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The Royals just played host to the Tigers for a four-game series at this point last week, and now they go to Detroit to play another three upon having completed a sweep of the White Sox at home. Riding a five-game winning streak that has effectively rid them of the acrid stench of the preceding 1-7 stretch of baseball the Royals played, the Royals are again hot, and they face a club that’s shipping off pieces to the highest bidder.
These are the game times and pitching matchups:
- Monday, July 24, 6:10 PM CDT - Jason Hammel versus Justin Verlander
- Tuesday, July 25, 6:10 PM CDT - Danny Duffy (L) versus Michael Fulmer
- Wednesday, July 26, 6:10 PM CDT - Ian Kennedy versus Anibal Sanchez
Royals at Tigers pitching matchups
Pitcher | G | IP | K | K% | BB | BB% | ERA | FIP | xFIP | SIERA | fWAR | rWAR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pitcher | G | IP | K | K% | BB | BB% | ERA | FIP | xFIP | SIERA | fWAR | rWAR |
Jason Hammel | 19 | 106.2 | 83 | 17.4 | 35 | 7.3 | 4.81 | 4.45 | 5.25 | 4.89 | 1.2 | 1.0 |
Justin Verlander | 20 | 117.0 | 111 | 21.5 | 55 | 10.6 | 4.54 | 4.27 | 4.87 | 4.79 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
Danny Duffy (L) | 15 | 94.2 | 75 | 19.3 | 27 | 6.9 | 3.71 | 3.51 | 4.56 | 4.55 | 2.1 | 2.4 |
Michael Fulmer | 19 | 126.1 | 89 | 17.4 | 28 | 5.5 | 3.35 | 3.35 | 4.17 | 4.36 | 3.2 | 2.7 |
Ian Kennedy | 18 | 97.2 | 86 | 21.3 | 39 | 9.7 | 4.61 | 5.18 | 5.04 | 4.70 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
Anibal Sanchez | 17 | 56.0 | 52 | 20.8 | 16 | 6.4 | 5.95 | 5.33 | 4.66 | 4.23 | 0.2 | -0.7 |
The Royals faced Justin Verlander and Michael Fulmer last week. Verlander pitched all right on Wednesday but left with the Royals up 2-1 after seven. Fulmer suffered through the worst start of his young career as the Royals (and the defense behind him) chased him after 2.2 brutal innings. Anibal Sanchez has been pretty bad this year, pitching both out of the pen and in the rotation. His strikeout and walk rates have been respectable, but his 62.3 LOB% and 17.6 HR/FB% have been his undoing. Yielding a 38.5 Hard% isn’t helping things either.
Detroit Tigers position players
Player | Pos | PA | HR | R | RBI | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ | fWAR | rWAR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Pos | PA | HR | R | RBI | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ | fWAR | rWAR |
Justin Upton | LF | 370 | 16 | 58 | 60 | 8 | .277 | .365 | .505 | .369 | 132 | 2.9 | 3.8 |
Alex Avila (L) | C/1B | 251 | 11 | 29 | 30 | 0 | .282 | .406 | .495 | .386 | 143 | 2.1 | 2.4 |
Ian Kinsler | 2B | 354 | 9 | 55 | 26 | 7 | .241 | .325 | .394 | .314 | 94 | 2.0 | 1.9 |
José Iglesias | SS | 307 | 2 | 38 | 28 | 6 | .259 | .289 | .348 | .276 | 68 | 1.0 | 1.9 |
Nicholas Castellanos | 3B | 400 | 14 | 49 | 54 | 2 | .251 | .315 | .459 | .328 | 103 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
James McCann | C | 188 | 9 | 19 | 26 | 0 | .213 | .294 | .421 | .305 | 88 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
Miguel Cabrera | 1B | 348 | 12 | 35 | 47 | 0 | .261 | .351 | .429 | .333 | 107 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
Mikie Mahtook | CF | 169 | 6 | 18 | 21 | 1 | .388 | .308 | .472 | .328 | 104 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
Alex Presley | RF | 93 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 329 | .380 | .435 | .355 | 122 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
Dixon Machado | IF | 81 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 0 | .316 | .338 | .395 | .316 | 95 | -0.2 | -0.2 |
Víctor Martínez (S) | DH | 324 | 8 | 32 | 41 | 0 | .262 | .333 | .386 | .311 | 92 | -0.5 | 0.0 |
Andrew Romine (S) | Util | 212 | 4 | 32 | 18 | 5 | .219 | .286 | .349 | .278 | 69 | -0.5 | -0.4 |
There’s not much to say about these guys that wasn’t said last Monday. Not much has changed.
Poll
How will the Royals fare in Detroit?
This poll is closed
-
13%
Royals sweep
-
69%
Royals take two of three
-
13%
Tigers take two of three
-
2%
Tigers sweep
All stats courtesy of FanGraphs and Baseball Reference through action on Saturday, July 22.
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