Kelly's Wesport Inn and Kansas City Baseball Vault Presents: Jason Martinez of MLB Depth Charts.

The Royals have been unable to develop much starting pitching with Dayton Moore in charge, but that doesn't mean there aren't bright spots. To talk pitching, we brought on Kevin Scobee, former Park University pitcher and former instructor at Regal Athletic, to discuss the evolution of pitcher training and philosophy, specifically focusing on how it relates to the Royals and prospects Kyle Zimmer, Danny Duffy, and others. We also talked about Duffy and Twitter specifically. Duffy's been one of the more active Royals players on Twitter and sometimes it's caused some furor with followers. We got into what his involvement there might mean for expectations from fans and what to expect for him in the future.

While the All-Star Game was starting up, we got to talking about the second half and our frustrations with the way the Royals finished the first half. Most of our time was spent answering some listener questions about the podcast, the Royals, and baseball in general. That led us down the path of talking about the Royals player evaluation approach and the blindspots they run into when looking at players, including Irving Falu, David Lough, Johnny Giavotella and others. We also talked about some roster moves and the Royals use of their minor leagues to keep the bullpen fresh. And we also talked about the promotions of Kyle Zimmer and Lane Adams to Double A. That led us to talk a bit about Bubba Starling as well (who, along with Adams and Jason Adam formed a group called "The Tripod" in spring training before last year).

WE ARE MOVING! Get this feed now at www.soundcloud.com/Royalspodcast ITUNES https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/royalspodcast/id543221056?mt=2 We decided to start recording right as All-Star Game rosters were announced and while Troy thought James Shields or Ervin Santana would be the Royals All-Star representative, I thought it would be Greg Holland. We were both pleasantly surprised to find that we weren't close and two Royals - Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez - would be going to Citi Field for the mid-summer classic. Following that discussion we talked about the rosters in general, including the validity of Yasiel Puig's All-Star case, Miguel Cabrera's run for another Triple Crown and the crazy season of Chris Davis. We turned it back to the Royals by covering the Alex Gordon injury and return, Billy Butler haters, and what might happen the rest of the season. We finished up with a quick look at the minors and brought up Danny Duffy's continuing comeback in Omaha and where he might fit down the line.

There were plenty of ideas tossed around on this week’s Vault. We open by talking about Jeff Francoeur, his legacy, his reputation, and his time with the Royals after the team designated him for assignment. We also talked about his replacement on the roster, Johnny Giavotella, and reacted to Sunday’s game. Then, we discussed the rehab progress of Felipe Paulino and what contributions he might make this year. That also led to a discussion of Danny Duffy‘s potential addition this year. Tommy John surgery rehab is tricky and while some pitchers come back within a year, some don’t get fully comfortable until much later. Paulino’s had some setbacks, so we had to consider that in assessing his potential role this year. Of course, the rotation is full right now, so that’s another question. How to get Paulino or Duffy on the roster if there’s nowhere to put them? One way might be to trade Ervin Santana. What would he return? What about James Shields? We weighed the pros and cons. We continued by discussing June for Eric Hosmer and Alex Gordon, as well as what July means for the Royals. Then we finished up by talking about Brooks Pounders‘ no-hitter and a good start from Kyle Zimmer. As always, we’ll take your email questions at kansascitybaseballvault@gmail.com or via Twitter at @KCBaseballVault. I AM STOPPING USING PODOMATIC. LISTEN TO THE EPISODE FOR DETAILS!

May was a tough month. So tough. Grueling. But May is over, and all that was left was to talk about the aftermath and pick up the pieces. We talked about the changes to the coaching staff and what trading Jack Maloof for George Brett means for the team going forward and if it means anything other than window dressing and a PR cover. We also discussed Yordano Ventura's promotion, Danny Duffy's rehab starts, and other moves recently. That led to a discussion about whether fans are setting themselves up for disappointment about Duffy whenever he returns. The concern came from Duffy's activity in social media, his previous work in the big leagues, and the expectation that he's going to be back to form right away. Then we covered the weird rain delay game, delved into the PED controversy, and hoped for better days for the Royals.

As you may have heard, Northwest Arkansas Naturals General Manager Eric Edelstein has taken a job that will land him in Reno, and he'll be leaving the Royals organization. But before he left, Troy Olsen caught up with him to talk about the move and to learn a bit more about some Double A prospects. Then we talked about the latest Royals action, including the kneejerk reactions from social media. We tried to make sense of the noise, take a deep breath, and reflect on the long slog of the baseball season. We wrapped up by picking a player from each full season minor league level to focus on. We discussed David Lough, Yordano Ventura, Kyle Smith, and Miguel Almonte this week, some of the top performers in the Royals system so far.

Things are not going well for the Royals. They're stuck in a 4-16 nosedive that has fans angry, players pressing, and seats heating up. So what better way to get the anger out than to talk about it!? Troy and Michael fired up the podcast machine to talk about what's gone wrong, what's potentially going to happen next, and what we'd do. We discussed potential demotions and other moves, potential firings, and considered alternatives to current front office personnel. More specifically, we talked about Chris Getz at leadoff, Alex Gordon batting third, Johnny Giavotella taking balls at third base, Danny Duffy getting rehab innings and wondered just what the heck the Royals have to do to get a win around here. Turns out, the Royals went 4-14 since our last podcast recording. Maybe this show was just what the team needed. You should check it out.

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How about a bonus Kansas City Baseball Vault episode? While most of our time is focused on the Royals, we're not limited to the big league team and its affiliates. We're still baseball fans overall. So when we were contacted about an event in Omaha to unveil a statue of Bob Gibson (Omaha native), we wanted to check in. So to help us cover the event at the Storm Chasers Werner Park, we sent Kings of Kauffman's Mike Vamosi and Hunter Samuels to check out the festivities. Included in this episode, you'll hear from Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, Tim McCarver, Joe Torre, and Bill White during a press conference/banquet and then there's more from the statue unveiling ceremony itself the following day.