Daily Clips

July 15, 2018

LOCALSalvy replacing Ramos as AL's starting catcherHeaded for DL, Rays backstop to miss All-Star Game with left hamstring tightnessJuly 14, 2018 By Matt Kelly/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/salvador-perez-to-start-in-all-star-game/c-285849958

Bonifacio powers Royals to win after Duffy's gemOutfielder provides offense with homer, 3 RBIs in shutout victoryJuly 14, 2018 By Max Gelman/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/jorge-bonifacio-danny-duffy-pace-royals-win/c-285805772

'Bullpen day' on tap with starters on mendJunis set to return after All-Star breakJuly 14, 2018 By Max Gelman/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/royals-utilize-bullpen-day-with-starters-out/c-285784506

Change of plans: Royals catcher Salvador Perez to start in All-Star GameJuly 14, 2018 By Sam McDowell/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article214912940.html

After elbow surgery, Danny Duffy abandoned his curveball. It’s back ... and so is heJuly 14, 2018 By Sam McDowell/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article214905840.html

Jorge Bonifacio clubs first homer since PED suspension; Duffy rolls in Royals’ winJuly 14, 2018 By Sam McDowell/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article214896035.html

Just two years ago, Royals OF Paulo Orlando hit .300. It’s been a grind ever sinceJuly 14, 2018 By Sam McDowell/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article214899320.html

From Italy to Japan to the Dominican: the Royals’ ‘relentless pursuit’ of talentJuly 14, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletic

https://theathletic.com/432113/2018/07/14/from-italy-to-japan-to-the-dominican-the-royals-relentless-pursuit-of-talent /

Q&A: The Royals’ Danny Duffy explains how he found his curveball and rescued his seasonJuly 15, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/432200/2018/07/14/qa-the-royals-danny-duffy-explains-how-he-found-his-curveball-and-rescued-his-season/

James Shields recalls bringing ‘fun back’ to KCJuly 14, 2018 By Todd Fertig/Topeka Capital-Journalhttp://www.cjonline.com/sports/20180714/royals-rundown-james-shields-recalls-bringing-fun-back-to-kc

Young officer diagnosed with ALS has special night at KauffmanJuly 14, 2018 By WIBW TV 13http://www.wibw.com/content/news/Young-officer-diagnosed-with-ALS-has-special-night-at-Kauffman-488192601.html

MINORSStorm Chasers catcher Cam Gallagher stuck in Triple-A despite having major league talentJuly 14, 2018 By Tony Boone/Omaha World-Heraldhttps://www.omaha.com/sports/chasers/storm-chasers-catcher-cam-gallagher-stuck-in-triple-a-despite/article_781712c0-f157-5d43-9d89-1ebca4ca50ec.html

Oaks, Omaha Blank 'Birds 1-0Trevor Oaks lowers PCL-best ERA to 1.84 in shutout winJuly 14, 2018 By Omaha Storm Chasershttps://www.milb.com/omaha/news/oaks-omaha-blank-birds-1-0/c-285882478

Naturals fall in high-scoring finaleNorthwest Arkansas and Tulsa combined for 20 runs on 24 hits in the Drillers 12-8 victory on SaturdayJuly 14, 2018 By NW Arkansas Naturalshttps://www.milb.com/northwest-arkansas/news/naturals-fall-in-high-scoring-finale/c-285884734

Blue Rocks Rout Red Sox to Even SeriesWilmington Scores Early and Often to Shut Down SalemJuly 14, 2018 By Wilmington Blue Rockshttps://www.milb.com/wilmington/news/blue-rocks-rout-red-sox-to-even-series/c-285863618

Royals Win on Walk-Off HBPBurlington takes down Johnson City 6-5 in series openerJuly 14, 2018 By Justin Gallanty/Burlington Royalshttps://www.milb.com/burlington-royals/news/royals-win-on-walk-off-hbp/c-285835424

NATIONALHis workload — and ERA — both up, Kelvin Herrera adjusts to life as a NationalJuly 13, 2018 By Chelsea Janes/Washington Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/nationals-journal/wp/2018/07/13/his-workload-and-era-both-up-kelvin-herrera-adjusts-to-life-as-a-national/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ab32f6f01318

Cardinals dismiss manager MathenyJuly 15, 2018 By Jenifer Langosch/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/cardinals/news/cardinals-dismiss-manager-mike-matheny/c-285883856

With 20 years of data to work with, what can we predict about the future of Futures Game participants?July 15, 2018 By Cliff Corcoran/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/432306/2018/07/15/with-20-years-of-data-to-work-with-what-can-we-predict-about-the-future-of-futures-game-participants/

MLB TRANSACTIONSJuly 15, 2018 •.CBSSports.comhttp://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions

LOCALSalvy replacing Ramos as AL's starting catcherHeaded for DL, Rays backstop to miss All-Star Game with left hamstring tightnessJuly 14, 2018 By Matt Kelly/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/salvador-perez-to-start-in-all-star-game/c-285849958

The Royals announced Saturday that Salvador Perez will replace Wilson Ramos as the American League's starting catcher in Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard.

Ramos exited the Rays' 19-6 win over the Twins on Saturday with left hamstring tightness and told reporters that he will miss the All-Star Game and expects to go on the disabled list. The 28-year-old Perez will replace him behind the plate as part of his sixth consecutive trip to the Midsummer Classic. He has started each All-Star Game for the AL dating to 2014. Indians catcher Yan Gomes was added to the AL roster to fill Ramos' spot.

Perez is hitting .221 with 13 home runs and 41 RBIs. He homered as part of a 2-for-4 day in Kansas City's 5-0 win over the White Sox on Saturday.

The 89th Midsummer Classic will be televised live on FOX at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday from Nationals Park in Washington.

Bonifacio powers Royals to win after Duffy's gemOutfielder provides offense with homer, 3 RBIs in shutout victoryJuly 14, 2018 By Max Gelman/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/jorge-bonifacio-danny-duffy-pace-royals-win/c-285805772

In the first inning on Saturday afternoon, Jorge Bonifacio provided all the offense the Royals needed.

Bonifacio hit a towering fly ball inside the left-field foul pole off White Sox starter Reynaldo Lopez, giving Kansas City a 2-0 lead it would not relinquish. The long ball, Bonifacio's first of the year following an 80-game suspension for PEDs, boosted the Royals to a 5-0 victory at Guaranteed Rate Field.

"I just texted [general manager Dayton Moore], 'great to have [Bonifacio] back,'" manager Ned Yost said. "He's just a really important part of our lineup, and today was another example.

"We all move on, and he's done a good job with it. He's not dwelling on [the suspension]," Yost said. "He knows he made a mistake, he knows he paid for it, and now he's [moving on]."

The win was the Royals' second in their last 14 games, and the seventh shutout of the season. Over their last four games, the Royals -- who entered the game with the fewest runs scored in the Majors -- have averaged more than six runs. Salvador Perez delivered the finishing touch with a two-run homer in the eighth inning.

Looking purely at the Statcast™ numbers, Jorge Bonifacio's first-inning fly ball resulted in an oddity. An exit velocity of 95.5 mph and launch angle of 45 degrees combined to give Bonifacio a one percent chance of a hit, a similar chance prescribed to most lazy flyouts or popups.

But Bonifacio's fly ball kept going, hanging in the air for nearly six seconds, and ultimately landed in the White Sox bullpen.

"I really don't know," Bonifacio said when asked how he kept his homer fair. "I thought it was foul. When I hit it, it was fair and then it [looked] foul. And I don't know how it [stayed] fair. I try to keep my hands in every time I get an inside pitch, but I really don't know how that ball was fair."

"It started off foul and then just came back, which means he's really staying inside the ball well," Yost said. "He's not getting that hook spin on it, which would slide it over."

Bonifacio added an RBI triple in the fifth inning, advancing to third when the Chicago infield did not properly cut off left fielder Daniel Palka's throw from the warning track. He tallied three RBIs for the fourth time in his career, the last time coming Sept. 30 against the D-backs.

On the mound, starter Danny Duffy brought some stability to a rotation that has increasingly shown cracks following injuries to Ian Kennedy and Jakob Junis. Duffy went seven scoreless innings in his longest outing since June 9, striking out eight White Sox hitters.

"Trusting my fastball has been big these last couple months of the season," Duffy said. "That was one thing [Yost] told me when I was in the worst part of my struggles early on -- just gotta trust what I have in the tank. That's what got me here, my fastball."

Dating back to May 24, Duffy owns a 2.73 ERA in 10 starts (62 2/3 innings). He's completed six innings in nine of the 10 outings.

"The curveball comes off the fastball," Yost said. "He was using the curveball before, but the fastball was at a 40 to 45 percent rate of usage, and everybody was sitting on the curveball. … Now they've got to respect the fastball that takes him off the curveball, so his curveball is going to be much more effective."

Jason Hammel and Wily Peralta closed out the win for the Royals, combining for two scoreless innings in relief.

SOUND SMARTWhit Merrifield is in the midst of a 15-game on-base streak, which he extended Saturday with a single to lead off the game. Merrifield is hitting .435 (27-for-62) with six doubles, one home run and nine multi-hit games during the streak.

HE SAID IT"I mean it's a valid question, it's not fun to go through losing streaks. While we feel the losses, we feel every loss and it hurts, we've gotta celebrate the wins, and they've been obviously few and far between for us this year. So it's definitely -- like I said -- definitely a valid question. We've been doing our best to treat each day like a new day, and there's an opportunity to win a baseball game every day." -- Duffy, on how the team keeps its spirits up during extended losing streaks

UP NEXTThe Royals wrap up their first half and three-game series in Chicago at 1:10 p.m. CT on Sunday. Burch Smith (0-0, 5.83 ERA) will get the nod, but he will likely throw only 50-60 pitches in what Ned Yost described as a bullpen day. Smith made his only start of the season last Wednesday, giving up four runs in 3 1/3 innings to the Twins. Lucas Giolito (5-8, 6.59) goes for the White Sox.

