Jackson Kowar gets the call
Kowar will make his debut on Monday. Mondesi hits the IL again. Singer's slider looked good. And we take a brief moment to remind ourselves to never, ever bunt.
When you sit down to watch a ballgame, odds are strong you’ll see something you’ve never seen before.
I’ve been returning to that old baseball adage quite a bit when watching these Royals play in 2021. It was worth revisiting again on Sunday as Nicky Lopez bunted into a triple play (more on that in a moment) and the Royals split their series against the Twins, 2-2. They closed out a brief homestand on a bit of a sour note, but did manage to go 4-2 overall.
The games against the Twins over the weekend were close, with three of the four decided by a single run. The only laugher was Friday’s contest where the Royals jumped on Minnesota starter Matt Shoemaker for nine runs in the first and tacked on four more in the third.
Saturday’s game was almost a carbon copy of Thursday’s back and forth affair, but with a little less vertigo thrown in. The Royals tied the game in the second, took the lead in the fifth, but gave both immediately back and ultimately lost 5-4.
It was more of the same for the Royals on Sunday as they tied the game at one in the bottom of the fourth on an Andrew Benintendi single following a Whit Merrifield triple. Benintendi was Mr. Everything for the Royals this weekend, collecting two singles, a double, a triple and a home run in 16 plate appearances, bringing home six runs.
But the Royals’ tendency to give back what they just claimed was a frustrating turn of events. It left a little flavor of “what could’ve been” in this series against the Twins.
Jackson Kowar gets the call
Mike Matheny did the honors and broke the news at the end of his postgame press conference: Jackson Kowar would have his contract purchased from Omaha and would make the start on Monday as the Royals open their west coast road trip in Anaheim.
When Kowar toes the slab on Monday, he will be the fourth starting pitcher from the Royals’ celebrated 2018 draft to make the majors. While your mind drifts into TINSTAPP (there’s no such thing as a pitching prospect) territory, it’s worth recalling the Royals hedged their bets in that draft by going large on collegiate arms. That all four of their top picks have reached the majors is nothing short of miraculous. The Royals will become the fourth team since 1990 to have four pitchers from the same draft class start games in a single season. Never mind the fact that these are the top four selections from that 2018 draft.
Statistically speaking, Kowar deserves the call. He’s made six starts, throwing 31.2 innings with a 0.85 ERA and 41 strikeouts against 10 walks. He was named the Triple-A East Pitcher of the Month for May.
Let’s see what the prospect hounds have to say.
Baseball America:
Kowar’s changeup is the gem of his arsenal. It’s a nasty plus-plus offering at 83-85 mph that confounds hitters with its trapdoor action. It generates swings and misses from both left-handed and right-handed hitters, and he’s comfortable throwing it in any count….He projects to join (Brady) Singer in the middle of the Royals’ rotation for years to come.
Plus-plus on the change? You have my attention.
Kowar featured an unusually good changeup for a college pitcher and it’s been his out pitch as a pro as well. It plays well off his mid-90s fastball although the command and mechanics…have never screamed sure-shot starter, and the curve has been fringy. He’s pitched well in the minors, but hasn’t dominated quite as much as you’d expect from a major college arm with a plus fastball/change combo.
Obviously, that was written before he…checks notes…statistically dominated Triple-A hitters over six starts this year.
His breaking ball quality and his fastball’s shape are flaws that push him toward the bullpen. Kowar’s mid-90s heater has tailing/sinking action rather than carry and ride, which means it’s going to generate groundballs more than it will miss bats. It also means it pairs really well with his changeup’s action but not so much with his curveball, which has a noticeable hump that makes it easy to identify it out of his hand.
Fangraphs wants you to doubt yourself.
He sits in the 94-97 mph range with his fastball but can dial it up to 98-99 mph with command that’s improved since he was drafted. Kowar’s developing curveball was the focus for him throughout his time at the alternate site in 2020. The Royals believe the pitch, which he throws with better spin and shape now than he did in college, can be above average and the key that brings Kowar’s game to another level.
So to recap, the cambio is plus-plus with late fade, the fastball rides in the mid-90s with a little extra at times and plays plus. The curve is a work in progress, but improving given the attention given to the pitch at the alternate site. The command is adequate and if he loses feel for the heater or hangs a breaker, he could find himself in trouble.
To make room for Kowar, the Royals optioned Jakob Junis to Triple-A. Matheny said the purpose of the demotion was to get stretched back out as a starter. Junis is in a difficult spot, how he pitched with moderate success as a starter in April, but struggled when sent to the bullpen in May. So it sounds like the Royals will attempt to get him back into the rotation at some point. He can also use the opportunity to continue to work on his cutter. Although if Kowar pitches well, Junis could have a difficult time getting back to Kansas City in that role.
The Royals will have to make a corresponding move to their 40-man roster to purchase the contract of Kowar. There aren’t any options for a 60-day IL move (unless it’s Danny Duffy which would be a surprise) so that means someone is getting DFA’d. There are a number of candidates from Ryan McBroom to Jake Newberry or the recently acquired Domingo Tapia. I’ve also speculated Richard Lovelady is a potential move, just given how the Royals have handled him the last couple of years. But if I have to go out on a limb, I’d say Tapia is the guy.
