Royals V. White Sox: Game CIX Thread

Jeremy Guthrie attempts to climb the Super Aggro Crag of our hearts and reclaim his former mantle of mediocrity.

It's not that Guthrie has been bad this season that is really all that frustrating. You should expect such things from mediocre pitchers on the twilight side of 35. The really frustrating part is how seemingly indifferent the front office has been to how bad Guthrie is now. Sporting a 5.65 ERA and FIP of 5.06, everything about his profile is down. Strikeout rate is a career low. Walk rate is the highest it has been since 2011. He's only recording 34.3% ground balls which, even for a flyball pitcher, is unhealthily low.

But, he'll probably record six innings of two-run ball, because baseball is fickle and mean and not all that pleasant.

Opposing him is the respiring grease trap Jeff Samardzija, whose peripherals this season have taken a tumble from the good-not-great peak of the past three seasons. His 4.35 ERA is only a tick higher than 2013, but his strikeouts have plummeted (6.71 K/9 from 8.28 last season). He's avoided total disaster by continue to suppress walks (1.71 BB/9). This basically makes him the ideal pitcher for the Royals to hit off of.

LINEUPS

#Royals vs RHP Samardzija: Escobar SS Moose 3B Cain CF Hosmer 1B Morales DH Perez C Rios RF Infante 2B Dyson CF Guthrie P

— Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) August 8, 2015

Today's starting lineups: pic.twitter.com/AsKEgJQOYp

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 8, 2015