'Bullpen day' on tap with starters on mendJunis set to return after All-Star breakJuly 14, 2018 By Max Gelman/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/royals-utilize-bullpen-day-with-starters-out/c-285784506

Heading into the All-Star break with their starting rotation in flux, mainly due to the injury of Ian Kennedy, the Royals will close out their series against the White Sox with a bullpen day Sunday.

Manager Ned Yost said Saturday that Burch Smith will start the finale and throw about 50-60 pitches, with Glenn Sparkman or Brian Flynn likely picking up in long relief. Smith made his only start of the season last Wednesday,

giving up four runs on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings to the Twins.

"I was a little concerned that [Smith] was going to go 13 days in between starts, so we were gonna put him in the 'pen anyway tomorrow," Yost said. "He's coming back a day early, but we're looking for three or four maybe from him.

"That way we can get everybody throwing before the All-Star break, so nobody has a longer layover," Yost added.

Yost said Friday that Kennedy would resume baseball activities in five to seven days, and he told reporters Saturday that Smith and Heath Fillmyer will continue to start until Kennedy returns. Kennedy, in the third season of a five-year, $70 million contract, is 1-8 with a 5.13 ERA in 18 starts.

Junis close to returning

Jakob Junis went on the 10-day disabled list just six days ago with back inflammation, but he is already lined up to start after the All-Star break, Yost said. Junis will start the Royals' second game after the break on July 21 against the Twins.

"We're gonna have to make a move, so I don't want to have to rush in and make a move," Yost said. "I want him to get settled, make sure everything's good with him."

In order for Junis to return to his April form, he needs to focus on consistently maintaining command, Yost said. Junis had a 3.62 ERA through his first 12 starts, but he saw that mark balloon to 5.13 over his next five.

"When [Junis] was really, really good, he was commanding his slider," Yost added. "Mechanically, he gets around it at times, which spins it. When he stays on top of it, it's a swing-and-miss slider."

Change of plans: Royals catcher Salvador Perez to start in All-Star GameJuly 14, 2018 By Sam McDowell/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article214912940.html

The Royals’ lone representative in the All-Star Game will be in the starting lineup Tuesday night.

Salvador Perez will start the All-Star Game for the fifth straight season. The game will be played Tuesday at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

Perez, 28, was originally picked as a reserve, but he was plugged into the starting lineup Saturday after the injury of Tampa catcher Wilson Ramos.

Perez, who homered in Saturday’s win against the Chicago White Sox, is batting .221 with 13 homers and 41 RBI this year. He missed the first four weeks of the season with a knee injury.

He trails only George Brett in All-Star starts as a member of the Royals. Brett started in nine summer classics.

After elbow surgery, Danny Duffy abandoned his curveball. It’s back ... and so is he

July 14, 2018 By Sam McDowell/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article214905840.html

The hesitancy derived from fear, Royals left-hander Danny Duffy nervous about another setback. Dating back to his days as a high school pitcher, a curveball was his out-pitch, a go-to weapon with a game on the line.

But a few years ago, he abandoned it. Threw it less than once per every 100 pitches.

He blamed the pitch for his Tommy John surgery in 2012, an injury to his throwing elbow that came just as he thought he was figuring out his way in the big leagues. So his solution? Get rid of it.

“I was afraid to throw it, man,” Duffy said. “That was the pitch that ultimately blew out my elbow. It was a mental block a little bit.”

In a perfect world, the pitch would have remained absent from his repertoire forever. He never planned to use it again. Hoped he would never need to use it again.

The most turbulent season of his career prompted him to face his fear. Nearly three months ago, as the life on the pitch remained part of his bullpen sessions, Duffy was searching for something to change his fortune. He turned to a reliable companion.

The curveball.

It’s revitalized his 2018 season. Duffy prolonged his return to form Saturday, throwing seven shutout innings in a 5-0 victory against the White Sox. In his past 10 starts, Duffy has a 2.73 earned run average. He has allowed one run or fewer in seven of those 10 starts.

The answer, he said, lies within the pitch he first learned in high school.

“The curveball has been a godsend,” he said. “What I was doing wasn’t working. So I tried to figure something new out. This isn’t so new as it is just trying to rekindle what I had when I first came up.”

The proof is in the statistics. According to Brooks Baseball, Duffy threw the curveball less than 2 percent of the time from 2015-17 combined, including less than once every 100 pitches in 2016 and 2017, and he had similar usage rates over the initial two months of 2018.

It’s back in full force over the last several weeks. It accounted for 8.9 percent of his pitches in June, and that number has soared to 19 percent in July.

Hitters can’t identify it, either. Well, or they can’t hit it, at least. Even before Saturday’s gem, opposing hitters were batting only .100 against Duffy’s curveball — making it far and away his most effective pitch.

“I’m just throwing it like I did when I was in high school,” Duffy said. Royals pitching coach “Cal (Eldred) has been able to refine it a little bit. It’s been good for me, man. Obviously I was absolutely atrocious the first part of the year. We’re starting to climb the mountain of being able to get back to where we were when we were successful.”

Ten starts into the season, Duffy was 1-6. His ERA stood at 6.88. His slider was being hit harder than normal, and Duffy worried he was tipping the pitch. Eldred and manager Ned Yost urged Duffy to stick with his fastball at a higher rate, and Yost believes that has made all of his off-speed pitches more valuable.

The curveball added another layer to the midseason overhaul, though it wasn’t as unfamiliar as it might appear. Even while throwing it so rarely from 2015-17, Duffy continued to mix it into his bullpen sessions between starts, thinking it might prove beneficial one day.

That day has arrived.

“I just haven’t needed it the last few years, and I haven’t necessarily wanted to need it,” Duffy said. “Until now.”

Jorge Bonifacio clubs first homer since PED suspension; Duffy rolls in Royals’ winJuly 14, 2018 By Sam McDowell/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article214896035.html

The baseball died somewhere along the warning track Friday, vexing Royals hitter Jorge Bonifacio and his manager. Bonifacio had put a charge into a baseball, only to see it fall a few feet shy of changing the outcome of a game.

A day later, on Saturday afternoon, Bonifacio got just enough.

And that was more than plenty for Danny Duffy.

Bonifacio skied his first homer of the season into the White Sox bullpen at Guaranteed Rate Field, the support of a brilliant outing from Duffy in the Royals’ 5-0 win Saturday in Chicago.

Bonifacio drove in the first three Royals runs — two on the first-inning blast and one on an unlikely triple. Duffy backed it with seven shutout innings, elongating his recent return to form, particularly outside of Kauffman Stadium.

Ten starts into his season, the outcomes puzzled Duffy, who endured the worst stretch of his career. He was 1-6. His earned run average stood at 6.88. His manager and pitching coach urged him to stay confident with his pitches, not to ditch his fastball in favor of overthrowing his slider.

The Danny Duffy of old has followed. Including the seven shutout innings Saturday, Duffy has a 2.73 ERA in his past 10 starts. The appearance Saturday marked the seventh time during the stretch that he has lasted at least six innings while giving up one run or fewer. He has allowed only one earned run in his last five road starts, which stretches over 32 innings.

Duffy effectively worked out of trouble Saturday, sidestepping a collection of soft-contact hits. The White Sox placed two runners on base in the third, fourth and six innings, but none of them scored. Duffy prevented productive outs, countering with eight strikeouts.

After a quarter-hour Friday, the Royals faced a three-run deficit they never surmounted. After just four minutes Saturday, they had a two-run lead.

Bonifacio directed right-handed starter Reynaldo Lopez’s fourth pitch of the game over the left-field fence, scoring Whit Merrifield, who opened the game with a single. It was the first bomb of the year for Bonifacio, who sat out the initial 80 games for a suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing supplements.

Lopez settled in afterward, his matchups with Bonifacio notwithstanding. Bonifacio tagged him again for a run-scoring triple in the fifth, pushing the advantage to 3-0. Salvador Perez finally chased him from the game with a two-run homer in the eighth. Lopez struck out seven over 7 2/3 innings.

On Friday night, Bonifacio came within a couple of feet of a three-run homer in the eighth inning that would have put the Royals ahead.

White Sox manager Rick Renteria was ejected in the fifth inning Saturday for arguing balls and strikes.

Just two years ago, Royals OF Paulo Orlando hit .300. It’s been a grind ever sinceJuly 14, 2018 By Sam McDowell/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article214899320.html

A spot along the rail of the batting practice cage is reserved for Royals manager Ned Yost. On many days, he is perched directly behind one of his hitters, a leg propped up on a step and two arms folded across a ledge.

Standing next to hitting coach Terry Bradshaw, it is here that Yost takes inventory of the hiccups in swings, aiding in diagnosing the root of slumps. But for two seasons now, the batting practice sessions of outfielder Paulo Orlando have baffled him.

“He consistently hits the ball harder than anybody,” Yost said. “Line drive after hard line drive after hard line drive. Guys are hitting fly balls and hitting homers, and he’s boom, boom, boom.”

And yet the production in major league games shares a different story. A narrative of a hitter who for 18 months has been unable to recapture the success of 2016.

Orlando hit .302 that season, a number his manager insists was no fluke, especially considering it encompassed 484 plate appearances. It has been a consistent struggle ever since, with injuries and demotions to Triple-A Omaha the only interruptions from major-league poverty. Orlando has hit .188 in 2017 and 2018 combined. That includes 43 strikeouts and only four walks.

“It’s just trying to get my timing back,” Orlando said. “It’s hard when you don’t play every day. Sometimes you swing at every pitch coming. It’s hard to get on time for every pitch and recognize a pitch. That’s what it’s all about.”

Orlando, 32, joined the Royals for the weekend in Chicago, a temporary call-up as outfielder Rosell Herrera was placed on the paternity list to be with his wife in New Jersey. Orlando was in the starting lineup Saturday afternoon.

For Orlando, the call-up interrupted an 11-game hitting streak in Omaha. He batted .366 during the 11 games.

“I feel better at the plate,” Orlando said. “After maybe five days, I feel better; I feel more confident. That’s because I have my timing back.”

