The Royals have stumbled out to a 7-12 start and are winless on this road trip as they travel to the Bronx. The Yankees are always expected to be one of the top teams to contend for a title, although a championship has eluded them now for 16 seasons. They got off to a great start this year, but have dropped seven of their last nine, including getting swept by the Rays.
Kansas City Royals (7-12) vs. New York Yankees (10-9) at Yankee Stadium, New York, NY
Royals: 3.42 runs scored/game (26th in MLB), 4.16 runs allowed/game (12th)
Yankees: 4.53 runs scored/game (13th), 4.00 runs allowed/game (8th)
Only four teams have hit more home runs than the Yankees this year, and 15 of their 23 home runs have come at home. They also have the second-highest walk rate in baseball. Aaron Judge is tied for the most home runs in baseball with eight. He’s a .325/.416/.663 with 16 home runs in 43 career games against the Royals. He is hitting just 3-f0r-21 with 11 strikeouts against Michael Wacha though.
Trent Grisham hit just .182/.303/.348 against lefties last year. Austin Wells hit .208/.259/.403 in the second half last year. Shortstop Anthony Volpe is out with a shoulder injury, replaced by José Caballero, who stole 49 bases last year. Giancarlo Stanton is just 4-for-29 (.138) over his last nine games, although he homered yesterday against the Angels.
The Yankees are without Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, and Gerrit Cole due to injury, and the Royals will miss Max Fried this series. But Cam Schlittler leads all pitchers in fWAR so far this year, tossing 13.2 scoreless innings to start the season. He had made just 18 career MLB starts, but has a 2.85 ERA with 114 strikeouts in 94.2 innings. He throws a 97 mph four-seamer that opponents are hitting just .161 against this year.
Will Warren has only pitched into the fifth inning once in his first four starts. Lefties hit .266/.350/.436 against him last year. He relies a lot on a sinker and sweeper, generating a 56 groundball rate so far this year.
The Yankees acquired lefty Ryan Weathers from the Marlins for four minor leaguers last winter. He has pitched in parts of the last five seasons, but has never made more than 20 starts in a year. Injuries limited him to just eight starts last year, and he posted a 3.99 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 38.1 innings. In his last start against the Angels, nine of the 10 balls in play against were flyballs sent at least 295 feet.
The Yankees’ bullpen has a 4.13 ERA and they have four blown saves already. David Bednar is tied for the AL lead with five saves, but he has given up a run in four of his last six outings. Fernando Cruz had a 36 percent strikeout rate last year, seventh-highest for a pitcher with at least 30 innings. Tim Hill had a 64.8 percent ground ball rate last year.
The Royals are coming off getting swept and are in bad need of some early wins. Yankee Stadium is a tough place for that, but the smaller dimensions of the ballpark may get the bats going. The Royals need to at least grab a win, and maybe two, or else they will return home Monday finding their season in a deep hole.
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