One Royal Way (OOTP 23)

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Series Preview: Kansas City (11-12) @ Chi. Sox (8-15)

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PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
04/28: LHP Jesus Luzardo (1-3, 4.07) vs RHP Dylan Cease (1-2, 3.66)
04/29: LHP Angel Zerpa (1-3, 3.80) vs LHP Garrett Crochet (0-2, 8.44)
04/30: RHP Carlos Hernandez (1-3, 4.22) vs RHP Lucas Giolito (1-3, 6.20)

WHO'S HOT?
Eloy Jimenez, Chicago -- 13-for-38 (.342), 6 HR
Dylan Bundy, Kansas City -- 12 IP, 15 K (2 GS)
Brady Singer, Kansas City -- 23 IP, 3 ER, 21 K (4 GS)

WHO'S NOT?
Garrett Crochet, Chicago -- 7 2/3 IP, 11 ER, 8 K (3 GS)
Lance Lynn, Chicago -- 12 1/3 IP, 16 ER, 11 K (4 GS)
MJ Melendez, Kansas City -- 1-for-27 (.037)

KANSAS CITY INJURED LIST
1B Vinnie Pasquantino (hamstring) -- 10-day IL

CHICAGO INJURED LIST
RHP Michael Kopech (back) -- 60-day IL
RHP Roberto Osuna (shoulder) -- 60-day IL

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Kansas City @ Chi. Sox (04/28 -- 04/30)

Team Roster/Records | MLB Standings | Statistics

Series Recap: Chicago White Sox

By Brian Douglas | Kansas City Star | May 1st, 2023

Kansas City Royals at Chicago White Sox
Apr 28, 2023	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (12-12)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	3	5	1
Chicago White Sox (8-16)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	7	1
W: Dylan Coleman (1-0) L: Geronimo Franzua (1-2) S: Scott Barlow (4)

Friday, April 28th, 2023
Three solo homeruns by the Royals turned out to be enough to overtake the White Sox 3-2 to open a three-game series on the South Side of Chicago. Nick Pratto, Salvador Perez, and Drew Waters all went deep, with Waters' homerun being the team-high fourth of the season.

6 1/3 innings from Jesus Luzardo was good enough for the victory, but left in a 1-1 tie, only to be replaced by Dylan Coleman. Coleman got out of the seventh inning, but ran into trouble in the eighth, walking two and striking out one in that frame before Colin Poche notched a strikeout to end the inning.

White Sox threatened in the ninth by getting runners on first and third with one out against Scott Barlow. Whit Merrifield doubled to left against his old teammate, with the trailing runner Adam Engel getting thrown out at the plate, meaning the tying run was left at second base. Barlow struck out the next hitter, Andrew Vaughn, to end the contest.

Kansas City Royals at Chicago White Sox
Apr 29, 2023	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (12-13)	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	5	1
Chicago White Sox (9-16)	1	0	0	4	4	2	0	0	X	2	7	1
W: Evan Marshall (1-0) L: Angel Zerpa (1-4) S: None

Saturday, April 29th, 2023
Royals led 2-1 in the third inning, thanks to a homerun from Brent Rooker and an RBI double from Drew Waters. But Chicago exploded for four runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings, and two more in the sixth as they rolled over Kansas City in a 11-3 defeat.

Angel Zerpa allowed five earned runs in just three and one-third innings of work, striking out just two with one walk on six hits. They used four relievers in the contest, with Colin Poche having the most success with four strikeouts over two innings of work.

Chicago hit four homeruns in the game, collecting fourteen hits in all. They've struggled out of the gate, as they had won just eight of their first twenty-three games coming into this series.

Kansas City Royals at Chicago White Sox
Apr 30, 2023	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City Royals (13-13)	0	0	0	2	0	3	0	0	1	6	10	0
Chicago White Sox (9-17)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	3	6	2
W: Carlos Hernandez (2-3) L: Lucas Giolito (1-4) S: None

Sunday, April 30th, 2023
With their 6-2 win yesterday afternoon, the Royals secured their first non-losing month of April since 2016 as they went 13-13 against a fairly tough opening slate. Carlos Hernandez picked up his second win of the season by going six innings, allowing just one earned run with seven strikeouts.

Hernandez hummed along with a 2-0 lead until the sixth when Dairon Blanco gave him a lift with a three-run homerun that just skimmed over the left field wall. Chicago got on the board with a run against Hernandez in the sixth via a Reese McGuire homerun; and they also added homeruns in the eighth and ninth, but Kansas City had built too big of a lead for the White Sox to overcome.

Bryan De La Cruz hit his first Royals homerun in the third, going 2-for-4 in the contest. Adam Frazier collected three hits and an RBI, while Drew Waters extended his hitting streak to six games (eight game on-base streak). Waters also saved at least two runs with a diving catch and an outfield assist.

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Royals Mailbag (05/01)

2023 Mailbag, Vol. 1

By Brian Douglas | Kansas City Star | May 1st, 2023

The 2023 season is now well underway, and the Royals have gotten off to a solid start at 13-13; which is their best start since 2021 when they went 15-9 in April, only to stumble to a 74-88 record. Brady Singer has been the catalyst of a remarkable pitching turnaround, heading a staff that's one of the top six or seven units in the entire league.

