The comeback falls short
The bats show some fight, but it's not enough.
The Royals ran into the White Sox buzzsaw known as Dylan Cease in the middle game of their three-game set on Wednesday. Cease carved up the Royals lineup to open the afternoon, retiring the first 13 in a row. A Carlos Santana walk was the only baserunner the Royals could find through four innings.
They fought back and scored some runs to knot things up, but the bullpen couldn’t hold on. A 7-3 scoreline doesn’t flatter, but there was a moment where the ballgame could’ve turned either way.
With another afternoon game ahead, this will be a short one today. Let’s dive in,.
Greinke was Greinke
The play by Whit Merrifield on the Yasmani Grandal single to open the second reminded me of what Merrifield mentioned last year…about the adjustment to moving between the infield and the outfield and how you are throwing the ball differently and it takes some time to get used to where you are. Not that even the perfect throw would get Grandal, given where Merrifield fielded the ball. Rather, just something to think about if Mondesi is out of the lineup for any extended amount of time beyond the 10 days.
The double to the next batter, Jake Burger, was another tough play for the infield—this time Bobby Witt Jr. at the hot corner. Grandal came home with the first run of the game when he scored on a sac fly.
Opening the third, Greinke got into trouble again straight away. A Tim Anderson single started the frame. He scored when the next batter, Andrew Vaughan followed with a double.
Then in the fourth, Burger lofted one to center that just got over the wall.
Maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t feel those pitches were poorly located from Greinke. It was just some good hitting. It happens.
Greinke did generate some swing and miss on Wednesday. He collected six whiffs on his fastball.
He also picked up a couple on his slider. The eight whiffs overall was the most he’s had since rejoining the Royals. A solid outing overall, about what you hope for from Greinke. It’s the starting pitcher cliché…He kept his team in the game and gave them a chance to win.
That chance came in the sixth for the Royals when Cease suddenly lost his dominance. Edward Olivares opened with a single and when the lineup flipped over a third time, the Royals started cooking. A Nicky Lopez walk was followed by run-scoring singles from Whit Merrifield (who desperately needed that) and Andrew Benintendi.
Benny at the bat
Benny is low-key off to a scorching start. Is it possible to overlook one of the hottest hitters in the AL because the rest of the bats around him in the lineup have underwhelmed? Anyway, Benny is hitting .379/.419/.466 and looks primed to recapture his 2018 form. He’s just locked in at the dish.
Something to watch from Benny: He is currently striking out at a 13 percent clip. That’s about five percent down from last year, and well off the 23 percent whiff rate he posted in 2019. He’s still swinging about half the time, but his contact rate is back up at close to 80 percent.
Here’s the thing…strikeout rates for hitters start to normalize around 60 plate appearances. Benny has 62 PAs so far in 2022. This is turning into something that can be sustainable for him. Look out.
Mondesi to the IL
By the time you're reading this, it sounds like Adalberto Mondesi could be on the IL. A disappointing development, but one that isn’t surprising given his injury history.
The Inside Injury Twitter account had a full write-up on the possibilities around Mondesi’s injury.
There are still quite a few possible scenarios for Mondesi as he is still being evaluated and the team hasn’t revealed a diagnosis. If it’s a mild MCL sprain his injury will come with a three week Optimal Recovery Time. If it’s a grade 2 (moderate) MCL sprain this would jump to five weeks. Damage to the PCL or LCL would hopefully not require surgery unless it was a major tear, but the recovery time would likely be months, not weeks.
As noted, without word from the Royals on type of injury, there is a range of possibilities. I won’t speculate on how long Mondesi will be out, only to say that while he’s been frustrating to watch hit in the young season, another injury is just a brutal and cruel blow.
Kyle Isbel was with the club yesterday in case the Royals needed to make the move, and as I speculated yesterday, I suspect that’s what they’ll do for now. The infield alignment will have Merrifield at second, Lopez at short and Witt Jr. remaining at third. Again, the Royals are operating from a position of depth here, with plus defenders scattered throughout the roster. While Mondesi’s glove (and speed) will be missed, the Royals have plenty of cover.
Barlow losing heat
When the Sox strung together a couple of hits in the seventh with two outs and the game tied against Collin Snider, Mike Matheny was quick to go to Scott Barlow.
On paper, that’s a perfect move, and typical of how Matheny has used his bullpen. He shuffles his relievers around given the situation. With runners on the corners and Andrew Vaughn up, the Royals’ manager went to one of his better bullpen arms in Barlow.
This was the first pitch he threw.
One pitch. Three runs. Ballgame.
Barlow has thrown 630 pitches classified by Baseball Savant as fastballs since the start of 2020. Of his slowest 30 fastballs, he’s thrown 18 of those this season. Including the home run pitch to Vaughn, which was closed at 91.7 mph. That’s well off his last season's average heater that was clocked at just north of 95 mph.
After the game, Barlow said he wasn’t concerned about the lack of velocity. It’s early and takes some time to build up arm strength. There may be something to that, given the shortened spring, the cooler early season temps and the lockout hangover. But his velocity chart—broken down by game—doesn’t look promising.
Barlow said he feels healthy. There’s no reason not to believe him. However, there’s also reason to be concerned. It’s definitely something worth watching in the games ahead.
I really wanted to see Emanuel Rivera be the 13th position player but I think it makes more sense to move Whit to 2B and give Olivares his shot in LF with the Mondesi injury. I really want to see Olivares seize the opportunity and relegate Mondesi to a back up role.