Gamethread: White Sox at Royals

Let’s take care of some housekeeping, first.

Garrett Crochet came off of the IL today, with Alex McRae heading to Charlotte.

Luis Robert will NOT need surgery (yay!), but will remains on the same recovery scheduled (in other words, he’s still out 12-16 weeks). The White Sox say they will provide an update on Robert’s condition at the start of July — presumably that’s either an uh-oh (he’s out for the year), or details of a rehab assignment.

I hope the off-day did the team some good. I really hope going into Kansas City the offense is awake, and that Tony La Russa turns into someone else all of a sudden. Anyway ...

Tonight is going to be Carlos Rodón vs. Brad Keller. Rodón has been throwing the 4-seam the majority of the time, followed by his slider. Given how well Rodón has been performing this season, I would suggest he change nothing. Right now, he’s holding batters to a 38.9 Whiff% and a 28.4 Chase%, so expect that to continue through tonight. In 25 innings pitched, Rodón has a 4-0 record and 0.72 ERA with 36 strikeouts.

Keller, meanwhile, is doing a bit worse. In his six games, he’s posting a 2-3 record and 8.06 ERA with 22 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched. Keller has been spreading his pitches around among a 4-seam fastball, sinker, slider, and to a lesser extent the changeup. He’s got a 19.9 Whiff% and 24 Chase%, so it’s safe to say that KC’s ace is a lot worse off than Rodón.

The Royals have lost five of their last six, so no one would be mad if they continued that streak. They’re sticking with budget Batman villain Mike Matheny so he shouldn’t be worried about getting canned in the middle of the season a la 2018 Cardinals. The Royals are going to be looking to snap their skid and will be trying to get the offense off to a hot start early.

The lineups today are:

Game starts at 7:10 tonight on NBCSports Chicago for locals, MLB.TV for non-locals, and ESPN 1000 for people who dig the radio and the dulcet tones of Darrin Jackson. Ashley Sanders Superstar has your Six Pack coverage here on SSS.