The Royals are entering the “easier” portion of their schedule as we slide into May, with the Angels in town this weekend, then a trip to Sacramento to take on the A’s. But when you have the worst record in baseball, there is no easy part of the schedule. Other teams see you on the schedule and begin licking their lips at a chance to take a series.
Los Angeles Angels (12-14) vs. Kansas City Royals (8-17) at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Angels: 4.85 runs scored/game (10th in MLB), 4.46 runs allowed/game (15th)
Royals: 3.52 runs scored/game (28th), 4.92 runs allowed/game (22nd)
The Angels got off to a good start before dropping four of five this week. The offense has been better than expected, and they have scored 10+ runs in a game three times in the last two weeks. Only two teams have hit more home runs, and only two teams have a higher walk rate.
Mike Trout has bounced back from a subpar season last year and has been one of the most valuable players in baseball early in the year, tied for the fifth-most home runs with eight. Shortstop Zach Neto is emerging as a legit star for the Angels, coming off a 26-homer, 26-steal season. Jo Adell had a remarkable defensive game earlier this year where he had three home run-saving catches. However, the Angels are a poor defensive team overall, according to Outs Above Average.
Former Royals slugger Jorge Soler has only faced his old team in seven games. Another old friend, Adam Frazier, is off to a good start for the Angels, after hitting .283/.320/.402 in 56 games with the Royals last year.
Noah Cameron will look to bounce back from giving up a career-high seven runs in his last start against the Yankees. Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi has a 4.72 ERA in 10 career starts against the Royals. Salvador Perez is 4-for-17 with six strikeouts against him in career matchups. Kikuchi fired six shutout innings with eight strikeouts in his last start against the Padres, although the Angels lost that game.
Walbert Ureña will make his second career MLB start on Saturday. The 22-year-old had a 4.34 ERA with 125 strikeouts in 141 innings in 28 starts last year across Double-A and Triple-A. He relies heavily on a sinker and changeup, generating a 62.5 percent groundball rate, but he can bring velocity too, with a 98 mph fastball.
Reid Detmers pitched out of the bullpen last year, but has rejoined the rotation this year. He struck out nine, while allowing one run in seven innings against the Yankees last week, but gave up four runs in six innings in his last start against the Blue Jays. Opponents are hitting .324 against his 94 mph fastball this year, but his slider has a 34 percent whiff rate. He’ll face Seth Lugo, who has the second-lowest ERA in baseball, behind only Angels starter Jose Soriano, who the Royals will miss this weekend.
Friday’s game will air on free, over-the-air TV on KCTV5 in Kansas City. The Sunday evening game will air exclusively on NBCSN or Peacock.
The Angels have a 4.74 ERA from their relievers, tenth-worst in baseball (the Royals are worst at 6.29). They signed Jordan Romano to be the closer as a reclamation project after he was disastrous in Philadelphia last year. He converted his first four save opportunities, but blew two leads against the Yankees last week, giving up five runs. Lefty Brent Suter didn’t have much of a platoon split last year, and lefties have hit him much better than righties this year. Former Jayhawks pitcher Ryan Zeferjahn appeared in 62 games last year with a team-high 11.5 strikeouts-per-nine-innings.
If the Royals want to dig out of their hole, they need to take this series. The Angels look like an improved club, but are still a beatable team with little pitching depth. Of course, the Angels are probably thinking the Royals are a pretty beatable team as well, and so far this year, they have been.
