The Royals are winning despite not doing much hitting. So that’s great.
The Kansas City Royals come into Baltimore on a roll. They just swept the Rays and have won nine of their last 10 games. Even with that, they are in third place in the AL Central, 2.5 games behind the Tigers.
The Orioles and Royals played each other in the third series of the season. The Orioles lost two out of three. It’s strange to be finished with a team by May 4th, but I won’t mind. I hate the Royals.
Bobby Witt, Jr. is one of the biggest stars in baseball, and he is having an incredible season. He’s in the midst of a 22-game hit streak and has a .400 OBP and an OPS of .896. The only thing that hasn’t come along for him so far this year is his power. He hit his third home run of the season last night. But he has 12 doubles and hit 30+ home runs each of the last two seasons. So I expect that’ll change soon.
Outside of Witt, the Royals’ offense is underwhelming. They average 3.13 runs per game, which is dead last in the American League. They have a team OPS+ of 76, also last in the AL. Basically every player not named Witt is below average.
Their pitching is a different story. Their starting pitching is arguably the best in the AL. FanGraphs ranks them second in fWAR just behind the Rangers. The relief pitching is solid as well, led by Lucas Erceg, Daniel Lynch, and closer Carlos Estévez. Fun fact, Carlos Estévez is Charlie Sheen’s birth name. Anyway, as a team the Royals are allowing 3.48 runs per game, quite a bit lower than the Orioles and their 5.63.
Game 1: Friday, May 2nd, 7:05 PM, MASN
RHP Dean Kremer (2-4, 7.04 ERA, 20 K / 8 BB) vs RHP Michael Wacha (1-3, 3.38 ERA, 26 K / 12 BB)
Things are not going well for Dean Kremer. He has given up at least five runs in four out of his six starts, and has only had what I would consider one good start this season. He has always been up and down, but so far this year it’s just been one big downer. Back on April 4th, Kremer allowed three runs (two earned) against the Royals.
Michael Wacha is having a nice start to the season. He has completed six innings just once this year, in his most recent start. But he has allowed three or fewer runs in all but one start this season. That one start was against the Orioles, where Wacha allowed four runs in 5.2 innings.
Game 2: Saturday, May 3rd, 7:15 PM, FOX
RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (3-1, 3.00 ERA, 17 K / 6 BB) vs LHP Kris Bubic (2-2, 2.25 ERA, 37 K / 12 K)
Oh great, a nationally televised game! It’s nice that a national audience will get to see Sugano, who has been one of the few bright spots in the starting rotation this season. He has yet to allow more than three runs in any start and has two seven-inning games under his belt. He even raised his strikeout game against the Yankees with eight in five innings.
But just as a national audience will get to see Sugano, they’ll also have to watch the Orioles face a left-handed pitcher. They are, as we know, very bad at that. Bubic faced the Orioles on April 6th and it did not go well for our team. Bubic pitched 6.2 innings with just one run allowed. He struck out eight. Hopefully the Orioles will be a little better on their second go round.
Game 3: Sunday, May 4th, 1:35 PM, MASN/MLBN
RHP Kyle Gibson (0-1, 22.50 ERA, 2 K / 2 BB) vs RHP Michael Lorenzen (3-3, 3.48 ERA, 28 K / 13 BB)
The good thing about this start by Kyle Gibson is that it’s almost guaranteed to be better than his last one. It’s very difficult for even the worst pitcher to give up four home runs in the first five batters. It would be even more difficult for it to happen against the Royals, who have just 14 home runs on the entire season. I have no idea what to expect from Gibson. I assume it’ll be bad, though.
The Royals traded for Michael Lorenzen at last year’s trade deadline and then re-signed him to a one-year, $7 million contract. Lorenzen is far from a top-tier pitcher, but he’s solid. He doesn’t strike out many and walks more batters than is ideal. The Orioles did not face him the first time around.