes to chat. He smiled big and said his English was minimal. We ended up talking for a few minutes anyway. He would tell me about his family back home in Tenares, Dominican Republic, about how excited they were. He would try to explain his journey from a kid who signed for $15,000 in 2006 to the cusp of the major leagues.

There was so much more he wanted to say, of course. He wanted to talk about his father, Sebastian, who supported the family by working for a company that manufactured concrete

blocks back home. Sebastian was a former amateur baseball player with a strong arm; he had taught his eldest son to play catch.

He wanted to talk about his mother Maria, who would attempt to watch the game on television, and his grandfather, who grew plantains, coffee beans and cocoa beans on the family farm.

“I pretty much grew up in the countryside,” Herrera says now. “My grandpa had land.”

Herrera likes to compare his hometown of Tenares to Kansas City. This may sound strange, he says. The population is not close. Tenares doesn’t have big buildings. But in the relative scope of the Dominican Republic, it fits. His hometown is a medium-sized city in the country’s northeast region, often overshadowed by nearby rivals.

“It’s like Kansas City,” Herrera says. “People move there to work.”

It was also a decent place to grow up, a place with big schools and fields for baseball, a place where Herrera pursued varied interests. Every Sunday, he would go watch the local firemen drill. He loved the uniforms and the organization. He pondered joining the military if baseball did not work out. He viewed it as a backup plan.

Tenares was the kind of place where the local kids would find an empty patch of land and play baseball all evening. In time, of course, Herrera would play a more organized version of the sport. He took the field in youth games in the area. He tried his hand at pitching. He was small, even then, but he would throw his fastball and his friends would whiff and he would wonder how good he could be.

“I didn’t know if I threw hard at all,” he says. “But I started pitching and people couldn’t hit it.”

On that day when we first met, Herrera finished a condensed version of the story and headed out to the field to play catch in Chase Field. The moment awed him, he said, but he could not find the right words. He could not explain the nights in the minor leagues or playing in A-ball at age 18 or the struggles to learn a new language, like the times he had followed a teammate into a fast-food restaurant in some small town to make sure he knew what to order.

“Let’s say you’re going to Kentucky Fried Chicken,” Herrera says. “Your teammate is like: ‘I want the combo with salad.’ And you’re like: ‘Sounds good, same thing.’ But probably you don’t know. It’s probably spicy and you won’t like it. But you have to eat it.”

For Herrera, though, the most frustrating part was his inability to communicate at a level that felt right. He had always possessed a sharp intellect and wit; he liked to tell funny stories; his humor bordered on sarcastic. Yet he found himself struggling to grasp the contours of a new language. He could not express himself fully. His stories were limited. He would misinterpret a command from a coach, such as a bunt play where he needed to cover third base.

“He’s explaining that to you in English,” Herrera says. “But you don’t understand what he’s saying. And then you probably do it wrong. And the coach thinks: ‘Oh, this guy is not ready yet.’ But it’s not because you don’t know the play. It’s because you don’t know what’s going on.”

Seven years later, back in the dugout in Oakland, Herrera still belittles his own English, frustrated with his own vocabulary. But his understanding of nuance and timing is impressive. He has practiced with teammates, with friends, and on a Twitter account where his wit is sharp as a scythe. So, yes, he will tell you the story of the day he signed.

“Have I told you this before?” he asks.

It was a morning in December when Kelvin Herrera arrived at the Royals Academy in late 2006. He had planned to spend the day at a cousin’s house, but then a local baseball handler arrived at his home in Tenares with a simple request: The Royals were looking at players at their academy complex in Salcedo, another town just six miles down the road.

How did his arm feel?

Herrera sensed the opportunity. He was just weeks from his 17th birthday. He also stood at just 5 feet 9. That alone made his baseball dream a long shot. He did throw hard, and he wanted to sign, but to this point, he’d had little luck. So a trip to Salcedo to throw for some scouts? Sure, he thought, and went along.

“When I got there, there was like a big-ass tryout,” Herrera says. “A lot of people. People were playing catch … people on the field taking ground balls. I said: ‘Oh, shit. This is real.’”

It was only later that Herrera learned the full story behind his chance. The day before, his handler had brought two other pitchers to throw for the Royals. They were big kids, he says, way more touted than he was. They were supposed to throw 90 mph. But each had topped out at around 83, and Herrera suspected that his handler was embarrassed.

“I was the backup plan,” he says.

After waiting all afternoon, Herrera finally took the mound. On at least one pitch, he hit 90 mph, causing a scout to approach.

“He asked: ‘How tall are you?’” Herrera says. “I’m probably 5-9, but I said ‘5-11’. He said: ‘No you’re not! I’m 5-10.’

“I’m like: ‘No man, 5-11!’”

Moments later, Herrera says, Royals assistant general manager Rene Francisco walked over. Francisco had been hired six months earlier, taking over the club’s international operations under new general manager Dayton Moore. He watched a couple of pitches and came away with a quick verdict.

“Sign him,” he said.

Herrera received close to $15,000, a paltry sum that amounted to a lottery ticket. He spent the next four years climbing the rungs of the minor leagues, sending dispatches back home. He met catcher Salvador Perez at the Dominican Academy, forging a bond with the Venezuelan catcher. (He remembers one coach pulling him aside: You know the only big-leaguer for sure here? This guy — Salvy.) He spent 2007 dominating in the Dominican Summer League, a first stop for recently signed players. And when he made it to A-ball as an 18-year-old in 2008, he received a call from Victor Baez, a coordinator at the Dominican academy.

Baez wanted Herrera to come speak to the young pitchers in the offseason, to serve as an example and an inspiration.

“They used to not like skinny and small pitchers, but that year, I killed it,” Herrera says. “There was a skinny guy there, and they said: ‘This guy is the next Kelvin Herrera.’”

The pitcher’s name was Yordano Ventura, a 17-year-old with a big arm and spindly frame. They became quick friends. Herrera liked to think of himself as an older brother of sorts. They shared the same accent, each hailing from the northern part of the country. Their hometowns would compete in softball games that served as a community party. They set up shop in adjacent lockers at Kauffman Stadium, and shared two straight World Series appearances in 2014 and 2015.

Ventura was always the more boisterous of the two. Herrera preferred to slide into the background. But in the days after Ventura died, crashing his jeep on a mountain road in the Dominican in January of 2017, Herrera was too crushed to attend the funeral. He wasn’t ready to see Ventura’s mother, he says. He still thinks about his friend every day.

One day last summer, the Royals’ bullpen crafted a prank. The club had acquired pitchers Trevor Cahill, Brandon Maurer and Ryan Buchter from the San Diego Padres before the trade deadline. So Herrera and relief pitcher Peter Moylan came up with a ruse.