Exciting times to see yet another pitching prospect from the celebrated 2018 draft land in the majors. Meanwhile, in other roster moves…
Mondesi hits the IL again
It took about a week, but the Royals finally placed shortstop Adalberto Mondesi on the IL, retroactive to June 4. They recalled outfielder Edward Olivares to take his spot on the roster.
Mondesi tweaked his hamstring late in Monday’s win over the Pirates and has not appeared in a game since. The Royals did him no favors by stringing out the injury drama for almost a full week. (Is he in today’s lineup…Or is he not.?) Plus, the eternal optimism from the club regarding the injury was just strange. The way the team talked on Tuesday about how it was “positive” the hamstring didn’t tighten up overnight led everyone to believe that his return was fairly imminent.
Mondesi is not “soft,” nor is he “lazy” or “doesn’t care.” I’ve seen quite a few nonsensical takes on this matter. Yes, he’s missed some considerable time in 2019 due to two separate injuries. The shoulder sublimation came on a diving play and required surgery. I’ll repeat that…his shoulder injury required surgery. This year’s oblique, while frustrating for it to happen in the last game of spring training, was a serious type of injury for a switch-hitter. The oblique is a key muscle for a ballplayer. You take your time on that and make sure everything is healed.
If anything, Mondesi is a victim of poor timing on the injury front. His left shoulder injury in 2019 came shortly after an IL stint for an unrelated groin injury. He missed the start of 2018 with a shoulder impingement in his right shoulder. And then there was this year’s oblique.
Mondesi’s untapped potential and injury history has left many frustrated. I get it. The Royals are better with him on the field and his talent, as we saw briefly, remains tantalizing. But to call him “soft” or anything similar is wrong.
I’m begging you to stop bunting
We have seen Nicky Lopez square to sacrifice a lot this year. Entering Sunday’s game, Lopez has attempted to sacrifice nine times in 2021. Nine! That’s more than seven teams have attempted. Needless to say, Lopez leads the league in attempted sacrifices.
On one hand, Lopez is a decent bunter of the baseball. On the other hand, bunting in the third inning of a game is just strategically stupid. That’s just fact. Giving away an out is generally a bad idea. It’s an incredibly bad idea when you’re doing it so early in a game.
Obviously, when Lopez squared around no one in their right mind could have predicted what happened next.
An attempted sacrifice that results in three outs is simply the baseball gods telling the Royals and Matheny to knock off the bad strategy. Really. Stop bunting.
The song remains the same
The Brady Singer start we saw on Sunday afternoon felt like a very typical Brady Singer start.
He required 106 pitches to get through 5.2 innings. He had just one clean frame all afternoon. The Twins put 11 runners on base against him. Yet he allowed just two runs. It was a performance that danced right up to the edge but never went completely off the cliff.
The one thing Singer did not do on Sunday, was offer his changeup. It’s not like it was a glaring omission—he’s only thrown it 4.5 percent of the time this year, and never to right-handed batters. But it would behoove Singer to figure out a way to incorporate that third pitch into his arsenal. He split his pitches almost evenly on Sunday, throwing 54 sinkers and 51 sliders. The slider was especially effective for him, with a bump in velocity and an increase in spin rate over his averages in 2021. Twins batters weren’t able to establish hard contact regularly against the pitch, averaging an exit velocity of just over 75 mph on the slider. He generally located the pitch well.
After a leadoff walk to Kyle Garlick to open the fifth, Singer surrendered back-to-back singles off the slider. Neither one was hit hard. Indeed the hit by Andrelton Simmons had an xBA of .100. That was followed by Jorge Polanco’s knock with an xBA of .300.
With the bases juiced, the slider came to the rescue on back-to-back strikeouts. Singler needed just one more out to pull off the escape act, but the slider failed him.
It’s the seventh time Singer has hit a batter in 2021, tied for the most in the AL. It’s the second time he’s plunked a hitter with the bases loaded this year.
Back to the slider. After the game, Singer said the pitch felt better on Sunday than it had for a long time. He mentioned the pitch had a lot more depth than he’s seen of late at the start of the game.
Later in the game, Singer said the pitch broke a little more “side to side.”
“I feel like I can kind of change planes on (the slider) throughout the outing,” Singer said. “It felt really, really good. I think was better than it’s been for a long time.”
Central issues
White Sox 3, Tigers 0
The Sox cashed all of their runs in the second on singles from Andrew Vaughn and Tim Anderson. Dylan Cease went seven innings of five-hit ball with 10 strikeouts.
Cleveland 5, Orioles 18
The Orioles teed off on starter Cal Quantril for seven runs in the first two innings, including six in the second. They followed that up by clobbering reliever Sam Hentges for five runs in the fourth.
It was an equal opportunity bludgeoning. Every Oriole starter scored a run. Every Oriole starter, save Trey Mancini, drove in a run.
Up next
The Royals head to the west coast for the first time this season. They open with three against the Angels before heading up the coast to Oakland for a four-game set.
Monday — Jackson Kowar vs Dylan Bundy
Tuesday — Kris Bubic vs Andrew Heaney
Wednesday — Brad Keller vs Griffin Canning
First pitch for all three games against the Angels is scheduled for 8:38 CDT.
Mondesi is a Ferrari. I wish he was more dependable but no matter what you do, a Checy truck isn't ever going to be able to do what a Ferrari can.
I'm guessing they DFA Lovelady. He hasn't even pitched this year. Pretty sure he'll clear waivers. Even if he doesn't, what has he done that Chris Speier hasn't shown.