Know Your Enemy: Kansas City Royals

Last time

The last game of the the most recent White Sox-Royals series was notable because it was the wild pitch from Wade Davis that scored José Abreu, when he kind of tweaked his ankle. That came after Abreu collided with Hunter Dozier in the series opener because Dozier doesn’t understand the right-of-way on the baseline.

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How’s it going?

How the mighty have fallen. After coasting in first place for the start of the season, the Royals crashed and burned. If it wasn’t for the Twins completely tanking the season, the Royals would be sitting solidly in last place in the AL Central. As things stand now, the Royals are 42-55 this season, and 16 games back from first. There’s still time for the Twins to pass them, though.

The Royals have slugged .393 this season, with Salvador Perez leading the team at .505. He’s also leading in batting average (.279) and RBIs (62). The Royals are 25-24 at home, and have gone 9-11 in their last 20. They’re 20-27 against Central opponents. In their last 10 games, the Royals are 6-4 with a .251 batting average as a team and 4.71 ERA.

Some notable injuries plaguing the Royals are Danny Duffy, Brady Singer, and Adalberto Mondesi, so I’m sure they’re going to be missed this week by no one. Mike Minor leads the pitching staff in ERA (5.45), wins (seven), and strikeouts (108). When Minor and Perez are your best at anything, you should probably reevaluate your team.

White Sox are 25-24 on the road, and the series in Milwaukee exposed plenty of holes in the roster. Despite all this, Abreu is leading the team with a .471 slugging. Abreu also leads in home runs (18) and RBIs (75), while Tim Anderson leads in batting average (.304). In their last 21 games, the White Sox are 12-9, and are 32-17 against Central opponents. The White Sox are also sitting solidly in first, nine games up from Cleveland.

The White Sox also have a health update, and for a change, it’s a good one! Eloy Jiménez returns to action tonight, after missing the season to date with a torn pectoral muscle.

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Pitching matchups

Today is Dallas Keuchel vs. Mike Minor. This season, Keuchel is 7-3 over 102 ¹⁄₃ innings, striking out 64 and walking 33 while holding a 4.22 ERA. In his last five against Kansas City he’s posting a 3-0 record over 28 ¹⁄₃ innings while allowing 24 hits, striking out 27, and walking six while holding a 1.27 ERA.

Minor is 7-8 this season with a 5.45 ERA over 112 ¹⁄₃ innings, giving up 112 hits and walking 34 while giving up 70 runs (68 earned). Against the white Sox, Minor is 1-3 over 29 innings, giving up 21 hits and allowing 13 runs (12 earned) while posting a 3.72 ERA. He has four pitches in his arsenal: 4-seam (41.9%), slider (22.2%), changeup (20.3%), and curveball (15.6%).

Tuesday is Dylan Cease vs. Brad “bat flips aren’t fun” Keller. Cease is 7-6 this season, going 102 ²⁄₃ innings and allowing 91 hits while striking out 132, posting a 4.21 ERA. In his last five against the Royals he’s gone 2-0 over 25 ²⁄₃ , giving up 17 hits and striking out 19 while posting a 2.45 ERA.

Keller is 7-9 this season, going 101 ²⁄₃ innings while posting a 5.84 ERA and giving up 125 hits. In his last seven starts he’s 1-4 over 40 ²⁄₃ innings with a 5.98 ERA. In his last five against the White Sox he’s 2-3 with a 4.08 ERA. Keller has four pitches: slider (33.6%), sinker (31.7%), 4-seam (28.7%), and changeup (6%). He’s aged like fine whine since the STICK TALK game.

Wednesday is Lucas Giolito vs. Kris Bubic. Giolito is 8-7 this season over 119 innings with a 3.78 ERA and 136 strikeouts. In his last five against the Royals, he’s 2-3 with a 5.28 ERA, going 29 innings and striking out 35.

Bubic is 3-4 this season over 68 ²⁄₃ innings, posting a 4.72 ERA and allowing 68 hits and 36 earned runs. He’s faced the White Sox three times as a starter, going 0-2 over 16 ¹⁄₃ innings, walking four and striking out 15 while giving up 13 hits. Bubic only uses three pitches: 4-seam (51.1%), changeup (33.9%), and curveball (15%).

Thursday is a Carlos fight: Rodón vs. Hernández. Rodón is 8-4 this season and didn’t have the best outing against the Brewers. In his last five against the Royals he’s gone 1-3 over 27 innings and posting a 4.67 ERA. He’s 3-2 in his last seven starts, posting a 2.63 ERA, so this could go either way.

Hernández has never faced the White Sox as a starter. Hernández debuted on Sept. 1, 2020 and this season has gone 1-1 over 28 ¹⁄₃ innings with a 6.04 ERA. He has five pitches ins his arsenal: sinker (36.9%), curveball (22%), 4-seam (18.1%), slider (16.2%), and changeup (6.8%).

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Why we hate them