Kansas City Royals Face off Against Blue Jays in Next Series of Homestand: Stats and Trends to Keep an Eye on
In this story:
It was bound to happen at some point, but the Royals took a series loss against the Marlins after a dominant stretch of play to end August. In the second series of the homestand, they welcome another playoff hopeful team in the Toronto Blue Jays, looking to play spoiler for them. Here are the probable starters as well as stats and trends to keep an eye on.
Probable Starters
Game One: Daniel Lynch IV (4-4, 3.07 ERA) vs. Jameson Taillon (2-6, 5.68 ERA)
Game Two: Seth Lugo (6-8, 5.03 ERA) vs. Max Scherzer (2-7, 6.16 ERA)
Game Three: Randy Dobnak (2-3, 2.65 ERA) vs. Spencer Arrighetti (7-8, 4.82 ERA)
Carter Jensen Solidified His Role as Leadoff Hitter with Recent Hot Stretch
August was a big month for a handful of Royals batters, but flying under the radar was Carter Jensen finding his groove in the leadoff spot. Since August 16, Jensen has slashed .316/.437/.719 for an OPS of 1.156 and a wRC+ of 211. He is also coming off a series in which he went 7-for-13 with three HRs and five RBIs against the Marlins.
During this stretch, he is doing his job, walking in 16.9% of his at-bats while also showing power. He is inching closer to the all-time Royals rookie home run record in a season with 22 long balls this season: 24 is the record set by Bob Hamelin. Jensen was also added to an illustrious list of catchers to have 20+ HRs and 25+ 2Bs in their rookie season. The catchers he joined were Geovany Soto and Carlton Fisk, both of whom won Rookie of the Year. It has been a rookie season filled with records for Jensen and he looks to continue his recent play.
Jensen has solidified his spot in the lineup for the foreseable future and that should continue against the Blue Jays.
Seth Lugo needs to recalibrate as the Season begins to wind down
To say the second half of the year has not treated Seth Lugo well might be an understatement. Since the All-Star break, he has sported an ERA of 6.02, a WHIP of 1.40, and opponents are slashing .289/.346/.433 against him. If we shrink the sample size to just August, it gets worse for Lugo as he had an ERA of 8.31 and WHIP of 1.65.
The issue is that Lugo hasn't changed a ton in his approach in the second half, as he is still hovering around his season totals in Ks and BBs, and the HRs are down. The concern is that he is allowing a ton of contact, as in every August start he has allowed at least five or more hits in all six starts. His FIP during this stretch is 3.92, which is a tad misleading since the core three components of the stats (HR/9, K/9, and BB/9) are within Lugo's season totals. This is a situation where batters are making contact on his stuff with a .365 BABIP against Lugo.
He might be a tad unlucky, but the eye test is showing that Lugo needs to change something within his game. His saving grace, however, is that his lone good start during August came against the Blue Jays.
Vinnie Looks to Finish Injury Plagued Season Strong
While Jensen flew under the radar a little bit during August, Vinnie Pasquantino's return has not been a key talking point yet. Since his return to action on August 17, Vinnie has slashed .286/.385/.536 for an OPS of .920 and a wRC+ of 156. During this stretch, he has more walks than strikeouts (8 BBs to 4 Ks), eight extra-base hits (5 2Bs and 3 HRs), and an average exit velocity of 92.8 mph. The only issue he is facing is that his BABIP is .265, so he might be getting a little unlucky at times.
Related Articles
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Trey is no stranger to writing about the Royals as he has done it for 6 years now for various blogs (Kings of Kauffman, Inside The Royals, and Farm to Fountains). He is a graduate of Baker University with a degree in Mass Media with an emphasis in sports media. He enjoys watching and researching sports as well as gaming.
Follow Trey%20Donovan