SportsBeat KC: Chiefs making strides after big victory, but the race is over for the Royals
[Music] The Chiefs made a resounding statement and the Royals just completed a winning season, but was it a good one? We break down both teams and I’ll have some final thoughts on SportsBKC, the sports podcast of the Kansas City Star and KCUR. It’s Tuesday, September 30th, and I’m Blair Kirkoff. What a victory for the Chiefs, unexpectedly bashing the Baltimore Ravens 37 to 20 on Sunday. Chiefs beat writer Pete Sweeney is here to explain what happened at Arrowhead and look ahead to the next game against a suddenly hot Jacksonville Jaguars team. What’s up, Pete? Hey Blair, this is an interesting podcast I think for you cuz I I know you guys are going to talk about the death of the Royals and it feels like the Chiefs have new life. I think for a second there, everyone thought in Kansas City maybe there was no team to root for, but yeah, the Chiefs feel like they’re back. And it does feel like the there’s a lot of national media members after this game saying, “Okay, we were wrong once again.” They’re back on board, aren’t they? They’re they’re back on the train. They are. So, what were the I know we’re a few days away from the game uh at Arrowhead on Sunday, but what what were the big accomplishments for the Chiefs in this one? I I guess we can start offensively and of course Isaiah uh or Xavier Worthy being back made a big difference but I just thought Patrick Mahomes looked as sharp as he has in a game in quite a while. Yeah, I think it’s been a two to threeear process of them being able to find protection for him. I found it interesting and generally Andy Reid and Mahomes don’t usually want to give a lot away and and sometimes I think they keep things close to the best. We’ve really noticed asking them about Mahomes and it really looked like he was playing free after the game. They both mentioned the protection right away and I really think this offensive line that you know brought some worry going into the season cuz you essentially had two new members. you felt iffy about Jawan. Uh Jawan had some struggles earlier. Clean sheet in this game. Kingsley Sumata I know was mentioned yesterday be a PFF graded best uh he has. Uh Josh Simmons has been everything as advertised. And over the years we’ve seen still the glimpses of the quote unquote Mahomes magic, but the real magic and the real time where he looks like the best player in the world is when he feels like he can operate. And I think as much as Xavier Worthy helped and he certainly did, I think the protection finally hitting its stride has really unlocked that Mahomes maybe from 2122. Is there one player on that offensive line who uh whose performance may have exceeded expectation in that regard? Well, I think it’s Kingsley. And you know what? Uh kudos to the Chiefs. I remember being on either the old podcast or this one. uh getting old here, but uh I remember saying in preseason training camp, I can’t see what they’re doing with Kingsley. It just doesn’t look like it works. I know Jaylen Moore would be playing out of position, but they need to yank him. And I think the Chiefs were steadfast and saying, “No, this is a secondyear player. He’s in the position change. There are going to be lumps. If we yank him too fast, his career is over. We’re going to give him an opportunity.” And I think you’re finally seeing Kingsley hit the stride that they saw and foresaw in this season. And that’s huge. Uh I mean, I know a lot of people were questioning whether Simmons would be ready uh way ahead of training camp. That became pretty clear that he he fit the fit the part uh right away as we watched each day at training camp and then the preseason. Kingsley was the question mark. And if Kingsley is going to be good and maybe now you’re just a little worried about Jawan’s stability at right tackle now Jaylen Moore can enter and he’s not playing out of position. Guard would have been playing out of position. So yeah, to me this has felt a lot better as far as confidence. And when you talk about the offensive line, we we we not only consider the pass protection, but how the Chiefs performed in the running game. and they didn’t have statistically the type of game I thought they could against a Ravens team that came into the the day what ranked 30th I think against the run and the previous week the Lions had just run all over him but it was an effective running day. Um they they were good on short yardage situations. Third and third and short, fourth and short. Isaiah Pacheco had a couple of decent runs. It was still an under 100 yards day for the running backs, but the the leading rushers this year in four games are Mahomes, Mahomes, Xavier Worthy, and I think Isaiah BCO, right? I think he’s the other against the Giants. The two running backs have gotten the one leading rusher. I think I’ve seen the run game go and in that order, bad, bad, okay. And this felt fine. Like you got enough. You outgained Derk Henry together, which I think was the goal. If