Royals Reading to Ready Your Weekend

From time to time I like to pass on those articles I find interesting that are produced by by other writers out there. These are the kinds of things that I find thought-provoking and worthy of discussion.

Rany looks at age and draft pick success.

The meat of Rany Jazyerli’s article is based on something he wrote on Baseball Prospectus about the  age of high school players when they were drafted. In a Gladwell-ian study, he deduces that those players who are drafted at a younger age out of high school are more likely to turn into stars.

I find it interesting because it raises the concept of diminishing improvement as most players age. That is, a player who is 18 years old will make more improvements (generally) on his way to 19 than he will in the year between 21 and 22.

Rany uses his research to compare Bubba Starling with eighth overall pick in 2011, Francisco Lindor of the Indians. Lindor was 17 when he was drafted and, under the Indians tutelage in instructionals, is drawing rave reviews. Starling is recovering from a quad strain.

Of course, there is more out there:

Royals Review expands on something that Jeff Parker at Royally Speaking first pointed out about the Royals record being a poor expression of how good they actually were this season.

Careful – that one is mathtastic.

Of course, you have to read Bob Dutton’s piece about Wil Myers and his struggles and adjustment in Double A. Dutton is one heck of a beat writer, and Kansas City is lucky to have him.

Over on Seedlings to Stars – FanSided’s minor league baseball blog – Nathaniel Stoltz is steamrolling through his top 100 prospects list and features Kansas City’s John Lamb at #90. If you don’t regularly read Nathaniel’s work, you’re missing out. He combines quantity with quality week in and week out.

Finally, StadiumJourney.com did a review of Kauffman Stadium, confirming what Royals fans already knew – it’s a gem.  The only blemish? Location, location, location. Anyone who’s been out to a Royals game knows it’s not exactly the most scenic area – until you get inside the ballpark.

Of course, that’s just a sampling of what’s out there among Royals blogs, not to mention the good stuff we’ll have coming up over the weekend right here on Kings of Kauffman. Follow us on Twitter to get the next update when a new article comes out.