Kansas

Kansas City Royals Hitting, Pitching Like Legit AL Central Contenders

Published

2 years ago

April 17, 2024

Kansas City Royals Hitting, Pitching Like Legit AL Central Contenders

Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. hits a three-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball … [+] game against the Houston Astros in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)

The Kansas City Royals barely lost the race to the absolute bottom of major league baseball last season, finishing 56-106, better than only the 50-win Oakland Athletics. Truth be told, however, they weren’t nearly that bad.

My batted ball-based method saw them as a 68-win true talent club – still awful, but nowhere near the A’s area code. In fact, their offense rated just a little worse than league average, and that was with promising young 1B Vinnie Pasquantino missing most of the season with a significant shoulder injury. They were led by cornerstone SS Bobby Witt Jr., who finished 7th in the MVP voting with a 30 homer/49 steal line.

The pitching? Well, it stunk. Way down in Oakland’s neighborhood. Their staff ranked dead last in the AL in strikeouts, and all but one of their main starters posted ERAs over 5.00.

The one exception – lefty Cole Ragans – was notable, and gave them hope moving forward. After proving unable to draft and develop dominant homegrown starters, they hit big on Ragans, acquired from the Texas Rangers at last year’s trading deadline for reliever Aroldis Chapman. He went 5-2, 2.64, in 12 late-season starts, with a glittering 89/27 K/BB ratio in 71 2/3 innings. He combines raw stuff with polished command, and put it all together immediately upon his arrival in Kansas City.

Still, the Royals knew they didn’t have enough starting pitching on hand, and set out to add more in the middle tier of the free agent market. They brought aboard righties Seth Lugo (three years, $45 million) and Michael Wacha (two years, $32 million) to at least add stability to the rotation. Some prognosticators scratched their heads at these investments, citing them as frivolous expenditures for a club in the early stages of a rebuild. But if they can slot into the rotation and offer them 160-180 innings apiece of mere competence, that would shorten games on a specific basis and the season in general.

And Lugo has been much more than competent in the early going, posting a 1.05 ERA in his first three starts. Now he’s only struck out 13 batters in 25 2/3 innings, so he’s due for some regression on balls in play, but he’s clearly better than other in-house alternatives.

Another big development has been the return of Brady Singer – the rare homegrown starter who has shown flashes of excellence over the years – from a late-2023 back injury. He’s posted an 0.98 ERA and an 18/4 K/BB over his first 18 1/3 innings. Lefty Ragans and righty Singer are the two Royals’ starters with above MLB-average upside.

They need their starters to give them six-plus innings on most nights, as the bullpen is unproven and doesn’t miss a ton of bats. In fact, while the Royals have allowed the fewest runs (48) in the AL through Monday’s games, with the 2nd lowest ERA (2.86), they ranked dead last in the circuit in strikeouts. Their spacious ballpark and the early season cold weather has cut them some breaks so far – while their pitching does appear much improved, you simply cannot be an above average run prevention outfit while striking out so few batters.

But maybe the pitching doesn’t need to be elite for the Royals to contend. Despite the pitcher-friendly nature of Kauffman Stadium, they could ultimately have an above average offense. They’re 1st in the AL with 87 runs scored, and the bulk of the damage has been done by a cadre of youngsters, led by face of the franchise Witt, 24, whose signing of a long-term, huge-money deal was covered in this space not long ago.

Pasquantino, 26, has locked down first base, MJ Melendez, 25, appears to be coming into his own in left field, while Maikel Garcia, 24, and Nelson Velazquez, 25, are holding down third base and DH while showing impressive batted ball metrics that offer hope for the future.

Veteran catcher Salvador Perez, 34, remains a durable, powerful presence behind the plate, and is off to a .339-.369-.565 start that is bettered only by Witt’s (.314-.368-.657). The lineup has length, power and speed. They’re 2nd in the AL in homers and 1st in steals. Again, they might not be THAT good, but I feel pretty comfortable in saying their offense is at least…….good. And in comparison to their track record in recent years, that’s saying something.

So like yesterday’s topic, the Detroit Tigers, the Kansas City Royals just might have the goods to be heard from in an eminently winnable American League Central. The bullpen is going to need fortification for that to happen, but that’s what the trading deadline is for. This time around, the Royals might be on the other end of the type of trade that delivered them Ragans last year.

Source link

Click to comment

Kansas

RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Friday after Tuesday sub-state wins

Published

5 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Friday after Tuesday sub-state wins

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Below is a look at the results from Tuesday night’s high school basketball sub-state semifinals in Northeast Kansas.

Editor’s Note: This story will be updated with what schools are hosting when that information becomes readily available.

WIBW Scoreboard

BOYS

5A East Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

KC Washington 68, Highland Park 38
Shawnee Heights 49, De Soto 37 (will play Leavenworth Friday)

5A West Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Topeka West 55, Hutchinson 32 (will play Bishop Carroll Friday)
Emporia 61, Great Bend 41 (will play Maize South Friday)
Seaman 73, Valley Center 51 (will play Hays Friday)

3A West Franklin Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Burlington 60, Osage City 35 (will play Baxter Springs Friday)

3A Sabetha Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Hiawatha 73, Oskaloosa 48 (will play Heritage Christian Friday)
Silver Lake 58, Sabetha 39 (will play Perry-Lecompton Friday 7:30 p.m.)

GIRLS

6A West Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Washburn Rural 60, Wichita South 32 (will play Derby)
Topeka High 69, Maize 45 (will play Liberal)
Manhattan 67, Free State 21 (will play Wichita East)

4A East Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Rock Creek 71, Parsons 23 (will play Tonganoxie)
Wamego 54, Labette County 33 (will play Bishop Miege)
Hayden 2, Athison 0 (will play Baldwin)

2A Eskridge/Mission Valley Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Rossville 71, KC Christian 49 (will play Maur Hill-Mount Academy)
Lyndon 61, Jeff. Co. North 31 (will play Valley Heights)
Valley Heights 65, Doniphan West 41 (will play Lyndon)

Source link

Kansas

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

Published

17 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

In early 2026, the Kansas state legislature passed SB 244, a law which prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms on government property that align with their gender identity and establishes a private right of action that allows anyone who suspects someone is transgender and in violation of the law to sue that person for “damages” totaling $1,000.

The law also invalidates state-issued driver’s licenses with updated gender markers that reflect the carrier’s gender identity. In February 2026, transgender people across the state received letters from the state Department of Revenue’s Division of Vehicles informing them that their driver’s licenses “will no longer be valid,” effective immediately. SB 244 also prohibits transgender Kansans – or those born in Kansas – from updating the gender marker on state-issued birth certificates and driver’s licenses in the future.

The same day SB 244 went into effect, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP filed a lawsuit challenging SB 244 in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of two transgender men who had their driver’s licenses invalidated under the law. The lawsuit charges that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech.

“The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police,” said Harper Seldin, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.”

Source link

Kansas

Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of an illegal firearm.

According to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 22-year-old Antoine R. Gillum was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

His sentencing stems from a June 2024 incident in a metro gas station. KCPD investigators contacted Gillum inside and found that he had discarded a 9 mm pistol in an aisle between the merchandise. He also discarded a pill bottle containing multiple illegal substances: cocaine base, oxycodone/acetaminophen and oxycodone.

Officers searched the vehicle Gillum had arrived in and found approximately 32 grams of cocaine base.

On May 6, 2025, Gillum pleaded guilty to one count each of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Jennings. It’s a part of ‘Operation Take Back America,’ a nationwide Department of Justice initiative to eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations.

No further information has been released.

Source link