you could say ahead of the game, Pacheco and Hunts combined are going to have more rushing yards than Dererick Henry. I think you feel pretty good about winning that game. And so that’s what happened. Again, I think in the second half it looked a little bit better. Uh that was my question to Andy Reid on Monday just about what’s been going on with the slow starts. And they no we talk about the the grades that we see in in PFF. Um Andy Reid, Andy Hec, the offensive line coach, they know all the assignments. And Reed sort of pointed to, well, if one guy isn’t doing something right, whether that be a back who pits a wrong hole, I there was a clear one where it looked like Pacheco should have went outside, he cut it in and probably cost himself like 15 to 20 yards. Um that one comes to mind, but it could be the offensive line doing something wrong, not being in the perfect spot to to scheme up the run game. And so still I think it’s an operational struggle, but it it is gradually getting better. Uh I know a lot of people were hoping that the Chiefs would trade for a back. I I still don’t think that’s out of the question, but a lot of these deals will happen closer to deadline, which we’re still a few weeks away from. Was the Leo Chanel interception the defensive player of the year? Not player, but I say play. There was defensive play of the year. Yeah, I I mean it I think when you I think when you take into account the magnitude that it had on this game, I mean if if you really remember at that point and feels crazy to think about one of these like crazy games, the Ravens felt like in the first possession and a half that they were going to roll the Chiefs seamlessly go down the field, score a touchdown in the first drive, gaining yards in chunks in the second drive, and then all of a sudden it’s great the late blitz call looked like by Ces Spagnolo where Bolton gets in Lamar’s face, clearly overwhelmed. That’s clearly been on tape, maybe dating uh back to the last time the Chiefs had played them and then with the Lions and then throws it up. Throws it up in a one-on-one ball. And look, uh nine times out of 10, if you been Mark Andrews or Leo Chanel is going to come down with a one-on-one ball, I’m probably picking Mark Andrews. But on this one occasion, uh the ball was a little underthrown because of the pressure. And Leo, I think not only was it sort of one-handed where he’s able to corral out one-handed, but just turned around at exactly the right time. That’s not like football IQ and sense that they talk about and probably saw something in Andrew’s looking up turned around and was able to make the play and it reversed the entire course of the game. I you will never know this, right? You’re always thinking about hypotheticals, but what happens if they just score a touchdown on that drive? It’s 14 to three. What does that how does that entire game play out? So that was just such a huge play for not only the game but the season. Okay, we’re here with Chief Pete writer Pete Sweeney. Let’s turn our attention to the Jacksonville Jaguars off to a surprising three and one start. Uh new coach Liam Co um Cohen uh actually got into a little little verbal tussle with uh 49 with the 49ers defensive coordinator. I used to say that like those those red ass guys don’t get rewarded, but then we’ve seen Nick Seriani win like 20 the last 21 games. So, red ass your way all the way to the Super Bowl if you have to. Yeah. Yeah. I got into it on on the field uh after the win at San Francisco. Pretty impressive win by the Jaguars. And God, what they had three or four more takeaways in this game. They’ve had at least three in each of their four games this year. It’s un unbelievable what the Jaguars are doing defensively. All of a sudden, this game looks a little more salty than it might have in the pre in before the season starts. Yeah, I think going into it and going into the Ravens game, we we’ve said it. I I think the Chiefs need to be three and three when Rasheed Rice get gets back. And as you were looking at the calendar of games that he missed, I think you would just were simply counting the Giants as a win, easy, and then you were counting the Jaguars as a win. Oh, they’ll get that one. They don’t need Rice. The defense is playing well. Andy Reid noted that. um you know they’re going to be going up a pretty good uh front here against Jacksonville and you know in terms of bottling up the run and that’s still a weakness. So does make it more interesting. Uh they’re scoring enough points to win. Um nothing overly impressive. Trevor Lawrence has been like a little bit up and down. Um but again, yes, I think you nailed it on the head. I I think this is a tough spot. Uh you do get an extra day which always helps Andy Reid. Uh, you know, anytime you put a little extra time in there to prepare, I think it helps the Chiefs as far as, you know, what the offensive preparation is going to be. But this is a tougher game than advertised and certainly one that the Chiefs shouldn’t overlook as you are approaching