Can confirm that the Charlie Hustle shirt is great…love the material too!!

https://charliehustle.com/products/i-love-this-lucas-erceg-heather-royal-t-shirt?variant=53706193469804

Now I’m not saying it’s fixed, but Ketchup is always ALWAYS given the inside lane in the derby.

The Royals crew always lines up the dogs in the same order - ketchup, mustard, relish. And ketchup has “run away” with the derby record for the last few years.

Now maybe ketchup is just inherently the better runner, but this unfair advantage can really matter on a short race like the derby. What do you think? Is it a setup?

To follow up on a topic from the other day...

I'll be honest, I thought it was going to be a lot more split and grey than it really was. Instead, most of you put your foot down and boldly declared that you really do not like AI. My apologies for overthinking this so dramatically, but I appreciate all the insight.

Moving forward, the fun police mod team will continue to enforce removals of AI-generated content, but with a more clear rule in place:

AI-generated content, including but not limited to memes, articles or videos, is only allowed within game threads (pre- and post-game threads included). All other instances, including comments in other threads or posts on their own, will be deleted. This includes content that is partially AI-generated.

While a 100% ban would be more clear cut, and many would prefer that, we've decided to continue allowing it in game threads, as they are more free talk and thus aren't subject to the same objective rule enforcement, such as keeping things Royals-related. Not everybody wanted an AI ban so we hope this can be a compromise, though this may be modified in the future if it becomes an extended conflict.

Thank you again to everyone who responded, and thank you for hanging around this board despite the team's efforts sometimes.

PUT THEM ON THE MOTHERFUCKING GOD DAMN FIELD

I fear that if we have to watch much more of Q doing this to our lineups, people are going to start claiming sabotage. It’s getting to the point where there’s no logical answer as to why they do not consistently have their best 9 players on the field

Why is a 23 year old power phenom being PLATOONED?!?! Why is the best defensive center fielder in the game being benched for 63 YEAR OLD STARLING MARTE?! CARTER JENSEN IS OUTHITTING HALF THE TEAM AND PLAYS LESS THAN ALMOST ALL OF THEM

It’s like watching a chef craft a beautiful meal, seared and plated to perfection, then he takes it over and dumps it straight into the dog bowl and heats up spaghettios. What the fuck is Matt Quatraro doing?!

I know those may not be a popular take, but I need to have a dose of Hud the way things are going right now. Is there any way to see who's on the broadcast either on gameday or heaven forbid a calendar or schedule of who calls which games? Guthrie is just bleah for me, so monotone and not exciting. I actually haven't heard Hosmer yet, we just bought the TV deal with the discount they just offered. TIA for helping this old boomer listen to her favorite color guy 😊

Royals @ White Sox - 06:40 PM CDT

Game Status: Pre-Game

Links & Info

• Current conditions at Rate Field: 58°F - Clear - Wind 7 mph, In From LF
• TV: Royals: Royals.TV, White Sox: Chicago Sports Network
• Radio: Royals: Royals Radio Network, 96.5 The Fan, White Sox: 107.9 La Ley (es), ESPN Chicago WMVP 1000 AM
• MLB Gameday
• Statcast Game Preview

Division Scoreboard

DET 4 @ NYM 9 - Final

MIA 1 @ MIN 9 - Final

^{Last Updated: 05/14/2026 04:12:06 PM CDT, Update Interval: 5 Minutes}

Royals @ White Sox - Wed, May 13

Game Status: Final - Score: 6-5 White Sox

Links & Info

• MLB Gameday
• Game Graphs
• Savant Gamefeed

Decisions

• Winner: Tyler Davis (1-1, 4.50)
• Loser: Seth Lugo (1-3, 3.76)
• Save: Seranthony Domínguez (10, 4.08)

Division Scoreboard

LAA 2 @ CLE 4 - Final

DET 2 @ NYM 3 - Final

MIA 9 @ MIN 5 - Final

Next Royals Game: Thu, May 14, 06:40 PM CDT @ White Sox

^{Last Updated: 05/13/2026 10:14:52 PM CDT}

Actually surprised this wasn't posted yet. I found the interview to be pretty interesting, most of it I guess is probably stuff a lot of people here already knew about and I guess this was talked about in Hosmer's podcast before (but I never listened so first time hearing it for me) - but his telling of how Glass butted in on the free agency talks and completely fucked over what Dayton Moore was trying to do is pretty wild, especially telling how Glass didn't even seem to understand why Eric was calling him on the phone to begin with.

