Kansas City Baseball Vault

How about some bonus content? With the MLB Draft concluded, Clint Scoles tracked down Lonnie Goldberg, the Royals' Director of Scouting, to talk about the 2017 draft, a few key players, some sleepers, and how these future Royals fit in within the rest of the farm system.

It's interesting insight into a bit of the Royals' process and the kinds of players they were looking for in this year's draft pool.

You can find more of Clint Scoles's minor league and draft work at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City, and by following him at @ClintScoles on Twitter.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

The Royals have been playing well and scoring runs finally. A big part of that has been the power bat of Mike Moustakas. We discussed his continuing chase for Steve Balboni's club record of 36 homers in a season, including some thoughts on his future past the trade deadline. 

We also talked about Matt Strahm's shot at the rotation and what we're thinking about his readiness to join the rotation.

And we also brought on BP Kansas City's own Clint Scoles to talk about the Royals draft, including their approach to this year's picks, who was a surprise, and which guys have the best upside. Clint also gave us some names to watch for the rest of the season in the Royals farm system already.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

After the Royals came back against Houston on Tuesday, it felt a little more like the recent Hey Day of the Dayton Moore era than what we've seen so far in 2017. The game also highlighted the improved performance of late of Whit Merrifield, Eric Hosmer, and others. On top of that, Mike Moustakas is ahead of Steve Balboni's franchise-record home run pace.

We also talked about some milestones the Royals have reached during Dayton Moore's tenure and compared them to the great Royals run of yesteryear.

And we also discussed a few potential draft targets, the Royals Latin presence, and the overall pitching depth of the organization. Plus, a little about Edinson Volquez's no-hitter.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

Danny Duffy went on the DL. He's unlikely to return until near the trade deadline. This team may look quite different when he returns.

We discussed Duffy's injury and what it means, especially for this point in the season and where the Royals sit in the standings. A tough hill to climb just got tougher.

There have been a couple of bright spots, though. Eric Skoglund stepped in and did an admirable job in his MLB debut (and at the end of the show, we share some audio courtesy of our own Clint Scoles from Skoglund's final Omaha start before getting called up, a nine strikeout game on May 22). Whit Merrifield is playing great, and Jorge Bonifacio is stepping up with power and patience.

Nonetheless, the Royals have a lot of work to do and some tough questions to answer while Duffy is away.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

The Royals passed the quarter pole of the 2017 season and so far have been consistently inconsistent. 

The rough patches have them looking up at the rest of the American League and there's a lot of work to do to turn it around. Can they? It's going to take some help but that help may only be in the form of the current roster turning it around. 

Otherwise...in a few weeks, we may be talking about trades and rebuilding.

On that note, we also talked about acquiring prospects via trade vs. in the draft, and the Royals rough draft track record.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

The Royals have hit a little better in May but Ned Yost is still working on how to jumpstart the offense.

So he went back to an old trick and put Alcides Escobar at leadoff. We talked about "Esky Magic" and why it's silly if you're taking it seriously.

After the break, we talked about the recent roster moves, primarily the decision to designate Christian Colon for assignment and his unique legacy with the Royals.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

Well there are signs of some life on the Royals, but they're still digging their way out of early season slumps and futility.

We discussed some of the recent bright spots, like an Eric Hosmer hitting streak and Jorge Soler's performance in Triple A (and pending recall from a rehab assignment). We talked about Lorenzo Cain and picking favorites. We talked about the division's makeup as of May 4th.

But mostly, we looked for any reassurance about this season and if there's some way to climb out and go on a run. It's been discouraging, so we looked for inspiration from a unique source.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

The Royals went winless since our last episode, largely due to continued struggles at the plate. How can they work out of it? What's the biggest issue? When do you start to worry (or are you already?)?

We tried to address those questions, including what has to happen going forward for the Royals to climb out of the hole they've made for themselves, and at what point it's too deep to come back from... 

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

The Royals ran into a four-game winning streak, but their offensive numbers wouldn't make you believe it. Despite a mostly successful homestand, there are still some stragglers in the lineup.

Jeff and Mike discussed Eric Hosmer, Alex Gordon, and a little more about Raul Mondesi and what kinds of things they can do to right their personal ships.

It wasn't all bad, though. The rotation is nails right now, and the bullpen is regrouping. We discussed both and how likely they may be to keep it up.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

The Royals bullpen hasn't been very strong. The offense has looked rough. It's not ideal. So the Royals made a couple of moves to give Matt Strahm a break and get some fresh arms in town.

Curiously, their struggling second baseman Raul Mondesi isn't drawing much attention from the coaching staff yet. 

We talked about these struggles and the slight intrigue of Jake Junis in the bullpen at the big league level.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.