Moylan would tell Maurer and Buchter that Herrera had a short fuse, that he didn’t speak much English, and that, yes, he was an All-Star but it was best to tread lightly. Herrera would spend the next few days playing his role to perfection.

“Kelvin pretended he was the jerk closer,” says reliever Brian Flynn. “The tough guy.”

As he grew older in Kansas City, as his English improved and his confidence swelled, Herrera found his voice. His sarcastic riffs were a staple in the bullpen. His daily preparation and focus inspired his young teammates. His Twitter game, the one public avenue he had for displaying his humor, remained among the best in the league. (A recent example: Herrera took to Twitter in April to offer support to @PitchingNinja, a popular account that had been suspended for using copyrighted material.)

As Greg Holland and Wade Davis departed, as the Royals’ HDH formula ran its course, Herrera embraced a leadership role. One day this season, Yost walked down to the bullpen and heard Herrera talking to a group of young relievers.

“It took him two years before we let him pitch the seventh inning,” Yost said. “He told them: ‘You guys are pitching the seventh and eighth inning now. Take advantage of it.’”

This season, as Herrera posted a 0.73 ERA in his first 24 2/3 innings, the Royals’ bullpen came up with another game. They would teach Herrera big words, expanding his vocabulary. Herrera would attempt to slide them into his conversations with Royals staff.

“He would store them in his head, and he’d drop them on someone,” Flynn says. “This year, we taught him a word like threshold or something bigger and he’d drop them on the trainers. And they’d be like: ‘What?’

“He’s so smart.”

It is a warm Sunday morning in Oakland, eight days before his final day in the Royals bullpen, and Kelvin Herrera is finishing his story. He can’t imagine leaving Kansas City, he says. It’s the only organization he knows.

He is talking about his career and his children — his 8-year-old son Kevin and young daughter Mahia have spent most of their lives in Kansas City. And I ask him if he envisioned any of this when we met at the Futures Game in 2011.

He smiles and starts listing off accomplishments: The two World Series, the world championship in 2015, the two All-Star Game appearances in 2015 and 2016.

“No,” he says.

There is also a 1.26 ERA and 38 strikeouts across 28 2/3 innings in the postseason; there are the three scoreless innings in a decisive Game 5 of the World Series; there’s the collection of minor-league championships that Herrera will not forget.

“Everything begins because a guy invited me to make a tryout because he doesn’t want to feel embarrassment in front of Rene Francisco,” Herrera says. “And now everything on top of it … you got to appreciate it.”

One moment later, Herrera stops to comment about his English for a second time. He wishes it was better, he says.

“I wish I could express more details,” he says. “I need to work harder on that.”

It is not perfect, of course, but it is pretty darn good, enough to amaze his American teammates. For Herrera, though, this is not enough. He would like to tell funnier stories. He would like to convey the emotion from his years in Kansas City. And yes, he would like to nail his next tweet.

“For sure,” he says. “I could be more sarcastic.”

MINORSWatch Royals' minor-league star Seuly Matias take part in Class A Home Run DerbyJune 20, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article213508334.html

Colorado Rockies prospect Chad Spanberger won the South Atlantic League's All-Star Game Home Run Derby on Tuesday night, but he was expecting a challenge going into the competition.

That's because Spanberger knows all about Royals' minor-league star Seuly Matias, who has already hit 22 home runs this season. Want to know more about Matias, read this feature from Maria Torres, the Royals beat writer for The Star.

"I've seen him hit them like 450, 460 feet," Spanberger told MiLB.com. "But it looked like it was farther. … I've seen him play in games. This guy has 22, so this might be hard to win."

Matias didn't make it out of the first round, but he did club 10 homers in the derby.

Baseball America's JJ Cooper shared video of Matias' last home run in his round.

Matias' teammate Nick Pratto swatted a home run and had four RBIs in the All-Star Game and won the MVP award.

Meet Seuly Matias, the Royals prospect who's putting up Mike Trout statsJune 20, 2018 By John Edwards/Sporting Newshttp://www.sportingnews.com/ca/mlb/news/kansas-city-royals-prospects-lexington-top-suey-matias-future-lexington-legends-farm-systems/hdaoawbdhnc81q1xk96kw5se3

Meet Seuly Matias, one of the most prolific home-run hitters in professional baseball this season.

If you’ve never heard of him, don’t be ashamed — this minor league Babe Ruth has been hiding out in Kentucky, mashing dingers for the Lexington Legends. But with the way he’s hitting, he might not be able to hide for long. Here are North America’s HR leaders across all affiliated levels of play.

Player HR PAMike Trout (MLB) 23 327Seuly Matias (Class A) 22 223J.D. Martinez (MLB) 22 299Jose Ramirez (MLB) 21 318Khris Davis (MLB) 20 276Bryce Harper (MLB) 19 310

Matias’ numbers this season for Class A Lexington, an affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, have been nothing short of mindboggling. Matias has hit as many HR as J.D. Martinez in 76 fewer plate appearance. He leads all minor league baseball by four home runs; the gap between Matias and second place in MiLB play is as large as the gap between second and thirteenth. The kicker? Matias is just 19 years old.

It is extraordinarily difficult to underscore Matias’ power this season. The South Atlantic League, where Matias plays, is very much a pitchers’ league. Leaguewide in 2018, the SAL has posted a .133 Isolated Slugging (ISO) — almost thirty points lower than MLB’s ISO this season (.161). In leading the major leagues in HR, Trout has an ISO .197 higher than the average MLB ISO. Matias’ ISO, however, is .255 higher than that of the SAL.

This is not to imply that SAL pitching is anywhere close to the quality of MLB pitching, but it contextualizes Matias' dominance in terms of power compared to the rest of his league.

Matias' power is unlike anything the SAL has seen in recent seasons. I pulled the list of SAL ISO leaders since 2006.

Hitter Year SAL ISOSeuly Matias 2018 0.388Darick Hall 2017 0.262Yermin Mercedes 2016 0.226K.J. Woods 2015 0.219Travis Dermeritte 2014 0.239Joey Gallo 2013 0.365Corey Dickerson 2012 0.347

Jared Clark 2011 0.241Brian Pellegrini 2009 0.288Giancarlo Stanton 2008 0.318Ryan Royster 2007 0.272Sergio Pedroza 2006 0.281The guys who really dominated the league — Stanton, Gallo, and Dickerson — combined for 127 home runs last in the MLB last season. Matias is mashing harder than them in the SAL in his young season.

Matias may have one of the most developed power tools in the minor leagues. Matias’ raw power potential was graded by FanGraphs at a 70 on a scale from 20-80, indicating excellent power potential, ranking among some of the top prospects in the minors. Matias’ recent power surge suggests that not only has his power matured, but it may be even better than previously thought.