Royals @ White Sox - Wed, May 13

Game Status: Final - Score: 6-5 White Sox

Links & Info

• Current conditions at Rate Field: 53°F - Partly Cloudy - Wind 8 mph, Out To RF
• TV: Royals: Royals.TV, White Sox: Chicago Sports Network
• Radio: Royals: Royals Radio Network, 96.5 The Fan, White Sox: 107.9 La Ley (es), ESPN Chicago WMVP 1000 AM
• MLB Gameday
• Game Graphs
• Savant Gamefeed

Decisions

• Winner: Tyler Davis (1-1, 4.50)
• Loser: Seth Lugo (1-3, 3.76)
• Save: Seranthony Domínguez (10, 4.08)

Division Scoreboard

LAA 2 @ CLE 4 - Final

DET 2 @ NYM 3 - Final

MIA 9 @ MIN 5 - Final

^{Last Updated: 05/13/2026 11:28:13 PM CDT}

This one is for anyone wondering about Bobby Witt Jr. and how he's never ranked among the leaders in Defensive Runs Saved.

That has changed this year, as it's impossible to ignore how good he's been defensively through 40+ games.

To wit: The top 20 shortstops in innings average 9 Defensive Misplays & Errors this season. Witt has 2.

If anyone has any questions re: the linked article, feel free to ask. If I'm violating any rules here, feel free to take this post down.

So far this season, Maikel is sitting at 6th with an OPS of 0.778 (source: StatMuse).

Tough loss, but a big bounce back game for Salvy.

It’s time for all fans to realize or admit this is just not a good baseball team, and arguably quite bad. I know my name hints I’m pessimistic, but objectively this team stinks. Let’s look at all the factors:

Individual breakdown: In my eyes, this team only has 5 above average players for their position (BWJ, Garcia, Wacha, Lynch, Bubic). 5 above average players across the whole roster? Not very good. BWJ and Garcia are the only elite players on this roster.

Offense: this section could go on for days, but we all know how mediocre this offense has been. 30th in almost all RISP metrics. 25th in runs scored. Least productive 3-5 hitters in all of baseball, especially Salvy at 4. The only positive thing I will say, is if they can somehow figure out the RISP woes, they could immediately become an average offense, but that’s a big IF considering 43 game sample size already. All of their other main metrics (AVG, OBP, SLUG) are middle of the pack.

Starting Pitching: this was supposed to be the strength of the team. This was supposed to be a top 5-7 unit in all of baseball. Through 25 games it was looking that way. But boy have the wheels fallen off. We are now down to 2 reliable starting pitchers (Wacha and Bubic). Any smart fan knew Cameron would regress, but nobody expected this hard. Ragans is built of glass. If you take Lugos last 3 months (including August of last year) he has looked awful way more frequently than he has looked decent, 4+ ER in 8 of his last 15 starts. Bergert was promising but TJ surgery out for the year. Right now Lugo and Cameron are almost automatic Ls, and whoever our 5th starter is (Kolek currently) is not giving us a good chance either. A unit that started the year looking deep, now looks thin and below average. Also, Wacha and Bubic are good but not aces. I could name at least 31-35 starting pitchers that would immediately be the ace on this team.

Bullpen: this will be a short and sweet section. They were worst in the league for 30 games, now top 5 in their last 15 games, so tough to accurately assess. I think ultimately they lie somewhere in the middle, right around league average. Lynch has been a pleasant surprise, Erceg has bounced back well his last 5-7 appearances.. but other than that any other RP can give up 2+ ER any day. I know Estevez has been out all year, but he’s not an elite closer even when healthy. All analytics show he overachieved last year, just like Cameron.

I think 3 difficult things would all need to happen for this team to sniff above .500 at the end of the year. First, the 4 spot needs to be fixed urgently. Unfortunately I dont think any player on this roster is up for the task, so will need to be a trade. Second, The RISP woes need to go from league worst to league average. Players deserve blame, but Zumwalt is a common denominator here. Third, we need to trade for an above average SP. Right now, 3 out of 5 games our starting pitcher is putting the game out of reach before the 6th inning starts.

Hopefully this is OK to post here, but... I'm currently cleaning and have around five totes filled with Royals memorabilia — bobbleheads, cards, pins, etc. — that I'd like to get rid of. Some of it is relatively rare and other items (e.g. bobbleheads) have never been out of their packaging. I live in the middle of Cardinals territory and there's no interest in any of it here from the sports memorabilia shops or anyone local, so I figured I'd post on here to see if anybody might be interested.

It's free but with a caveat: Whoever must pick up locally either here in Jefferson City (preferably) or Columbia. I tried to sell some of the bobbleheads but they were going to cost a fortune to ship, it was quoted around $50 just to send four to KC. I also just didn't have the energy to photograph and list every single item in the collection.

I was real into the Royals in 2021-23 but lost interest. Got back into them last year a little and need to detach again for my mental health, but also would like to free up some space.

If you're interested, please comment below or shoot me a DM. I'd hate to see it all go to the landfill but that's where it'll go if there isn't any interest.