It this sounds familiar, well, it should. As the MLB struggles prolong, Orlando has enjoyed extended hitting surges in the minors many times before. Earlier this season, for example, he earned a call-up after hitting .523 (23 for 44) over an 11-game stretch. But in the subsequent shift with the Royals, he hit just .156 (5 for 32).

In all, Orlando has batted .309 with Omaha this year, packaging an .835 on-base plus slugging percentage. He’s hitting .177 with the Royals without a home run.

Hence the frustration — and perplexity — from the Royals.

“Paulo’s had a bit of a struggle here,” Yost said. “Two years ago, it was no fluke. ... But he struggled last year offensively, and up here (this year) has struggled.

“I don’t know why he’s struggled. His swing looks the same to me.”

Orlando said he was bothered earlier this year by left knee pain, derived after he suffered a fractured shin in May 2017. During the rehab process, Orlando believed he overcompensated to try to prevent re-injuring the shin, leaving his knee weaker. It prompted him to skip winter ball.

It was recently that he felt fully healthy, and if nothing else, that’s provided a mental boost. Whether it materializes on the field is much less certain.

“I feel more confident because my body responds perfect,” Orlando said. “I got my body going. I’m confident in myself.”

From Italy to Japan to the Dominican: the Royals’ ‘relentless pursuit’ of talentJuly 14, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/432113/2018/07/14/from-italy-to-japan-to-the-dominican-the-royals-relentless-pursuit-of-talent /

It is a Thursday night in July, and René Francisco is on the phone from a hotel in Tuscany. It’s late. He’s running on adrenaline and thinking about tomorrow, about the next player and the next game. This is where the hunt for talent has brought him.

It’s almost 12:30 a.m. local time, and Francisco, the Royals’ assistant general manager, has spent the day watching an U-18 European tournament in Grosseto, Italy, a small city of 80,000. Tomorrow he will do the same. The Royals are looking at a few young players from Europe, including one from Spain, he says. The young talent from the countries in the draw — Germany, Spain, Netherlands, to name three — is not as advanced or as polished as the kids from Latin America, of course. But you never know, Francisco says. The search never stops.

In the two weeks since baseball’s international signing period opened on July 2, the Royals have spent millions on

teenagers from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela; they’ve secured an unprecedented signing in Japan and scoured the rest of Asia for players; and now Francisco, the chief architect of the international scouting operation, was watching games on ball fields in Italy.

“It’s a relentless pursuit of talent,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore says.

It is trite at this point to say that the Royals’ international scouting efforts are important. The pursuit is vital for all clubs, of course. Yet as the team lays the foundation for its rebuild, the money spent in Latin American and the nights spent in Europe remain paramount, one tentacle in the chase for another title.

Twelve years ago, Moore hired Francisco, a former colleague with the Braves, to resurrect a dilapidated international department and establish a brand in Latin America. From the start, the operation changed the franchise. It discovered catcher Salvador Pérez and pitchers Yordano Ventura and Kelvin Herrera, and the investment helped the club win a World Series in 2015. Now it must replicate the process.

“In our market, we have to build it through the draft and through international (signings),” Francisco says. “It’s the only way we can survive.”

There are tangible signs of progress, of course, even beyond homers from Jorge Bonifacio or defensive wizardry from Adalberto Mondesi. On Sunday, Dominican-born outfielder Seuly Matias will represent the Royals in the Futures Game in Washington D.C., the annual showcase of top prospects.

Matias, 19, leads all of minor-league baseball with 26 homers at Low-A Lexington. He has, in most ways, been a revelation in a farm system seeking to churn out impact players. And still, even the story of Matias’ signing underscores a near miss and highlights the volatile nature of the endeavor (more on this in a moment).

For now, the Royals are focused on expanding their efforts on the Pacific Rim and building on their presence in Latin American and finding the next generation of Pérezes and Herreras. But as Matias prepares to compete in the Futures Game, and the All-Star Game approaches, and Francisco scouts players in Italy, here are three stories from the front lines of the search for talent.

A Creative Play in Asia When Major League Baseball wielded its hammer against the Atlanta Braves last November, punishing the organization for circumventing international signing rules, the Royals were among the teams poised to benefit.

The league granted free agency to 13 prospects signed by Atlanta from 2015 to 2017; the Royals emerged to sign two, landing Dominican pitcher Yefri del Rosario for $600,000 and Cuban outfielder Juan Carlos Negret for an undisclosed number. For the Royals, a club with a barren farm system, the players offered a nice boost.

Yet it was two other additions from a previous Atlanta regime that flew under the radar. With the Braves mandated to pare back their international scouting operation, Phil Dale, the club’s Pacific Rim scouting director, became available. The Royals moved to hire Dale as well as another former Braves employee, Japanese scout Hiroyuki Oya. For Moore, the additions made sense. He knew Dale, a former manager

and pitcher in Australia, from their tenure with the Braves. Dale also had extensive knowledge of the baseball in Asia.

“We feel that we have a high-producing department (in Latin America),” Moore said. “The next step for us was for us to dive into what we’re doing on the Eastern Rim. So the last three years, we have strategically put forth efforts in hiring staff.”

The investment paid off earlier this month when the club signed 16-year-old pitcher Kaito Yuki to deal with little precedent. Yuki, a 6-foot-2, 170-pound native of Osaka, opted to eschew the typical Japanese route to Nippon Professional Baseball, despite being one of the top young pitching prospects in the country. Francisco credited the relationships fostered by Dale and Oya for securing the talented teenager. Moore said the club had followed the player and built a comfort level over multiple years.

“This kid is eager to come to the United States,” Francisco said. “And he knows how to pitch.”

The signing of Yuki represented a creative tactic in Japan, where most players follow a traditional high school system and begin their professional careers at home. The Royals, a small-market club with limited resources, viewed it as a means to acquire a potential top talent — the next Yu Darvish or Masahiro Tanaka — before the price tag became exorbitant.

“That’s the hope,” Francisco said.

Moore and Francisco each cautioned against viewing the signing as a watershed moment that could compel other young Japanese players to follow Yuki directly into the Major League Baseball system. For one, Japanese high school kids have been scouted before. Most prefer to stay at home.

Francisco described Yuki as a rare player who had the “courage and conviction” to come to the United States at 16. His parents also supported the decision, he said.

“A lot of it is the players in the past haven’t had a strong desire to come to the United States out of high school or before they finished high school,” Moore said. “It’s a different system. He had a comfort level with Phil and Hiro. And he felt good about how we were going to transition him.”

Yuki is scheduled to arrive in the United States later this summer and could take part in instructional league this fall in Surprise, Ariz. He will spend part of the next year acclimating to the culture and language before beginning his professional career in 2019. At 16 years old, he is years from being ready to compete in the major leagues. Like many international signings, he may never spend one night in a big-league clubhouse. Still, his unique path could draw attention throughout the game.

The Royals are taking a small gamble on a young pitcher from Japan. Yuki is betting that he’s ready to chase his dream in the United States.

“When you’re an organization that promotes from within and gives their own players first opportunity, it’s more appealing,” Moore said. “If you’re a young player, you want to know that there’s going to be stability and continuity throughout the organization, and that the organization has a plan to develop young players. That’s what we try to do.”

The Near Dream Class To scout and sign a 16-year-old baseball player is to traffic in uncertainty. Sometimes you stumble upon Kelvin Herrera or Yordano Ventura for $15,000 or $20,000. Sometimes you spend millions on a player with power and speed and athleticism to spare — and the tools do not translate to the field.

And then there are summers like three years ago, in 2015. The Royals had more than $2 million to spend in the international market, according to the collective-bargaining agreement’s limits on spending pools. The club elected to blow past its cap and pay the necessary overage taxes.

So the Royals signed a Dominican outfielder named Seuly Matias for $2.25 million, convinced by his overall skillset and box of tools. And they landed a young Dominican shortstop named Jeison Guzman for $1.5 million, betting on his athleticism and glove.

The club coveted Matias’ raw power and strong arm, Francisco says. They were also intrigued by his intelligence and maturity — impressive for a kid who had grown up in poverty in a rural part of the country.

“He was a wild horse that still had to be corrected on how to walk, how to run, how to do a lot of things,” Francisco said. “But he had a lot of tools. The package was there.”

Three years later, Matias, 19, has clubbed 26 homers and posted an .842 OPS for Low-A Lexington. On Sunday, he will join the best prospects in baseball at the Futures Game in Washington D.C. Guzman, meanwhile, is still developing his bat after being moved from Lexington to Rookie-league Burlington in June. But it is the names the Royals nearly signed that summer that show just how unpredictable and volatile the process can be.

In the summer of 2015, Francisco says, the Royals had shifted their focus and resources to four Dominican prospects: Matias and Guzman; a young outfielder named Juan Soto; and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the son of the Hall of Fame outfielder.

All four were highly touted prospects, on the radars of every major-league team. Matias and Guerreo were both ranked in the top 15 of international prospects that summer, according to MLB.com, while Soto was rated 25th. The Royals invited all four players to their academy for interviews and workouts before the signing period opened on July 2. Francisco described them as their “main guys.”

Three years later, you might know the rest of the story. Soto, 19, has nine homers and a .949 OPS in 49 games after debuting for the Nationals in May, while Guerrero, 19, is the consensus best prospect in baseball, a freakishly gifted hitter and future Blue Jay who would join Matias in the Futures Game if not for injury. What happened three summers ago underscores the thin margins that can alter a franchise’s future.

The Royals were hours away from a deal for Soto but could not secure the funds before he agreed to terms with Washington. They were also close on Guerrero, but could not meet a $3.5 million price tag. The scouts did their job, Francisco says, building trust in the relationships and putting the club in position.

“We were happy with the money we got and the players we got,” Francisco says. “But it could have been an even better year.”

The Royals spent so much money that summer that for two years they were restricted from signing players for more than $300,000. And in Matias, the club acquired a potential impact bat. If he can cut down on his strikeouts and hit for average, club officials believe he could anchor a lineup in Kansas City. That is the hope of every summer on the international market.

