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To use a football metaphor, this year Royals bullpen is the backup quarterback of the club. It looks good, promising even on some level, because wee yet to see everything it has to offer. Or, we don have enough data to make an informed judgment about its effectiveness. It looks fine on paper, but a recipe for haggis would look better than the 2018 Royals bullpen. Last year Royals bullpen was dreadful. That being kind. Royals relievers punched out 7.3 batters-per-nine innings last summer, worst among all Major League bullpens. They posted a 4.2 walks-per-nine innings, the sixth-worst rate in baseball. Their collective ERA was 5.04 and their ERA- was 116. None of these numbers are good. None of these numbers inspire confidence. An overhaul was absolutely in order. Thus, the lone holdover from last year Opening Day bullpen at this point appears to be Tim Hill. (Brad Keller, of course, is the Opening Day starter.)Of course it not a complete overhaul. Last year second half closer, Wily Peralta, returns and appears primed to at least share ninth inning duties. Kevin McCarthy, who pitched the second-most innings of any Royals reliever last year, is also likely back. Last year innings leader out of the bullpen, Brian Flynn, is still around but he last pitched on March 1, was shelled in two spring outings and is out of options. He a lock to open the year on the injured list https://www.royalsfansapparel.com/Terrance_Gore_Jersey-40. One of the themes of camp has been the openness of Ned Yost to not having set roles for his bullpen. The sixth inning belongs to who Forget about it. Mix and match is the way to go, baby. It a new dawn. Color me skeptical this freewheeling style of bullpenning lasts long. Meanwhile, the Royals will set their 25 man roster for the opener on Wednesday. As of right now, there are still several candidates for what figures to be eight spots in the Royals bullpen. They are listed here in descending order of my own personal interest. Kyle ZimmerHe exists! And he been really, really strong this spring. The dude touched 97 mph in his final exhibition outing https://www.royalsfansapparel.com/Carlos_Beltran_Jersey-47. He gave up a single run in over 12 innings of work in the Cactus League. This Driveline stuff vibes legit. He has the stuff. Does he finally have the health At this point, who would be surprised if he was the closer by MayJake DiekmanLeft-handed Check. Hard thrower Check. Smells like an eighth inning guy to me.Brad BoxbergerHe gets the whiffs (11.7 K 9 for his career), but issues plenty of free passes (a lifetime 4.6 BB 9). Boxberger has lost a tick off his fastball and averaged just under 92 mph on his heater last year. He still manages to miss bats around a league average rate. He not truly closer material, but on a rebuilding team, give him a few ninth inning opportunities and spin him into a prospect at the trade deadline.Wily PeraltaThe Closer In Residence has a tenuous hold on the job. His 9.2 SO 9 from last year is good, not great, for a ninth inning guy. The real concern would be his 6 BB 9 https://www.royalsfansapparel.com/Brett_Phillips_Jersey-37. That� quite awful, no matter what inning eventually belongs to him. He fought the control in the Cactus League with five free passes in just under nine innings.Tim HillThe LOOGY may be dying, but don tell Hill that. The lone leftover from last year Opening Day bullpen returns and, if used to his strengths, can be a weapon. Last year, he limited lefties to .230 .288 .284. Right-handed batters added nearly 200 points to their OPS. If used properly, he qualifies as a legit relief weapon. Kevin McCarthyIf you need a double play, McCarthy is your guy. Nothing flashy. Just solid. That works.Michael YnoaHe faced soft spring training competition, with a 6.9 OppQual per Baseball-Reference Brian Flynn Jersey, but he dominated. That something, particularly for a reliever who didn register a pitch in organized ball last year. The one time former top prospect from the Dominican could yet still have something in the tank. Could be worth it to find out.Ian KennedyMaybe the stuff plays up in relief. Maybe he can stay healthy coming out of the bullpen. The temptation will be to hang a Wade Davis comp on Kennedy. Don. Just don.Chris EllisWhen camp opened, the smart money was on fellow Rule 5 selection Sam McWilliams sticking with the club, while Ellis was probably the one who would be returned to his former team. Six weeks later, McWilliams is back in Tampa and Ellis is still around. Scott BarlowServiceable, but he always faced an uphill climb on the bullpen depth chart. I believe he still technically in camp. Although we never really hear about him, so who actually knows. We will see him at some point in Kansas City.Brian FlynnAs mentioned, he headed for the Injured List. He out of options, so the Royals will manage his return carefully.There aren a lot of power arms in the inventory and this lot comes with plenty of question marks. The upside exists for a solid, if unspectacular, back end. The downside is definitely in play, but we all know how bullpens are fungible creatures in their own right. At least on the surface this year version should be an improvement over last year. Every little bit helps.
