KCSN Weekly: Chiefs Face More Rice Trouble, Royals Continue Sliding and Jayhawks Reach Big 12 Championship Game
A weekly look at everything happening across Kansas City sports.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend, folks. It was a newsy week for Kansas City Sports, and unfortunately, not all of it was good.
The Chiefs found themselves dealing with another difficult development surrounding wide receiver Rashee Rice, while the Royals continued searching for answers during another rough stretch offensively. Meanwhile, Kansas baseball keeps inching closer toward hosting implications for the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
Here’s where things stand this week.
Chiefs Check-in: Wide Receiver Rashee Rice Is In The News Again
Unfortunately, the biggest news out of the Kansas City Chiefs this week once again involved Rice.
Rice violated the terms of his probation stemming from the 2024 vehicular incident and was subsequently ordered to begin serving his 30-day jail sentence immediately.
The timing is significant because it will likely keep Rice away from the team throughout portions, if not the entirety of OTAs and mandatory minicamp this offseason.
Not long after that news surfaced, another update followed. Per ESPN reporting, later detailed again by Chiefs OnSI’s Joshua Briscoe, Rice also recently underwent a cleanup procedure on the knee he injured back in Week 4 of the 2024 season against the Los Angeles Chargers.
In short, Rice will now spend the coming months simultaneously rehabbing from surgery while serving out the legal consequences tied to the off-field situation.
From a football perspective, it appears the Chiefs still believe in Rice’s long-term talent and role in the offense. But between injuries and off-field issues, it’s been an undeniably turbulent stretch for one of the organization’s most gifted young players.
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Royals Report: More Quality Starts, More of the Same Results
The Kansas City Royals continue to waste good pitching performances.
Kansas City dropped five of six games this week, avoiding a sweep against the St. Louis Cardinals before getting swept at home by the Boston Red Sox.
The lone bright spot came in the series finale against St. Louis, where Stephen Kolek tossed 6.1 scoreless innings, and Salvador Perez drove in both runs in a 2–0 win, including a solo homer.
Offensively, Perez and Jac Caglianone were essentially the only consistent producers all week. The duo combined for 11 hits and three home runs while the rest of the lineup continued to struggle finding timely offense.
That lack of support overshadowed another solid stretch from the rotation.
Michael Wacha, Noah Cameron, Seth Lugo, and Kolek all turned in quality starts, and Kansas City still went 1–5 in those games.
At 20–30, the Royals are losing the margin for error and are wasting strong pitching.
KCSNU
Jayhawks Playing for a Big 12 Title
The Kansas Jayhawks continue putting together one of the best seasons in the country.
Kansas defeated Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Baseball Tournament semifinals and will now face the No. 2 seed West Virginia in today’s championship game at 4:30 p.m.
Regardless of the result, the Jayhawks have significantly strengthened their NCAA Tournament résumé over the last week and appear poised for a strong regional position heading into next weekend.
What to Watch This Week
Royals (20–31)
Continue the homestand with two more against the Seattle Mariners (25-27) after dropping Friday night’s opener 2–0.
Then host the New York Yankees (30–22) for a three-game set.
Kansas Baseball
Big 12 Championship vs. West Virginia today at 4:30 p.m.