The Kansas City Royals came together in support of fan Sarah Nauser on Lou Gehrig Day.
Sporting “Fight Like A Girl” T-shirts, players, coaches and staff surrounded Sarah Nauser and her supportive husband, Lonnie, in her customized wheelchair, designed to take her wherever her beloved Royals are playing. Tuesday night, on Lou Gehrig Day across MLB, that place was Great American Ball Park.
“Especially the way things have gone for us these last couple weeks, and to get texts from Sarah or Lonnie after a game, like, ‘Hang in there, it’ll turn’ and ‘Stay positive,’” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said, “and then you think for a second, coming from her and the horrible disease that she’s battling, and the way she supports us, it has to feel more important to us because of her and what she means to us, the city, the team and the organization. If you don’t feel that way, I think there might be something missing in your heart.”
Nauser is a lifelong, passionate fan of the Royals whose moving battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) has deeply intertwined her life with the Major League Baseball franchise.
Raised in Blue Springs, Mo., Nauser grew up playing softball and spending her nights cheering at Kauffman Stadium, which she fondly calls her “happy place.” Nauser pursued a career in law enforcement and served as an officer for the Kansas City (Mo.) Police Department (KCPD).
Royals starter Noah Cameron racked up eight punchouts in his seven innings of work against the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday night.
MLB.com’s Anee Rogers hopes that Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino will heat up as June begins.
Pasquantino was coming off a coffee-fueled spring during Team Italy’s run at the World Baseball Classic, right in the center of it as the captain. Then the crash hit. Pasquantino posted a .467 OPS in April and is slashing .213/.303/.342 now in 55 games this season. His strikeout rate has ticked up to 18.4% from 15.7% last year. Pasquantino showed the type of hitter he can be last year with 32 homers and 113 RBIs, and the Royals’ offense doesn’t work if Pasquantino isn’t mashing in the middle of it. They haven’t given up on him yet, nor will they. But a hot June from Pasquantino could be just what he and the Royals need to get out of their current funk. — Anne Rogers
Will this finally be the year for Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. to capture the AL MVP? The Athletic thinks so, despite the Royals ranking 29th in their latest power rankings.
Top awards candidate: Bobby Witt Jr., AL MVP
Royals fans, I think this is the year.
The league-leader in fWAR is putting up another five-tool season. He should, at the very least, have another 20-20 season, potentially 20-40. No one has more Outs Above Average than Witt’s 15, or has generated as much defensive value as he has.
With Aaron Judge looking mortal — and by mortal, I mean not putting up a wRC+ that mirrors the speed of F1 cars or an OPS that looks like the seating capacity of a small theater — attention can turn to Witt.
It’s been 46 years since the Royals have had an AL MVP. If he keeps it up, that won’t be the only accolade he’ll have for his age-26 season. 2026 All-Star, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, Platinum Glove and AL MVP winner Bobby Witt Jr. has a really nice ring to it.
Despite the MVP conversation, Los Angeles Dodgers fans are wondering about making a move for Witt. Kings of Kauffman responded to the bold idea.
As mentioned already, they have a system that features a wealth of Top 100 talent, which could provide the Royals lower-ranked farm system with some much needed reinforcements. While they may not have the available trade capital to warrant one of those Top 100 names – not the top end ones at least, perhaps they could target lower names on their organizational Top 30 list. After all, how will they promote any of them if they keep buying every marquee free agent?
As has become custom in L.A., the Dodgers have multiple high profile starting pitching names on the IL at the moment. Perhaps Royals starters like Kris Bubic (when healthy) or veterans Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo are options if to bolster their staff. The same goes for relievers, as the injury bug has bitten them there too. Daniel Lynch IV and Matt Strahm are potentially a pair of high-leverage arms that the Dodgers could very well covet.
In return, perhaps the Royals could address their lack of pitching depth in the upper minors or find some older prospect talent to better balance out their system that’s headlined by a wave of promising teenaged prospects like Kendry Chourio, David Shields and Josh Hammond, that still need plenty of time to develop before the thought of a major league call-up is discussed.
The Dodgers aren’t a bad trade partner should the Royals want to sell this summer – so long as they keep their hands off Witt.
Royals Keep named 2025 draftee Justin Lamkin as their Minor League Pitcher of the Month for May.
In six outings and 28.1 IP, Lamkin absolutely dominated Midwest League pitching. He posted a 1.27 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, a 34.9% K%, and 24.8% K-BB% with the River Bandits. In May, with the Quad Cities, he allowed two runs on six hits with no walks while striking out 14 in 10.2 IP. That strong start in May led to his promotion to Double-A Northwest Arkansas.
Lamkin had a rough Double-A debut on June 14th, allowing four runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out seven in 5.2 IP. However, he had a much stronger second start on May 20th. He went 6 IP, allowed one hit, one run, no walks, and struck out eight. Overall, the percentiles have been good for Lamkin in his two starts in Double-A, as he is generating a 34.9% K% (92nd percentile), a 35.1% whiff rate (82nd percentile), and a 37.4% CSW% (98th percentile).
David Lesky looked at the Royals breaking another losing streak.
Would you believe this is the first game the Royals have won that wasn’t on a weekend since May 5 against Cleveland? As I sat down to write this, I thought it felt different to write about a win in an individual game, knowing the Royals are out of it. The focus is just different when writing about a team with no real playoff hope. We haven’t dealt with that for the last two seasons. And then I realized that I haven’t written about an individual game that was a win for almost a month. Since I don’t really write on weekends and just capture the weekend as a whole on Mondays, the only wins we’ve seen for a while have been written about in the Weekend in Review. Boy, it’s been a bad stretch.
But if you’re looking to the future or at least signs of life for the future, this win was a good one. I’d put it up there with the blowout of the Angels from late April or maybe the first win of the Cleveland series as one of the most complete games they’ve played. It had a starting pitcher who hadn’t ever really done well in that role, putting together a good game. One of the young bats had a nice day. Another bat who could be important had a good day. And it felt like the team got all their frustration out on one swing in the first and looked like it exhaled for the first time in weeks. Let’s start with the young pitcher.
The St. Louis Cardinals’ winning season is causing an infectious, shirtless movement to spread in Busch Stadium.
Former MLB first-round pick Jordyn Adams is heading to SMU to play football for the Mustangs.
The great disappearing act of Andrelton Simmons.
Just like the Holliday brothers, Jaxon Willits is ready to join his brother in the professional ranks.
New York Yankees star Aaron Judge is out of action for a few days with a bone bruise.
Former All-Star closer Josh Hader returns from the 60-day IL for the Houston Astros.
Outfielder Nick Castellanos returns to Philadelphia for a series and reflects on his four-year tenure.
The Chicago Cubs have some starting pitching reinforcements waiting in the wings.
Which team will blink first in the NBA Finals? The data says it won’t be the San Antonio Spurs.
How can independent writers stand out in the AI age?
The rising cost of youth sports is becoming more and more pronounced in 2026.
Pope Leo XIV is a regular tennis player and uses that connection to promote the value of athletics in personal development.
Despite the country not recognizing the team, the Afghan women’s soccer team rises again.
Apparently, it is remote work, not AI, fueling rising unemployment among young, inexperienced workers.
Schools around the Kansas City metro are working to connect families with food, housing, and other resources to make sure kids have the support they need until they return to class in the fall.
Morton Amphitheater in Riverside, Missouri, is starting its inaugural summer season with Kesha being the first major artist to take the stage on June 3.
Do the mole men walk the New York City sewers?
Today’s song of the day is Six Pack Summer by Phil Vassar.
Imagn Iamges
