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Anne Rogers writes about a whirlwind day for Josh Rojas on Thursday<\/a>, with a hit at Triple-A in the afternoon, and the game-winning hit in the big leagues that evening.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t imagine having a travel day like that,\u201d said Michael Massey<\/a>, who homered in the fourth inning. \u201cAnd then having to come in and face a leverage reliever.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think I would have been a little more stressed [getting here] if I hadn\u2019t played a game yet today,\u201d Rojas added. \u201cBut I\u2019d already done all my activation. I played a game. I did sit at the airport for a while, but I still felt pretty good. It didn\u2019t feel like I had just woken up out of bed. Obviously, the adrenaline of being in the big leagues, I felt really good just stepping out there.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n Jaylon Thompson notes that Rojas missed his initial flight.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThey were like, hey, your flight is in an hour and 45 minutes \u2014 we\u2019re going to try and rush you there,\u201d Rojas recalled. \u201cI ended up missing that one and didn\u2019t get there in time. And then, my next flight left at eight o\u2019clock. So I was there for about four hours waiting for my next flight.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n Pete Grathoff looked at how rare it is to get hits for two different teams in the same day<\/a>.<\/p>\n Researching players who appeared in a minor- and major-league game the same day has proven to be difficult, but the Twins\u2019 Matt Wallner<\/a> did it on May 23, 2023. After playing for the St. Paul Saints in the afternoon, he was promoted to the Twins but made an out in his pinch-hit appearance that night.<\/p>\n Curt Nelson, senior director of the Royals Hall of Fame, noted that former Royals outfielder Lane Adams<\/a> played for the Braves and their minor-league affiliate in 2017.<\/p>\n Adams had two hits for Triple-A Gwinett in an afternoon game, then got the call to join the big-league Braves that night. He went 0 for 2 with Atlanta<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n Jaylon also talks to Lucas Erceg about his recent struggles<\/a>.<\/p>\n After blowing consecutive saves, Erceg became a major talking point among the fan base and national pundits. People criticized his subpar season, and it\u2019s led to lingering concerns about his ability to stick in the role as the team\u2019s closer.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m allowing the outside noise to affect me a little bit,\u201d Erceg said. \u201cI talk about that a lot. It\u2019s not allowing the outside noise and not allowing the situation to dictate how I feel out there. And I guess, the last couple of weeks, I\u2019ve allowed it to affect the way I think and I moved down the mound.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n David Lesky breaks down Seth Lugo\u2019s start on Thursday against the Twins<\/a>.<\/p>\n Overall, the numbers don\u2019t paint a picture of a particularly bad outing, but don\u2019t mistake that for me saying Lugo was good or even just a little unlucky. He had trouble putting hitters away, and the Twins didn\u2019t seem to be having trouble with any of his pitches. He had a perfectly respectable whiff rate of 23 percent and didn\u2019t seem to get crushed overall, but it was just an underwhelming performance. One thing that I thought was interesting is that I thought his changeup looked different in the first inning. He threw one to Brooks Lee<\/a> and then another to Clemens, which sort of caught me off guard when they came up as a changeup.<\/p>\n And sure enough, he was throwing it significantly harder. He averaged 86.2 MPH on it after averaging 84.6 on it this year previously. Additionally, it had a lot more spin. The movement wasn\u2019t that different by the numbers, but there was one, in the fourth maybe, that I thought looked like a totally different pitch. That\u2019s something I do appreciate from Lugo. He will continue to work and work and work, honing pitches. There might be something negative about that, too, if he doesn\u2019t let what\u2019s working keep working, but I appreciate someone who always tries to improve themselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n Dave Helling reports that a petition may force a vote on the proposed Royals downtown stadium<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Catcher Elias D\u00edaz<\/a> has elected free agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n Former Royals catcher Logan Porter<\/a> signs with the Angels.<\/a><\/p>\n The ball that hit off Jo Adell<\/a>\u2019s head and went over the fence is changed from a home run to a four-base error<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jorge Castillo at ESPN writes about the takeaways from the owner\u2019s meetings<\/a>.<\/p>\n Padres outfielder Ramon Laureano<\/a> is likely out for the year after hip surgery.<\/a><\/p>\n What are the toughest decisions on All-Star ballots<\/a>?<\/p>\n Why the Orioles serve as a cautionary tale for the Red Sox<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cody Bellinger<\/a> has been a great investment for the Yankees<\/a>.<\/p>\n What starting pitchers have improved the stuff and command this year<\/a>?<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The Chicago Bears advance a plan to relocate to Indiana<\/a>.<\/p>\n How Cura\u00e7ao\u00a0became the smallest country ever to qualify for the World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n Companies are using Reddit to manipulate ChatGPT results<\/a>.<\/p>\n Why do we sleep under blankets<\/a>, even on hot nights?<\/p>\n\n
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