However, the bats have struggled a bit -- Salvador Perez has just three homeruns, and MJ Melendez has seen his production drop off quite a bit. We'll also discuss the state of the division after one month of play amongst other topics.

Where does the credit for the pitching turnaround go?

First-year pitching coach Dane Johnson, who despite being sixty years old has not been in coaching that long (since 2015), is likely going to get much of the credit since the previous pitching coach had them as one of the five or six worst staffs in the league, at least statistically.

Brady Singer has been fantastic, and is starting to look like the pitcher the Royals envisioned when they took him 18th overall in 2018. Free-agent find Dylan Bundy has been steady, if not spectacular at times in the early going. Carlos Hernandez has upped his hot, heavy sinker usage precipitously to solid results thus far. The peripherals on Jesus Luzardo are slightly worse compared to his actual numbers, but he's been a net positive as a starter to date.

Specifically, Singer has cited Johnson in the past with helping him harness his stuff in brief minor league stints; and in the spring, his face lit up when asked about him, so something is clearly clicking between the two.

The bullpen has a few sore spots, with Scott Barlow having his moments (more on him later), but overall has been very good -- Dylan Coleman could be a a potential closer if the Royals end up parting with Barlow in a trade either at the deadline or this upcoming offseason. Josh Staumont has cooled down somewhat swing-and-miss-wise, but has just one earned run allowed in 13 2/3 innings of work, covering eleven appearances.

Time to be concerned about MJ Melendez?

I don't think it's time to sound the alarm just yet, but there are a few trends that are pretty concerning. One, his strikeout rate is higher than last season's, as he's whiffing in about 30.5% of his plate appearances, as opposed to just 27.8% in 2022. Secondly, when he is making contact, it's less impactful -- his exit velo is down to 88.4 MPH this year from 92.1 last season. He only has eight batted balls above 98 MPH, and six batted balls above 100 MPH so far, three of them doubles. His lone homerun was at 95.8 MPH.

On the plus side, his walk rate is up to 12% from 10.5% even though he's seeing slightly fewer pitches per PA than last season, so there's still room to get even better in that regard. Still, with Vinnie Pasquantino yet to return from the injured list, Melendez probably only has a few weeks to get things turned around, or it could be Sebastian Rivero time as the backup catcher.

What to make of the Central to this point?

Cleveland isn't going to play .720 ball the entire season (that's roughly 116 wins), and I can't imagine that the Pale Hose are going to stay around the .350 mark the entire year (56 wins), so I think there will be some correction to the mean on both ends. How much remains to be seen, of course, but there's too much talent on the White Sox to be this bad, and the Guardians have played a pretty light schedule so far, with the Yankees and Angels the only teams they've played with a winning record so far.

Once again, the Guardians can really spin it -- Shane Bieber is his usual self, Cody Morris might actually be their second-best starter; and with Emmanuel Clase back as the closer, the bullpen is pretty deep top-to-bottom. The offense is still a concern. Can Oscar Mercado keep up the run production, or does Tito go back to Franmil Reyes more? Steven Kwan, who swept all the major awards last year aside from MVP (Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, AL ROTY, 2022 All-Star), has even seen his production dip slightly to date, mainly due to a few more strikeouts and homeruns, and a few less walks.

The White Sox on the other hand, can't pitch. Lucas Giolito is coming off a month in which he posted an ERA north of 5. The Garrett Crochet-in-the-rotation experiment with Michael Kopech on the shelf is flailing, and Lance Lynn has been knocked around. The bullpen has seen a few of their trusted arms stumble early, with Kendall Graveman as one of the notables.

They can still hit, however, as they entered the current week with seven of their nine starters hitting .285 or better, and tied for fourth in the league with thirty-five homeruns.

Kansas City's .500-ish record is probably not going to be good enough for a wildcard even with the expanded playoff format, so they'll need two things to happen -- one, Cleveland comes back to earth, and two -- stay relatively injury-free. Fortunately for Kansas City, only one major contributor is down right now (Pasquantino). Detroit is being carried by Javy Baez and Spencer Torkelson currently, without much contribution from Austin Meadows, Akil Baddoo, or the pitching staff as a whole.

How long does Negron stick with Barlow as the closer?

Prior to his blown save back on April 14th against the Mariners, he had saved twenty-six straight, so I'm on the side of letting him work through his problems. But he's allowed eight earned runs in his last eight innings (with another additional blown save), and we're getting to the point where the conversation at least can be had. In a season where a few games could turn a season from a non-playoff year to a playoff year, having the right guy back there closing out games is paramount.

That said, his walks and strikeouts are tracking either right at or slightly better than his career numbers to date -- he's already given up three homeruns so far, giving up five all of last year. If he can clean up the homerun balls, Barlow should remain as the closer.

