Royals Links: Duffy’s Debut, Mike Moustakas, 6th Inning Song, & More

Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

At the time of this writing, there is still no update on the status of Omar Infante after he took a pitch off of his jaw last night. Infante did get several stitches, and he was set to undergo tests to determine the extent of the injury, but I would guess a roster move will be coming soon. Tonight’s game will feature Yordano Ventura and the Rays’ Chris Archer, which means if you have plans for tonight, you should go ahead and cancel them. This is a must-see matchup between two young guys with big-time stuff, and I would anticipate the throwing of fire. In other news, here are some links from around the Royals’ universe.

– At Minor League Ball, Lee Warren talked a bit about Danny Duffy‘s first start at Omaha, during which he went 6 innings, allowed 2 earned runs, 5 hits, and 1 walk, while striking out 4. While those are obviously solid, perhaps more encouraging was that Duffy completed all 6 innings using just 80 pitches. Pitch efficiency has been a problem for Duffy, so hopefully he can focus more on that while in the minors.

– Jeffrey Flanagan of FOX Sports Kansas City discussed the way teams have been defending Mike Moustakas, implementing a shift to the right side of the infield. Ned Yost is quoted as saying “a little bit of it is just to get into his head.” Obviously I’m no baseball manager, but I’m guessing the main reason for shifting against Moose is that he has been about as pull-happy as possible in the last couple of years.

– With the Royals holding their contest to determine a new 6th inning song (“Friends in Low Places” is officially gone!), Jason Tarwater of Pine Tar Press suggests the organization shouldn’t try to force this new tradition. He says traditions need to be born organically, and the Royals would be better off scrapping the entire concept of a 6th inning song.

– Over at Yahoo! Sports, Jeff Passan wrote about the current trend of young players signing team-friendly contract extensions with options. The players’ association isn’t thrilled with players leaving money on the table by accepting these contracts early in their careers, but personally, I find it hard to fault a guy like Salvador Perez for wanting to set up his family for life, while also protecting them in case he ends up getting injured.

– Sports Illustrated’s Eric Nusbaum has a very fascinating article up right now that looks into the emergence of sabermetrics in Cuba. A small group of friends formed an organization to study statistics after playing Triple Play Baseball on a computer and wondering what “OBP” was. Now, they are advising a team in how to use objective statistics – including some the group developed themselves – in game situations.