what I think a lot of people thought last year’s Super Bowl might be, which was the Chiefs and the the Lions that next week. I wonder um what where Travis Hunter will get most of his snaps. You know, the the the off the two-way player for the Jaguars. I think he was on 58% of the offensive snaps against San Francisco and 39% of the defensive snaps. We’ll have to see. Let me ask you, what what do you make of Trevor Lawrence and his career? You mentioned him, the Jaguars quarterback, was a national championship winner at Clemson, played in another national title game, had some great weapons with him there, including the Jaguars current running back, Travis at the end, who’s off to a great start this year as well. But where where does Trevor Lawrence rank in the pantheon of NFL quarterbacks? He’s got kind of the Alex Smith thing going on. And I think you feel for him in that sense. I really liked him as a prospect coming out. I know a lot of people did. I thought he would be the real deal. But if you look at his path, uh, the disaster that was Urban Meyer, uh, not flying home with his team and quickly, you know, exits, he’s got an interimm coach in Daryl Beville, old friend in Doug Peterson that looked like it could be a boost and then all of a sudden kind of petered out, no one, no pun intended there, for him. And then now you have Liam Cohen. And I think he’s progressing, but like Alex Smith used to tell us this, when you have different offensive play callers and different offensive plans and schemes, as you go year by year by year, it it becomes a lot tougher to get into a groove. Underrated part of why I think, you know, Mahomes and Allen have been so good. There’s been some consistency as far as leadership. And so, I think he’s looking a little bit better. I think they’re trying to get him to be unlocked into that top 10, top five upside. Uh we’ll see uh what he can do against Chiefs. Um I mean, very clearly, as evidenced by last week, you’re going up against the best defensive coordinator in the league who’s really going to plan to the weaknesses you’ve shown on film these first four weeks. So, he’s got Trevor Lawrence, one Pro Bowl appearance in his five seasons, uh one playoff appearance, a victory, and that was a heck of a win. And if if you recall, remember the Jaguars came from way back to beat the Chargers, and that was the Jaguars team that I think came to Kansas City the next week and lost in the the divisional round. But yeah, I’m still kind of I I’m with you. I I thought he was a big-time prospect coming out of Clemson. He had all those weapons there. Um but again, uh different coordinators, different coaches. It’s I think it’s tough for uh for a quarterback to get that kind of traction, right? Uh, and a little nerd nugget, I believe that Jaguars playoff game was the last Jaguars game for Jawan Taylor, who ended up, I believe, playing his next game in Arrowhead as a member of the Chiefs. So, back odd back-to-back game, but yeah, I I’m not someone who feels like the jury is out necessarily on Trevor Lawrence because of the path that I mentioned. I I think that upside is still there. This is a tough ask. I I wouldn’t want to ever go against Spagnolo, as I mentioned. Uh, I mean, you see Lamar Jackson, this is a two-time MVP and and how curved he was. And so, still a guy unfortunately for him that, you know, his fifth or sixth year here. I believe it’s the fifth. Uh, still developing because of I think some of that. And so, uh, I I think the Chiefs have the advantage in this game and and that may be where it comes from. Um, just still a quarterback trying to find himself versus CNO who knows exactly what he’s doing right now. All right, Pete Sweeney, thanks for the update. Yeah, no problem. Thank you. We’re going to take a break and when we come back we will talk Royals who concluded their season with a winning record but not a playoff appearance. We’re back on Sportsbe KC and talking baseball with Royals beat writer Jaylen Thompson. Hello Jaylen. Hey, how you guys doing? Hey Blair. Star columnist Sam Mcdow. Hi Sam. How’s it going? And yet another star columnist Vahhager Gorier. Hi Blair. Glad to be with you all. Well, good to have you here, Bah. It’s always good to have you here. Well, we just spent about 45 minutes wrapping up the Royals with uh manager Matt Cotero and general manager JJ Pakola. I thought it was pretty revealing, enlightening, uh good stuff came out of there. What was the uh biggest impression that Jayla, we’ll start with you. biggest impression that you got from the the press conference that ended the Royals season. I think Blair it was a lot of disappointment and that’s to be expected knowing that they went 82 and 80. They made the postseason, but I also felt like they know exactly what needs to be added this off seasonason to be able to get back to the the playoffs again. Uh, one of the big things that stood out to me was the fact that they understand that the offense needs to be adjusted and they’re going to do everything they can, whether