Royals Travel to Minnesota for Back Half of Six-Game Road Trip
After dropping two out of three against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Kansas City Royals close out their six-game road trip with a three-game stop in Minneapolis to take on their American League Central rival, the Minnesota Twins.
The Royals are 23-25 on the year while the Twins are 20-29 coming off of an off day. So far this season, Kansas City is 1-2 against Minnesota.
Pitching Probables
Friday
Minnesota: RHP Randy Dobnak (1-3, 5.75 ERA)
Kansas City: LHP Kris Bubic (0-0, 1.52 ERA)
Saturday
Minnesota: LHP J.A. Happ (2-2, 5.44 ERA)
Kansas City: TBA
Sunday
Minnesota: RHP Matt Shoemaker (2-5, 5.48 ERA)
Kansas City: RHP Brad Keller (4-4, 5.72 ERA)
Recent Performance
While Minnesota started off the season slowly, going 9-16 in their first 25 games, the Twins are riding a three-game winning streak heading into the series against the Royals. Kansas City will take on Minnesota on the back half of their six-game homestand. In their last 10 games, the Twins are 7-3 with a run differential of +17. The Twins have a run differential of -15 on the season. Minnesota is better at home than they are on the road this year, but that's not saying much. The Twins still own a losing record at Target Field, going 11-15 in 26 games at their home park.
What to Watch For
It's going to be interesting to see who takes the mound for the Royals on Saturday as Kansas City hasn't named a starting pitcher for the middle game of the series. With Jakob Junis and Ervin Santana pitching in relief against the Rays on Thursday, it could complicate who the Royals turn to. Kansas City is dealing with a vacancy in the rotation due to the absence of Danny Duffy. The 32-year old is dealing with a flexor strain in his throwing arm and is still resting.
Royals leadoff hitter Whit Merrifield has been in quite the slump lately. Merrifield is 6-for-32 in the last nine games with four walks and an RBI. He's not the only Royal struggling at the dish though, designated hitter and right fielder Jorge Soler has been ice cold. Soler currently doesn't have a hit in his last 21 at-bats. To make matters worse, Kansas City's usual designated hitter only has one hit in his last 31 at-bats. Hopefully facing three starting pitchers with an average ERA of 5.55 will help these two break out of their slumps.
On the other hand, left fielder Andrew Benintendi has been a nice offensive acquisition for the Royals this year. Since his season batting average dropped to .194 on April 24, Benintendi hasn't fallen below .200 since, raising his average 90 points. The 26-year-old leads the team in batting average this season, is second in BABIP and his 0.7 oWAR is the fourth-highest on the team. While the Red Sox sent down Franchy Cordero to Triple-A Worchester on Thursday and Khalil Lee is batting .059/.059/.118 for the New York Mets, it's safe to say Kansas City is liking their end of the trade for Benintendi.
How To Follow
Friday
First Pitch: 7:10 p.m. CST
TV: Bally Sports Kansas City
Radio: 610 Sports Radio
Saturday
First Pitch: 1:10 p.m. CST
TV: Bally Sports Kansas City
Radio: 610 Sports Radio
Sunday
First Pitch: 1:10 p.m. CST
TV: Bally Sports Kansas City
Radio: 610 Sports Radio
Read More: Softer Pitchers Have Been Harder For the Royals So Far This Season
Tucker D. Franklin is an alumnus of Northwest Missouri State University, majoring in sports media and graduating in 2019. Tucker was previously the sports editor for The Maryville Forum and is now the editor-in-chief of Inside the Royals as well as the deputy editor for Arrowhead Report on SI.com and the host of the Roughing the Kicker Chiefs podcast. Follow Tucker on Twitter @tuckerdfranklin.