“He’s still in the developing stages,” Francisco said. “He has the power.”

The Latest Search For TalentWhen this year’s signing period opened on July 2, the Royals had $5,504,500 to spend on international players. Under the terms of the most recent collective-bargaining agreement, clubs can no longer exceed the cap, as Kansas City did in 2015.

The Royals were able to apportion a percentage of the bonuses spent on del Rosario and Negret, the former Braves, to this year’s spending pool. They also set out to acquire two top Dominican shortstops.

They signed shortstop Omar Florentino, the 18th-rated prospect in the class, according to Baseball America, for $750,000. They spent $850,000 on shortstop Wilmin Candelario, a switch-hitting shortstop who trained in the Dominican with former Royal Miguel Tejada and was described by Baseball America as having “the prettiest actions to watch taking infield.”

Each player offers an athletic, projectable frame and defensive potential. But teenagers being teenagers, you never really know.

The other top players in the class include Jaswel de los Santos, an outfielder from the Dominican Republic, and Jose Freites, an outfielder from the Dominican Republic. And then, of course, there is Yuki from Osaka, Japan, and the possibility of a body or two from Europe to add to the class of more than 20 players. You never know where you’re going to find talent, Moore says, so the search, relentless and never-ending, will continue.

Scouts fly to Europe. Others take up residence in Asia. Others scour the Dominican Republic and Venezuela for next year’s class.

“We can never ever feel satisfied for complete with what we’ve accomplished,” Moore says. “This stuff never stops.”

Q&A: The Royals’ Danny Duffy explains how he found his curveball and rescued his seasonJuly 15, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/432200/2018/07/14/qa-the-royals-danny-duffy-explains-how-he-found-his-curveball-and-rescued-his-season/

His ERA above 6.00, his frustration simmering to a boil, Royals starter Danny Duffy searched for a solution. His manager lobbied for more fastballs. His pitching coach scoured video. His patience wore thin.

“I was absolutely atrocious,” Duffy says.

Two months after a low point, Duffy tossed seven scoreless innings and struck out eight Saturday in a 5-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox. He lowered his season ERA to 4.59 — more than two runs better than the 6.88 he carried on May 19. He extended his scoreless innings streak to 13. As Jorge Bonifacio carried the Royals’ offense with a homer, a triple and three RBIs, Duffy continued to resuscitate a season that once looked comatose.

In his past 10 starts, dating to May 24, he has logged a 2.73 ERA with 58 strikeouts in 55 2/3 innings. He credits the turnaround on two changes: renewed confidence in his fastball and the re-emergence of his curveball, which Duffy mostly shelved after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2012.

After turning to a fastball-slider-changeup mix in his breakout season of 2016, Duffy threw his curveball 8 percent of the time in June before turning to it more than 19 percent of the time in July. The latter would be more than quadruple his highest curveball usage since 2015.

The result is a pitcher who has become wholly diversified in the last month. While backing off his slider, Duffy has still thrown it 11 percent of the time. He’s also still utilizing his changeup (15.5 percent), sinker (18.8 percent) and four-seam fastball (35 percent).

“I would say this is the most I’ve tapped into the tackle box, for sure,” he says.

In an extended conversation after his start Saturday, Duffy explained the usage of his curveball and how the pitch returned to his repertoire. The interview is lightly edited for clarity:

(Ned Yost) has talked about how important the fastball has been recently, how living on the fastball has made a big difference for you.

I would say trusting my fastball has been big these last couple months of the season. That was one thing (Yost) told me when I was in the worst part of my struggle early on. I just got to trust what we have in the tank. That’s what got me here — my fastball. I didn’t get here by thumbin’.

Did you feel early on that you had your best stuff?

It’s kind of been that way the last two starts. I could feel it in the pen — when it’s coming out of my hand good. The curveball has been a godsend. I’ve been able to wrangle that up again after a few years of not having it. We used our weapons the way we needed to again.

How did using the curveball come to be? I know it’s been a process. Why did you bring that out again?

What I was doing wasn’t working. So I tried to figure something new out. This isn’t so new, as it is trying to rekindle what I had when I first came up. So that’s something that’s been huge for us. And Salvy (Salvador Pérez), having the confidence to call it in important situations, it makes me feel better about it.

Your slider has always been a key pitch and key to your breakout a couple years ago. How do you balance the usage of the curveball and the slider?

You just go with what you feel, man. I’ve been throwing (the slider) a lot less. But it still doesn’t mean it’s not in there. I just haven’t really needed it that much.

Is this the same curveball that you had?

When I was a rookie, man. It’s just top-to-bottom, and I’m just throwing it like I did when I was in high school. (Pitching coach Cal Eldred) has been able to refine it a little bit. It’s been good for me, man. Obviously, I was absolutely atrocious the first part of the year. And we’re starting to climb the mountain of being able to get back to where we were when we were successful.

Why did you go away from the curveball?

I was afraid to throw it. That was the pitch that I ultimately blew out my elbow on. (It was) a mental block a little bit. It was still something that I needed to learn how to get downhill with a little more instead of just looping it up there.

Has it taken a while to get the feel back?

I’ve been working on it really hard. The last couple years, just on my sides, I’ve been working on it and trying to get it back. Now is the time to really try to put it to use and we’ve been fortunate enough to have a good one every time out.

You never stop working when it comes to stuff like that. If you have a good pitch … my rookie year it was, statistically, one of the best curveballs in the game and swing-and-miss rates were way up there. I just haven’t needed it the last few years and I haven’t necessarily wanted to use it up until now.

James Shields recalls bringing ‘fun back’ to KCJuly 14, 2018 By Todd Fertig/Topeka Capital-Journalhttp://www.cjonline.com/sports/20180714/royals-rundown-james-shields-recalls-bringing-fun-back-to-kc

When fans look back on the Kansas City Royals’ 2015 championship, and the magical 2104 World Series run, they wistfully long for the days of Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain and Yordano Ventura. They wish they could resurrect the deadly bullpen of Greg Holland, Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera. They might even pine for the short but sweet stints of Ben Zobrist and Johnny Cueto.

But they might not recall quite so readily the one man who, perhaps more than any other at the time, was credited with bringing winning baseball to Kansas City.

Remember “Big Game” James? Remember “The James Shields Trade?”

Shields was a hard-nosed “gamer” who relied upon guile and tenacity as much as his formidable talent during the short-lived heyday of the Tampa Rays.

Seeing that they had talent, but not a winning culture, the Royals raided their then top-flight farm system to acquire Shields, not realizing at the time that a secondary piece, Davis, would eventually solidify the Kansas City bullpen in the championship season.

But the December 2012 deal is not called “The Wade Davis Trade.” And there is a reason for that.

Forget that Shields was not the pitching star of the 2013 and 2014 Royals. His role was bigger than that. He led the pitching staff like a Pied Piper, showing the likes of Ventura and Danny Duffy how to be professionals. He taught the team to despise losing. He demonstrated what it takes to be a winner.

Now four seasons after the Royals allowed Shields to depart via free agency, Shields recalls his role in Kansas City.

“I just brought energy every day,” Shields said. “I brought fun back into baseball over there.”

He recalled that the Royals’ talent was unmistakable. But the team was young, unproven and uncertain of itself when he arrived.

“Losing, obviously, isn’t fun,” he said. “They were stuck in that rut, just trying to figure out who they were. I just tried to keep the guys loose, and tried to help them feel like a unit.”

Shields provided his typically gritty effort against the Royals on Friday. He soldiered through 6 2/3 innings, throwing 109 pitches, to collect the win.

“It’s baseball,” he said when asked about his feelings for his former team. “I loved my time there, but I’m with the White Sox right now. That’s just the business.”

Valued for his leadership and clubhouse presence, Shields continues to find himself with clubs stuck in rebuilding mode. Since leaving the Royals, he pitched for the San Diego Padres when they went just 74-88. Then he was traded to the White Sox, who are in a prolonged rebuilding process and are currently just a tick better than the moribund Royals.

He said his role is the same now with the struggling White Sox pitchers as it was in Kansas City.

“It’s just being able to slow the game down,” said the 13-year veteran. “The game’s a lot faster in the big leagues, and these young guys are just learning that. We all have to slow the game down. Even veterans, sometimes the game speeds up on us.”

Due to his winning pedigree, Shields has found himself a part of a lot of losing lately. So he’s not unsympathetic to the plight of the 2018 Royals. But he said he believes the right ingredients are in place for an effective rebuild.

“Those guys have created a great culture. The organization itself is amazing. I had a lot of fun playing in KC.

“At the end of the day, they’re going to pull it together. They’ve got a good group of guys in there, including (veterans) who have been there and kind of know what’s going on and how to lead those guys.”

Young officer diagnosed with ALS has special night at KauffmanJuly 14, 2018 By WIBW TV 13http://www.wibw.com/content/news/Young-officer-diagnosed-with-ALS-has-special-night-at-Kauffman-488192601.html

Sarah Olsen looks like a teenager, which is a fact she’s used grown used to.

“I just laugh about it and roll on,” she said. “They think I look like an 18-year-old.”

However, her looks are deceiving.

The Blue Springs High School grad is actually a nine-year police veteran.

She loves her job. “It’s been a blast and experience like no other,” she said.

Olsen is also a lifelong Royals fan who’s spent countless days at Kauffman Stadium.

“I was out here all the time,” she said, smiling. “We’d come out in middle school and high school. Just me and my friend. Our parents would drop us off, and we’d spend our nights out here through the week. Some years we went to 40-plus games.”

Along the way, Sarah’s got to meet a number of Royals players, including stars like Mike Sweeney and Jon Buck. And, it’s at Kauffman Stadium that Sarah’s two passions -- Royals baseball and policework -- intersected.

She said, “I’d look at the officers in the dugout and tell my friend, ‘That’s going to be me one day.’”

However, getting assigned to work at Royals games as a Kansas City police officer is almost impossible. “It’s pretty tough,” she said. “The guys that do that, they do it for years and years, and why not? It’s so much fun!”

During a recent series, though, Sarah got her chance to work a game.

