Talking (Royals) baseball: Jorge Soler home runs, September call-ups, more

Sometimes reporters lock onto a story, ask questions related to that story and try to keep the guy being interviewed on track about that story.

That’s one way to do it.

Other times a reporter might walk around asking questions and let conversations go where they will — letting the players and coaches talk about what they want to talk about.

I did that recently. Here are some of the questions I asked and the answers I received.

Q. How do September call-ups affect the approach through a team’s final games of the season?

A. Lots more unknown players mean lots more pre-game work: the coaches have to watch video and work up game plans for a bunch of players nobody has seen at the big-league level.

Q. Don’t they have scouting reports from the minors?

A. Sure, but just because a player is dead-pull hitter in Triple-A doesn’t mean he’s a dead-pull hitter against big-league pitching. He’s got to show what he can do at this level.

Q. How does one bad pitching performance lead to another?

A. If a pitcher has a long half inning, that means the pitcher for the other team sits a long time without throwing a pitch, and that can have a detrimental effect.

The pitcher who’s been sitting should race out to the mound when the next inning starts and throw as many warm-up pitches as quickly as possible. The limit is supposed to be eight, but if the pitcher starts throwing before the umpire starts paying attention, eight warm-up pitches can turn into 13 or so.

Q. How does a team stay healthy?

A. Have young players who are lucky. When a player gets hurt, ask yourself how old he is. Bad stuff tends to happen to professional athletes in their late 30s.

Q. How have infield shifts changed base-running?

A. With all the unorthodox defensive positioning nowadays, runners need to be much more aware of where infielders are standing.

For instance: in the old days a base runner who takes a lead off second base could advance to third on any ground ball hit to his left and stay put on any ground ball hit to his right. That might not be true if there’s a guy positioned up the middle or nobody positioned to his right.

If you see a base coach point at his eyes, then spin a finger in the air, he’s reminding a base runner to “look around.”

Q. Anything else new for baserunners?

A. The game is always changing and now more pitchers are altering the way they check a runner on second base. In the past, a runner on second could extend his lead when the pitcher turned his head back to the plate. Now some pitchers are stopping their head’s rotation halfway (their chin would be pointed at third base) and rechecking the runner’s lead with peripheral vision.

Q. Why do managers and reporters often seem at odds?

A. Reporters sometimes stir things up; managers want to calm things down. Managers would prefer a smooth ride.

Q. Are there bad pitch sequences?

A. Can be; depends on execution. More hitters are trying to uppercut the ball to get a higher launch angle, which means more pitchers are trying to take advantage of those looping swings with high fastballs. But if a pitcher throws a high fastball followed by curve down, the difference in release points might mean a hung curve, and those tend to go a long way.

Q. What is “effective” velocity?

A. A 95 mph fastball up and in will look harder to a hitter than a 95 mph fastball down and away. That’s called effective velocity — not just velocity, but perceived velocity — and pitchers can use it to throw off a hitter’s timing. So a pitcher could throw three 95 mph fastballs in a row and, depending on location, look like he’s changing speeds from the hitter’s perspective.

Q. What’s the number one reason for failing to get a bunt down?

A. Ask Royals outfielder Brett Phillips and he’ll blame getting in a rush. Leave the box too soon — even on a sac bunt — and the bat head drops ... and for a lefthander like Phillips, the bat covers less plate. And no matter how much a hitter practices bunting, facing a pitching machine or a coach throwing BP isn’t the same as facing mid-90s with movement.

Getting realistic practice is difficult and just one of the many reasons bunting is way harder than it looks.

Q. How many home runs would Jorge Soler hit in Yankee Stadium?

A. Add another 10 home runs to Soler’s total if he played in the Bronx; any warning-track fly ball to right field would be gone. If Jorge shows similar power in 2020, ask yourself how long the Royals can hang on to him.

Q. How does a good pitcher change the way you run the bases?

A. You’ve got to be more aggressive. With a good pitcher on the mound you’re only going to get so many hits and so many chances to score, so throw the normal baserunning rules out the window and push it.

If you see a runner get out trying to take an extra base, ask yourself who’s on the mound.