Kansas City Royals Head to Colorado for a Series against the Rockies: Stats and Trends to Keep an Eye on
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The Royals keep finding tragic ways to lose baseball games this year, and a ninth-inning to forget for Lucas Erceg and Matt Strahm against the Twins where they gave up a walk-off grand slam adds to that list. Have to have a short memory in baseball as the Royals head to Colorado for a three-game set against the Rockies. Here are some stats and trends to keep an eye on in the three-game set, plus probable starters.
Probable Starters
Game One: Michael Wacha (5-7, 3.61 ERA) vs. Tomoyuki Sugano (10-4, 4.69 ERA)
Game Two: Luinder Avila (5-3, 4.95 ERA) vs. Ryan Feltner (3-5, 5.73 ERA)
Game Three: Seth Lugo (4-6, 4.22 ERA) vs. Kyle Freeland (2-10 7.34 ERA)
Which Weakness Shows Up More, Rockies Starting Pitching or Royals Bullpen?
This series might solely come down to which team's weakness shows up more often, and both teams have some bad weaknesses. The Rockies sport one of the worst starting rotations in baseball, whether it is due to the Coors Field effect or not, with Tomoyuki Sugano leading the rotation with an ERA of 4.69. They rank as the worst starting rotation by ERA with a 6.02, and they don't do anything particularly well as a staff.
On the other hand, the Royals have a pitiful bullpen that ranks very low in the league. As a team, they are posting a 5.31 ERA, which is second-to-last in the league, ahead of the Athletics, and they have the worst FIP in the league with a 5.25. To put the cherry on top, they have blown 21 saves, which is the fourth most in the league.
To say this series probably won't see a ton of good pitching is pretty obvious.
Lane Thomas Loves Hitting the Rockies
With the pitching not being the best, the batters will take front and center and Lane Thomas is sure to make some noise given his track record against the Rockies. Against them, Thomas has slashed .305/.380/.524 for an OPS of .904 in 94 plate appearances. Making that split better, he deals damage at Coors Field, slashing .383/.431/.575 for an OPS of 1.006.
The only thing not working in his favor this series is that he doesn't have a ton of reps against the current Rockies pitchers. He has seen Kyle Freeland the most, with 16 plate appearances, and has struggled against him, going 2-for-14. Against other pitchers he could see, he is hitless against Sugano and has a hit against Jimmy Herget and Ryan Feltner.
With the trade deadline coming up, this is an important series for Thomas to bulk up the trade value.
Who Hits the Longest Home Run this Series?
With the series being at Coors Field and both teams having supreme power talents, fans could be in for a long shot or two, but who hits those moon shots? There are two obvious frontrunners, one for each team, with Jac Caglianone and Hunter Goodman. Caglianone might not have the volume of Goodman, but he has hit some long drives this season and with the Coors effect there is a good chance Statcast might break if he gets into one.
Goodman is tied for third in the Majors with 31 bombs and sports the same natural power "Cags" has. He sports a quick bat speed at 75.4 mph and barrels the ball 17.0% of the time. The only issue for both sluggers is that Cags has no track record against the Rockies or at Coors, while Goodman is worse at home compared to on the road (although he still sports a .506 at home).
For fans of moonshots, this is a series to keep an eye with bad pitching and premier power, expect some 450+ foot bombs in 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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