Last fall the Royals made a surprise run at the post-season, eventually falling in the ALDS to a historical post-season rival, the New York Yankees. While the Royals retained much of their post-season roster, the Yankees had a lot of churn this off-season, and will suit up just 13 players this week that were on the ALDS post-season roster last fall. Gone are slugger Juan Soto, infielder Gleyber Torres, outfielder Alex Verdugo, and relievers Tommy Kahnle and Clay Holmes, with injuries keeping Giancarlo Stanton, Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, Marcus Stroman, and Jake Cousins out of action.
Kansas City Royals (8-8) vs. New York Yankees (8-7) at Yankee Stadium, New York, NY
Royals: 3.25 runs scored/game (27th in MLB), 3.75 runs allowed/game (9th)
Yankees: 6.33 runs scored/game (2nd), 5.13 runs allowed/game (24th)
The Yankees dominated the Brewers in a series-opening sweep with “torpedo bats”, but have dropped three of four series since then. The offense has also cooled down, with the lineup averaging just 3.2 runs per game over their last six matches. The Yankees have hit 24 of their league-best 28 home runs in nine home games this year, although 15 came in that opening series against the Brewers.
Aaron Judge is off to a hot start batting .357/.478/.750, tying for the most home runs in baseball with six, and leading the league in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and RBI (20). Judge hit just .250 (6-for 24) with one home run against the Royals in the regular season last year, and just .154 (2-for-13 with five walks and no homers) in the post-season.
The Yankees added veterans Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger to the lineup, and Goldschmidt is off to a hot start batting .357, while Bellinger is below the Mendoza Line.
Oswaldo Cabrera is the only Yankees starter with an OPS+ below 100, and the only one without a home run this year. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is tied for the fourth-most strikeouts in baseball so far this year, whiffing 36.7 percent of the time. Catcher J. C. Escarra spent time with the Kansas City Monarchs in the independent American Association.
All statistics from 2024.
Starting Lineup PA HR SB BA OBA SLG fWAR Starting Lineup PA HR SB BA OBA SLG fWAR DH Ben Rice (L) 178 7 0 .171 .264 .349 -0.3 RF Aaron Judge (R) 704 58 10 .322 .458 .701 11.2 CF Cody Bellinger (L) 569 18 9 .266 .325 .426 2.2 1B Paul Goldschmidt (R) 654 22 11 .245 .302 .414 1.1 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L) 621 24 40 .256 .324 .436 4.0 SS Anthony Volpe (R) 689 12 28 .243 .293 .364 3.4 C Austin Wells (L) 414 13 1 .229 .322 .395 3.4 LF Jasson Dominguez (S) 67 2 5 .179 .313 .304 -0.1 3B Oswaldo Cabrera (S) 326 8 4 .247 .296 .365 0.9 Bench PA HR SB BA OBA SLG fWAR C J.C. Escarra (L) 0 0 0 – – – – IF Oswald Peraza (R) 11 1 0 .200 .273 .500 0.1 IF Pablo Reyes (R) 64 0 1 .183 .234 .217 -0.7 OF Trent Grisham (L) 209 9 1 .190 .290 .385 0.5
Injuries to the rotation opened a spot for veteran Carlos Carrasco to make the team as a non-roster invitee. The 38-year-old has a 7.71 ERA in three outings, giving up four home runs in just 11 2⁄3 innings. He relies mostly on his sinker, slider, and change, occasionally mixing in a 91 mph fastball. Last year he had a 46 percent groundball rate, although it is down to 36 percent this year.
Max Fried was the big free agent signed by the Yankees and he has lived up to his billing so far with a 1.56 ERA in three starts, including seven shutout innings with 11 strikeouts in his last start against the Tigers. Fried was 18th among all starters in fWAR last year with the 15th-best ERA. He had a reverse split last year with lefties clobbering him with a line of .321/.395/.464. His best pitch is a curve that opponents hit just .154 against last year with a 37 percent whiff rate.
Clarke Schmidt is expected to make his first start of the year Wednesday after missing the first three weeks with a shoulder injury. He was limited to just 16 starts last year due to a lat strain, but returned for the post-season and started Game of the ALDS against the Royals. Schmidt relies mostly on his cutter and sweeper and does a good job avoiding barrels.
All statistics from 2024.
Monday, April 14, 6:05 CT ERA FIP IP K/9 BB/9 fWAR Monday, April 14, 6:05 CT ERA FIP IP K/9 BB/9 fWAR RHP Seth Lugo 3.00 3.25 206.2 7.9 2.1 4.7 RHP Carlos Carrasco 5.64 4.93 103.2 7.7 2.9 0.1 Tuesday, April 15, 6:05 CT ERA FIP IP K/9 BB/9 fWAR RHP Michael Wacha 3.35 3.65 166.2 7.8 2.4 3.3 LHP Max Fried 3.25 3.33 174.1 8.6 2.9 3.4 Wednesday, April 16, 6:05 CT ERA FIP IP K/9 BB/9 fWAR LHP Kris Bubic 2.67 1.95 30.1 11.6 1.5 0.9 RHP Clarke Schmidt 2.85 3.58 85.1 9.8 3.2 1.7
The Yankees lose Kahnle and Holmes, but added All-Star closer Devin Williams to close out games. He has had some early struggles, giving up five runs in four innings, and walking 5 of the 23 hitters he has faced. Former Royals pitcher Luke Weaver is off to a good start, having not allowed a run in 6 2⁄3 innings. Fernando Cruz also spent time with the Royals in the minors as an infielder, but has built a second career as one of the highest-strikeout relievers in baseball. Ryan Yarbrough and Tim Hill are lefties who also spend time with the Royals, both as soft-tossers. Yarbrough surprisingly has 13 strikeouts in 8 innings so far this year though.
All statistics from 2024.
Bullpen ERA FIP IP K/9 BB/9 fWAR Bullpen ERA FIP IP K/9 BB/9 fWAR RHP Devin Williams 1.25 2.06 21.2 15.8 4.6 0.8 RHP Luke Weaver 2.89 3.33 84.0 11.0 2.8 1.0 RHP Mark Leiter Jr. 4.50 3.29 58.0 13.3 3.4 1.1 RHP Ian Hamilton 3.82 3.03 37.2 9.8 3.4 0.7 RHP Fernando Cruz 4.86 3.27 66.2 14.7 4.7 1.2 LHP Tim Hill 2.05 3.62 44.0 3.7 1.8 0.3 RHP Yoendrys Gómez 3.97 5.81 11.1 7.9 5.6 -0.1 LHP Ryan Yarbrough 3.19 4.64 98.2 5.9 2.9 -0.1 RHP Allan Winans 15.26 8.78 7.2 4.7 4.7 -0.3
The Royals dropped 5 of 7 to the Yankees in the regular season last year, although they were just three outs from taking the series in Yankee Stadium last September until a rally led to a walk-off win for the Bronx Bombers. The Yankees scored just 3.5 runs-per-game in the ALDS last fall, so Royals pitchers are capable of keeping them in check.
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