it’s evaluating the coaching staff or the personnel they have in the building to take that offense to the next level. It seemed like to me when they were going to the positions, they pretty much were set on seven of the the nine spots. Uh you can probably look at second base in left field as something where they might consider, you know, whatever they have in the building or platoon options or and whatnot, but they they seem like they know what they need to do. And you know, injuries are are always something where it can rattle a team or take them out of a position where they need to be, but they were in the playoff hunt into the final week. So, I think it’s a minor adjustments and fixes and they’ll be right where they want to be in their estimation. We’ve all got our notebooks out. There was so much to I got like five pages of notes from that press conference uh and put stars by what I thought were some of the highlights. But Jaylen, you you hit it 82 and 80, but didn’t a winning season, a winning record for the second straight year, but did not make the postseason, which is starting today uh with two games in the American League and two in the National. So, VA, what was what was your big impression? some somewhat similar Blair to what what Jaylen said, but I would say that they um obviously they’re disappointed, but I think they have faith in the nucleus of where they are uh as spoken to by Jaylen with, you know, the number of positions you feel like are set and obviously the the depth they’re going to have in starting pitching. We we can talk about that more, but I think um also they have the self-awareness to realize that that there’s a lot they could do better and differently and and One of the thoughts I had coming out of there is how much they’ve got to win in the margins. And they can have a lot of similar numbers offensively, but you can’t have the runners in scoring position uh hitting being what it was. You can’t have the base running gaps be a signature of the season. And something they’ve spoken about a little bit over over time, and it’ll be interesting to see how they address this in the offseason, is they they sort of overestimated the leadership they had in the young core. And I think they saw that improved with the veterans they picked up in the offseason. But I think they’ll be aware in their roster construction coming into this season. They’ll be they’ll be conscious of that which you know could be reflected in whether Mike Strumsky’s back but in other moves as well like Frasier and Krychic. I thought that was interesting too that uh that that that’s a thing, you know, that I I didn’t think about that as, you know, the clubhouse influence component of bringing in those veterans and how that helped, you know, helped him in the clubhouse in August, September. It did. And what was really interesting about it, he he addressed it again today for sure, but there was a uh one day in the uh dugout in August when uh I thought JJ Piccolo was quite candid about uh that that had been a an actual deficiency of theirs until they had brought in some of the veteran guys that they they needed more there whether it was glue or composure. Um, so it I I think all this is to say I think they have some some uh important self-awareness. Sam manager uh Matrero just came out and flat said it. They were disappointed with this season even with uh uh I I think I looked at this uh recently. This was the seventh 500 or better season the last 31 years for the Royals. Two in a row, but only seven in 31 years. What a mindset change that is here to be disappointed with an above 500 record. Yeah, I mean this season’s only going to fall into place, I think, when we know like how the next five years look really, which is like is this their new low or is this a good season for the Royals because if this is like their new floor, then you know, I mean, we’ve seen the Rays have, you know, the Rays probably aren’t happy with their season winning 77 games, I think it was, but that’s what has become their floor now. You know, the St. Louis Cardinals across the state won like 70s something games and they having today they’re you know their press conference today is introducing a new GM for example or whatever the title they have for it like they because they haven’t made the playoffs a couple years it sparked change like that’s their floor now this group wants this to be their floor and if that’s the case if if you don’t make the playoffs and you go 82 and 80 and now you build back up that’s one thing but you know historically this franchise like this would have been a celebratory season. We just would have been talking about what a great year they had. They sniffed the playoffs. They were playing meaningful games until the very last week of September. And that’s why to me it’s going to be a little bit difficult to put this into context until we know what the next half decade looks like. Am I remembering right? Was the uh 2013 team 82 and 80? No. No, they were 86 and 70. They were that far. They were