Jaylon Thompson writes about a terrific night at the plate on Saturday for Isaac Collins.
Kansas City Royals outfielder Isaac Collins knows when he is going well. There is usually a glaring sign.
“Just my swing decisions,” he said. “You know, if I’m taking those balls on the edge and executing pitches over the plate, that’s when I’m at my best.”
“I think it just kind of speaks for the team as a whole,” Caglianone said. “Doesn’t matter the situation, I think we are just going to be fighting for each other.”
Anne Rogers writes about Cole Ragans’ solid start on Saturday.
It was clear early that Ragans was working with good stuff when he struck out the side in the top of the first. All three came on fastballs 98-plus mph, including the 99.2 mph heater Jo Adell swung through to end the frame. That was Ragans’ hardest pitch of the night, but he averaged 96.5 with his fastball, 2.3 mph above what his season average had been so far.
Ragans filled up the zone with a 71% strike percentage and recorded whiffs (47%) and chase (40%). The Angels could not keep up with his fastball, and he was fearless with it, throwing it 51% of the time. Ten of his 11 strikeouts came on the pitch.
“Mechanics have a lot to do with the heater,” Ragans said. “If my mechanics are in line, it’s probably going to be good. Everything else feeds off it. It’s just about commanding the fastball, getting ahead and letting everything else play.”
She also writes that Maikel Garcia returned as a pinch-hitter Sunday.
He did a similar pregame routine Sunday with throwing, which is the main aspect that is affected. Garcia has been available off the bench for pinch-hit opportunities and was again Sunday.
“We’re just being cautious,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “He’s too valuable for us to have something happen. We have [Nick] Loftin at third, we feel good about that, but with the day off tomorrow, just wanted to be cautious.
Vahe Gregorian writes how the ballpark proposal at Crown Center came together.
Among the issues with the five-acre site were the minimal flexibility to develop around it, negotiations with the railroad to build over the existing tracks and even how the stadium itself would fit.
“You said, ‘It won’t be symmetrical,’” Hall reminded Sherman.
Sensing Sherman was struggling with those options, Hall suddenly was moved to broach something he said he hadn’t thought about much before that moment. He’d had no previous notion of moving Hallmark headquarters, he said, and certainly had never seen it as a potential site for baseball. It wasn’t really a consideration, he added, “until I said it out loud.”
Thinking out loud, really, with someone he could trust to kick around such ideas.
“‘What if we thought about this differently?’” Hall recalled saying to Sherman.
He also writes how the project reflects the “Kansas City Spirit.”
The Red Sox fire manager Alex Cora and most of the coaching staff after a slow start.
The changes aren’t sitting well with Red Sox players.