“I’m pretty excited,” she said, “A little nervous, but pretty excited.”

The moment is bittersweet because the 29-year-old has just recently been diagnosed with A.L.S. “I was first diagnosed on May 24th and then the final diagnosis was on May 31st,” she said.

Looking at her, it’s hard to believe that the young lady has a fatal disease. “They won’t tell you a timeline,” Sarah said with a slight smile. “They say the average lifespan after diagnosis is three to five years.”

That means that her Royals game will be more than just the culmination of a dream, it will also be the final time she gets to wear her police uniform.

“It’ll be real tough tonight after the game, but it’s hard to ruin a feeling like this,” she said.

Everywhere she looks around Kauffman Stadium brings back a special memory.

“One year we came out to opening day and we were sitting right behind the dugout wearing shirts that said ‘Go Royals,’ and the next day we were on the cover of the Kansas City Star,” she smiles.

Working around her baseball heroes was special, especially when Salvy surprised Sarah with a baseball signed by the entire team. “God bless you,” he told her and gave her a hug.

Manager Ned Yost heard about her story and wanted to meet her. He shook her hand and gave her a hug while posing for pictures.

Through it all, Olsen is determined to enjoy the time she has left.

“I’ve been living it up,” she said. “Life is short and it puts a whole new meaning to it when you’re given a diagnosis like that.”

Her fellow police officers said that she has always had a positive attitude. They said that clearly is coloring her outlook today.

“It’s like what I’ve told everybody,” Olsen said, “’Someone, somewhere is going to survive this disease and why can’t it be me?’”

There are trips and other great experiences that she planned over the coming months, but her night at Kauffman Stadium will always stand out.

“It was a dream come true,” she said. “Love the life you live, and live the life you love.”

To Olsen, that isn’t just some glib saying; it is a roadmap for the rest of her life.

MINORSStorm Chasers catcher Cam Gallagher stuck in Triple-A despite having major league talentJuly 14, 2018 By Tony Boone/Omaha World-Heraldhttps://www.omaha.com/sports/chasers/storm-chasers-catcher-cam-gallagher-stuck-in-triple-a-despite/article_781712c0-f157-5d43-9d89-1ebca4ca50ec.html

This weekend’s series at Werner Park features two of the best young catchers in baseball.

Carson Kelly and Cam Gallagher would likely already be on active major league rosters if they were playing in different organizations. As it stands, they’re stuck in Triple-A behind a pair of big league All-Stars.

Kelly , who turned 24 on Saturday, was ranked as the No. 3 prospect in the Cardinals farm system by Baseball America entering this season, but he remains in Memphis with veteran Yadier Molina entrenched in St. Louis. And Gallagher, 25, is still in Omaha because Salvador Perez has a stronghold on his position in Kansas City.

Both of the young backstops have seen time in the majors, but neither is concerned with his current situation.

“You’ve just got to take it day by day and not worry,” Kelly said. “That other stuff will take care of itself. You’ve still got to go out and play baseball. You can’t go into a stink about it or sulk or whatever. You can’t do any of that. You’ve got to focus on each day and help your guys put a winning team out there.”

Gallagher and Kelly each had one hit Saturday at Werner Park as Trevor Oaks (6-3) outdueled Chris Ellis (2-1) in a 1-0

Omaha victory. Frank Schwindel singled in the only run of the game in the third inning.

Both Gallagher and Kelly, who was originally drafted as a third baseman, are considered defense-first catchers. But they’ve proven to be more than capable hitters in the higher levels of the minor leagues.

Kelly entered Saturday’s contest with seven multi-hit games in his previous 10 starts, batting .404 over that stretch. And Gallagher has hit .354 for the Chasers with runners in scoring position this season.

The Omaha catcher has also thrown out 14 runners attempting to steal, which ranks second in the PCL.

Gallagher opened the regular season with the Royals while Perez was on the disabled list. He played in eight games before returning to Omaha to be the full-time starting catcher in late April.

“I got a good taste of it going up this year, unfortunately with Sal going down,” said Gallagher, who made his MLB debut and played 13 games for the Royals in 2017. “But coming down here and getting those everyday reps, at-bats and playing time, it’s definitely been beneficial to me and my career. I can’t control what goes on up there. I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing and, hopefully, I’ll get a call.”

Omaha manager Brian Poldberg, once a Triple-A catcher himself, said both are doing the right things.

“You’ve got to go out and continue to work,” he said. “Just like when the season started — Salvy was hurt and Cam got a chance to go up — you never know. You’re one foul tip away.”

Poldberg has had Gallagher with the Chasers for the past two seasons. He also likes Kelly’s game.

“It’s fun to watch him,” he said. “He blocks. He’s got leadership skills back there. He does a great job.”

Kelly, who took up catching after his first pro season, made his big league debut in 2016. He played 34 games for the Cardinals last season and was called up this May when Molina was injured.

Like Gallagher, the Memphis catcher believes his time with the big league club will pay off in the future.

“You get to be up in the big leagues, see what it’s about, see the pace of the game and the way each guy goes about their business,” Kelly said. “Routines are big up there. It’s great to get that experience. I’m doing everything I can down here. When I get that call, I’ll be ready and, hopefully, will stay up there.”

Gallagher admits there were moments when he has tried to map out that timetable for himself. But he said he learned quickly that did no good. He then adopted the approach of his Memphis counterpart.

“When you try to figure it out in your head or play GM for the team, everything never goes the way it’s really planned,” he said. “You can’t really think about what’s going on up there. You’ve got to control what you can, do what you can, hustle and play your heart out every day. And that’s what I try to do.”

Oaks, Omaha Blank 'Birds 1-0Trevor Oaks lowers PCL-best ERA to 1.84 in shutout winJuly 14, 2018 By Omaha Storm Chasershttps://www.milb.com/omaha/news/oaks-omaha-blank-birds-1-0/c-285882478

Storm Chasers starting pitcher Trevor Oaks tossed six and two-thirds scoreless innings to lower his Pacific Coast League-leading earned-run average to 1.84 as Omaha relievers Josh Staumont and Kevin Lenik combined for two-plus frames of support in a 1-0 victory over the Memphis Redbirds on Saturday evening at Werner Park.

Oaks (6.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K) did not allow a baserunner past second base, scattering three hits while striking out three. As a result of his outing, Oaks' earned-run average dropped to 1.84. In his last eight starts with the Storm Chasers, the right-hander has accumulated a 0.55 earned-run average (3 ER/48.2 IP).

Staumont (1,1 IP, H, K) and Lenik (1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 K) combined for the final 2.1 frames, with Staumont receiving his fourth hold and Lenik notching his fourth save. Memphis starter Chris Ellis (7.0 IP, 5 H, R, ER, 2 BB, 5 K) suffered the defeat despite a quality outing.

The Storm Chasers got the only offense they needed to support Oaks in the third courtesy of 1B Frank Schwindel 's RBI single up the middle. He currently ranks seventh in the Pacific Coast League with 59 runs driven in. Omaha CF Billy Burns (2-4, R) and Redbirds right fielder Adolis Garcia (2-4) were the only two batters to record a multi-hit effort.

Memphis threatened with runners at first and second in the second frame, however Oaks was able to induce an inning-ending twin-killing, one of two double plays turned by the Storm Chasers. Omaha RF Donnie Dewees finished the fifth frame off by catching a fly ball and then doubling off the runner at first.

The Storm Chasers and Redbirds are set to face off for the final time in the 2018 regular season on Sunday afternoon at Werner Park. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. CT. Omaha is anticipated to give the ball to LHP Jonathan Dziedzic (3-7, 3.83), with Memphis righty Daniel Poncedeleon (8-3, 2.39) expected to toe the rubber.

Naturals fall in high-scoring finaleNorthwest Arkansas and Tulsa combined for 20 runs on 24 hits in the Drillers 12-8 victory on SaturdayJuly 14, 2018 By NW Arkansas Naturalshttps://www.milb.com/northwest-arkansas/news/naturals-fall-in-high-scoring-finale/c-285884734

Northwest Arkansas and Tulsa put on a show offensively in the series finale but the Naturals (4-16, 39-51) would ultimately fall to the Drillers (16-5, 50-41) in the high-scoring affair in front of a crowd of 5,160 at Arvest Ballpark. The 12-8 victory gave Tulsa the series win, which keeps the Naturals in a tie for third-place and sitting 11.5 games back of the Drillers.

Tulsa got on the scoreboard first for the fourth consecutive game. On Saturday night it took until the second inning as Drew Jackson continued his solid play at the plate by hitting

a solo home run over the wall in left field for the early 1-0 advantage.

The Drillers would add a couple of runs in the fourth to extend their lead over the Naturals. D.J. Peters drove in the first run with a RBI double to center before Jackson followed with his second RBI of the night with a single to left for the 3-0 lead.

The bats would awaken for Northwest Arkansas in the home half of the fourth as three consecutive singles by Jecksson Flores , Erick Mejia and Elier Hernandez would result in a run. Mejia would then score on a double play to cut the deficit to 3-2.

The game remained 3-2 until both offenses got it rolling in the sixth. Tulsa would plate three runs - all with two outs - on a two-run single by last night's hero, Wes Darvill , and a RBI single to center field by Tyler Goeddel for a 6-2 lead. The Naturals would take advantage of some Tulsa miscues to follow suit with three runs of their own on a wild pitch, RBI groundout and error.

The one-run game would be as close as it would get as the Drillers used their three-run sixth as momentum to score more runs to put the finale out of reach. The visitors scored a run in the seventh on a RBI double by Peters, three in the eighth on a deep three-run home run by Will Smith , and two in the ninth on a single by Darvill and a costly error by the Naturals' centerfielder.

Northwest Arkansas wouldn't quit as they scored three runs in the eighth to cut it to 10-8 at the time. Kelvin Gutierrez had the big hit during the frame as the Naturals' third basemen drilled a two-run triple into the right field corner before scoring on a wild pitch by Karch Kowalczyk . The three runs would be the last of the offense for the Naturals as they fall by a 12-8 final.

