Sporting fizzles and sizzles, Royals fire hitting coach, COVID rocks Current: KC Replay

Jeff Rosen
·3 min read

After one heck of a setback last weekend in Portland, things appeared to be looking up for Sporting Kansas City entering this weekend’s road match against the San Jose Earthquakes.

The Kansas City Current, meanwhile, were dealing with a sizable COVID outbreak within their ranks.

Elsewhere, it was a quiet week for the Chiefs, unless your name is L’Jarius Sneed, and the Royals experienced another week of ups and downs (not to mention a change in hitting coaches).

Here’s the weekly Kansas City sports recap we call the KC Replay.

Sporting KC lost 7-2 against the Portland Timbers on Saturday evening at Providence Park in Portland, Ore. Afterward, captain Johnny Russell wasn’t shy about expressing his displeasure with how his team played.
Sporting KC lost 7-2 against the Portland Timbers on Saturday evening at Providence Park in Portland, Ore. Afterward, captain Johnny Russell wasn’t shy about expressing his displeasure with how his team played.

Sporting rebounds after major blowout

Sporting KC is into the meat of its season now, and plenty has been written here (and elsewhere) about the struggles of our resident Major League Soccer team.

The low point, one can hope, arrived via a 7-2 hairball the team coughed up in Oregon. Sporting captain Johnny Russell didn’t mince words after that one, calling it beyond embarrassing and “a complete disgrace.”

His teammates heard his words and performed much better in their subsequent match on Wednesday. Winger Daniel Salloi was especially potent against the visiting Colorado Rapids, netting both of Sporting’s goals in a 2-1 decision — Sporting’s first MLS win since March 26.

Coach Matt Potter did not make the trip to L.A. this weekend for his KC Current’s Saturday night match against Angel City FC because of COVID concerns.
Coach Matt Potter did not make the trip to L.A. this weekend for his KC Current’s Saturday night match against Angel City FC because of COVID concerns.

COVID courses through Current

Minus their head coach and at least four players, the Current boarded a plane to LA for Saturday evening’s NWSL soccer match against expansion side Angel City FC.

Coach Matt Potter tested positive for COVID-19, sources told soccer reporter Daniel Sperry on Friday, and so Potter stayed home in isolation. Goalkeepers coach Lloyd Yaxley was to fill in as acting head coach for the game in Southern California. Four players, all unnamed as of Friday, were also going to be unavailable for the match because of COVID concerns, according to a news release from the team.

Last weekend the Current tied the Orlando Pride 2-2 in Florida. Ties are often fine in soccer, but this was an unsatisfying outcome for a Current team that had rallied late to pull even, and then ahead. An Orlando goal in extra time (after a dubious foul call) sent KC home without its first league win of the season.

Kansas City Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed had his car riddled with bullets this past week in his Louisiana hometown. No one was injured in the incident.
Kansas City Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed had his car riddled with bullets this past week in his Louisiana hometown. No one was injured in the incident.

Shots fired at L’Jarius Sneed’s car

First off, no one was hurt, and that’s the important thing. But the Chiefs received some unsettling news on Friday when they learned that cornerback L’Jarius Sneed’s car had been shot up in his hometown of Minden, Louisiana.

A Minden Police spokesperson told KC Star Chiefs beat reporter Herbie Teope that authorities were still investigating the incident as of late Friday afternoon. Sneed’s agent, Safarrah Lawson, released a statement to The Star’s Sam McDowell saying the shooting was “a random and unnecessary act of violence,” noting there’s a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.

The Royals fired hitting coach Terry Bradshaw, who had held that role since 2018 and worked with the organization since 2000, this past week, replacing him with Alec Zumwalt, an in-house hire.
The Royals fired hitting coach Terry Bradshaw, who had held that role since 2018 and worked with the organization since 2000, this past week, replacing him with Alec Zumwalt, an in-house hire.

Royals’ hitting coach gets the ax

The big news at Kauffman Stadium this past week involved the firing of hitting coach Terry Bradshaw and promotion to that role of Alec Zumwalt, the club’s senior director for player development and hitting performance.

Bradshaw had been the Royals’ hitting coach under manager Mike Matheny since 2018. At the time of the firing, the Royals were 12-20 and ranked 28th out of 30 teams in OPS and 27th in on-base percentage.

“Our results so far haven’t matched what we’re capable of, and we all share accountability in that,” Royals GM J.J. Picollo said.

The news wasn’t all bad for the Royals. They got a nice win from Brady Singer in his first game back with the major-league club, and the MJ Melendez crushed his first MLB homer on a day when the rookie caught both games of a doubleheader.