Red Hot Kansas City Royals travel to Cleveland to face Red Hot Guardians: Stats and Trends to keep an eye on
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The Kansas City Royals are playing their best baseball all season as August comes to a close. They have put together a 14-10 record in August and the offense has been the catalyst during this stretch. They have had a top-ten offense in August, but so have their next opponents in the Guardians. Here are the probable starters along with stats and trends to keep an eye on.
Probable Starters
Game One: Michael Wacha (7-8, 3.49 ERA) vs. Tanner Bibee (5-13, 3.97 ERA)
Game Two: Daniel Lynch IV (4-4, 2.93 ERA) vs. Foster Griffin (15-4, 3.19 ERA)
Game Three: Seth Lugo (6-7, 4.61 ERA) vs. Parker Messick (10-8, 2.50 ERA)
Both Offenses Scorching Hot in August
The offenses will be at the forefront in this series as both the Royals and Guardians have got the bats going in August, in different ways. The Royals are slugging a lot in August as displayed by their .422 team slugging percentage in August, seventh in the league, while the Guardians are getting on base at a .343 rate, third in the league.
The Royals have been led by the dynamic duo of Bobby Witt Jr and Jac Caglianone, who both rank 15th and first in wRC+ this month, while the Guardians are getting an elite month from both Chase Delauter and Steven Kwan, fifth and 11th in wRC+ this month. Both Kwan and Caglianone have also been crucial for their respective teams victories as both are top four in WPA (win probability added) this month (Cags is first, Kwan is fourth).
Both offenses have been crucial in August and for their respective stretches, as the Royals have gone 10-2 over their last four series and the Guardians have gone 9-3 over their last four series. While both teams are playing for different things, this series will be exciting to watch.
Royals Need Starters to Step Up this Series
With both offenses hot, that puts a lot of pressure on a Royals pitching staff that has been hit-and-miss this month. In August, the pitching staff ranks 20th in ERA at 4.28. They will send out two starters this series that have had rough months in Daniel Lynch IV and Seth Lugo while Michael Wacha continues to be old reliable.
Lugo is coming off his best start of the month against the Blue Jays, where he went 5.0 innings, allowing one run, six hits, walking one, and striking out five, but outside of that start, it has been a rough month for him. He has a 6.41 ERA in August and hasn't been the greatest since the All-Star break.
Lynch is set to make his fifth start in this series, and the switch back to starting pitching has been up and down so far. He holds an ERA of 6.57 in his starts and is still being stretched out as his deepest outing was 4.1 innings against the Tigers in his last outing. The main issues he is facing are that he isn't striking out anyone, is walking too many, and the long ball has hurt him in his return to starting pitching.
Wacha has been the same old pitcher for the Royals, but there is concern in August about the number of home runs he is giving up. In four starts in August, he has allowed six home runs, which is a 2.22 HR/9 during that span. Another issue, mainly of the rotation as a whole, is that Wacha is not striking anyone out with a 15.8% K-rate during this stretch.
If the Royals are to win this series and continue playing at their best, the rotation needs to be on its A-game.
Return of Steven Kwan Should Scare Royals
The list of Royals Killers over the years is a long one, and that list includes Steven Kwan. It has been a while since he dominated against the Royals, but he is coming off a terrific series against the Angels and seems to be back in his usual form. He went 9-for-16 in the Angels series and is now on a four-game multi-hit streak.
He had a rough first half of the year with an 81 wRC+ and hitting for little contact (.225 average), but once July hit, he returned to his contact-hitting self. He might not hit for any power, but in the second half of the year, he is slashing .384/.476/.449 for an OPS of .925.
He is back and that should terrify both the Royals and Royals fans as he could terrorize them once again.
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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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