Hernandez and Gutierrez led the Naturals nine-hit attack as the duo combined for five hits four RBIs and three runs scored. Meanwhile, the Drillers pounded out another 15 hits as Goeddel had four hits and Peters and Jackson each had three.

Foster Griffin (L, 3-12) got the start for Northwest Arkansas and was solid through the early innings but gave up two runs in the fourth and three in the sixth, which would end up costing him. In total, Griffin gave up six runs on eight hits while striking out seven in 6.0 innings of work. Tulsa's Logan Bawcom (W, 4-5) earned the win with 5.0 innings of two-run baseball.

Tonight's game concluded this 4-game series and homestand against the Tulsa Drillers (Double-A Affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers). Northwest Arkansas will hit the road tomorrow to begin a 4-game series in Springfield against the Cardinals (Double-A St. Louis Cardinals) before returning to Arvest Ballpark for a 7-game homestand on Thursday, July 19 through Wednesday, July 25. During the next homestand, the Naturals will face Tulsa for another 4-game set from July 19 through July 22 before squaring off against the Arkansas Travelers (Double-A Affiliate of the Seattle Mariners) for the final 3 games of the homestand.

Blue Rocks Rout Red Sox to Even Series

Wilmington Scores Early and Often to Shut Down SalemJuly 14, 2018 By Wilmington Blue Rockshttps://www.milb.com/wilmington/news/blue-rocks-rout-red-sox-to-even-series/c-285863618

The Wilmington Blue Rocks (43-48/12-9) used a six-run first inning to kick off a wild night of offense to stomp out the Salem Red Sox (45-46/13-10) on Saturday night by a score of 16-1 at Frawley Stadium. All nine batters in Wilmington's lineup drove in a run with Gabriel Cancel leading the way with three RBI. Nick Heath also had four hits on the night. As a unit, the Rocks pounded out a season-high 20 hits.

The Blue Rocks wasted no time scoring in the bottom of the first. Blake Perkins, Heath and D.J. Burt all hit singles to load the bases with no outs for Cancel. The second baseman drove in the first run of the game by drawing a bases loaded walk to score Perkins and put the Rocks on top 1-0. Meibrys Viloria added another run with an RBI single to score Heath and double the Rocks lead 2-0. Travis Jones kept the runs going with another RBI single to bring Burt home and extend the lead to 3-0. Rudy Martin was hit by a pitch to score Cancel extending the lead to 4-0. That would be the final straw for Red Sox as they pulled starting pitcher Daniel Gonzalez before he could record an out.

Angelo Castellano poured on another run with the third RBI single of the inning to make it a 5-0 ballgame. The final run of the inning was driven in via a sacrifice fly by Vance Vizcaino that scored Jones and would have scored Martin, but he was called out at the plate trying to score from third base on a relay throw that got away from Salem's Bobby Dalbec. Wilmington kept the bats swinging well beyond the first inning. Cancel had an RBI double in the bottom of the second to make it a 7-0 game.

Salem scored its lone run on a Dalbec solo home run in the fourth to make it 7-1. Cancel ripped his second RBI double of the game in the bottom of the fourth to make it 8-1. Perkins and Heath each added RBI singles in the bottom of the fifth to extend the lead to 10-1. Viloria hit a solo shot to right field in the bottom of the sixth for his fourth homer of the season and put the Rocks out to a comfortable 11-1 lead. The Rocks scoring ended in the bottom of the eighth. Four RBI singles by Martin, Vizcaino, Heath, and Burt and an error put the game out of reach for a 16-1 final score.

Blue Rocks starter Ofreidy Gomez had a solid outing on the mound to earn his third win of the season. The right-hander pitched five full innings allowed two walks and five hits with the lone blemish being a solo home run given up in the top of the fourth.

Wilmington and Salem will play the third game of the season on Sunday, July 15 with a matinee. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. The Blue Rocks will have righty Gerson Garbito (3-6, 4.02 ERA) on the mound while the Red Sox send fellow right-hander Kevin McAcoy (0-0, 2.19 ERA). Fans can catch all the action with Matt Janus and Cory Nidoh on the call on 89.7 WGLS-FM.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

The offensive onslaught by the Rocks on Saturday was their best performance on the plate this season. The 16 runs scored by Wilmington bested the previous season-high of 15 which was set back on April 19 against the Frederick Keys at Nymeo field. All the runs in that game for the Blue Rocks

were scored in the first four innings. Wilmington also set a new season-high with 20 hits in a single game. The previous high was set on July 11 when the Rocks notched 17 hits against Frederick in 12 innings of play. Saturday's game was also the 21st game where the Blue Rocks had 10 or more hits.

Gabriel Cancel continues to thrive when batting in the cleanup spot for the Blue Rocks. The infielder went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, drove in three runs and walked in Saturday's win. Over his last 29 games, Cancel has driven in 31 runs and added to his team lead with 51 on the season. While batting fourth this season, Cancel is hitting a robust .342 (25-for-73) with 21 RBI. When Cancel hits anywhere else in the lineup is hitting .245 (50-for-204) with 30 runs driven in.

Nick Heath extended his season-high on-base streak to 15 games thanks to a four-hit performance against Salem. Heath also drove in a pair of runs in the lopsided win. The outfielder turned in his 12th multi-hit game of the season and first, four-hit game of the year. On the season, the Rocks have had five different players pick up four this in a game with Emmanuel Rivera leading the way with two, four-hit games.

Royals Win on Walk-Off HBPBurlington takes down Johnson City 6-5 in series openerJuly 14, 2018 By Justin Gallanty/Burlington Royalshttps://www.milb.com/burlington-royals/news/royals-win-on-walk-off-hbp/c-285835424

The Burlington Royals (5-20) got their first walk-off win of 2018 when Jose Marquez was hit by a pitch to score Jackson Lueck and complete a 6-5 win over the Johnson City Cardinals (9-14) on Saturday.

The game was scoreless through the first three frames, but the Cardinals struck first in the fourth, taking a 1-0 lead.

The Royals answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth, on Juan Carlos Negret's third home run of the season.

Johnson City went ahead again in the fifth inning, scoring four runs off Burlington Starter Austin Cox.

Trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Royals tied the game with three runs. Rhett Aplin scored on a wild pitch, and then Lueck blasted a game-tying home run to make it 5-5.

Thanks to four scoreless innings of relief work from Marlin Willis, the game remained 5-5 until the bottom of the ninth inning. In that inning, Lueck led off with a double, Bhret Bewley and Hunter Strong walked, and then Marquez was hit by a pitch to end the game.

With the win, the Royals pick up victory number five of the season and will look to clinch a series win Sunday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. from Burlington Athletic Stadium.

NATIONAL

His workload — and ERA — both up, Kelvin Herrera adjusts to life as a NationalJuly 13, 2018 By Chelsea Janes/Washington Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/nationals-journal/wp/2018/07/13/his-workload-and-era-both-up-kelvin-herrera-adjusts-to-life-as-a-national/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ab32f6f01318

Kelvin Herrera doesn’t say much in the clubhouse. He would never be the most talkative man in this group of Nationals relievers, a title more hotly contested than most division races these days. Herrera wouldn’t even be in the running. He mostly keeps to himself.

Herrera knew everyone in Kansas City. He cried when he left. He jokes around when joked around with, smiles when smiled at, and shows no signs of surliness. But he does seem like the new kid at school sometimes, still finding his way — particularly on the field.

After an adventuresome eighth inning in Thursday night’s win, Herrera is pitching to a 4.66 ERA in 10 outings as a National. He has allowed more runs (five) in 9 2/3 innings since the trade than he did (three) in 25 2/3 innings before it. His strikeout-to-walk ratio with the Royals was 11.00. It dropped to 1.67 with the Nationals.

Herrera downplayed the impact of all the adjustments the trade required.

“It’s the same baseball,” Herrera said through team interpreter Octavio Martinez. “It’s a different role, but it’s the same baseball. You just have to maintain yourself and stay positive.”

Herrera doesn’t need an interpreter for most conversations. His English is excellent. But part of adjusting to a new organization is wanting to make sure every word is perfect. He doesn’t want any misunderstandings.

So when asked about how he is handling his increased workload with the Nationals — he has appeared in 10 of 23 games since the deal — Herrera used the interpreter to send the message. He doesn’t mind. He just has to be careful, particularly as he continues to switch between roles. He is the closer in Sean Doolittle’s absence, though he pitched the eighth because of matchups Thursday night. Some of those roles require more back-to-back days than others.

“I think all I really have to do at this point is find better exercise to keep my arm healthy,” Herrera said. “Creating a good rhythm so I can keep helping the team win games.”

That Herrera brought up the health of his arm could be cause for concern. He often shakes and tests his forearm between pitches, something some Nationals pitchers do more than others — something that is cause for alarm for some of them, and a nonissue for others. As he talked about his outing Thursday night, in which he struggled to spot his fastball and walked two, Herrera mentioned something else that raises concern: extension.

“I was having a little trouble getting extension on the ball,” Herrera said through Martinez. “I was able to increase it as it went along.”

Brandon Kintzler landed on the disabled list when he started struggling to get extension. In his case, a lack of extension came from increased tightness. Then again, perhaps conjecture like this is why Herrera wants to be so careful with his words in the first place. Perhaps the problem was just mechanical. He did not say anything about pain.

Still, the Nationals’ newest reliever is important to their plans both because of his abilities and what he presence means for the workloads of his colleagues. The Nationals need Herrera, who is available to close Friday night despite a high pitch count Thursday. The biggest adjustment he might face will be to his workload.

Cardinals dismiss manager MathenyJuly 15, 2018 By Jenifer Langosch/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/cardinals/news/cardinals-dismiss-manager-mike-matheny/c-285883856

A managerial tenure that began with four consecutive postseason runs ended abruptly for Mike Matheny on Saturday as the Cardinals announced his dismissal following the club's 8-2 loss to the Reds. Mike Shildt, who had been serving as the club's bench coach, takes over as interim manager.

