The 15-19 Royals, who are now fourth in the AL Central, welcome the division-leading (well…tied with Detroit) 18-17 Cleveland Guardians to Kansas City for a four-game series. The Royals are fresh off a sweep of the Seattle Mariners and, with a good series here, can strengthen their position within the division. The Guardians took 2 of 3 from the Athletics over the weekend and have a tenuous at best position to hold that. A four-game sweep would go a long way here.
With that, the Royals will put Michael Wacha on the mound to start. Over 37 and 1/3 innings and 6 starts, Wacha seems more or less the same guy he’s been for the past several years with the Royals, though it’s been imbalanced. His first four starts were quite good, while his last two were….not. Wacha has already faced Cleveland this season back on April 6th. He threw seven innings of one-run ball. I’d take that again.
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The Guardians start Tanner Bibee, who also has pitched to about the same stats as usual, which is roughly league average. Bibee started that same game on April 6th in which Wacha was the Royals pitcher. He also gave up one run but threw only 4 and 2/3 innings. The Royals won that game on the back of homers from Jensen and India.
Perhaps the main change from that last game is that 2024 first overall pick Travis Bazzana is now playing for the Guardians. He has walked 6 times in 22 plate appearances for a 27% walk rate (he also has 1 intentional walk). Otherwise, he does not yet have an extra base hit.
For the offense, the Royals will have Jensen at catcher today and Kyle Isbel gets the day off. I’m not 100% clear why; Bibee is a right-hander, and Isbel is a left-handed hitter. Lane Thomas, a right-handed hitter, starts in CF. In the wake of India’s injury, the Royals will use Nick Loftin to plug the 2B hole.
The game starts at 6:40pm US Central time. You can watch on Royals.tv or listen via 96.5 The Fan or the Royals Radio Network.
Lineups:
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