As exciting as Matias’ sudden power surge is, Royals fans should put down their phones before calling their local congressmen to demand that Matias be called up: Matias still has a lot of kinks to be worked out.

For example, Matias’ strikeout rate is hanging in around 36.8 percent — the 11th worst figure in the MiLB and worst in the SAL. Scouts have questioned his ability to make contact, Adam McInturff wrote that scouts doubt Matias’ “ability to make consistent contact” and described him as “struggl[ing] to recognize off-speed pitches.” Matias has recorded whiffs on 22.3 percent of all his pitches this season, a figure that would be the worst in the major leagues by 3.7 percent.

Matias has also been a ground-ball pull hitter for most of his career: before 2018, Matias had run a 45.6 percent groundball rate on his batted balls, and tended to pull his batted balls more than 40 percent of the time. Defensive shifts are not as prevalent in the lower minor leagues as they are in the major leagues, so if he fails to elevate consistently or spray the ball, Matias might see a substantial portion of his production from batted balls vanish with the shift as he climbs the rungs of the Royals' farm system.

Matias has turned the SAL into his own personal home run derby, so it should be appointment viewing when he steps up to the plate. If Matias can keep developing and maturing as a hitter — and he has plenty of time to do so — he might be one of the most exciting hitters to come up for the Royals in a very long time.

Chasers Take Series in Reno with 9-2 WinDuda homers, Chasers enjoy winning road trip before returning home ThursdayJune 19, 2018 By Omaha Storm Chasershttps://www.milb.com/omaha/news/chasers-take-series-in-reno-with-9-2-win/c-281953882

The Storm Chasers used a 6-run 7th inning to pull away from Reno, as Omaha defeated the Aces 9-2 on Tuesday afternoon at Greater Nevada Field.

Omaha scored in the top of the 2nd, as Lucas Duda doubled, went to 3rd on a passed ball, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Frank Schwindel .

Reno responded with a pair of their own in the bottom of the inning, on 2-out RBI hits by Evan Marzilli and Kristopher Negron, giving the Aces a 2-1 lead.

The Chasers answered with a 2-run top of the 3rd. Corey Toups walked, Billy Burns singled, and Jorge Bonifacio lined a 2-out single to left center. Toups scored on the hit, and when a relay to 2nd was overthrown by Kevin Cron, Burns scored as well, putting Omaha ahead 3-2.

Scott Barlow threw 4 innings for Omaha, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits. He struck out 6 and did not issue a walk.

Robby Ray (L, 0-1) tossed 4.1 frames for Reno on a rehab appearance; he was charged with 3 runs, 3 hits, and 1 walk. He struck out 9.

After a tense 6 innings, the Chasers broke the game open with 6 runs in the top of the 7th. Logan Moon doubled, Jack Lopez singled, and Corey Toups reached on a bunt hit to load the bases. Billy Burns delivered a 2-run single, Jorge Bonifacio singled in another, and Lucas Duda crushed a 3-run homer to make it 9-2 Omaha.

Luis Vasquez (W, 2-1) pitched 2.1 strong innings of relief, striking out 5. Sam Selman recorded the final 2 outs in the 7th, and returned for a scoreless 8th. Kevin Lenik closed out the game in the 9th, sealing a series victory and a winning road trip.

The Storm Chasers (33-37) will be off tomorrow, before beginning an action-packed 4-game home series against Oklahoma City on Thursday. RHP Josh Staumont (1-1, 1.95) will toss for Omaha, while the Dodgers will send LHP Manny Banuelos (7-3, 3.14) to the hill. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05, and it will be a Thirsty Thursday and a Copa De La Diversion game at Werner Park.

Naturals Fall As Travelers Claim First-Half TitleArkansas clinches a spot in the Texas League Playoffs in September with the 7-1 victory on Tuesday nightJune 19, 2018 By Northwest Arkansas Naturalshttps://www.milb.com/northwest-arkansas/news/naturals-fall-as-travelers-claim-first-half-title/c-282041310

In a winner-take-all game at Arvest Ballpark on Tuesday night, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (0-1, 35-36) were unable to overcome an early deficit as they fall to Arkansas (1-0, 36-35) by a 7-1 final. The victory gives the Travelers the First-Half Title and secures them a trip to the Texas League Playoffs in September where they'll await the Second-Half winner.

After back-to-back losses, the Travelers raced out to an early lead in the top of the first. Chuck Taylor started things off with a one-out single then scored when Joey Curletta jumped on a first pitch for a two-out, two-run homerun for the early 2-0 lead.

Arkansas started to pull away a bit after a four run third inning. Braden Bishop led-off the frame with a single and advanced to third on a single by Eric Filia . After an intentional walk to Curletta loaded the bases, Chris Mariscal drove home two with a double to left field before Beau Amaral completed the scoring with a two-run single to give the Travs a commanding 6-0 lead.

Northwest Arkansas was able to get a run on the scoreboard in the home half of the sixth as Nate Esposito began the inning with a double to center field. After a walk to Donnie

Dewees , the runners moved up on a groundout by Erick Mejia . Nicky Lopez then came to the plate and brought home Esposito with a sacrifice fly to left field to cut the deficit to five runs at 6-1.

The Naturals would mount their biggest threat in the seventh when they loaded the bases with nobody out after three consecutive singles by Jecksson Flores , Anderson Miller and Alex Liddi ; however, Traveler reliever Bryan Bonnell was up to the task. He coaxed a line out by pinch-hitter Xavier Fernandez , struck out Esposito before giving way to left-hander Daniel Schlereth . The lefty followed suit and got Dewees to ground out to second to end the frame without surrendering a run.

The visitors would regain their six-run advantage with an insurance run in the eighth on a Yonathan Mendoza RBI single.

Northwest Arkansas fell behind early and just wasn't able to mount another comeback like they had done on Monday night. The Travelers out-hit them by a 12-to-6 clip with Curletta leading the way with three hits, two RBIs and a homer in the game.

North Little Rock starter Johendi Jiminian (W, 4-3) was extremely good throughout his 6.0 innings of work as he earned the win by limiting the Naturals to just a run on five hits. Emilio Ogando (L, 4-4) of Northwest Arkansas was tagged with the defeat.

Tonight's game served not only as a de facto First-Half Championship Game in the Texas League North Division but also as the first game of the Second-Half of the season as 69 games remain before the start of the Texas League Playoffs in September.

Northwest Arkansas will conclude their series against the Arkansas Travelers, the Double-A Affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, with the series finale tomorrow afternoon - Wednesday, June 20 - with first pitch scheduled for 12:05 p.m. Gates will open at 11:00 a.m. for Matinee Baseball at Arvest Ballpark. The Naturals will send LHP Jake Kalish (4-4, 5.40 ERA) to the hill where he'll be opposed by RHP Williams Perez (1-0, 2.70 ERA) of the Travelers.

