Drew Waters is not going to miss his shot.
The Royals are feeling confident after a successful homestand.
“It was a good week,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “You come home and go 5-1 in a homestand, that’s pretty solid. Coming back off the road trip, that was definitely needed.”
Jackson Stone writes that Drew Waters is making the most of his opportunity.
“I wouldn’t say there was more added pressure [this time], necessarily,” Waters said. “I’ve been in the big leagues. I’ve been down. I’ve been back. I’ve been down. I’ve made that cycle a lot, so, I don’t know, I think this time around I’m more mature than I was two years ago. Or even last year. I just think I looked at it as — well, you can either go out and play well and stay, or you can go back to what you’ve been doing. When you kind of look at it that black and white, it can take some pressure off of you.”
David Lesky notices one surprising weakness of the team so far.
One of the problems this team is having, though, is that they sort of stink on the bases right now. That should be a hallmark of a team that has some of the fastest players in baseball (and the slowest, if we’re being honest) and also isn’t much for hitting the ball over the wall. A lot of it is issues stealing bases. They’ve stolen 20 bases in the first 29 games, which isn’t terrible. They’re tied for 16th in baseball, so they should be higher, but it could be worse. But they’ve been caught 12 times, most in baseball and tied with the Mariners, who have stolen 35 bases.
Maikel Garcia is the biggest culprit. He’s just three for eight this season. Some of that is getting picked off and thrown out at the next base, but some of that is a traditional caught stealing.
ESPN lists its April All-Stars.
Shortstop
All-Star: Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
This is a coin flip between Witt and the Mets’ Francisco Lindor, but we’ll go with Witt, who is a little better on the bases and in the field. Indeed, with 1.5 WAR entering Sunday, Witt is on pace for 8.7 WAR — not much off his 9.4 total of 2024, even though the home runs have yet to come in bunches.
The Royals will be on FOX this Saturday against the Orioles.
Craig Brown recaps the weekend series against the Astros.
Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter wants to see more of Steven Cruz and Evan Sisk.
Preston Farr at Farm to Fountains looks at the pitchers at Quad Cities.
The Braves bring back Ian Anderson and Eddie Rosario and demote Jarred Kelenic.
Brandon Nimmo ties a Mets record with 9 RBI in one game.
Eugenio Suárez became just the third player to hit four home runs in a game in a losing effort.
The Guardians send Triston McKenzie to the minors.
Why Jose Altuve asked to be bumped from the leadoff spot.
The Rockies are off to the worst National League start in modern history.
Rob Manfred will consider a request to end Pete Rose’s baseball ban.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is working on a film on the Molina baseball brothers.
NFL draft grades for all 32 teams.
Shaquille O’Neal agrees to be the GM of Sacramento State.
Scientists think they have witnessed “planetary suicide” for the first time.
Should political candidates be allowed to be listed on ballots for multiple parties?
Chubby Checker, Cyndi Lauper and Soundgarden will be among the 2025 inductees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Your song of the day is Spoon with Wild.