Tag: Kansas City Royals

The Royals won a dramatic game thanks to the perfect, ultra-rare walk-off bunt

This is so rare!

Normally, we wouldn’t write about a walk-off hit unless it was something wild surrounding it.

But a walk-off bunt, that’s MEGA RARE!

Darion Blanco was up at bat with a man on third and one out in a 6-6 game against the Seattle Mariners. A perfect bunt would get the runner home with ease.

And what a bunt it was: A majestic dink down the first-base line that would have been impossible grab and toss home in time.

How rare is it? From an MLB.com article: “According to Baseball-Reference, from 1914 through these first few weeks of the 2023 season, a 109-year period, there are just 120 known instances of walk-off bunts — a frequency of barely more than one per season — by 112 different players.”

NEAT!

Also neat? This:

 

Royals’ Matt Duffy unfairly earned a fielding error after the ball tore right through his glove

Talk about a real unlucky way to get an error.

It has to be so maddening to be given an error for a circumstance completely out of your control.

On Monday, Kansas City Royals first baseman Matt Duffy was given an error in the bottom of the first against the Cleveland Guardians for … having the ball tear through his glove. Yes really, Duffy had a ball go right through his glove on a throw to first, which allowed Steven Kwan to be safe at the plate.

On what should have been a routine play, Bobby Witt Jr.’s hard throw to first hit Duffy’s glove, but tore right through it and out the other side. It seemed as if the ball hit the webbing of Duffy’s glove and broke loose, causing it to fly past the first base line.

Talk about some real unfortunate luck there. Thankfully, the Royals were able to escape the inning unscathed, but Duffy did not deserve an error on that play at all.

Chase Isbell signs deal with Kansas City Royals

Isbell was the lone pitcher from Auburn’s bullpen to be selected in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Three Auburn players, [autotag]Cole Foster[/autotag], [autotag]Bryson Ware[/autotag] and [autotag]Chase Isbell[/autotag], heard their names called in the MLB Draft. One player, [autotag]Nate LaRue[/autotag] was picked up as a free agent.

Additionally, five players who were signed with the Tigers were drafted.

The Royals selected Isbell in the 15th round with the 439th overall pick. Isbell received a signing bonus worth $150,000. Greg Walker of Royals Review believes that Isbell’s command will allow him to find a place in a professional bullpen.

At 6’3”, 210, Isbell served as a power righty out of the Auburn bullpen and frequently worked multiple innings. He has a fastball at 93-96 that he’ll throw at the top of the zone. He pairs that with a tight, late-breaking slider at 86-88. The slider is a true out pitch so with better overall command, Isbell could find a role in a major league bullpen.

In two seasons with the Tigers, Isbell posted a 5.54 ERA, a 4-2 record, two saves and 65 strikeouts to 31 walks in 52 innings of work.

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LSU signee Blake Mitchell officially inks under-slot deal with Royals

As expected, Blake Mitchell won’t make it to campus and is trying his hand at professional ball.

In a decision that should come as no surprise to LSU, catcher [autotag]Blake Mitchell[/autotag] will not enroll in Baton Rouge and will join the Kansas City Royals after the team drafted him with the eighth pick in the 2023 MLB draft last weekend.

According to MLB.com’s Jim Callis, Mitchell agreed to a signing bonus of $4.9 million. That’s nearly $1 million below the slot value for the eighth pick, which sits at $5,980,100.

Mitchell ranks as the top high school catcher prospect and is the No. 8 overall prospect in his class. Perfect Game also ranks him as the top player in the talent-rich state of Texas.

Mitchell is the only LSU signee who is expected to sign with a pro club following the draft. The Tigers expect left-handed pitcher [autotag]Cameron Johnson[/autotag] — the No. 11 high school prospect in the country and a 20th-round pick — to make it to campus.

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Jared Dickey selected by Kansas City in 2023 MLB draft

Tennessee’s Jared Dickey selected by Kansas City in 2023 MLB draft.

The 2023 Major League Baseball first-year player draft is taking place Sunday-Tuesday in Seattle, Washington.

The MLB first-year player draft is being held in conjunction with the 2023 MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday.

Tennessee redshirt sophomore outfielder and catcher Jared Dickey was selected by Kansas City in the 11th round with the No. 319 overall pick.

Dickey played at Tennessee from 2021-23. He redshirted with the Vols in 2021.

Dickey appeared in 103 games, including 86 starts, at Tennessee. The former Vol recorded a .343 batting average, 19 home runs, 71 RBIs, 84 runs, 40 walks and 10 stolen bases.

He is the fifth Vol to be selected in the 2023 MLB draft.

Tennessee’s 2023 MLB draft selections:

Tennessee junior pitcher Chase Dollander was selected in the first-round by Colorado with the No. 9 overall pick.

Vols’ junior shortstop Maui Ahuna was selected by San Francisco in the fourth-round with the No. 117 overall pick.