Southern Division Uses Big Sixth Inning to Earn Comeback WinWilmington's Lee and Peterson Reach Base TwiceJune 19, 2018 By Wilmington Blue Rockshttps://www.milb.com/wilmington/news/southern-division-uses-big-sixth-inning-to-earn-comeback-win/c-282094868

In a back-and-forth game, the 2018 Carolina League All-Star Classic, presented by U.S. Foods, went in favor of the Southern Division All-Stars with a come-from-behind 7-6 victory at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, North Carolina Tuesday night. Wilmington's Kort Peterson was productive at the plate picking up a pair of hits, scored a run and had an RBI. Khalil Lee reached base twice with a walk and a single while Bryan Brickhouse struck out the lone batter he faced. Winston-Salem's Joel Booker earned the All-Star Game MVP and led the Southern Division's offense in the comeback win with three hits, including a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning and drove in four runs.

The Northern Division wasted no time getting on the scoreboard and sent six men to the plate to score three runs in the opening inning. The first three batters reached to load the bases before Potomac's Jake Noll put the Northern Division on the board with a sacrifice fly. Frederick's Preston Palmeiro doubled the lead with an RBI groundout before Peterson ripped a two-out single to center field to drive home Potomac's Carter Kieboom from second to give the North a 3-0 lead.

Lee entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the fifth and the Carolina League leader in walks showed patience at the plate and drew a leadoff walk. Wilmington's D.J. Burt came in as a pinch-hitter three batters later and battled against Carolina's Marcos Diplan before going down on strikes. In the seventh inning, Lee again set the table and reached with a leadoff single to center field, but the Northern Division was unable to score in the inning.

In the top of the eighth, Peterson laced a leadoff double to center field and came around to score a batter later when Lynchburg's Conner Capel singled him home to pull the Northern Division within two runs, 7-5. In the bottom of the eighth and with two outs, Brickhouse was called upon and struck out Myrtle Beach's Jhonny Pereda , hitting triple digits during the at-bat.

Buies Creek's Brandon Bielak earned the win after he tossed the sixth inning and allowed a hit and a walk. Frederick's Tyler Erwin suffered the loss and the blown save as he gave up the lead with three runs allowed on two hits while recording two outs in the four-run sixth inning that helped push the Southern Division to the victory. Pelham, who is second in the league in saves behind Brickhouse, picked up the save for the Southern Division.

The Blue Rocks start the second half of the season with a four-game road trip to Potomac and a clean slate in the Northern Division on Thursday, June 21, with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. Fans can catch all the action as Matt Janus will have the call on 89.7 WGLS-FM.

Legends' Own Nick Pratto Named South Atlantic League All-Star Game MVPJune 19, 2018 By Lexington Legendshttps://www.milb.com/lexington/news/legends-own-nick-pratto-named-south-atlantic-league-all-star-game-mvp/c-282023206

Four Lexington Legends participated in the 59th Annual South Atlantic All-Star Game on Tuesday night representing the Southern Division with Nick Pratto named as the MVP. Pratto, Seuly Matias, MJ Melendez and Sebastian Rivero combined to go 3-for-9 with 4 RBI, two runs and a home run. The South All-Stars beat the North 9-5.

Nick Pratto went 2-for-5 with 4 RBI and one run. Pratto recorded his first hit in the top of the third inning. He lined a two-run single to right field. Pratto then smashed a two-run homer to centerfield in the top of the fifth inning.

MJ Melendez went 1-for-2 with one run scored. He singled in the top of the third inning, then advanced to second on a fielding error. Sebastian Rivero caught the final three inning of the ballgame, but did not have a plate appearance. Seuly Matias went 0-for-2, and blasted 10 home runs in the Home Run Derby.

The Legends are back at Whitaker Bank Ballpark tomorrow, June 21 at 7:05 p.m. to face the Charleston RiverDogs.

NATIONALRosenthal: Why were the Royals so quick to deal Kelvin Herrera?June 19, 2018 By Ken Rosenthal/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/399687/2018/06/19/rosenthal-why-were-the-royals-so-quick-to-deal-kelvin-herrera/

Why now?

Why didn’t the Kansas City Royals just wait for a better deal than the one they received from the Washington Nationals for right-hander Kelvin Herrera, one of the best relievers available in trade?

A number of rival executives expressed surprise the Royals accepted the Nationals’ offer of Double A third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez, High A outfielder Blake Perkins and 17-year-old right-hander Yohanse Morel on Monday, more than six weeks before the non-waiver deadline.

One of those execs cited Herrera’s most recent outing, last Tuesday against the Cincinnati Reds, as a possible factor in the Royals’ thinking. Herrera, 29, entered that game with a 1-0 lead in the ninth inning and blew his second save, issuing his first two walks of the season and allowing a homer to Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart. In the middle of the inning, manager Ned Yost and one of the Royals’ athletic trainers visited Herrera on the mound, seemingly checking on his health.

Herrera’s velocity was mostly in his usual 95 to 97 mph range during his 31-pitch outing, but also dipped as low as 92-93. Unlike last September, when he could be seen shaking his arm and was shut down for five days with a forearm strain, he gave no outward appearance of discomfort (Herrera struggled initially after returning from that strain, but finished the season strongly).

This is a pitcher who has appeared in 442 major league games over eight seasons without once going on the disabled list, a pitcher who before last Tuesday was 14-for-15 in save opportunities with a 0.73 ERA, albeit with his lowest strikeout rate since 2014.

The Royals’ Dayton Moore — perhaps the most honorable executive in the game, and the last general manager who would be accused of trading damaged goods — dismissed any notion that Herrera’s last outing persuaded him to act sooner rather than later.

“Not at all,” Moore said on Tuesday. “If we didn’t get the right deal, we would simply have not moved him.

“I’ve got complete confidence in Kelvin, complete confidence in his ability to continue to pitch well throughout the year. I’ve known this kid since we’ve been here in Kansas City. He’s one of the first kids we signed (Moore became Royals GM in June 2006; the team signed Herrera out of the Dominican Republic that December). I know and trust and believe in him. It didn’t bother me a bit. We know the player.”

Last Tuesday’s outing?

“(Catcher) Salvador Perez called Ned and the trainer out,” Moore said. “There was no issue with him at all. There is nothing on the medical. There’s nothing.”

Herrera, it turned out, was simply having trouble gripping the ball against the Reds, Moore said.

So, Herrera is sound?

“Completely,” Moore said.

