Coming off a series sweep of the Seattle Mariners and a 4-2 road trip, the Royals will start a crucial section of the season with ten straight divisional matches starting with a four-game set against the Guardians. With the Royals only 2.5 games back of the division lead, and their recent stretch of strong play, here are a couple of things to keep an eye on as the Royals start this section of the season.
Probable Starters
Game one: Michael Wacha (2-2, 3.13 ERA) vs. Tanner Bibee (0-4, 4.08 ERA)
Game two: Noah Cameron (2-2, 4.79 ERA) vs. Gavin Williams (5-1, 2.70 ERA)
Game three: Cole Ragans (1-4, 5.29 ERA) vs. Joey Cantillo (1-1, 3.67 ERA)
Game four: Seth Lugo (1-1, 2.68 ERA) vs. Slade Cecconi (1-4, 6.56 ERA)
Royals Batters vs. Guardians Pitching
This is where the series will be its toughest for the Royals, because they struggle against this slate of probably starters for Cleveland. That is why game one of the series will arguably be the most important for the Royals to snag a win. Tanner Bibee has been great against the Royals in his career with a 4-0 record with a 3.06 ERA. He has already faced the Royals once this season and went 4 2/3 innings allowing five runs, one run, walking one, and striking out three.
The reason game one is arguably the most important is because Bibee is the “worst” against the Royals of the four probable starters. The reason he is the worst is because Bobby Witt Jr., Vinny Pasquantino, and Michael Massey have hit Bibee well. “BWJ” has a slash line of .364/.481/.636 for an OPS of 1.118 in 22 at-bats. The “Pasquatch’s” slash line against Bibee is equally impressive with a .600/.647/1.200 for an OPS of 1.847 in 15 at-bats. Massey rounds out this trio solely because he has two solo shots off Bibee, and the trio has hit six home runs against Bibee.
Game two sees Gavin Williams slot come up and he has dominated the Royals historically. In his first start against them this year, he went 5 2/3 innings, allowing one hit, one run, walking five, and striking out eight. In his career, he has an ERA of 2.28 against the Royals and has a 2-1 record against them. The only Royal to see solid long term success is Salvador Perez with a slash line of .353/.389/.412 for an OPS of .801. in 17 at bats. Carter Jensen is 1-for-2 against him with a home run.
Game three sees Joey Cantillo, who also shoves against the Royals with a 1.61 ERA and a 2-1 record. In his first matchup against the Royals, Cantillo went 5 2/3 innings, allowing three hits, one run, walking two, and striking out nine. The Royal with the best slash line against him is BWJ with a .333/.333/.556 for an OPS of .889 in nine at bats. Starling Marte, in two at bats, is 1-for-2 against Cantillo.
In the finale, against a guy with a 6.56 ERA, the Royals were almost no-hit by Cecconi in his first start against the Royals. It was an eight inning outing, allowing one hit, no runs, walking three, and striking out three. Massey had the lone hit and two of the walks were drawn by Carter Jensen.
Vinnie and Bobby’s Recent Form is Key
SInce the Baltimore Orioles series on April 20, both Pasquantino and Witt Jr. have been hot. Vinnie, especially, has been the hot hand batting .265/.386/.559 for an OPS of .945, after starting the year slowly. During this stretch he has two doubles, a triple, two home runs, and six RBIs to go with a 150 wRC+. “Bob” hasn’t been as hot as Vinnie, but slashing .283/.350/.491 for an OPS of .841 is good. The power is starting to come around as he racked up three doubles, a triple, and two home runs. If the Royals want to get a good start going against the Guardians, it will be through the Pasquatch and BWJ.
The Home-Road Splits for the Royals
This has been the story of the offense so far this season as they have struggled on the road and flourished at home. As a team, they have the fifth best wRC+ with 120, the third best wOBA at .359, and the third best OPS at .809. Individually, the best batters at Kauffman Stadium for the Royals are Kyle Isbel, Isaac Collins, Maikel Garcia, and Nick Loftin. All of whom have a wRC+ of 150 or above.
The only Royals below league average wRC+ are Salvador Perez and Vinnie Pasquantino with a 70 and 54 wRC+. Now, this is highly unlikely to continue, but if the trend continues that will be a huge boon for the Royals in this series and the next series when they host the Tigers.
The Battle of the Bullpens is Even
This might sound a bit odd, but both bullpens in this series are pretty even across the board. Both Lucas Erceg and Cade Smith have had up-and-down starts but have come into form recently. Both teams have a setup guy that is dominating in Daniel Lynch IV and Eric Sabrowski. Then the rest of both bullpens are crapshoots. If the game comes down to a battle of the bullpens, the winner will be whose incosistent reliever will have a good outing versus a bad one.
If the Royals are to start this stretch of important series, the minimum they need is to split with the Guardians, but if they do win a trend could either continue or be broken.
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