that far up the uh ladder. Uh they were but but had been eliminated from the the wild card. Of course, it was a there were fewer teams in the playoffs then and they were they had been out for several days. That’s right. But that was the first winning team that they’d had in two decades close to early 03 season which was the fluke here. No, not shorten season. Oh, it was a fluke year, right? But it was a fluke year. they got off to a fast start and uh well it’s an imperfect analogy but that proved a springboard. Of course what’s inside out about this and one of the reasons everybody has you know a more sour feeling if this if they went 82 and 80 last year after the 56 win season the year before it would feel different right but ifas were 82 last year and that playoffs this year it would definitely feel different. Yeah, I think the the the reasoning just from spring training, everyone was saying we want to make the uh win the division and go further in the playoffs. So, the thing that’s why that frustration, disappointment is is there because you really didn’t do what you should have done to make the postseason. And I feel like this year it would have been an easier road to make the postseason as far as the teams that made it and the games that you played against those teams. We saw this team face the Toronto Blue Jays and put up 20 runs and they they won the season series against the Blue Jays taking four of the six games. So, the number one seed number one seed the American League. Right. Right. Right. You mentioned it earlier, the um uh repeating what JJ Pako talked about that some of the deficiencies with this team. They didn’t run the bases very well this year and they certainly didn’t hit well with runners and scoring position. and they left a lot of runners on base. What what what I I guess couldn’t be answered is why cuz they did both pretty well last year. The base running one is the one that’s most curious, right? Because it it I I know Sam has spoken to this and written about it very very in-depth before that the the the fluctuations in runners and scoring position is sort of its own beast, right? But but you can control your base running. And it it came off as sloppy and undisiplined and and random. And I looked this up the other day. I I you know, I don’t want to just single out Kyle Isbel, but on on opening day, he had a a base running gaff. And afterwards speaking with him afterwards, he said he basically just sort of shrugged it off and said, “We’re going to continue to make aggressive mistakes.” And I’m like, “Yeah, you’re going to continue to make aggressive mistakes.” And I know where he man him up. Tried to be a smart Alec, but the point is that never really reset. Um, and I I don’t know if you can quantify how many more games that might have won them, but let’s let’s say couple three, four might have gone differently if not for that. And that that’s that could change the whole dynamic of where they were. So, um I think you know when just speaking casually with with the Royals, I mean they and I think JJ Pakola has said this on the record before, they squeeze too they start to squeeze too tight, right? You’re not scoring and now you’re you’re you’re doing things that are out of character to try to make up for it. Um, that was one of his explanations, but you do have to wonder where the fundamentals were being taught and at what level in the chain something was also off. It can’t just be accounted for like we’re trying too hard. It was it was I think more to it than that. I do think that this running and scoring position thing has been way overblown. Like they were top half of the league in earners and scoring position average this year. It’s just that they were so good the year before. or I think they were led the American League or or first or second in the American League the year before that I think like that’s the outlier. You typically do not lead the league in batting average with runners in scoring position when you finish 12th or 13th like that’s literally about average and I don’t like I don’t think that that the Royals solution to scoring more runs is becoming better with runners in scoring position. They were fine with runners in scoring position. the the base running thing is a real issue that they need to clean up. I thought it was interesting. Um I asked you about uh how the offense scores more runs if you know if you’re bringing the coaching staff back with Alex Zumalt leading that, how do you push more runs across? And one of his answers was was taking responsibility for debase drum stuff of of you know becoming better about knowing when to pull the trigger about when um when to have guys let up. But uh I do agree with you know Kyle Isbel’s sentiment that they they still have to be an aggressive team because they don’t produce enough runs the other way. But I think in a lot of sense it’s got to be one having the right guys make those aggressive decisions, but two getting picked off of bases is not aggression. That’s not an aggressive taking an