Herrera certainly looked sound on Tuesday night, when he threw 96 to 98 mph in his first appearance for the Nationals, needing only six pitches to complete a 1-2-3 eighth inning.

Before every trade, clubs vigorously examine the medical records of each player involved. Nationals GM Mike Rizzo said his team also scouted Herrera four times in person, spoke with people who knew him and instructed their doctors and athletic trainers to review Herrera’s history with their counterparts from the Royals.

The Nats did not scout Herrera’s last outing in person, but Rizzo said he watches extensive video of every trade candidate and was aware of the pitcher’s difficulties that night.

“It gives you pause to think, Is he hurt?” Rizzo said. “But our medical people were very satisfied with what they saw and heard. I have to trust my medical people and trust his track record. We feel comfortable about it.”

The Nationals assumed the approximately $4.45 million remaining of Herrera’s $7.9375 million salary, enabling them to part with lesser prospects. The Royals saved about $1.8 million by trading Herrera on Monday instead of waiting until the July 31 deadline, and also eliminated the risk of him suffering an injury before they could move.

The way one rival executive saw it, the Royals had three options once the Nationals made their offer:

*Jump at it as the Royals did, hasty though it might have appeared.

*Shop the offer and try to get a better deal.

*Wait and gamble the eventual return likely will be just as good, if not better.

Moore, however, liked the idea of getting two position players with upside — MLBPipeline.com rated Gutierrez, 23, the Nationals’ No. 10 prospect, and Perkins, 21, No. 11. The Royals, in full rebuild mode, recently selected pitchers with their first five draft picks and eight of their first 10.

According to one rival executive, Gutierrez might prove similar to former Royals third baseman Joe Randa, playing good defense and providing league-average offense, if not much power. Perkins, an above-average center fielder with speed, needs to develop as a switch-hitter to project as a regular. Morel, a lottery ticket signed out of the Dominican Republic, recently made his professional debut.

“The thing we knew about Perkins and Gutierrez is that they have a chance to be elite defenders,” Moore said. “Offensively, they’re continuing to develop. It’s very difficult to predict who is going to hit, especially at the major

league level. But we knew their makeups were very good. As you try to build your future major league team, we want to build it on pitching and elite defense.

“When we traded for (shortstop Alcides) Escobar and (center fielder Lorenzo) Cain, there wasn’t anyone in the industry who wrote that they were going to be offensive players,” Moore continued, referring to the Royals’ trade of right-hander Zack Greinke and shortstop Yuliesky Betancourt to the Milwaukee Brewers on Dec. 19, 2010, which also brought right-handers Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress to Kansas City.

“In fact, the industry felt neither one of them was going to hit. We didn’t know if they were going to hit, either. But we knew they were elite defenders and athletes, that they would have a chance to develop offensively. We were going to play them and believe in them because of their defensive ability. It’s the same type of philosophy.”

Moore said the Nationals were the most aggressive club on Herrera, while others were “just kind of waiting and seeing what was going to be available, where their team was going to be.” Whatever the outcome of the deal — which from the Royals’ end will take years to determine — Moore said he was not motivated by any concern over Herrera’s health.

“I heard the same thing when we traded for Johnny Cueto,” Moore said, referring to the Royals’ acquisition of Cueto from the Cincinnati Reds on July 26, 2015, a move that helped propel Kansas City to the World Series title.

“There were unnamed, anonymous executives and scouts who said Johnny Cueto was hurt. Oh, really? How did that turn out?”

Hurry up and wait: How MLB players deal with the mental toll of a long DL stintJune 19, 2018 By Dave Brown/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/398924/2018/06/19/hurry-up-and-wait-how-mlb-players-deal-with-the-mental-toll-of-a-long-dl-stint/

To Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, passing the time on the disabled list is like W.C. Fields joking about his favorite city.

“Philadelphia? Wonderful town. Spent a week there one night.”

For Kiermaier, who has been recovering from torn thumb ligaments on his right hand since he got hurt making a head-first slide on April 17, every second spent on the disabled list has seemed like minutes. The minutes seem like hours. The hours, like days. And the days go by… you get the idea. They’re very, very long days. Especially when the Rays hit the road and Kiermaier stays behind to rehab, as he did in 2016 and 2017, when he also spent a significant amount of time on the DL.

“I’m supposed to be around these guys from February to October and beyond, hopefully,” Kiermaier said. “And this being my third year in a row with a significant injury, landing on the 60-day DL for the second year in a row, it’s hard to cope with.”

After a relatively short injury rehab assignment this time around, Kiermaier is set to rejoin the Rays on Tuesday — about 3 ½ weeks ahead of schedule. Getting back on the field will relieve Kiermaier in ways he finds hard to express, considering how much time he has missed, and anguish he has accumulated, over a relatively short career.

In 2017, Kiermaier lost 61 games because of a right hip fracture (acquired on a foot-first slide). In 2016, the two-time Gold Glove winner missed 48 games due to a fracture in his right hand suffered while diving for a ball in the outfield. His current injury has been the most maddening. Until recently, Kiermaier’s baseball activities were limited to shagging flies during batting practice. And even then, he was limited by a bulky cast over his thumb that prevented him from throwing, much less swinging a bat. Kiermaier felt like he had almost no use.

“Shagging during BP is my game right now; it’s my 7 o’clock at 5 o’clock,” Kiermaier said.

Major leaguers use the disabled list to heal, while also trying to maintain their physical strength and keep sharp mentally until they’re ready to play again. MLB provides some of the best athletic training staff and medical care available, but the mental component of being sidelined for longer periods can be tricky. Rehabbing from serious injuries can be monotonous. It can be isolating and lonely. Injured players need to get their rehab work in, but they also don’t want to get in the way, or drain attention and resources from players on the active roster.

While playing with the Marlins in 2015, Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton sustained a hamate bone fracture in his left hand that caused him to miss about half of the season. Stanton says injured players generally can’t operate in the same orbit as their active teammates.

“You’re on different schedules, man, you have different agendas,” Stanton said. “When you’re hurt, you don’t worry about playing the games. That reality is over. Just worry about getting back as fast as possible. If that means not going on the road or hanging around the clubhouse all the time, then that’s what you have to do.”

Stanton said he could identify with Kiermaier’s injury quandary, although his own hamate recovery allowed him to swing a bat, at least.

“Hurting your thumb? That’s tough,” Stanton said. “That sucks, because all you can do is run, leg stuff. You can’t swing, you can’t really play catch. You can’t do baseball-specific stuff. That’s a little tougher.”

Many major league clubs — the Rays are one — have specific policies about injured players traveling with the team on road trips, though how those policies are applied varies from team to team. The default often is: Injured players stay off the road, instead working with any athletic training staff staying behind and utilizing the world-class facilities most teams have in their home stadiums.

