I think they thought he was better with vets than young guys.

Clearly, Eldred sucks with both.

Jorge López's next start is scheduled for Sunday. He pitched two innings of relief yesterday (Wednesday). Will they start him on short rest? Or, are they planning on starting someone else in that spot?

Yeah, that was peculiar to me as well. I was surprised when I saw him in the game. Did the announcers say anything about it?

He hadn't pitched in a week so yesterday was just keeping his arm active between his next start. A couple of innings four days before isn't going to hurt.

Pitchers throw bullpen sessions in between starts that typically are similar to a 2-3 inning stint. Regular warmup with around 40-50 pitches thrown at normal effort.

That’s why Lopez was available last night.

Personally thought he looked dynamic. The stuff played up in that short stint.

If they could find enough SP to make it work, I really like Lopez as a late-inning reliever. Similar to Wade Davis, his power stuff and variety of pitches would be tough to handle late.

Ever wonder what’s in that “infield dirt”?

https://tht.fangraphs.com/whats-in-the-infield-skin/

Taking into consideration a major league team’s budget and facilities and the access to water, irrigation, and drainage in the base beneath the infield skin, the ideal major league infield skin mixture is primarily sand, which makes up 50-70 percent of the total, with the rest comprising a mixture of silt and clay. The silt-to-clay ratio is between 0.5 and 1.0, ideally just below 1.0. An infield with too much sand can be dry and irregular, and an infield with too much clay will be too hard and clumpy.

No, I can honestly say I've never wondered about that.

That was pretty interesting.

Great draft preview from Clint Scoles:
https://royalsacademy.com/amateur-ti...019-mlb-draft/

I saw a bleacher report mock that has the Royals getting Witt Jr.

I thought so too. I’ve watched baseball 35+ years. A lot of it. I never knew it was majority sand.

That’s what you’re going to see in all of them. Sees to be consensus at this point.

To the point they might not take Rutschman if the Orioles take Vaughn.

Huge mistake. They've had almost 0% success developing high schoolers in almost a decade. Vast majority of our players to reach the majors have been college players. I'd take Rutschman without question. I'd take Vaughn too as our own version of Kris Bryant.

It seems I've heard of Witt Jr. for 2 or 3 years and I haven't heard of any of the other guys honestly

*** Official 2019 Kansas City Royals Repository ***
 

It’s the biggest risk/reward at the top of the draft (top 3). I wouldn’t pass on Rutschman for Witt, but the Orioles are considering it at least lightly, too, so it’s not as if the Royals are on an island there.

The Royals also haven’t drafted 1-2 since 2008. The success rate is higher at those spots than lower ones... even in the low-hit MLB draft.

Let’s look at drafts since the Royals’ last pick that high (which was Moustakas) and pretend they had #2.

2009: they likely take Zach Wheeler or Donovan Tate. One hit, one huge miss

2010: Machado or Taillon (likely Machado). Hit either way.

2011: Dylan Bundy or Bubba Starling (still miss on Lindor, Rendon). Believe they would have taken Bundy over Bubba.

2012: Byron Buxton. Would have taken him second and not flinched, just like the Twins.

2013: Kris Bryant, Clint Frazier, or Jon Gray (who they drafted out of HS). I think they take Bryant because he’s an athletic position player, even though he’s a college bat.

2014: Tyler Kolek or Nick Gordon, in all likelihood. Pretty bad draft overall

2015: Bregman or Brendan Rodgers. Flip a coin.

2016: Nick Senzel, Ian Anderson (Braves, top prospect). I think they pop Senzel here, personally, as he like Bryant is a toolsy college bat.

2017: it’s Mackenzie Gore, no doubt in my mind. Next year’s Chris Paddack

2018: this one is tough. Jared Kelenic might have been their choice. Don’t see a match with Joey Bart (actual #2) or the other college guys who went around him.

Point is: when you’re drafting second, the success rate goes way, way up regardless of who is drafting.