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The good news is that the Royals did not lose last night. Of course, they didn't play, either. Maybe the rain out will spark the offense and bullpen into performing well at the same time, but a day game Wednesday with a day off Thursday did not seem to help.
Because of the rain out last night Saturday's matchup becomes Sunday's. Pitching for the Twins will be perennially struggling right hander, Phil Hughes. Hughes is in his fourth season with the Twins; would it surprise you to know that in 2014 he was worth 5.9 fWAR? It did me. So far this season he is 3-1 with a 4.71 ERA, and he's been worth 0.2 fWAR - the same amount he was worth for the entirety of last season. He's had a pair of terrible starts sandwiched between two decent starts so far this year; maybe the Royals will be able to make it one of those double-decker sandwiches and start him with another set of bad starts, today. Lots of Royals hitters have faced him plenty of times since he's been with the Twins for so long but none of them have done exceptionally well against him. Alcides Escobar, Brandon Moss, and Mike Moustakas do all have home runs off of him in their careers.
Going for the Royals will be Jason Hammel who is still struggling to prove that the Royals are better off with him on their team rather than facing him. Since he just recently joined the AL Central for the first time none of the Twins have faced him much; Robbie Grossman and Brian Dozier do both have home runs off of him, though. Jason still has not yet recorded a win for the boys in blue and last pitched exactly a week ago when he was removed in the fourth inning without recording an out. He did put a lot of men on base with walks and hit batters, though. Coming into the season the Royals were counting on him to be their number 3 starter. Fortunately Jason Vargas has really stepped things up and Nate Karns has looked good, barring his first and last appearances, so Hammel only needs to be as good as a number five starter. That's still going to take fewer free passes, however - 2 hit batters plus 10 walks in only 18.1 innings is not going to get it done.
Lineups
Jason Hammel will get the start in today's matinee vs. the Twins at Kauffman Stadium. #RaisedRoyal pic.twitter.com/bl2Pte1PuG
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 30, 2017
#MNTwins are back in action this afternoon against the Royals. https://t.co/jc2Gzt3z6F pic.twitter.com/OWrtVHgDEY
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 30, 2017
During Spring training a lot of people talked about how Jason Hammel looked like Luke Hochevar, and he does. But now he's kind of pitching like Hoch did, too. Just bad enough to make you want to give up. Hopefully he can help the Royals earn a split today and start changing that narrative.