When it comes to the above policy, though, it matters who the injured player is. By the time Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals missed 48 games in the middle of the 2015 season with a strained groin, he had been playing for nine seasons. When the Royals hit the road, the injured Gordon went with them.

“You kind of need to earn it to be able to do that, and I think I’d been around long enough where they felt like I was part of the team and they wanted to keep me part of the team,” Gordon said. “They knew that I was going to come back and be a big help to ’em, so they wanted to keep me involved.”

That’s why it made sense for Rays manager Kevin Cash to tweak the team policy for road trips and let Kiermaier travel to Baltimore and Kansas City.

“You can bend rules,” Cash said. “You’ve got to do right by the 25 guys who are healthy but, at the same time, you’ve got to do right by the guy that’s injured. He is completely out of his comfort zone, being on the disabled list. That itself can affect your mind, to where you’re not getting the most out of your rehab.

“Now, KK, there wasn’t a ton he could until he got the cast off, but he means so much to our team, as far as in the dugout, in the clubhouse, the energy he provides, I know the guys enjoy having him around. I enjoy having him around. KK’s probably going stir crazy. It was a pretty easy call for me because I want him around.”

When he was a player, Yankees manager Aaron Boone spent more than his fair share of time on the DL, including once for open-heart surgery in 2009. Five years before that, he missed the entire MLB season after blowing out his knee playing pickup basketball in January. It was a decision that led to the forfeiture of an otherwise guaranteed contract with the Yankees, who cut Boone just four months after he hit a famous home run against Tim Wakefield that won the ’03 ALCS at Yankee Stadium.

In 2004, Boone worked out on his own in Southern California and created a bond with the athletic training staff and the other athletes working out where he did his rehab.

“That became my team,” said Boone, who didn’t sign with a new club until Cleveland picked him up in late June on a minor league deal.

During the times that Boone was hurt and still rostered, he always felt he still had something to offer. Now, as a manager, he wants his own injured players to feel the same way.

“I always wanted to be, as much as I could be, what I’d call an energy-giver,” Boone said. “When I was out for a good while, my first priority was doing everything rehab-wise. That’s your focus. But I always wanted to be somebody that could still bring something to the table. I wanted to be a good teammate, and you still can do that, even if you’re not playing.”

That’s the kind of boost the Rays know they’ll always get from Kiermaier as well. It’s one thing to be able to stop by Tropicana Field during a homestand and reconnect with the guys, but the Rays travel longer than most teams due to geographical reasons. Tampa Bay was scheduled for six road trips of at least 10 games this season. Kiermaier, knowing his second cast would soon be removed, talked his way onto the traveling squad in mid-May.

“It wasn’t like I was fighting our coaching staff or our management to get me on this trip,” Kiermaier said. “I told ’em, ‘Hey, I’ll book my flight home from Kansas City. I don’t want anyone to pay for what I’m doing. I’ll book my own flight and be out of everyone’s hair and I’ll see you guys when you get home.’”

Rays coach Rocco Baldelli knows exactly where Kiermaier is coming from. Baldelli spent a lot of time on the DL during his seven-year playing career until he decided to retire at age 29 because of a rare cell disorder. After spending four years in the baseball operations department of the Rays’ front office, he became the team’s first base coach in 2015. Since the start of this season, he’s been the Rays’ major league field coordinator, a staff position that includes a focus on outfield defense. Although he never won a Gold Glove like Kiermaier, Baldelli played center and his overall skill set was similar.

“It’s not the easiest situation to work through,” Baldelli said. “All the guys in this room, they prepare to play. You don’t prepare as a kid or as a player in the minors, or as a big leaguer to react to being hurt and out all of that time.”

Baldelli had so many open-ended DL stints that he used some of the time away to learn skills entirely unrelated to baseball.

“I did spend a lot of time at the field,” Baldelli said. “I did not try to get out of there and go home as soon as I could. But you do have to get away at some point. I did some fishing, I picked up playing the bass guitar, actually. Out of the blue, I ended up sitting on my couch and teaching myself how to play. If you’re going to have to miss that time, you might as well try to do something productive.”

Kiermaier’s not ready to do that. Most of his concerns still lie between the lines.

“For him, it does not come natural to just sit,” Baldelli said. “You do have to, whether it’s at the field or away from the field, you have to figure out something specifically for you that’s going to keep you occupied … it’s tough because you’re hurt physically, but also psychologically, emotionally it’s as great of a challenge, if not more, to get through an extended absence.”

Early in his rehab, shagging flies in the outfield during batting practice was Kiermaier’s special time. When the Rays were in Kansas City and a batting practice got washed out by the threat of rain, Kiermaier was crestfallen.

“You see? Can you believe it? Somebody’s out to get me,” Kiermaier said.

“You kind of have to drag him off the field sometimes and say, ‘That’s enough.’ Even when he’s healthy,” Baldelli said. “I think the guys enjoy having him around. He’s got good energy; he shows up every day with that energy and it would be a shame to waste it sitting at home on the couch.”

Kiermaier has learned what it’s like to sit on the couch during his earlier DL stints, including this season when the Rays hit the road in late April and early May. He stayed home with his wife, Marisa, who is due to give birth in November. Fitted at first with a cast on his hand that wasn’t even waterproof, doctors and athletic training staff told him to go home and do nothing. No biking, no biceps curls. No sit-ups, no swimming. Actually, don’t even sweat, because the moisture might infect the surgery scar.

“I was going crazy,” Kiermaier said. “I have a pregnant wife at home; she was very nauseous her whole first trimester. I say that because she was in the house the whole time, and I was in the house the whole time, and as much as I love my wife, we both had cabin fever. It was like we were connected at the hip because we couldn’t do anything. I was very bored

when the team was on the road. I’m gonna be sitting here watching them on TV every night, just wishing I could be around the team. And you feel very distant from the team whenever you’re not in contact with the guys… I don’t have the everyday interaction with my teammates and that’s what kills me.”

Rays catcher Wilson Ramos understands what Kiermaier is going through. Ramos has experienced several unlucky injury setbacks, notably knee surgeries, that have cost him months of accumulated playing time.

“I feel bad for all the guys on the DL. It’s hard to watch those guys, especially him, who’s one of the key guys and best players on the team,” Ramos said. “With his cast, he can’t do anything — just watch the game. I understand that and try to give him support because he needs to be strong mentally to be on the 60-day and be off the field like he is.”

It’s even harder when the team goes on the road and leaves you behind.

“It’s worse to be at home watching the game on TV,” Ramos said. “You can do nothing. You can’t even give opinions to your teammates. At the stadium, you can give your support, you can shake hands, you can joke around in the dugout. You can talk to the catcher who’s playing. You’ve got experiences you can share.”

