The Royals made it five straight wins Tuesday night with a 5-2 victory over Texas, powered by Vinnie Pasquantino’s early homer and Bobby Witt Jr.’s milestone 100th career blast in the eighth.
Kansas City improved to 7-1 on its homestand and looks like a legitimate Wild Card threat as August winds down.
The Rangers have dropped nine of their last 11 games and continue to look like a shell of last year’s club, struggling to generate momentum on either side of the ball.
On the hill, Kansas City sends Noah Cameron (7-5, 2.47 ERA) to the mound, a pitcher who has delivered six wins in his last seven starts and owns a 2.81 ERA at home.
The Rangers counter with Kumar Rocker (4-5, 5.74 ERA), who is still working to prove himself at the big-league level.
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Pasquantino has homered twice in the past five games and he’s available at +480? Yes, please. He owns a .458 slugging percentage, and facing a rookie arm like Rocker in a tough road spot creates enough upside. His max exit velocity ranks within Statcast’s top 8% while Rocker drags his feet to the mound with a 91.2 mph average — good for the bottom 8%. Rocker’s expected contact numbers are icy blue across the board while Pasquantino has blasted 201 wRC+ and a .286/.318/.810 slash line amid the 7-1 homestand.
Rocker’s call-up provides intrigue, but he faces a Royals lineup that’s heating up in August, hitting .259 as a team with the top of their lineup producing reliably. Cameron will face him having dominated at Kauffman Stadium with a .214 opponents’ average in home innings. Rangers’ bats remain stagnant, hitting just .233 this year, the fifth-worst mark in baseball and having sunk to No. 25 overall in wRC+ (90).
I don’t see how a rookie pitcher who’s been hit hard for a bottom 6% rate (47.5) and sports a .507 xSLG can be the difference maker in a road matchup between two teams trending in completely opposite paths.
Pick: Royals (-126 at FanDuel)
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