Hitting coach John Mabry and assistant hitting coach Bill Mueller were also relieved of their duties. The organization will announce replacements for both during a media conference at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday in which principal owner Bill DeWitt Jr. and president of baseball operations John Mozeliak will also offer further explanation for the timing of these changes.

Matheny, who was under contract through 2020, is the first manager dismissed by the Cardinals since Joe Torre was replaced midseason in 1995. That came before DeWitt took over as chairman and chief executive officer.

"Mike Matheny has served the St. Louis Cardinals organization with tremendous dedication and pride, and I am thankful for his service to the Cardinals over the past six and a half seasons," DeWitt Jr. said in a statement released on Saturday night. "On behalf of the entire Cardinals organization, I would like to wish Mike the very best."

An organization that, under DeWitt's leadership, has preferred to wait until the offseason before making staff changes, does so now amid reports about growing turmoil in the clubhouse and evidence of a deteriorating on-field product. With one day remaining before the All-Star break, the Cardinals are 47-46 and sit seven games back of the National League Central-leading Cubs.

The Cards are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs in three straight seasons for the first time since 1997-99.

"These decisions are never easy, but we felt that a change in leadership was necessary as the team prepares to enter into the second half of the season," Mozeliak said. "I would like to thank Mike for his exceptional commitment and devotion to the Cardinals' organization, including many fond memories of our years working together."

Before dismissing Chris Maloney from the staff last June, Mozeliak had never made an in-season coaching change.

The Cardinals are likely to wait until the offseason to begin a more exhaustive search for a replacement manager. There are

some experienced managers currently without a home, including Joe Girardi, who is from central Illinois and knows Mozeliak from their time overlapping in Colorado and St. Louis.

Padres bench coach Mark McGwire might get some consideration. Mozeliak also has a longstanding relationship with Jim Riggleman, who hasn't been guaranteed the Reds' managerial position despite his role in helping the organization turn around its season. Riggleman served as the Cardinals' Minor League field coordinator from 2005-07 and he briefly served as the club's farm director.

Internal candidates could include third-base coach Jose Oquendo, who has previously expressed managerial aspirations, and Stubby Clapp, who has led Triple-A Memphis to a 149-84 record since taking over as manager last year. Pitching coach Mike Maddux has previously interviewed for managerial positions elsewhere.

Matheny had no professional managerial experience when he succeeded Tony La Russa following the Cardinals' World Series championship run in 2011, and he became the first rookie manager in baseball history to lead his club to the postseason in his first four years. But since the team's World Series run in 2013, the Cardinals have incrementally taken steps back.

They fell to the Giants in the 2014 NL Championship Series, then were booted in the NL Division Series by the Cubs in '15. And though they played meaningful games into the final week of September each of the last two years, the Cardinals failed to nab a postseason berth in either. After winning 100 games in '15, they finished with 86 and 83 wins, respectively, in '16 and '17.

Seeking to address their shortcomings, the Cardinals overhauled their roster in the offseason with the stated goal of earning a postseason spot. To this point, however, the on-field play has been ragged and inconsistent. Furthermore, a focus to clean up the fundamentals had not produced the desired results. For a second straight season, the Cards have been one of the Majors' worst in the field and on the bases.

Offensively, they ranked in the bottom half of the NL in runs scored (407) and strained to piece together rallies when not hitting home runs. Several hitters -- most notably Dexter Fowler, Kolten Wong, Tommy Pham and Marcell Ozuna -- have not performed near expectations.

And while the Cardinals' rotation has held itself together despite injuries, the bullpen never jelled under Matheny. In his final five games as manager, Matheny watched his relievers allow 26 earned runs.

Though the organization often cited his leadership abilities as one of Matheny's best attributes, concerns about that and his relationship with players had been festering as evidence of tension in the clubhouse emerged. In recent years, some players had privately expressed frustration with what they perceived to be varying standards for veteran players and younger ones. Questions about the effectiveness of his communication and in-game management had also surfaced internally.

This will be Shildt's first opportunity to manage at the big league level after serving in that capacity in the Minors. Before joining the Major League coaching staff last summer, Shildt managed eight seasons in the Cardinals' farm system.

With 20 years of data to work with, what can we predict about the future of Futures Game participants?July 15, 2018 By Cliff Corcoran/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/432306/2018/07/15/with-20-years-of-data-to-work-with-what-can-we-predict-about-the-future-of-futures-game-participants/

Major League Baseball’s All-Star festivities kick off Sunday with the All-Star Futures Game, an exhibition of the minor-leagues’ top talent. The first Futures Game was played at Fenway Park in 1999, which makes this year’s edition in Washington, D.C., the 20th. In recognition of that round number, we wanted to explore what the future holds for the typical Futures Game participant.

Twenty years is a long time, but given the youth of the typical Futures Game participant — all but a handful have been 25 or younger on the day of the game — it is just barely enough time to form a reliable picture of what kind of future awaits the Futures Game’s players. Working from a list of the 888 players named to Futures Games rosters from 1999 to 2018 (including those replaced due to injury, a promotion to the major leagues, or other reasons) we find that just two of them were born before Bartolo Colón, the oldest active major leaguer. Those two were Cuban defector Jorge Toca and Dominican right-hander Ramón Ortiz. Toca, who was 28 when he participated in the first Futures Game in 1999, remains the oldest Futures Game player ever. Ortiz, born the day before Colon, was listed as 24 when he made his second Futures Game appearance in 2000 but, in early 2002, he was outed as three years older than his official playing age.

Among Ortiz’s opponents in that 2000 game was a 19-year-old CC Sabathia, the earliest Futures Game participant who is still active in the major leagues. In fact, the 1999 contest is the only Futures Game from which there is no longer an active major leaguer, and multiple players from every Futures Game since 2001 have appeared in the major leagues this year. In total, 288 former Futures Game players, just shy of a third of the full list, have appeared in the major leagues this season (not counting Rays manager Kevin Cash, so far the only Futures Game alum to become a major-league manager). Add in active minor leaguers and players still active in foreign leagues, such as Puerto Rican lefty J.C. Romero, who is one day older than the author of this study but still plays in Caribbean winter leagues, and nearly 60 percent of the players named to a Futures Game roster over the last 20 years may still have more baseball in their future.

Still, as a wise old master once said, always in motion is the future. There will always be a large swath of Futures Game participants active at any time, so let’s dive in on the data we have. Before we do, however, we should note how the game’s rosters are constructed. The Futures Game rosters are All-Star teams of prospects from all levels of the minor leagues. The game pits a 25-man U.S. team against a 25-man World team, the latter including players from U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico (thus far 31 different countries and territories* have been represented, spanning all six inhabited continents). All 30 major-league teams must be represented on one of the two rosters, but no organization can occupy more than two of the 50 roster spots. Given the need to find players who fit those various parameters, including place of birth, parent organization, and position, it is impossible for the game to feature the top-50 prospects at any given time.

As a result, the Futures Game often features a number of players who have never appeared on a top-100 prospect list. Of the 888 players named to a Futures Game roster, 262 (just shy of 30 percent) have never been on a preseason top-100 prospect list released by Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, or MLB.com. That doesn’t mean that those are necessarily lesser players. Among the past Futures Game players never who never appeared on a top-100 prospects list are Robinson Canó, Paul Goldschmidt, and José Altuve. Still, to the degree that the industry as a whole can predict future performance (and those three examples are damning regarding that ability), there is some necessary dilution of the player pool in order to properly populate the rosters.

With that said, 721 of the 888 players named to Futures Game rosters have reached the major leagues. Of course, that includes the 52 players on this year’s roster who have yet to make the majors (Indians catcher Francisco Mejía and Phillies righty Enyel De Los Santos were replaced on the roster after being called up just prior to the break, and there have been two additional injury replacements). Sorting the list by birth date, there’s a rather clear dividing line at the end of September 1994. Of the 99 Futures Game players born after September 1994, just 27 have made their major-league debut. Of the 789 players born prior to September 30, 1994, 694 (88 percent) have reached the majors. The actual rate of Futures Game players reaching the majors is likely slightly higher than that 88 percent, but only slightly. For example, if we just take the sample of players who will be 30 or older in this calendar year (born in 1988 or earlier), we find 462 of 520 have reached the majors. That’s 88.8 percent. The glass-half-full/empty perspective kicks in here. That’s a tremendous rate of graduation, but it also means that roughly 11 percent of the players dubbed the “Future” of baseball never even reach the majors.

From there, a perusal of the Futures Game players’ future is a cold, hard lesson in the attrition that rules not only baseball’s talent pool but the universe. Of the 665 players to debut in the majors in 2016 or earlier, 38 (5.7 percent) have yet to appear in a second major-league season, and most of those may never do so. More significantly, of the 529 Futures Game players to debut in or before 2013 (the year that saw the major-league arrivals of Futures Game alumni Nolan Arenado, Gerrit Cole, Carlos Martinez, and Christian Yelich, to name a few), 224 have yet to compile a full Win Above Replacement, per Baseball-Reference’s bWAR. That’s 42 percent of the Futures Game players who debuted in the majors at least five years ago who have effectively been replacement-level or worse since (hat-tip to Brandon Wood’s -3.8 career bWAR, the worst showing on the list).

So, just 89 percent of these players’ futures include the major leagues, and 42 percent of the 89 percent that does get to The Show won’t amount to anything once they’re there. That works out to 48.4 percent, almost half, of the Futures Game players who will be little more, and quite possibly much less, than a footnote in major-league history.

Now is probably the most appropriate time to mention that, though the Futures Game is populated by young men, and the game itself is only 20 years old, we have already seen the deaths of six former participants: Nick Adenhart, Óscar Taveras, Serguey Linares, José Fernández, Andy Marté, and Yordano Ventura. The future is promised to no one.

Fortunately, 99.3 percent of the players selected to a Futures Game roster are still among us, and for as bleak as things may seem, there is a lot to celebrate about that group. The Futures Game rosters have included 170 future All-Stars, 92

of whom have been an All-Star multiple times. Miguel Cabrera leads that group with 11 All-Star nods, followed by Canó’s eight, and those 170 players have combined for 423 All-Star selections. Of the 652 players to play their last Futures Game in 2013 or before, 23 percent have since been named to a major-league All-Star team.