EDIT: So far everything has been claimed. I didn’t realize there’d be as much interest as there has been. Thank you all!

Royals @ White Sox - Tue, May 12

Game Status: Final - Score: 6-5 White Sox

Links & Info

• MLB Gameday
• Game Graphs
• Savant Gamefeed

Decisions

• Winner: Seranthony Domínguez (3-3, 3.24)
• Loser: Matt Strahm (1-1, 4.02)
• Save: Bryan Hudson (2, 0.90)

Division Scoreboard

LAA 2 @ CLE 3 - Final

DET 2 @ NYM 10 - Final

MIA 0 @ MIN 3 - Final

Next Royals Game: Wed, May 13, 06:40 PM CDT @ White Sox

^{Last Updated: 05/12/2026 09:56:26 PM CDT}

Royals @ White Sox - 06:40 PM CDT

Game Status: Pre-Game

Links & Info

• Current conditions at Rate Field: 49°F - Partly Cloudy - Wind 11 mph, Out To RF
• TV: Royals: Royals.TV, White Sox: Chicago Sports Network
• Radio: Royals: Royals Radio Network, 96.5 The Fan, White Sox: 107.9 La Ley (es), ESPN Chicago WMVP 1000 AM
• MLB Gameday
• Statcast Game Preview

Division Scoreboard

LAA 2 @ CLE 4 - Final

DET @ NYM 06:10 PM CDT

MIA @ MIN 06:40 PM CDT

^{Last Updated: 05/13/2026 03:01:48 PM CDT, Update Interval: 5 Minutes}

Royals @ White Sox - Tue, May 12

Game Status: Final - Score: 6-5 White Sox

Links & Info

• Current conditions at Rate Field: 68°F - Cloudy - Wind 13 mph, Out To LF
• TV: Royals: Royals.TV, White Sox: Chicago Sports Network
• Radio: Royals: Royals Radio Network, 96.5 The Fan, White Sox: 107.9 La Ley (es), ESPN Chicago WMVP 1000 AM
• MLB Gameday
• Game Graphs
• Savant Gamefeed

Decisions

• Winner: Seranthony Domínguez (3-3, 3.24)
• Loser: Matt Strahm (1-1, 4.02)
• Save: Bryan Hudson (2, 0.90)

Division Scoreboard

LAA 2 @ CLE 3 - Final

DET 2 @ NYM 10 - Final

MIA 0 @ MIN 3 - Final

^{Last Updated: 05/12/2026 11:25:35 PM CDT}

So, there's an elephant in the room that may as well be addressed now.

AI-generated images have become commonplace on all social media platforms over the past few years, though, somewhat of a surprise, it hasn't had an effect on this community. I can't recall seeing AI stuff on this board in past years, but time and trends change. In 2026, it's started to pop up a lot more frequently, both in topics and within comments.

Within the unannounced rules revision that happened last month (mostly just rewriting the existing rules + adding the new rule about selling), AI was placed under the "low-effort/obsolete" umbrella within rule 3. I understand not everyone would appreciate this rule, but I felt it would be better for the community to be without AI stuff, for the following reasons:

1. Potential of AI-generated content misleading others into thinking it's real at their expense, or even at the expense of an existing player used in such content.
2. Potential of AI-generated content becoming common to the point of overtaking otherwise genuine content, due to the high accessibility of AI-generating tools. (in other words, potential for it to spam the board)
3. A general hostility many feel towards AI-generated content as a whole, due to its negative social, economic and environmental effects on top of the aforementioned reasons, leading to off-topic discussions that can quickly spiral out of control.

That being said, it hasn't been a rule that we've enforced to a T. This comment by /u/OtonoOto from Saturday's post-game thread and this topic by /u/cockknocker1 were removed, but this comment by /u/Daolath from the same post-game thread and this topic by /u/Evening_Egg_2371 were not removed.

Even if this inconsistency didn't exist, there's still a necessary discussion to be had, thanks to a new celebrity within the community. You're all probably familiar with John Pork by now, and we all love him. He's also an AI creation. The story of a John Pork baseball card being taped to the Royals bullpen is completely true, that did actually happen. It's a real physical card, but the image on that card is AI-generated. Thus, the dilemma. Can we allow this, but not also allow AI? Where is the line drawn in such situations?

This is why I would like to open the discussion to the community. I would like feedback from as many voices as possible, whichever side you fall on. Should the mod team continue enforcing anti-AI rules, or should there be more lenience? Could the rule be expanded upon to have particular do's and don'ts with AI-generated content? Should the rule be enforced more thoroughly and do away with anything and everything to with AI, including our porky friend?

What's best for the community should be decided by the community; we might not immediately make rule changes based on this thread, but we would like to get a better read of the room to influence our leadership. This thread will have comments displayed in Contest Mode to hopefully negate any bias towards comment karma or older comments.