Tennessee junior pitcher Andrew Lindsey was selected by Miami in the fifth-round with the No. 146 overall pick.

Tennessee redshirt junior pitcher Seth Halvorsen was selected by Colorado in the seventh-round with the No. 202 overall pick.

LSU signee Blake Mitchell drafted by Kansas City Royals with 8th pick

Blake Mitchell is one of the top players in LSU’s 2023 recruiting class.

LSU signee [autotag]Blake Mitchell[/autotag] likely isn’t making it to campus.

On Sunday night, the Kansas City Royals made Mitchell the eighth overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft, joining [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag], who went first and second overall.

Mitchell is a class of 2023 commit for [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag]. He is ranked as the No. 1 catcher in the country and the No. 8 prospect in the country by Perfect Game.

This is one of those deals where you recruit the best players in the country and let them decide whether to go to school or to go pro. The ball is now in Mitchell’s court.

Mitchell was taken as the No. 8 overall pick by the Kansas City Royals. Mitchell was presumed to be the Royals’ No. 1 target on their draft board and they believe they can sign him even if they give him over his slot value of $5,980,100.

If Mitchell signs with the Royals, LSU should be okay at catcher. The Tigers still have [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] and [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] behind the plate. Plus, we don’t know if [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] or [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] will come back for another year.

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Guardians’ Bo Naylor had the best celebration with brother Josh after his first home run

This was an awesome moment for the Naylor brothers.

It’s been quite a week for Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor.

After making an incredible move to get a player out in a Tuesday game, the young standout hit his first home run on the road against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.

Naylor got to take a celebratory run around the bases after the major hit, and he got a big hug from his older brother, Guardians first baseman/outfielder Josh Naylor, in the dugout.

It was an incredibly cool moment for Cleveland fans and especially for the Naylor family as the siblings embraced each other after the younger Naylor’s career first.

Guardians fans will have to hope this is the first of many homers for Bo Naylor, who’s coming on strong for Cleveland this season.

It’s really cool when two siblings get to play together in the pros, and we’re sure the Naylor brothers will be cherishing this moment for some time.

Aroldis Chapman is back to casually throwing 104 MPH

He’s back.

Aroldis Chapman hasn’t had the best of seasons since 2021, when he had 30 saves for the New York Yankees.

He struggled last season with a 4.46 ERA, and many assumed age finally caught up with the reliever with over 300 saves.

But at age 35, after signing as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals, he’s revived his career at least thus far in the 2023 season. He’s got a decent 3.45 ERA with one save and 25 Ks in 15.2 innings.

Oh, and his velocity, which we know has been his calling card throughout his career? It’s up. Way back up. Dude is back to throwing 104 MPH fastballs.

Wild.

Zack Greinke hilariously switched pitch-calling duties with Salvador Perez in the middle of an at-bat

He’s truly one of a kind.

Zack Greinke joined exclusive company on Saturday when he became just the fifth pitcher in MLB history to strike out 1,000 different batters. As cool as the milestone was for the future Hall of Famer, Greinke still went into the game with his own unique approach to baseball.

He didn’t wait long to try something new out there.

Facing the Brewers’ Jesse Winker in the first inning, Greinke — who typically calls his own pitches in a PitchCom role reversal — decided that he wanted catcher Salvador Perez to take over the pitch-calling duties with Winker facing a 1-2 count.

He signaled to Perez as if to say “your turn” and let the Royals catcher lead the approach to Winker.

I could see pitchers and catchers changing the approach with each batter, but only Greinke would do something like that in the middle of an at-bat. After all, this is the same pitcher who shakes off his own pitch calls.

The strategy worked too because Winker would strike out in the at-bat. MLB fans also enjoyed this latest delightful moment from Greinke.

Umpire Junior Valentine narrowly missed out on a perfect game thanks to one bad call in the first inning

He was ALMOST perfect.

We’re often quick to point out when Major League umpires are bad at their jobs, and they deserve to be called out for those inexcusable mistakes. But at the same time, umpires deserve credit for a great showing.

And on Tuesday, umpire Junior Valentine came stunningly close to making some umpiring history.

Valentine was working behind the plate for the Royals’ game against the White Sox. And according to Umpire Scorecards, Valentine nearly became the second umpire to call a perfect game since accuracy tracking started. To date, the only perfect game was called by Pat Hoberg during the 2022 World Series. For Valentine, a clear bad call in the first inning was the difference.

Out of the 111 taken pitches in the game, Valentine called 110 of them correctly. His lone missed call was a strike to Salvador Perez in the first inning despite Seby Zavala setting up a target well off the plate on an 0-0 count.

I’m not sure how he can miss *that* call and then go perfect, but Valentine would probably want another chance at calling that pitch.

Still, it was an incredible night for the umpire, exceeding his previous best game of 98 percent (three missed calls) last season. Fans had to give Valentine recognition for the epic performance.