After years of miserable seasons, the White Sox are seeing the fruits of their rebuild and are sitting in first place with a lineup almost entirely filled with players yet to reach their 27th birthday. As the Royals sit in last place, it is tempting to think they should follow suit with a full deconstruction of the roster. While the White Sox did net some good players through trades like Miguel Vargas, Chase Meidroth, and Kyle Teel, many of their better players could have been drafted by the Royals. The Royals had a chance to select Teel, but instead chose Blake Mitchell. They could have selected Colson Montgomery, but instead chose Frank Mozzicato. Sam Antonacci is an on-base machine selected in the fifth round, two picks after the Royals selected A.J. Causey.
Kansas City Royals (34-48) vs. Chicago White Sox (41-38) at Rate Field, Chicago, IL
Royals: 4.27 runs scored/game (20th in MLB), 4.87 runs allowed/game (23rd)
White Sox: 4.61 runs scored/game (11th), 4.65 runs allowed/game (19th)
The Yankees are the only team to hit more home runs than the White Sox, although Chicago is without Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami, who is out with a hamstring injury. Colson Montgomery is tied with him for sixth in all of baseball with 20 home runs, but he also has the 13th-highest strikeout rate at 31.3 percent. Kyle Teel missed the first two and a half months with knee and hamstring injuries, but hit .273/.375/.411 with eight home runs in 78 games in his rookie year last season.
Chase Meidroth has a 51.2 percent groundball rate, ninth-highest in baseball. Miguel Vargas has a 49.8 percent flyball rate, sixth-highest. Sam Antonacci has been hit 16 times, most in the American League, and is hitting .302/.396/.448 over his last 26 games. Former Royals outfielder Randal Grichuk is hitting .300 with nine home runs in 36 games since joining the White Sox. Luisangel Acuña is the cousin of Royals infielder Maikel Garcia. Colson Montgomery and outfielder Tristan Peters are excellent defensively, each among the leaders in Outs Above Average. Only four teams have been picked off more than the White Sox.
Stephen Kolek has been scratched from Friday’s start to go on paternity leave, and the Royals will likely call up Mitch Spence or go with a bullpen game. They will face former Royals prospect David Sandlin, who was traded to the Red Sox for reliever John Schreiber in 2024. Sandlin has a 1.57 ERA in six starts at Double-A this year, and gave up just one run in six innings in his MLB debut, but has struggled since. He throws a 97 mph heater, with a curve, cutter, and sinker.
Davis Martin is enjoying a breakout season and is tied with Paul Skenes for eighth in baseball in fWAR for starting pitchers at 2.6. He has yet to lose at home, allowing just four runs in six starts for a 1.01 ERA. He has a 2.65 ERA in six career starts against the Royals, and Bobby Witt Jr. is 4-for-16 (.250) against him in their matchups.
Anthony Kay has also been a much better pitcher at home with a 2.66 ERA at Rate Field. He tossed six shutout innings against the Guardians in his last start. Lefties are hitting .171/.284/.289 against him. His out pitch is a sweeper that opponents have a 33.3 percent whiff rate against.
The White Sox have a 4.30 ERA from their relievers this year, and they have the third-most blown saves in baseball. Seranthony Dominguez has blown his last two saves opportunities, giving him five for the year, compared to 11 saves. Grant Taylor has struck out 34.2 percent of hitters, the seventh-highest rate among relievers. Lefty Bryan Hudson has a reverse split, with lefty hitters performing better against him.
The White Sox have won five of seven from the Royals already, including a sweep in Chicago back in May. They have dropped six of their last nine, but enjoyed a series win over Cleveland this week to tie for first place. They’re a young, exciting team that has a bright future, and will be very tough to beat this weekend.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.royalsreview.com ’