extra trying to take an extra base and a bang bang play at the plate. That’s a mistake you can live with. You can’t live with guys getting picked off at the rate they were getting picked off. Okay, we’re talking Royals baseball with B writer Jaylen Thompson and columnists Vahi Gregorian and Sam Mcdow. And one piece of news that came out of, well, several pieces of news came out of today’s press conference, but one in particular is the return of hitting coach Alex Zumalt. He’ll be back next year. Boy, I can remember the spring and April and and especially into May and June was the slump year, right? Slump month. I think there were eight and 18 in the month of June that there were all kinds of uh calls for Zumalt’s job, but he’s coming back. Jail, were you surprised by that? I wasn’t surprised by it because when you look at how the roles are constructed, they had some really good years individually from a lot of guys. I mean, you look at what Zuma has done with Mikel Garcia and coming up with with to him this off season and saying add in the toe tap back, stay on time, stay balanced at the plate, it produced an all-star season. And for a hitting coach to see that in a a player and understand the makeup of his character, the makeup of his uh abilities on and off the field to, you know, really come to him and allow him to grow and become who he has become, which is ideally someone that is going to be a key part of the royal future. I think that is a good feather in his cap. Look at the guys like Carter Jensen that came up his work with him. Carter Jensen had an incredible September, especially for a rookie. Will that carry over next year? And and people like to talk about, well, what about the guys like Jonathan India and Michael Massie and and and Kyle Isel? Well, Kyle is had his arguably his best season that he’s had in his career with the Royals this year. Michael Massie was hurt, but if you looked at what he did the last two weeks of September for the cover off the ball, he had four hits in Sunday’s finale. Jonathan India, same thing. you know, he’s going to he’s he knows he didn’t play well, but he’s a veteran he can turn around. So, I think you have to look at it not necessarily holistically, but individual basis, and that’s where you see Ali Zumball’s input and value, like JJ Coco and Michael Tro was saying today. Yeah, I think it’s I think it’s hard to get rid of your hitting coach when your core is really good. And you know, Bobby Wood Junior’s had two great years. And I mean it’s he’s been so good these last two years it’s easy to forget that he struggled when he came up. You know Vinnie Pascantino’s put together two good years. Uh you know JJ Pakov was was saying this you know this might be the best backto back years that the Salvor Pres has had because a lot of times when he’s peaked we’ve seen you know an injury play year or not a great year the following year. And then Jaylen’s right on the nose with the Mike El Garcia. I mean, you can point to something that Alex Zumalt did for the rationale behind the season that that Mike El Garcia had. But, um, what else stood out to me about Zumal coming back was how much that they still envision change happening, even if it’s not that position changing. I mean, I never thought I would hear the Royals organization say as JJ Pico said today that they’re basically going to research whether they’re striking out enough and whether it’s a good thing that they’re not striking out. Like, so I don’t I think you know, you hear that the coaching staff is coming back, you you assume that everything is just going to be the same and that just the context and the details that we heard are not an indication of that. When I heard that, I automatically thought, well, first of all, they don’t walk a lot either, so they swing at a lot of pitches, which means they also swing at a lot of pitches out of the strike zone. Yeah, they chase a lot. Um, ironically, they rarely swing at the first pitch. Um, which seems to be more strategy than to me actually considering what the pitch is being offered. Um, so I think that’s something that I still think there’s tweaks they can make with an end at bat for sure. And I mean, let’s face it. I mean, just cuz you’re bringing a guy back doesn’t need doesn’t mean that he doesn’t need to improve, too. Like, I mean, now that Zumalt’s going to have to make some improvements as well. Quick question. It’s related to all these things I think we’re talking about it that it’s just um a puzzle to me. What What do we make of where Jonathan India and Michael Massie fit on this team next year? And we heard them speak today that that uh I I think they sort of expressed regret that they tried uh India in the outfield and that certainly second base is his best position. Um I don’t know that the Massie outfield uh experiment was any any more prosperous than than uh than it was for India. So, are we to think that as of now they’re they’re competing to do some kind of platoonish thing at second or what? What what what comment? I think