Royals Head to D.C. for Short Road Trip: Stats and Trends to Keep an Eye On
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After a stellar road trip that saw the Royals go 5-2 against the Twins and Reds, they faltered in a six-game homestand going 2-4 against the Rangers and Astros. To add salt to the wound, the injuries keep piling up as Vinnie Pasquantino hit the IL and will be out of commission for at least a month. Now, the team will head to D.C. to face an upstart Nationals team that are coming off back-to-back series wins over the Mariners and Giants. Here are the probable starters and some trends and stats to keep an eye on.
Probable Starters
Game One: RHP Mitch Spence (0-0, 13.50 ERA) vs. LHP Andrew Alvarez (1-0, 3.70 ERA)
Game Two: RHP Michael Wacha (4-5, 3.58 ERA) vs. LHP Foster Griffin (7-2, 3.46 ERA)
Game Three: RHP Luinder Avila (1-3, 6.19 ERA) vs. RHP Zack Littell (6-5, 5.32 ERA)
Revenge Series for Two Players, One on Each Team
The concept of a " revenge game" typically doesn't apply as much to baseball, but there is always a little extra fuel for players facing their former teams. Lane Thomas returns to the place that helped him breakout earlier in his career as he was a National for four seasons. It has been a couple of seasons since his 2023 breakout that saw him have a 2.9 fWAR, or 3.3 bWAR, and have a career highs in home runs (28), RBIs (86), and hits (168).
The month of June has also seen some good production for Thomas as he is slashing .273/.385/.485 as he will look to carry that into this revenge series. Most of that damage was on the road trip, however, as he was 3-for-17 on the homestand. At Nationals Park, Thomas has shown solid production slashing .254/.316/.435 for an OPS of .751. With two lefties slated for the series, expect to see Thomas in the lineup.
Drafted as the 28th pick in the 2014 MLB draft, former Royal Foster Griffin will look to shove against his former organization. As a Royal, he didn't have much playing time with five innings pitched before being DFA'd and claimed by the Blue Jays to finish 2022. After the 2022 season, he signed with the Yomuiri Giants and worked on his craft for three seasons.
In those three seasons, Griffin regained form pitching to a 2.57 ERA in those three seasons and turned that into a one-year pact with the Nationals for 2026. Griffin has furthered his breakout with a stellar 2026 as he has a 3.46 ERA so far on the season and has been a stable force in the rotation for the Nats.
He sports a seven pitch mix with three fastballs, two breaking balls, a changeup and a splitter. His cutter is his best pitch so far this season and it pairs well with his sinker, but every other pitch has had its issues for Griffin. That brings us to the major issue with Griffin this season and that is the long ball. He allows 1.73 HR/9 and the Royals need to take advantage of that in the second game of the series.
The Jac Caglianone Breakout is Upon Us
Despite the Royals ebbs and flows this month, Jac Caglianone has been the best batter for the team in June. He is slashing an absurd .415/.510/.683 for an OPS of 1.193 and a wRC+ of 229. That OPS and wRC+ are the best for AL outfielders and third in the league behind NL Central foes Jackson Chourio and Pete Crow-Armstrong.
One of the biggest developments, and one of the key steps he needed to reach stardom, has been his ability to outright crush southpaws. In the past month, "Cags" has slashed .364/.400/.576 for an OPS of .976 and a wRC+ of 170. That is in stark contrast to how he started the year against lefties as he struggled with a below .600 OPS. This stretch against lefties has also seen his splits even out as he sports a wRC+ of 116 against right handed pitchers and 117 against southpaws.
Cags will look to continue his breakout while also having to play multiple positions as noted with Pasquantino's injury as the right fielder will also man first base at times for the Royals.
The Royals Desperately Need Michael Wacha to Return to Form
Whether it is for trade value or it is the spark for a turnaround (unlikely), the Royals need Wacha to get back into form. In his last three outings, he has a 7.13 ERA and has struggled to miss bats. He has allowed 14 earned runs in those three outings, allowed 25 hits, struck out nine batters, and walked five in 17.2 innings of work.
Making matters worse for Wacha is the fact that the Royals have not won when he is the starter since May 9 against the Tigers. During that stretch, the Royals blew leads to the Yankees, Red Sox, and Cardinals to add that much more salt in the wound for Wacha starts.
While the season is inching closer to another irrellevant one for the Royals, they will look to stave off said irrellevancy against the Nationals.
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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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