{"id":102888,"date":"2025-06-14T09:38:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T09:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/102888\/"},"modified":"2025-06-14T09:38:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T09:38:12","slug":"kansas-city-royals-rumblings-news-for-june-11-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/102888\/","title":{"rendered":"Kansas City Royals Rumblings – News for June 11, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

ESPN\u2019s Bradford Doolittle looks at what each MLB team \u201cmust do before the trade deadline\u201d<\/a>. The Kansas City Royals<\/a>\u2019 direction is no surprise<\/p>\n

What they need to do before the deadline: Add offense. Someday, Jac Caglianone will draw a big league walk, but it\u2019s hard telling when that will be. Longtime Royals fans might be reminded of the early career of Mark Quinn, whose swing-at-everything approach yielded tremendous early results \u2014 until they didn\u2019t. Caglianone has a lot more upside than the Mighty Quinn, and doesn\u2019t seem out of place in the majors less than a year after being drafted. But his approach is likely to mean up-and-down production for a while, and the Royals have more than one outfield slot that needs a lot of help. For that matter, they need to take a hard look at second baseman Michael Massey, a heretofore solid performer whose 2025 numbers are borderline catastrophic. You get the idea: The Royals, despite Jac\u2019s arrival, need offense.<\/p>\n

Royals Data Dugout dives into reliever Steven Cruz<\/a> and one of the many changes fueling his 2025 rise.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not a fluke \u2014 the in-zone rate has spiked to 59.1% in 2025 after hovering around 49% in 2023-2024 in the minors. He\u2019s learned his electric stuff plays well over the plate; there\u2019s no need to dot corners with a high-octane mix, and it\u2019s led to Cruz becoming one of the most aggressive strike-throwers in the league. His 59.1% zone rate sits 13th among qualified relievers. The 66.3% first-pitch strike rate, 42nd among Big League bullpenners, is also a big leap from 49.8% in 2023 and a miserable 40.4% last season.<\/p>\n

Locked On Yankees host Brian McKeon critiqued Kansas City\u2019s payroll<\/a> ahead of the ALDS rematch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think overall the sense around the league is it\u2019s been a fairly underwhelming year for the Royals so far,\u201d co-host Brian McKeon said on a recent episode of the Locked On Yankees<\/a> podcast. \u201cThey\u2019re not playing up to expectations; they should be a lot better than they are…They\u2019re another one of those teams that falls into the slot of should have spent more money than they did. When you have a young team that\u2019s ready to strike and you don\u2019t spend the money, especially with a lackluster division that they play in.\u201d <\/p>\n

Royals inch upwards in latest MLB power rankings from The Athletic<\/a>. Writer Johnny Flores Jr. also asks the biggest question in Kansas City. [$]<\/p>\n

One big question: Is Jac Caglianone enough to lift the offense?
That question is quite the burden to place on a 22-year-old rookie, but it\u2019s almost assuredly the exact kind of question that the Kansas City front office hoped to answer when it called up the 2024 first-round pick to the big leagues. The Royals have become a pitching factory of sorts (3.31 team ERA, fifth in MLB), which are probably not the words anyone thought they\u2019d be typing in 2025, but the offense continues to struggle. Caglianone, who absolutely demolished minor league pitching (.982 OPS in 199 at-bats in Triple A and Double A), could be the answer, or his K-rate could be an easy exploit for pitchers to take advantage of. It\u2019s the exact kind of gamut a team runs when it calls up a prospect, but the Royals believe it\u2019s a risk worth taking. \u2014 Flores<\/p>\n

The Athletic\u2019s Jim Bowden names outfielder Taylor Ward as Kansas City\u2019s \u201cfavorite target\u201d ahead of the trade deadline<\/a>. [$]<\/p>\n

The Royals rank last in MLB in home runs and need to add power and length to their lineup. Ward would be a nice fit in left field. He is slashing just .209\/.260\/.482 but has 12 doubles, 18 homers and 45 RBIs. Combined with the recent promotion of top prospect Jac Caglianone, trading for another power bat could completely change the complexion of their lineup. As good as the Royals\u2019 starting pitching, bullpen, defense and offensive contact is, the right acquisition could be the final piece needed to get them back to the playoffs as a wild-card team.<\/p>\n

Watch Caglianone\u2019s press availability ahead of his Kauffman Stadium debut.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Could Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> and Royals fans see some more clarity on the future stadium situation? The ball, whether it is a football or baseball, is in the Missouri legislature\u2019s court<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Bobby Witt Jr. in a Yankees uniform<\/a>? As crazy as it sounds, it has already happened.<\/p>\n

USA Today\u2019s Gabe Lacques sends a prep infielder and collegiate pitcher to Kansas City in their latest mock draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kansas City Star\u2019s Lisa Gutierrez does some social media stalking profiles<\/a> Caglianone\u2019s wife-to-be and former Florida Gator volleyball star Elli McKissock.<\/p>\n

Overland Park residents are not all on board with the Royals possibly moving<\/a> to the area.<\/p>\n

Pitcher Michael Kelly is trying to \u201cstart over\u201d<\/a> after a betting-related suspension ended. [$]<\/p>\n

Down on the Farm updates readers on the top minor-league performers so far this season<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pebble Hunting shows Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado ends up in the front row<\/a> for the out.<\/p>\n

Culture of Sports looks at how collegiate sports could change<\/a> after historic $2.8 billion settlement.<\/p>\n

Pitching prospect Grant Taylor jumped from Double-A to The Show <\/a>after the latest Chicago White Sox<\/a> move.<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> pitcher Aaron Nola suffered a setback in rehab<\/a> and will be shut down for two more weeks.<\/p>\n

San Francisco Giants<\/a> third baseman Matt Chapman lands on the IL with a sprained right hand<\/a>.<\/p>\n

MLB has acquired a stake in Jomboy Media<\/a> after a record-setting 2024 for the media group.<\/p>\n

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders isn\u2019t at on-campus football camps this spring<\/a>, with the school not providing a reason.<\/p>\n

North Carolina has a new spotlight<\/a> with football coach Bill Belichick\u2019s first collegiate foray.<\/p>\n

College football legend Lee Corso\u2019s final \u2018College GameDay\u2019 show<\/a> will be on Aug. 30.<\/p>\n

NCAA announces numbers surrounding March Madness and players receiving online abuse related to sports betting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How do red foxes and London go hand-in-hand<\/a>?<\/p>\n

At 12 years old, Prasiddhi Singh is changing India\u2019s landscape for the better<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s song is Walk Idiot Walk by The Hives.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ESPN\u2019s Bradford Doolittle looks at what each MLB team \u201cmust do before the trade deadline\u201d. The Kansas City…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2387],"tags":[5,937,250,181,11220,936,2123,55,2596,2595,4,169,254,252,3560,3559],"class_list":{"0":"post-102888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-royals","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-city","10":"tag-for","11":"tag-front-page","12":"tag-june","13":"tag-kansas","14":"tag-kansas-city","15":"tag-kansas-city-royals","16":"tag-kansascity","17":"tag-kansascityroyals","18":"tag-mlb","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-review","21":"tag-royals","22":"tag-royals-news-notes-links","23":"tag-rumblings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114681053426392906","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}