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Series Preview: Colorado (8-18) @ Kansas City (13-13)

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PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
05/01: RHP Antonio Senzatela (2-2, 3.90) vs RHP Brady Singer (1-1, 1.61)
05/02: RHP Ryan Weiss (0-4, 7.40) vs RHP Dylan Bundy (1-1, 3.42)
05/03: LHP Ryan Rolison (0-1, 3.25) vs LHP Jesus Luzardo (1-3, 3.52)

WHO'S HOT?
Dylan Bundy, Kansas City -- 12 IP, 15 K (2 GS)
Brady Singer, Kansas City -- 23 IP, 3 ER, 21 K (4 GS)

WHO'S NOT?
Elehuris Montero, Colorado -- 3-for-24 (.125), 2 BB, 8 K
Ryan Weiss, Colorado -- 12 IP, 9 ER, 11 K (2 GS)
Kyle Isbel, Kansas City -- 2-for-22 (.090), 2 BB, 7 K

COLORADO INJURED LIST
RHP Joan Adon (elbow) -- 60-day IL
C Elias Diaz (finger) -- 10-day IL
OF Randal Grichuk (wrist) -- 10-day IL

KANSAS CITY INJURED LIST
1B Vinnie Pasquantino (hamstring) -- 10-day IL

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Colorado @ Kansas City (05/01 -- 05/03)

Team Roster/Records | MLB Standings | Statistics

Series Recap: Colorado Rockies

By Brian Douglas | Kansas City Star | May 4th, 2023

Colorado Rockies at Kansas City Royals
May 1, 2023	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Colorado Rockies (8-19)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
Kansas City Royals (14-13)	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	X	4	10	0
W: Brady Singer (2-1) L: Antonio Senzatela (2-3) S: None

Monday, May 1st, 2023
Despite a half-dozen walks from Brady Singer, he managed to hold the Rockies' bats silent in five innings in a 4-0 shutout victory on Monday night. Four different pitchers combined for the shutout, capped off by a scoreless inning from Dylan Coleman in a non-save situation.

Singer scattered three hits and struck out four in his outing to pick up his second victory, although he was none too happy about how he pitched.

"Six walks, I mean, that's not going to get it done on the majority of days," he said. "If you had told me I was going to walk six guys against this lineup and win, I probably would have thought you were nuts."

MJ Melendez broke out of a lengthy slump with three hits, all singles, going 3-for-4 on the day. Nick Pratto hit his team-best fifth homerun of the season in the first inning to give the Royals an early 2-0 advantage, and the Royals got on the board again the fourth inning thanks to a sac fly and a groundball out.

"I was excited to see MJ finally get some things to break his way," said manager Kristopher Negron. "He's been the beneficiary of some pretty poor bounces, and I think that's gotten in his head a bit."

Colorado Rockies at Kansas City Royals
May 2, 2023	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Colorado Rockies (8-20)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
Kansas City Royals (15-13)	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	X	4	10	0
W: Dylan Bundy (2-1) L: Ashton Goudeau (0-1) S: Scott Barlow (5)

Tuesday, May 2nd, 2023
Kansas City struck for four runs in the fifth inning down 2-1 to the visiting Rockies, eventually hanging on to clinch the series victory with a 5-2 win over Colorado. Dylan Bundy moved to 2-1 on the season with two earned runs on five and two-third innings of work, falling just short of a quality start.

After a trio of singles yesterday, MJ Melendez doubled twice, scored a run, and drove in one of the Royals' five runs in the contest. Adam Frazier hit his third homerun of the season just following Melendez's second two-bagger of the game, as his homer put the Royals in front for good.

Hunter Dozier and Ernie Clement also had RBI, although Clement's RBI came without a hit as he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Both runs came in the Royals' four-run salvo in the fifth.

Former Royals farmhand Ashton Goudeau was the losing pitcher, allowing three earned runs and two walks on three hits in two-thirds of an inning, including the homerun to Frazier. Scott Barlow picked up the two-inning save, retiring all six hitters he faced with one strikeout.

Colorado Rockies at Kansas City Royals
May 3, 2023	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Colorado Rockies (8-21)	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	7	1
Kansas City Royals (16-13)	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	X	3	6	1
W: Michel Baez (2-0) L: Ryan Rolison (0-2) S: Dylan Coleman (3)

Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023
The Royals plated three consecutive runs on three consecutive at-bats in the sixth, turning what was a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead. They would go on to hang on by that final score, getting a save from Dylan Coleman as he locked down the ninth inning for his third save of the season.

Drew Waters stroked an RBI hit to kick off the scoring that inning before Brent Rooker reached on an error to plate the second run. Adam Frazier then knocked in the third run before the Rox finally stopped the bleeding. The hit by Waters extended his hitting streak to eight, while his on-base streak went to double digits with ten.

Bobby Witt Jr also contributed in a big way, going 2-for-4 with a double and a triple, and a nice diving catch at third base to rob Michael Toglia of a hit in the second inning.

They'll take a day off today before welcoming the Reds to town beginning on Friday. Cincinnati last came to Kauffman in 2020, splitting a two-game series in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.