Of course, All-Star selections are far from the best measure of career performance. After all, 2010 Futures Game outfielder Domonic Brown was an All-Star in 2013 but is now a 30-year-old nursing his career -0.1 bWAR in the Mexican League, while 2009 Futures Game catcher Carlos Santana (25.3 career bWAR) has yet to make an All-Star team.

Let’s take the 652 players named to a Futures Game no later than 2013 and sort them by bWAR. Again, we find that 11.2 percent didn’t reach the majors at all and roughly 40 percent of those who did have compiled fewer than 1.0 bWAR. However, just over a quarter of the entire sample, minor-league wash-outs included, is comprised of players who have compiled 10.0 bWAR or more, and the best players in that group are among the best players of the last 20 years.

In order to compensate for the varying lengths of the careers on the master list, I’ve calculated each player’s bWAR per season, bluntly dividing career bWAR by total major-league seasons (even though the current season is barely more than half done). Of the 721 Futures Game players who have reached the majors, 40 have averaged 3.0 bWAR per season or better, a rate of production that classifies those players, 5.5 percent of the sample, as stars. Half of that group, nearly 3 percent of the total, have averaged 4.0 bWAR per season or better, a rate of production around which you can build a Hall of Fame case. Six of the players on the list top 5.0 bWAR per season: Nolan Arenado (5.2), Kris Bryant (5.3), Francisco Lindor (5.4), Clayton Kershaw (5.5), Mookie Betts (6.0), and Mike Trout (an absurd 7.7).

Looking at these percentages in terms of the 50 players who will be active for Sunday’s game, one can assume that five or six of those players will never reach the majors and that another 19 or so won’t make much of an impact once they do reach the majors. However, nine or 10 of those 50 players should have solid major-league careers. Three more should be legitimate, year-in, year-out stars, and there’s a very good chance that one of those three will build a viable Hall of Fame candidacy.

One cannot assume, however, that the World players have the same likelihood of success as the U.S. players. That’s a simple function of the distribution of population, talent, and participation in the sport. The population of the United States, minus Puerto Rico, is roughly 323 million people. The combined population of the 12 countries and territories who have had more than three representatives in the 20-year history of the Futures Game** is roughly 372.6 million, but levels of participation and opportunity vary significantly across those countries. For example, Mexico has by far the largest population in that group (127.5 million), but has sent just 23 players to the Futures Game compared to Puerto Rico, which has a population just 2.5 percent the size of Mexico’s but has sent 30 players to the Futures Game.

The most obvious evidence of the discrepancy in talent between the U.S. and World teams is the diversity of each team’s all-time roster. Just 48 players have been named to the U.S. roster twice, and none have been selected three times. For the World team, 83 players have been named to the roster in multiple years, and eight of them were selected three times

(most recently Francisco Lindor and Enny Romero, who made every World team from 2012 to 2014).

Beyond that, 198 World team players have appeared on a top-100 prospects list compared to 363 U.S. players. One might suspect some implicit bias there on the part of those compiling those lists, but a comparison of the future performance of the players from the two teams lends support to the discrepancy.

Of the players who last made a Futures Game roster in 2013 or earlier, 91.7 percent of the U.S. players have reached the majors compared to 85 percent of the World players. Of the players who have reached the majors from those groups, 36 percent of the U.S. players have failed to compile 1.0 bWAR compared to a whopping 53.9 percent of World players, and just 22.9 percent of the World players have compiled 10.0 bWAR or more compared to 34 percent of U.S. players. Panning back out to every Futures Game player who has made the majors, 3 percent of World players have averaged 3.0 bWAR per season, and 1.8 percent of World players have averaged 4.0 bWAR per season compared to 7.7 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively, for the U.S. players.

Then there are the game results themselves. The U.S. has won 12 of the first 19 Futures Games, including seven of the last eight contests.

Going back to our roster breakdowns, it might be more accurate to predict that 23 of the U.S. players and 21 of the World players will make the majors. That six of the World players and eight or nine of the U.S. players will have solid major-league careers. That one World player and two U.S. players will be legitimate, year-in, year-out stars, and that the one player who builds a viable Hall of Fame candidacy is more likely to be from the U.S. team. An attempt to assemble all-time All-Star teams from the two rosters (see below) suggests that the U.S. team has been more likely to produce quality outfielders, third basemen, and starting pitchers, while the World team has been more likely to produce quality middle infielders and relief pitchers. Of course, we won’t have any real inkling about which specific players from this year’s teams will fall into which categories for at least three to five years. For now, we’ll just have to watch Sunday’s game and dream of the future.

*Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Curaçao, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Germany, Guam, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, St. Thomas, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Venezuela.

**Australia, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Taiwan, and Venezuela.

All-Time Futures Game teamsU.S.C – Joe MauerRunner-up: Kurt Suzuki

1B – Paul GoldschmidtRunner-up: Adrián González

2B – Chase UtleyRunner-up: Orlando Hudson

SS – Troy Tulowitzki

Runners-up: Manny Machado, Corey Seager

3B – David WrightRunners-up: Evan Longoria, Nolan Arenado, Kris Bryant

RF – Mookie Betts

CF – Mike Trout

LF – Ryan BraunOF runners-up: Giancarlo Stanton, Andrew McCutchen, Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper

DH – Lance BerkmanRunner-up: Prince Fielder

SP – Clayton KershawRunners-up: Justin Verlander, CC Sabathia, Zack Greinke, Mark Buehrle, Madison Bumgarner

RP – Zach BrittonRunner-up: B.J. Ryan

WorldC – Russell Martin, CanadaRunner-up: Victor Martínez, Venezuela

1B – Joey Votto, CanadaRunner-up: Justin Morneau, Canada

2B – Robinson Canó, Dominican RepublicRunner-up: José Altuve, Venezuela

SS – Francisco Lindor, Puerto RicoRunners-up: Carlos Correa (Puerto Rico), Hanley Ramírez (Dominican Republic), Rafael Furcal (Dominican Republic), Elvis Andrus (Venezuela)

3B – Miguel Cabrera, VenezuelaRunner-up: Aramis Ramírez, Dominican Republic

RF – Shin-Soo Choo, South Korea

CF – Starling Marté, Dominican Republic

LF – Nelson Cruz, Dominican RepublicOF runners-up: Carlos González (Venezuela), Alex Ríos (Puerto Rico), Melky Cabrera (Dominican Republic)

DH – Edwin Encarnación, Dominican RepublicRunner-up: Alfonso Soriano, Dominican Republic

SP – Félix Hernández, VenezuelaRunners-up: Ervin Santana (Dominican Republic), Luis Severino (Dominican Republic), José Fernández (Cuba)

RP – Francisco Rodríguez, VenezuelaRunners-up: Francisco Cordero (Dominican Republic), Kelvin Herrera (Dominican Republic), Edwin Díaz (Puerto Rico)

MLB TRANSACTIONSJuly 15, 2018 •.CBSSports.comhttp://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions

Jul. 15th, 2018

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

MIN

Fernando Romero Called Up from Minors

MIN

Aaron Slegers

Placed on 10-Day DL (Right shoulder inflammation)

Jul. 14th, 2018

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

ATL

Arodys Vizcaino

Placed on 10-Day DL (right shoulder inflammation)

ATL

Peter Moylan

Removed From 10-Day DL (Strained right forearm)

BAL

Austin Wynns Called Up from Minors

BOS

Robby Scott Sent to Minors

BOS

Bobby Poyner Called Up from Minors

CHC

Rob Zastryzny Called Up from Minors

CLE

Francisco Mejia Called Up from Minors

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

CLE

Shane Bieber Sent to Minors

COL

Jeff Hoffman Sent to Minors

COL

Jon Gray Called Up from Minors

COL

Sam Howard Called Up from Minors

COL

Harrison Musgrave

Placed on 10-Day DL (Right hip flexor strain)

HOU

Brady Rodgers Sent to Minors

HOU

Brady Rodgers

Recalled From Minors Rehab Assignment

HOU

Gerrit ColeReinstated from Bereavement/Family Medical Emergency List

HOU

Brady Rodgers

Removed From 10-Day DL (Recovery from right elbow surgery)

LAD

Walker Buehler Sent to Minors

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

MILEric Thames Placed on 10-Day DL

(Strained right hamstring)

MIL

Junior Guerra

Placed on 10-Day DL (Right forearm injury)

MIL

Aaron Wilkerson Return of 26th man

MIL

Aaron Wilkerson

Called Up from Minors (recalled as 26th roster player)

MILNathan Orf Called Up from Minors

MILBrent Suter Removed From 10-Day DL

(Left forearm tightness)

OAK

Daniel Mengden Sent to Minors

OAK

Daniel Mengden

Recalled From Minors Rehab Assignment

OAK

Ryan Dull Sent to Minors

OAK

J.B. Wendelken Purchased From Minors

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

OAK

Daniel Mengden

Removed From 10-Day DL (Sprained right foot)

OAK

Franklin Barreto Called Up from Minors

OAK

Santiago Casilla Designated for Assignment

PIT

Clay Holmes Return of 26th man

PIT

Francisco Cervelli

Placed on 7-Day DL (Concussion)

PIT

Jacob Stallings Called Up from Minors

PIT

Clay HolmesCalled Up from Minors (recalled as 26th roster player)

SEA

Christian Bergman Sent to Minors

STL

Tyler O'Neill Sent to Minors For Rehabilitation

TB

Hoby Milner Traded From Philadelphia (for cash considerations)

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

TB

Ryan Weber Designated for Assignment

TEX

Alex Claudio

Placed on 10-Day DL (Sprained left ankle)

TEX

Austin Jackson Released

TEX

Martin Perez Removed From 60-Day DL (Right elbow discomfort)

TEX

Martin Perez Recalled From Minors Rehab Assignment

TOR

Ryan Borucki Sent to Minors

TOR

Chris Rowley Purchased From Minors