But sometimes, an injury also allows for experiences beyond baseball. Having a relationship at home was important for Mike Moustakas, who tore his ACL in the early going in 2016, after the Royals had won the World Series. His wife, Stephanie, was pregnant for most of the ’16 season and gave birth to daughter Mila Constance in September. With months of rehab still to go, being able to be home — and not just for a few days — made a difference to Moustakas.

“I hung out with my kid; I had just had a baby girl and that took up a lot of my time,” Moustakas said. “Huge difference. Absolutely. It was a blessing in disguise because I was able to be there to watch my baby girl be born. Definitely an amazing experience — even if it’s not the way you want it to happen. But I could help my wife out around the house, come in and do my rehab and be around the boys. Once I was done at the ballpark, I went back home.”

Moustakas still felt the lack of baseball.

“I still missed it,” he said. “I just went out there and wanted to get better as soon as I could to be ready for the next season. I worked harder, if anything, because I wasn’t playing. I didn’t have a game to play. I was in the training room, battling against myself, against my rehab. That was kind of how I approached it. That was my game every day, to find a little strength in my knee or my quad. Knowing I wasn’t coming back soon made it tougher if anything, but also made me want it that much more for the next year.”

Lengthy rehabs for serious injuries is one reason why doctors and physical therapists build in downtime to the healing process. If a pitcher is looking at a year or 15 months away because of Tommy John, teams want to minimize the daunting prospect of not playing for so long. Cash credited athletic trainer guru Ron Porterfield, now with the Dodgers, with developing such a system with the Rays.

“They build into that rehab a 10-day to two-week break,” Cash said, “and just say: ‘Get outta here. Go home, go visit mom and dad, go hang with your girlfriend, your wife.’ Get

your mind right, because if you’re doing the same, monotonous repetition every single day, it’s draining. And you’re not going to get the type of rehab that you need. I thought it was brilliant that the Rays staff came up with that.”

Having family to lean on can make all the difference. Earlier this season Rays left-hander Jonny Venters became the first pitcher to come back from three Tommy John surgeries. A fourth surgery on his elbow performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, came in 2016. There’s no way Venters mentally could have gotten through the 2,028 days between major-league pitches without his wife, Viviana, and their kids.

“I lean on a lot of people, man,” Venters said. “These last five years, every time, my wife and kids were with me every step of the way. We were never really apart. I had them and I don’t think I would have been able to do it without them. I had them, and I had the Rays and Dr. ElAttrache. My support system was amazing. My parents. A lot of people made what I was doing easier.”

Motivation comes easily for Venters because he wants to pitch. He also keeps a healthy perspective on when he was unable to do it. Not being on a major league team all that time afforded Venters the opportunity to parent his kids on an equal level with his wife.

“When I was in Port Charlotte or home, I could go to the field for a few hours and do my work and then I was home, playing with the kids and swimming in the pool,” Venters said. “I was really fortunate, on that front, to be able to spend every day with them. Aside from the few hours I was at the yard. But that’s just like going to work for a normal person.”

Venters’ perspective also has been informed by what goes on in the world outside of the bubble of a major league clubhouse.

“I’ve said it before: There’s people going through a lot worse things than trying to play a game for a living,” Venters said. “I understand that, [but] I didn’t always understand that. There were times when it got the better of me. The older I got, the better I could understand that what I was doing, in terms of life, there were people going through a lot worse than I was.”

That’s not to minimize what Kiermaier is experiencing. He’s not simply a jittery sort who’s antsy about not playing. He’s all-too-aware of what he’s been missing.

“This is what I love doing, and you can’t do it forever,” Kiermaier said. “That’s a hard part about these injuries: you never get this time back. I’ve been in the big leagues for three-plus years and I only have one full season under my belt, and that was back in 2015. In spring training, I said that all I wanted to do was stay healthy for my team.”

Getting hurt pisses him off, frankly, and Kiermaier is certain it will haunt him.

“I’ve had three freak accidents,” Kiermaier said. “It’s not like I’m pulling the same calf [muscle] over and over, or hammy tweaks. I shattered my hand diving for a fly ball. I broke my hip sliding feet-first and I tore my thumb sliding head-first. I feel like I’m in the prime of my career and I’m on the DL for these precious moments of my career that I’ll never have back. I know I have a lot of good years left in me but I also know that this is my age-28 season.

“Until my body tells me that I can’t be a speed player, the type of defensive player I can be… who knows when that’ll be? But right now, I know I’m wasting precious time, being on the DL. I know I need to be on the field helping my teammates. I’ll always feel guilty. I’ll feel guilty for the rest of my life.”

For now, he can file that guilt and perhaps use it for motivation.

“I know my team misses me,” Kiermaier said. “I miss them a ton. I can’t wait to take the field with them again.”

Kansas City Royals help fan attend gameJune 20, 2018 By The Miami County Republichttp://www.republic-online.com/sports/louisburg/kansas-city-royals-help-fan-attend-game/article_412967da-7165-587a-b092-839bd9c588df.html

My friend Shannon had not been to a Kansas City Royals baseball game in more than 20 years, so I invited her to go with me for an interleague game against the Cincinnati Reds.

Shannon, who is disabled, had to rest for several days before being able to go, and it was still a game-day decision.

Despite the pain, knowing this trip would cause her to in bed for most of the next three days, Shannon wanted to cheer on her Royals and see the new Kauffman Stadium.

It was also Edward D. Jones Night at the ballpark, so Shannon and I were able to enjoy some incredible Jack Stack Barbecue and washed it down with ice cold water on what was a sweltering evening in Kansas City.

After dinner, Shannon was not sure she was up for going to the game.

It looked like at least half a mile walk to the stadium, and neither one of us knew exactly how much farther it would be to get to our seats down the right field line.

We were thinking about calling it a day and heading back to the truck when we learned the Kansas City Royals offered a golf cart shuttle system to assist fans with getting to and from the stadium.

They pulled right up to the tents for the Jack Stack Barbecue dinner and took us to the front of Kauffman Stadium right by the statues of Ewing and Muriel Kauffman.

Once there we learned the Royals also offered a wheelchair service to and from our seats.

A big man named Ron came with a wheelchair and took Shannon right up to her section as I walked briskly behind them, trying to keep up with his pace.

We both thanked Ron, but he thanked us for coming out and supporting the Kansas City Royals. He said Kansas City wanted their fans to be able to enjoy the games.

This was just an incredible service.

Ron was simply awesome. I noticed he had a huge championship ring on his hand and asked about it.

He played on the Pittsburg State University Gorillas 1981 MIAA championship football team. Pittsburg State was a perfect 7-0 in conference play that season and finished with an overall record of 10-1.

Ron asked where we were from. When I said Paola, he asked if I knew Scott Karr.