it’s a completely different answer for both players. Like Jonathan has a spot on his tea. Michael Massie is going to be battling I think for a spot on the roster, let alone the starting lineup when spring training hits next year. Yeah, I think what they know what Jonathan India can do and by all accounts they all said this was this a bad season for him and he he is someone that if when he’s going right you can’t replace his value in the lineup. They like Michael Massie as well. They like his power. His power is something they they feel like he can tap into. But I think JJ alluded to something that was could go under the radar. The expectation and the window they have now is to wait. At what point do you are you waiting for someone’s power to come versus we need to win games? Well, Jonathan India, you know that he’s someone that if he’s right, he’ll help you win games. He’s proven it already in in the league. Michael Massie, we’re still trying to see what that’s going to be for them. I just think the Michael Massie two years ago uh just showed a great power stroke and he had 14 homers one year, 15 the next. Hit really well in the postseason in 2024 and then but he he can’t stay healthy. He just can’t stay healthy. So, all right. So, put your uh uh put your binoculars uh on uh Jaylen and tell me you’re looking at spring training. Who is uh who’s going to be the opening day, the first spring training game, second baseman and left fielder for the Royals? I think Jonathan will be at second base. I think they’re they they have to make sense of the Brady Singer trade. You’ve seen Brady Singer help the Reds get to the postseason on the Sunday. So they have to make it so that that trade works out in their favor and plus there’s money tied to him. So I think he’ll be at second base. Then Michael Massie depends what they do in left field because I think if if they only come into the spring training with Adam Fraser has been brought back, Michael Massie is still on the team fighting for a position. It’s going to be either one of those guys in left. But it really depends on who they sign this offseason. I I I think it’s a like if Michael Massie starting in left field like I think the front office has done a disservice to be honest because I think Michael Massie has real value but if he’s starting in left he better have torn it up and spring train. I I mean you you’ve got to have change in the outfield and their biggest question is what’s to do in right field to be honest with whether or not Jack Hagle Leone is going to be the opening day rightfielder. But right, I think in in left field we we heard that there’s going to be I think mutual interest with with uh Ustrmsky coming back and I think uh you know he he’s pro proved his value not just with you know his entire career but specifically on this team. I think they like his leadership traits and he gives them quality at bats. I mean the the type of hey we have to play different baseball a little bit. I mean that I think fits um with him. He’s not the most athletic guy. He still plays that way though. So I left field is where you have to improve. You’ve got to get better on left field. And Kaggleó has to improve as a hitter. I mean it’s you talk about right field. The right field is his if he hits, right? It’s I think so. Right. I mean they’d like that to be the case. Yeah. Right. I mean it’s Yeah. Yeah. I think you look at his numbers though, he was hitting the ball hard. It just hitting it right at people. I I think of just and on the ground and on the ground, right? So I think that what I really saw about Kagon this year that I think will stand out moving forward in its future is they told him to go down to triple AAA work on your play discipline come back up and stop swinging at so many pitches. He did exactly that. You look at his Walt numbers to his strikeouts. When he came back up he was completely night and day. I can remember games where he had eight pitch at bat, 10 pitch at bat. You would have not saw that. You’ve been whiffing at everything when he first came up. The power is real. the power is going to come and also I think that he has to be in right field because if he’s in the triple AAA like JJ said today he’s just going to kill it in AAA. So I mean he has to learn up here. Yeah. I mean he mentioned this and and Dave Brown had asked him about it. I wrote about this during the season but I think what he needs to improve is hitting the ball in the air more. He and it’s specifically pulling the ball in the air. When you look at like Cal Raleigh’s season this year and I believe that Kleó has that kind of power, he pulled the ball in the air 38.4% of the time he’s pulling the ball in the air. Cact is at 15%. Like that is a drastic difference. And the number one way he’s going to hit more balls out of the ballpark because he’s got immense power is he’s got to use it. Yeah. All right. Uh one more question to you guys before we wrap it up. Uh it’s another look back. Who can we agree on who the Royals pitcher and player of the year