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The Kansas City Royals will look to get back to .500 against the bottom of the American League when they start a three-game series Monday night against the Houston Astros.
Yordano Ventura will start the game for Kansas City, so I hope everyone can plant themselves in front of a television set. The rookie righthander has been electric through nine starts this year, posting a 2.80 ERA with a 3.36 FIP. His 24.9% K% is elite for a starter, 7.1% BB% below league-average and sports a 52% groundball percentage as the icing on the cake. It's been fun to watch Ventura pitch this season, and he should be able to overpower an Astros lineup that is among the worst in baseball.
Scott Feldman takes the mound for the visiting team. Feldman owns a 3.02 ERA through seven starts this year, but his 12.4% K% is Guthrian. His 4.15 FIP is more in line with his career with numbers, and probably closer to the production the Astros can expect from him moving forward.
Omar Infante is back in the Royals lineup, batting second and playing 2B. David Lesky of Pine Tar Press brings us the Royals' batting order:
#Royals lineup vs. Feldman: Aoki RF Infante 2B Hosmer 1B Butler DH Gordon LF Perez C Cain CF Escobar SS Ciriaco 3B Ventura P #LetsThrowFire
— David Lesky (@DBLesky) May 26, 2014
George Springer now has 150 MLB plate appearances under his belt, sporting a .246/.327/.448 triple slash. His .201 .ISO has to encouraging for Astros' fans, but his 32.7% K% is way too high. The Astros official Twitter account announced their lineup:
#Astros lineup for tonight's series opener at KC. RHP Scott Feldman gets the start for Houston. pic.twitter.com/RTUTo736gq
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 26, 2014
A win tonight would put the Royals at 25-25 through 50 games this season. 81-81, here we come.