Can Ches play second?
Royals Rumblings - News for February 17, 2017
Ken Rosenthal writes that the Royals are still confident they can retain some players past this year.
Nor, according to major-league sources, is the club conceding the departures of its top potential free agents — first baseman Eric Hosmer, third baseman Mike Moustakas, center fielder Lorenzo Cain and shortstop Alcides Escobar.
Will the Royals sign all of them? No, and they actually might prefer to replace Escobar internally with Raul Mondesi. Still, club officials do not consider it a foregone conclusion that they will lose both Hosmer and Moustakas, even though the agent for the two players, Scott Boras, generally prefers his clients to establish their values on the open market.Nor, according to major-league sources, is the club conceding the departures of its top potential free agents — first baseman Eric Hosmer, third baseman Mike Moustakas, center fielder Lorenzo Cain and shortstop Alcides Escobar.
Cheslor Cuthbert is optimistic he can transition to second base.
"It's different," Cuthbert said. "The angles are different. The throws are different. But I can do it. It just takes more work."
If there is an area of the job that Cuthbert can improve upon, it's his range. Unlike at third base, playing second base requires covering much more real estate.
"At third, it's just mostly reaction," Cuthbert said. "At second, you have to move around more."
Cuthbert will have the next six weeks to impress Yost and the coaching staff.
"We're looking for someone who can field ground balls and turn double plays, and get hits," Yost said, smiling. "That's it. That's what we want."
Jerry Crasnick at ESPN writes about the Yordano Ventura you didn’t know.
New Royals prospect Donnie Dewees has been using neuroscience technology to improve his plate discipline.
“It’s just a standard computer and you use the space bar. It’s very similar to what you would see in a game,” Dewees said in a recent phone interview. In a separate interview last July, Dewees talked about the program, comparing it then to a video game that recreates in-game situations and tests the way hitters react to pitches.
The 23-year-old said the process of using the program each time takes just about eight minutes to complete the day’s work. That work is focused on building his pitch recognition skills, and developing better plate discipline to lay off of bad pitches.
The Royals will be on FOX this summer in games against the Angels and Dodgers.
Big FOX announces MLB schedule for 2017. The #royals will be on FOX 4 on 6/17 vs. Angels and 7/8 vs. Dodgers. ^fox4sports
— FOX 4 News (@fox4kc) February 16, 2017
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