is for 2025? That’s I think the pitcher of the year is more is an easier answer than player of the year cuz you know to the a status. Yes. Am I what do you think? I like it. I could I could see Michael cuz Michael Waku was an anchor of the pitching staff when they really needed me. But well, this is the thing right there there’s a there is a Royals uh pitcher and player of the year award. I think we all have votes on this. Um, Estus led the led baseball and safes, but Walk is a good call. Noah Cameron, I think Noah is a Gil could vote, too. I think Yeah, I’ I’d vote for Walker like Jayla. Would you walk? I’ I’d vote Estz I’d be between Esteez and Noah, I think. Okay. Um, yeah, just because so unexpected out of out of Noah. Okay. and so essential. More conflict here than I expected for pitcher of the year. How about player of the year? Let’s go around the table. Jayla, who’s player of the year? I’m going to go Vinnie Pasmatino batting third in the lineup. And really his whole story, his arc beginning of the year was terrible. He couldn’t hit the ball. I think he hit like 150 in in March, April. But from there on, he was the engine of this Royals offense. RBI’s, home runs. Really? I thought that he could have a breakout year. He proved he can have a breakout year. 32 home runs, 113 RBI’s. Big power year for Vinnie. Yeah. I mean, I think Vinnie would tell you that he he’s thinking about what he what he didn’t do. But I I I I’d vote for Vinnie. I I like I like the Vinnie vote. Okay. What about you, S? Um I’m kind of surprised by those things. I think it’s a two-person race between Mike Garcia and Bobby Wood Jr. Um I don’t have the voter fatigue yet with Bobby Wood Jr. So like he is their best player and he still was their best player even if he didn’t have the same numbers he did if he I’m more conscious that’s the problem for me. I’m a little conscious of how the numbers came down but I mean I can’t say it’s a bad vote. Yeah it’s not a bad vote. I just think Bobby just he had a down year for his expectations but he did but like he’s still going to be really he should be third in MVP. He is going to be who’s he should finish behind uh Raleigh and Judge. Yeah, I mean he should be third MVP and like Vinnie Pasmantino had a great year but he’s not getting MVP votes this year and that was so what Bobby F was third in um in baseball I believe and and uh so his war this year was um I think it was eight on uh on the F war which is Fangrass uh war and let’s see where seven on baseball America let’s see where uh those those other guys finish probably substantially more than Vinnie’s with with the Royals. Yeah, I mean positional value is going to have a major play and I mean so Bobby Wood Junior’s at 8.0, Mike Garcia is at 5.6 and then no one else Vid’s third at 1.5. So a pretty pretty big falloff after after those two guys. And just just real quick, I mean uh pitcher war, Michael Walk is at 36, Chris Bu is at 33, Reagan’s actually still finished at 2-1. Noah Cameron at 18. Um, uh, Stevis at at one. Interesting. Really? It doesn’t. I mean, I think Fangrass has some catching up to do on the value of relievers still. Okay. I Well, I love that there was disagreement here. Uh, what’s your Where are you going? Well, I’m on I’m Bobby W and and Carlos Estabz for pitch for player and pitcher. So, uh, yeah, wit over Garcia actually. I’d have Vinnie third, Salvi fourth, player of the year. Anyway, great conversation, guys. really appreciate it. Uh, I’m going to have some final thoughts. And before we go, I’m going to stick with baseball and let you know about an event scheduled for this weekend. The Negro League’s Baseball Museum’s Hall of Game ceremony is Saturday at the Sheridan Crown Center. The event will honor some of baseball’s greatest managers, including World Series winners Cedo Gaston and Dusty Baker, along with Jerry Emanuel and Willie Randolph. For our young listeners, ask your parents or grandparents about Willie Randolph and his days with the Yankees and his playoff battles against the Royals. Contact the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum for ticket information. On the College Football front, Kansas State got back into the win column with a victory over Central Florida. And that’s the team Kansas faces on Saturday at Orlando. Not such a great weekend for the Jay-Hawks. They lost at home to Cincinnati before a sellout crowd in their new stadium. Where’s the defense, KU? Missouri had the week off or they’ve got the week off and then a huge game at home against Alabama in Colombia. Can’t wait for that one. Okay, that’ll do it for this week. Thanks to our producers Randy Mason, Monty Davis, Suzanne Hogan, and Gabriella Lacy. And to our editors, Jeff Rosen and Scott Chason. I’m Blair Kirkoff and we’ll be back soon with another Sportsbe KC where we talk sports in Kansas City.
The Chiefs played a complete game and the Royals completed a season. Both are topics on SportsBeat KC, the sports podcast of The Star and KCUR.
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