Kansas City Royals news: Welcome, Zion Rose!

Jaylon Thompson writes about the blowout loss on Sunday.

“It stinks for everybody to be out there in that situation,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “You never want to be in that spot (late in the game), but that’s the spot we put ourselves in. And you know, with seven more games before an off-day, you’ve got to get a position player out there to keep people fresh to pitch tomorrow.”

Anne Rogers talks to J.J. Picollo about the upcoming trade deadline.

There will be interest in relievers John Schreiber, Daniel Lynch IV and Alex Lange, too. But the most intriguing part of this Deadline will be what the Royals decide to do with their two veteran starters, Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, the latter of whom is probably the Royals’ best trade chip this year. But trading them away is not so simple.

“Those [are] two guys we’re going to count on,” Picollo said. “We already have needs in our rotation. We’ll be open-minded to anything. But we have to be very, very pointed in what we want to get out of any one of those two. And also, they made a commitment to us. I think that’s important to the morale of the team. Where you have two guys that have done what they’ve done in their careers, and they want to be here.

“With that being said, teams want to talk about them — it’s never going to hurt to at least listen. I think those guys understand that.”

Salvador Perez hit career home run #315, two shy of George Brett’s franchise record.

“You know, every day I hear somebody tell me about that,” Perez said of the record. “So it’s hard not to think about it. I don’t try to think about it when I’m hitting. I don’t like to put too much pressure on myself, you know.

“I try to see the ball and hit the ball. When it happens, I’m happy. Hopefully, I can do that quick.”

Stephen Kolek had an injury setback in his rehab start and will hit the Injured List.

“He said he didn’t feel great playing catch, but then as he got on the mound, he felt better,” manager Matt Quatraro said Sunday morning. “The first couple of innings were pretty good. In the third inning, he felt more aggressive discomfort. They thought it was best to get him out of there.”

Royals first round pick Zion Rose met with the media this weekend.

“I’m grateful to be here, with an organization that cares about their players, cares about their development, cares about the team,” Rose said. “A city that backs their team. I’m excited to get going.”

Jaylon Thompson has more.

“I hate losing and I hate losing against people,” Rose said. “And I feel like, in this game, everything is a competition.

“It’s so great because it’s a team game, but in the box it’s one on one. So it’s me versus the pitcher. You know, I could care less who’s up there (pitching), and that’s the great part about it.