The Kansas City Royals will be well rested after an off-day as they travel to West Sacramento to face off against the Athletics. Coming off a spectacular series sweep of the Los Angeles Angels, which saw the offense break out in a big way. As the team prepares to face the Athletics, here are a couple of key numbers to keep track of during this series along with the probable pitching matchups
Probable Starters
G1: Kris Bubic (2-1, 4.08 ERA) vs. Aaron Civale (2-1, 3.86 ERA)
G2: Michael Wacha (2-1, 2.51 ERA) vs. Luis Severino (1-2, 5.17 ERA)
G3: Noah Cameron (2-1, 5.13 ERA) vs. Jeffrey Springs (3-2, 3.79 ERA)
Salvador Perez against the Athletics Starting Pitching
If there was a matchup to get “Salvy” going again, it is against the Athletics starters in games one and two. Against the Athletics as a whole, Salvy has been average with a slash line of .259/.306/.431 with an OPS of .737 in 258 plate appearances against the storied franchise.
Shrinking that sample size, against Severino and Civale, Salvy has an OPS of 1.173 in 44 plate appearances. Sutter Field is also known as a hitter-friendly ballpark, and Perez could break out of his early-season slump. A strong start for the Royals in game one could be on the back of Salvador Perez facing Civale, and it could be the spark for him to break out.
Kris Bubic’s Fastball Concerns
The first game of this series could be a shootout as some Royals see Civale well, and Bubic’s fastball hasn’t been ideal to start the season. So far, Bubic has a run value of negative-5 on his 4-seam fastball. Opposing batters are hitting for both average (.302) and power (.581 SLG) against his fastball, and going to a ballpark where home runs are common, that is concerning.
Another concern with his fastball this season is that he is down half a tick on it, going from 92.1 mph to 91.5 mph. Walks have become a slight issue as well as he is walking 11.5% of batters this year. If Bubic is to have a solid start in game one, he needs to be able to miss bats and not get into walk trouble otherwise it could be a game where the offense needs to show out.
Brent Rooker Mashes the Royals Starters
An old friend will welcome the Royals to his new home and look to continue his mashing ways against a couple of Royals starters. Overall, Rooker has slightly above average numbers against the Royals as a whole with a slash line of .259/.351/.432 for an OPS of .783. He might continue his struggles against Bubic as he is 0-for-5 against him, but it is a different story against Wacha and Cameron.
In limited plate appearances, Rooker is 2-for-6 against Wacha with a double and three walks to two strikeouts. Against Cameron, he is 2-for-3 with a double and two walks. Similar to Salvy, the slugger has struggled this season, but against pitchers he has hit before could be the spark he is looking for in this series.
Athletics Bullpen is a Strength
In a matchup where starters on both sides have an unfavorable matchup in individual head-to-heads, the bullpens might be in action a lot in this series. The issue for the Royals, however, is that the Athletics arm barn has been solid so far this season. They have six arms with an ERA+ over 100 and three arms with FIPs below 2.60.
The backend of the pen is where the strength lies as Joel Kuhnel leads with four saves, 2.16 ERA, and 226 ERA+. A mix of Hogan Harris, Justin Sterner, Jack Perkins, and Luis Medina all have ERAs below 3.20 and have provided solid relief for the Athletics.
With the Royals coming off a series sweep of the Angels and a day off yesterday, they should come out strong to start a six-game West Coast road trip.
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