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Royals V. Braves: Game XXXVI Thread

Air on a Gee string.

By J.K. Ward
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

This is a monumental occasion of sorts. Well, for Dillon Gee anyway. He will be making his first start for the Kansas City Royals. It is also his first start since June 14th of last year, when he gave up eight runs in 3.1 innings to...the Atlanta Braves.

For the Royals part, the offense is doing better. There are still some sluggish guys–or, more astutely, guys playing to their true talent level–who will continue to weigh down the offense. But the important guys, namely Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain, and Eric Hosmer, have all started to hit their stride as May arrived. Though I suppose in Hosmer's case it was really just a continuation of April's performance.

And now is the space where I write about Cheslor Cuthbert. If you don't know about the Chess Lord, you need to find out. Because he is going to make it very, very difficult on the Royals to send him back to AAA. I am not suggesting Cuthbert will play over Moustakas when he gets back from the disabled list. I am saying that Cuthbert may finally force the front office to make a decision on whether or not they continue to give playing time to Omar Infante. He's 23. He's groomed and ready. He has always needed half a season or so to adjust to a new level, but his early returns this year have been very encouraging. The big knock on him has always been whether he can stick at third or play second. Well...

Anyone who has followed QBert, or remembers him from his sporadic appearances last year, may notice that he has added some tone this year while trimming down. It probably helps him to make plays like that. And to do things like this:

I'm not saying he'll be great. But he has always struck me as a guy who will stick in the major leagues as an everyday player. It was just a matter of when. Maybe that time is now.

The Braves will counter with Mike Foltynewicz, who is 0-1 in two starts for the Braves this season. While his ERA is 5.06 and his FIP is even worse at 6.26, he has a good strikeout rate (10.13) and walk rate (1.69) albeit in limited time.

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