|
 |
 |
After getting swept in Chicago, the Royals moved on to St. Louis in desperate need of a series win. Instead they lost 2 out of 3, salvaging a 1-5 road trip with a 2-0 win yesterday afternoon.
Let’s look at the good, bad, and ugly from this most recent iteration of the I-70 Series….
THE GOOD
Starting pitching has been a little rough lately for KC, so it was good to see all three starters over the weekend post a “quality” (6 IP, 3 or fewer ER) start. Michael Wacha has been KC’s most consistent starter in 2026, and he allowed 5 H and 3 ER in 6 innings in the 5-4 loss to the Cardinals Friday night.
Noah Cameron had a nice outing in game 2, posting the same 5 H, 3 ER in 6 innings as Wacha the night before. The best performance of the weekend however was Stephen Kolek on Sunday. Kolek went 6 1/3 shutout innings, yielding only 4 H and 1 BB. He had given up 8 ER in his last two starts (10 2/3 innings combined), so it was good to see him bounce back with a gem.
Kolek and Cameron are in a bit of a battle to see who holds on to their roster spot when LHP Cole Ragans comes back from the injured list.
Daniel Lynch IV continues to be the most reliable arm out of the pen for Matt Quatraro with 2 2/3 more innings of scoreless relief against the Cardinals.
Salvador Perez has been getting A LOT of heat from fans over his rough start to the season, particularly with runners in scoring position. That said, Salvy provided all the runs yesterday in the 2-0 victory with a sacrifice fly in the 1st inning and a solo HR in the 4th. The captain also had a single and a walk in probably his most complete offensive game of the year.
Jac Caglianone had a very nice night on Saturday. The Royals right fielder smoked three balls over 100mph on his way to going 2-4 with single and HR. More on him later.
THE BAD
Maikel Garcia is struggling a bit after going 2-15 in St. Louis and 4-28 (.142) on the trip.
The offense in general continued to struggle with RISP against the Cardinals, particularly in the 11 inning loss on Friday night. For the season the Royals have a WRC+ of 83 with RISP, ahead of only the Boston Red Sox at 80. Guess who’s coming to the K this week?
THE UGLY
After Cags pounded the ball in all 4 at bats Saturday night, Matt Quatraro decided to sit him on Sunday against St. Louis right-hander Andre Pallante. Royals Twitter exploded when the lineup was posted, even the most ardent Q defenders had a hard time justifying sitting Caglianone…
 |
Quatraro defended his decision by citing Pallante’s reverse splits and the need to “get everybody involved”. Yo Q, I needed to get everybody involved when I was coaching Little League, you need to win some games. Miss me with that BS.
And as for Pallante’s “reverse splits”, the last time he had them was 2024.
 |
Boston is throwing two left-handers against the Royals this week, so don’t expect to see much of the 2024 #6 overall pick.
UP NEXT
The only team worse with runners in scoring position than the Royals, the Boston Red Sox, are in town for a 3 game series that kicks off a 9 game homestand for KC. The BoSox are 19-27 and fired manager Alex Cora about three weeks ago. By WRC+ they are the worst offensive team in baseball. They don’t get on base much (.310 team OBP) and rank next to last in home runs with 33 on the season.
The Boston rotation ranks 20th with a 4.31 ERA and 15th with a 1.29 WHIP. The bullpen has been the Red Sox best unit this year. They rank 4th with 3.16 ERA and 5th with a 1.19 WHIP. Let’s hope the Royals can rough up the Boston starters this week, here’s the matchups…
Tonight - RHP Seth Lugo (1-3, 3.76) vs RHP Sonny Gray (4-1, 3.18)
The veteran Gray has always been tough on the Royals. They haven’t beaten him since August 11th, 2014! For his career he is 9-2 with a 1.76 ERA against KC. Vinnie Pasquantino (3-9) and Kyle Isbel (2-6) are both hitting .333 against Gray, one of Isbel’s hits left the ballpark.
Tuesday - LHP Kris Bubic (3-2, 4.11) vs LHP Ranger Suarez (2-2, 2.44)
Suarez is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in only 5 innings against the Royals. Lane Thomas is 8-22 (.364) with a couple of doubles against Suarez. Expect to see plenty of Thomas and Starling Marte in this one.
Wednesday - RHP Michael Wacha (4-2, 2.83) vs LHP Connelly Early (3-2, 3.21)
The Royals are getting their first look at the 24 year-old Early. He favors his 4 seam fastball and change-up against right-handed hitters, leftys get a lot of his slider.
The Royals are 2-10 against left-handed starters, something has to change this week. After the Red Sox series, the Seattle Mariners are in for 3 followed by 3 with the New York Yankees. The weather tonight looks iffy, hopefully they will get a ballgame in.
Try to get out to the K during this homestand if you can. The boys need to get back to playing some ball and need all the help they can get.
| ||||||||||