To use a football metaphor, this year Royals bullpen is the backup quarterback of the club. It looks good, promising even on some level, because wee yet to see everything it has to offer. Or, we don have enough data to make an informed judgment about its effectiveness. It looks fine on paper, but a recipe for haggis would look better than the 2018 Royals bullpen. Last year Royals bullpen was dreadful. That being kind. Royals relievers punched out 7.3 batters-per-nine innings last summer, worst among all Major League bullpens. They posted a 4.2 walks-per-nine innings, the sixth-worst rate in baseball. Their collective ERA was 5.04 and their ERA- was 116. None of these numbers are good. None of these numbers inspire confidence. An overhaul was absolutely in order. Thus, the lone holdover from last year Opening Day bullpen at this point appears to be Tim Hill. (Brad Keller, of course, is the Opening Day starter.)Of course it not a complete overhaul. Last year second half closer, Wily Peralta, returns and appears primed to at least share ninth inning duties. Kevin McCarthy, who pitched the second-most innings of any Royals reliever last year, is also likely back. Last year innings leader out of the bullpen, Brian Flynn, is still around but he last pitched on March 1, was shelled in two spring outings and is out of options. He a lock to open the year on the injured list https://www.royalsfansapparel.com/Terrance_Gore_Jersey-40. One of the themes of camp has been the openness of Ned Yost to not having set roles for his bullpen. The sixth inning belongs to who Forget about it. Mix and match is the way to go, baby. It a new dawn. Color me skeptical this freewheeling style of bullpenning lasts long. Meanwhile, the Royals will set their 25 man roster for the opener on Wednesday. As of right now, there are still several candidates for what figures to be eight spots in the Royals bullpen. They are listed here in descending order of my own personal interest. Kyle ZimmerHe exists! And he been really, really strong this spring. The dude touched 97 mph in his final exhibition outing https://www.royalsfansapparel.com/Carlos_Beltran_Jersey-47. He gave up a single run in over 12 innings of work in the Cactus League. This Driveline stuff vibes legit. He has the stuff. Does he finally have the health At this point, who would be surprised if he was the closer by MayJake DiekmanLeft-handed Check. Hard thrower Check. Smells like an eighth inning guy to me.Brad BoxbergerHe gets the whiffs (11.7 K 9 for his career), but issues plenty of free passes (a lifetime 4.6 BB 9). Boxberger has lost a tick off his fastball and averaged just under 92 mph on his heater last year. He still manages to miss bats around a league average rate. He not truly closer material, but on a rebuilding team, give him a few ninth inning opportunities and spin him into a prospect at the trade deadline.Wily PeraltaThe Closer In Residence has a tenuous hold on the job. His 9.2 SO 9 from last year is good, not great, for a ninth inning guy. The real concern would be his 6 BB 9 https://www.royalsfansapparel.com/Brett_Phillips_Jersey-37. That� quite awful, no matter what inning eventually belongs to him. He fought the control in the Cactus League with five free passes in just under nine innings.Tim HillThe LOOGY may be dying, but don tell Hill that. The lone leftover from last year Opening Day bullpen returns and, if used to his strengths, can be a weapon. Last year, he limited lefties to .230 .288 .284. Right-handed batters added nearly 200 points to their OPS. If used properly, he qualifies as a legit relief weapon. Kevin McCarthyIf you need a double play, McCarthy is your guy. Nothing flashy. Just solid. That works.Michael YnoaHe faced soft spring training competition, with a 6.9 OppQual per Baseball-Reference Brian Flynn Jersey, but he dominated. That something, particularly for a reliever who didn register a pitch in organized ball last year. The one time former top prospect from the Dominican could yet still have something in the tank. Could be worth it to find out.Ian KennedyMaybe the stuff plays up in relief. Maybe he can stay healthy coming out of the bullpen. The temptation will be to hang a Wade Davis comp on Kennedy. Don. Just don.Chris EllisWhen camp opened, the smart money was on fellow Rule 5 selection Sam McWilliams sticking with the club, while Ellis was probably the one who would be returned to his former team. Six weeks later, McWilliams is back in Tampa and Ellis is still around. Scott BarlowServiceable, but he always faced an uphill climb on the bullpen depth chart. I believe he still technically in camp. Although we never really hear about him, so who actually knows. We will see him at some point in Kansas City.Brian FlynnAs mentioned, he headed for the Injured List. He out of options, so the Royals will manage his return carefully.There aren a lot of power arms in the inventory and this lot comes with plenty of question marks. The upside exists for a solid, if unspectacular, back end. The downside is definitely in play, but we all know how bullpens are fungible creatures in their own right. At least on the surface this year version should be an improvement over last year. Every little bit helps.