Kansas City Royals Welcome Twins after Inactive Trade Deadline: Stats and Trends to Keep an Eye on.
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After starting the second half hot, the Royals flames have been tempered just as quickly with a mix of an inactive trade deadline and back-to-back series losses to the Twins and the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies series was an embarrassing one for the Royals as they were dealt a sweep by one of the worst teams in baseball, and outscored 23-8. Now they look to rebound with a six game homestand, starting with a three game set against the Twins. Here are the probable starters, and some stats and trends to keep an eye on.
Probable Starters
Game One: Randy Dobnak (1-0, 1.04 ERA) vs. Joe Ryan (6-7, 3.52 ERA)
Game Two: Noah Cameron (5-8, 4.59 ERA) vs. Dean Kremer (1-4, 6.50 ERA)
Game Three: Michael Wacha (5-8, 3.51 ERA) vs. Bailey Ober (7-3, 4.45 ERA)
Can Dobnak and Cameron Repeat Performances from their Last Start against the Twins
On June 17, the Royals traded for Randy Dobnak, and as everyone expected, he has been the Royals' best starter since coming back to the Majors. In 26 innings of work, he has a 1.04 ERA and earned his first win in over five years in his last start against his former team. In that start, he pitched seven innings, allowing four hits, no runs, walking one, and striking out four batters for a season high. it was his best start as a Royal and he will look to continue that dominance against his former team in the first game of the series.
Noah Cameron has been a very different pitcher since he began calling his own pitches. In two appearances since the change, Cameron has pitched 15 scoreless innings only allowing two hits, walking five, and racking up 15 strikeouts against the Tigers and Twins. He carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his last start against the Twins, before the Royals bullpen blew up again. The change in philosophy will get put to the test again as Cameron looks to replicate his last outing and his dominance against the Twins.
Twins Get to Use Trade Acquisitions early
While neither team had a very active trade deadline, the Twins made two moves to improve their pitching staff. They added starting pitcher Dean Kremer and relievers AJ Minter and Jeff Hoffman. The new faces get to be put to use early, as Kremer will start the second game of the series, and he has a good track record against the Royals. In five career starts against the Royals, Kremer has a 2.96 ERA and a WHIP hovering around 1.000.
Although he has had success against the Royals, a couple of Royals batters have success against him as well. Salvador Perez has a .970 OPS against him, with a double and a home run off him. A core part of the lineup, Michael Massey has a staggering 1.429 OPS with two doubles against Kremer. Josh Rojas also has an absurd 1.467 OPS against Kremer with two hits and two walks.
Minter has very few appearances against the Royals in his career, but has yet to allow a run in three innings of work. Hoffman has slightly more appearances against the Royals with seven, and he sports a 1.29 ERA and two saves against the Royals.
Salvy Continues to Hit Well Since the All-Star Break
After a putrid first half of the season, "Salvy" has been on a tear since the All-Star break. In 16 games, the captain of the Royals has slashed .250/.338/.567 for an OPS of .905 and a wRC+ of 144. He has 15 hits during that stretch, with eight of those hits being for extra bases (five HRs, two 2Bs, and one 3B). Last time against the Twins, he went 4-for-13 and got his first triple of the year and his first since 2022.
Also of note, Bobby Witt Jr. is expected to make his return to the lineup this series.
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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.
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