Of course I knew Scott, he has been here in Paola since I arrived. I have covered his children Jordan, Brooke and Gunnar.

He is an assistant cross country coach and an assistant track and field coach, working with the Paola throwers.

Karr is also a member of the Paola High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Ron and Scott were teammates on the Pittsburg State team in 1981.

What a small world it is after all.

Ron said he would check on us after the third inning. If we needed him for anything or were ready to leave, he told us to contact someone in a yellow shirt and gave us his code number.

He wheeled Shannon back to the front of the stadium where a golf cart was already waiting for us, driving us right next to our parking spot.

Hats off to everyone who works for guest services at Kauffman Stadium. On this night, they sure made one fan’s day.

They treated her like a queen.

Shannon smiled and waved to everyone. She sure enjoyed the cotton candy too.

We can only hope it won’t be another 20 years before she comes back out to see the boys in blue.

Mendez optioned following team rules violationBibens-Dirkx recalled, will start in place of Rangers' No. 7 prospect WednesdayJune 19, 2018 By T.R. Sullivan/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/rangers-option-yohander-mendez-to-triple-a/c-281956696

The Rangers have pulled rookie left-hander Yohander Mendez from Wednesday's start against the Royals and optioned him to Triple-A Round Rock after it was determined he violated team rules.

Austin Bibens-Dirkx has been recalled from Round Rock and will start on Wednesday.

The Rangers did not specify what Mendez did to warrant being disciplined, but it took place Monday night after their 6-3 victory over the Royals and did not happen at Kauffman Stadium. General manager Jon Daniels said Mendez's actions were not serious enough to involve either the police or Major League Baseball but could be addressed internally.

"Part of it is where we are in the development of the club and comes from holding a certain level of standards for veterans and young players alike," Daniels said. "Part of the development of young players is on the maturity side as well. That's kind of where this one falls."

Daniels said other players were involved at a certain level. He did not specify who the players were, but second baseman Rougned Odor was scratched from Tuesday's lineup. Odor was originally supposed to play second with Jurickson Profar starting at third. But Profar was moved to second and Isiah Kiner-Falefa started at third base, with Adrian Beltre at designated hitter.

"I felt like it was a situation with Kiner-Falefa playing third base and Profar at second," manager Jeff Banister said. "The rest of it … I don't have any further comment."

Joey Gallo was also not in the lineup, but Banister made it clear that Tuesday was a regularly scheduled day off for Gallo with nothing else to it.

Mendez was called up last Friday to start against the Rockies. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the No. 7 prospect in the Rangers' farm system, and the plan was to give him an extended look in the Major League rotation. That was still the plan after he allowed six runs in three-plus innings against the Rockies.

But the plan has been put on hold for now. The Rangers were disappointed that Mendez's postgame activities on Monday were not representative of a pitcher who should have been getting ready to start on Wednesday.

"There are steps for every player to take as far as commitment and focus," Banister said. "Both who you are as an individual player and being a team player is part of it. We all learn lessons and don't always get it right. It's part of the process. There are things that happen, but we need to continue to put the team first. There are standards we want to abide by. We want to make sure those standards are held in high regard. That doesn't mean mistakes won't be made."

The Rangers have not placed a timetable on Mendez's return. Daniels said they will have additional conversations with Mendez and put him on a program to follow.

The Rangers followed a similar plan with reliever Keone Kela at the beginning of last season. He clashed with teammates over a perceived lack of effort in a B game at the end of Spring Training, and he was unexpectedly optioned to Round Rock. Kela was there for the first 2 1/2 weeks of the season before being brought back to the big leagues after taking the necessary steps to rectify the situation.

McGuire dealt to Angels• The Rangers traded pitcher Deck McGuire to the Angels for cash considerations after he was designated for assignment on Monday. He was claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays on Friday and he appeared in just one game at Round Rock.

MLB TRANSACTIONSJune 20, 2018 •.CBSSports.comhttp://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions

TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION

BALCaleb Joseph Called Up from Minors

TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION

BAL

Pedro Alvarez Designated for Assignment

BAL

Steve Wilkerson Purchased From Minors

BOSRobby Scott Called Up from Minors

BOSJustin Haley Sent to Minors

CHC

Justin Hancock

Called Up from Minors (recalled as 26th roster player)

CHC

Justin Hancock Return of 26th man

CIN

Jackson Stephens Called Up from Minors

CINAustin Brice Sent to Minors

CLE

Evan Marshall

Placed on 10-Day DL (Right elbow inflammation)

CLE

George Kontos Purchased From Minors

TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION

DET

Daniel Stumpf

Sent to Minors For Rehabilitation

KC

Heath Fillmyer Called Up from Minors

LAA

McGuire, Deck

Acquired Off Waivers From Texas (for future considerations)

LAAOliver Drake Outrighted to Minors

LAA

McGuire, Deck Sent to Minors

LAA

Juan Graterol Designated for Assignment

LAD

Brock Stewart

Called Up from Minors (recalled as 26th roster player)

LADRich Hill Recalled From Minors

Rehab Assignment

LAD

Breyvic Valera Sent to Minors

LADRich Hill

Removed From 10-Day DL (Recurring blisters, left hand)

TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION

LAD

Brock Stewart Return of 26th man

MILZach Davies Sent to Minors For

Rehabilitation

MIL

Freddy Peralta Called Up from Minors

MILBoone Logan Designated for Assignment

MIN

Byron Buxton

Sent to Minors For Rehabilitation

NYMJay Bruce Placed on 10-Day DL (Sore

right hip)

NYM

Timothy Peterson Called Up from Minors

SF

Pierce Johnson Called Up from Minors

SF

Hunter Strickland

Placed on 10-Day DL (Fractured right hand)

STL

Greg Holland Removed From 10-Day DL (Right hip impingement)

TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION

STL

Greg Holland Recalled From Minors Rehab Assignment

STL

Matt Bowman

Placed on 10-Day DL (Blisters on right middle finger)

TB

Daniel Robertson

Sent to Minors For Rehabilitation

TB

Rob Refsnyder Designated for Assignment

TB

Kevin Kiermaier

Removed From 60-Day DL (Torn ligament in right rhumb)

TB

Kevin Kiermaier

Recalled From Minors Rehab Assignment

TEX

Austin M. Bibens-Dirkx Called Up from Minors

TEX

Yohander Mendez Sent to Minors

TORSam Gaviglio Placed on Paternity Leave

List

TOR

Lourdes Gurriel Called Up from Minors

TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION

WAS

Jefry Rodriguez Called Up from Minors

WASMatt Adams Placed on 10-Day DL

(Fractured left index finger)

WAS

Wander Suero Sent to Minors