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) The Texas Rangers will use specially designed synthetic playing surface rather than grass in their new retractable-roof stadium that opens in 2020 https://www.rangersteamfansshop.com/Brandon_Mann_Jersey-41.Texas decision will make the Rangers the fourth of the 30 major league teams to use artificial turf.Toronto Rogers Centre, which opened in 1989, and Tampa Bay Tropicana Field, where then then-Devil Rays started play in 1998, have always had artificial surfaces. Arizona Chase Field is switching from grass to turf this season, giving MLB three turf surfaces for the first time since 2009, the last year the Minnesota Twins played in the Metrodome before moving to Target Field.MLB has a high of 10 artificial surfaces, in 1977-78 and again from 1982-94. There have not been four since 2004, the last season before the Montreal Expos left Olympic Stadium for Washington, D.C., and became the Nationals.The Rangers current stadium, Globe Life Park, has had grass since it opened in 1994. The new ballpark is being built across the street.Texas said Thursday the decision was made after almost two years of research regarding player safety Jose Trevino Jersey, team performance and fan experience.Shaw Sports Turf, which will provide the synthetic turf field, used Globe Life Park current grass field as one of the benchmarks for an ongoing playability study. The company is also part of a kinesiology study with Auburn to research how players react on certain surfaces and says it will use that data to tune systems for player safety and optimal performance.

The opener of a three-game series between the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates was as tight as could be, yet left the clubs in opposing spots going into the second game Tuesday at PNC Park.In the teams first meeting of the season, Atlanta got a feel-good 1-0 win behind five scoreless innings from Bryse Wilson in the right-hander major league debut. He was promoted from Triple-A Gwinnett to make a spot start and help the rotation to be a little fresher with everyone being moved back a day.The Braves , who were able to put a four-game weekend sweep by Colorado in the rear-view mirror, moved a game up on Philadelphia in the National League East.Article continues below ...Big, Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said of winning a close game after the losing streak. Because there were a couple others it seemed like we were an out away from winning https://www.bravesgearfansstore.com/Orlando_Cepeda_Jersey-23, probably three out of the four. You go through it. It happens, and was big.The Pirates , meanwhile, fell back to .500, six games out of a wild-card spot. They had won two in a row but have three 1-0 losses in their past five games.Pittsburgh has scored just five runs in those five games, wasting some strong pitching performances as they have allowed one run in each of the five games.I think wed all like to score runs, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. From that standpoint, guys are up their battling.A couple of things add both injury and insult to the Pirates lot lately.Monday starter Chris Archer left after four innings because of left leg pain stemming from the third inning Gene Garber Jersey, when he corkscrewed awkwardly while striking out at the plate.Pittsburgh already was without second baseman Josh Harrison, who has a sore hamstring he got running to first Sunday. Center fielder Starling Marte was benched Monday for lacking hustle twice on the base paths and drawing boos from the home fans Sunday, although Marte was used as a pinch-hitter in the ninth Monday. He grounded out.I just encouraged him effort. It always about effort, Hurdle said of his huddle with Marte about his benching https://www.bravesgearfansstore.com/Josh_Tomlin_Jersey-74.Atlanta Kevin Gausman , who originally was expected to start Monday, now will go Tuesday. He will face Pittsburgh right-hander Ivan Nova .Gausman is 0-1 with an 8.44 ERA against Pittsburgh. In 10 2 3 innings against the Pirates last year with Baltimore, he gave up 10 runs.This season, he has won two starts in a row and three in his past four, giving up eight runs and six walks, with 17 strikeouts. That includes going 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA since he joined the Braves from Baltimore.Nova has won three of his past four decisions and five of his past seven, but was victimized by a seemingly contagious lack of run support his last time out during a four-game series against the Cubs when Pittsburgh scored just five runs.On Thursday, the only run Nova gave up came on a solo home run in 6 2 3 innings, along with seven hits, three strikeouts and for the 11th time this season no walks, but Pittsburgh lost 1-0.I thought he pitched a really good game, Hurdle said of Nova. He used his complete arsenal.Nova lifetime numbers against the Braves are strong 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA in three starts.