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The Royals antepenultimate series (one game in the Bronx doth not a series make) will pit them against the divisional cellar-dwelling Chicago White Sox. The Royals—in the throes of a swoon since Dayton Moore pushed his meager pot into the middle of the table at the trade deadline—have little time and less hope of seizing a playoff spot. In short, this series isn’t likely to mean a whole lot in the greater scheme of things.
The game times and pitching matchups are as follows:
- Friday, September 22, 7:10 PM CDT - Jason Hammel versus Reynaldo López
- Saturday, September 23, 6:10 PM CDT - Danny Duffy (L) versus Dylan Covey
- Sunday, September 24, 1:10 PM CDT - Sam Gaviglio versus Lucas Giolito
Royals at White Sox 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 | 30 | 171.0 | 135 | 17.8 | 46 | 6.1 | 5.05 | 4.35 | 5.01 | 4.72 | 2.1 | 1.6 |
| Reynaldo López | 6 | 35.1 | 23 | 15.0 | 12 | 7.8 | 4.84 | 4.71 | 5.91 | 5.57 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Danny Duffy (L) | 22 | 136.0 | 124 | 22.1 | 36 | 6.4 | 3.71 | 3.46 | 4.33 | 4.21 | 3.1 | 3.2 |
| Dylan Covey | 16 | 58.1 | 33 | 12.6 | 31 | 11,8 | 8.18 | 7.68 | 5.79 | 5.86 | -1.2 | -1.3 |
| Sam Gaviglio | 15 | 73.1 | 49 | 16.0 | 24 | 7.8 | 4.30 | 5.76 | 4.75 | 4.89 | -0.2 | 0.7 |
| Lucas Giolito | 6 | 38.1 | 29 | 19.0 | 12 | 7.8 | 2.58 | 5.19 | 4.59 | 4.63 | 0.2 | 1.2 |
It’s easy to like the first two matchups for the Royals, as both Jason Hammel and Danny Duffy have to be favored against Reynaldo López—whose potential remains just that—and Dylan Covey. López possesses a filthy repertoire but the results in his stints in the majors thus far have not been nearly as impressive as his stuff. Covey has been abysmal by virtually every measure. Lucas Giolito has enjoyed a nice run thus far, but much of his sterling ERA correlates directly to his .186 BABIP that is obviously not sustainable.
Chicago White Sox 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 |
| José Abreu | 1B | 640 | 31 | 91 | 98 | 3 | .304 | .356 | .549 | ,377 | 138 | 3.8 | 4.3 |
| Avisaíl García | RF | 520 | 17 | 67 | 77 | 5 | .333 | .381 | .503 | .375 | 136 | 3.6 | 4.1 |
| Yolmer Sánchez (S) | 3B | 497 | 11 | 60 | 54 | 8 | .263 | .318 | .413 | .312 | 93 | 1.9 | 3.1 |
| Omar Narváez (L) | C | 284 | 2 | 21 | 14 | 0 | .270 | .367 | .332 | .315 | 95 | 1.4 | 1.0 |
| Yoan Moncada (S) | 2B | 189 | 7 | 26 | 20 | 3 | .241 | .349 | .432 | .340 | 112 | 0.8 | 1.5 |
| Nick Delmonico (L) | LF | 136 | 8 | 22 | 18 | 2 | .263 | .382 | .491 | .376 | 137 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| Tim Anderson | SS | 565 | 16 | 66 | 53 | 14 | .263 | .281 | .412 | .294 | 81 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
| Willy Garcia | OF | 108 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 0 | .250 | .308 | .427 | .311 | 93 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Rob Brantly (L) | C | 25 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .238 | .360 | .286 | .302 | 86 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Kevan Smith | C | 269 | 3 | 22 | 25 | 0 | .278 | .305 | .377 | .293 | 81 | 0.0 | -0.1 |
| Rymer Liriano | LF | 27 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | ,200 | .259 | .360 | .268 | 63 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Alen Hanson (S) | OF | 168 | 4 | 28 | 10 | 9 | .242 | .287 | .392 | .290 | 78 | -0.3 | 0.1 |
| Adam Engel | CF | 299 | 6 | 32 | 20 | 7 | .181 | .248 | .311 | .246 | 48 | -0.5 | -0.5 |
| Matt Davidson | DH/3B | 416 | 25 | 41 | 64 | 0 | .219 | .262 | .454 | .299 | 85 | -0.8 | -0.7 |
| Tyler Saladino | IF | 264 | 0 | 22 | 10 | 5 | .185 | .260 | .239 | .228 | 36 | -1.0 | -0.7 |
José Abreu, Avisaíl García, and Yolmer Sanchez have all been great. The rest of the squad? Somewhere between “eh, they’re non-awful” to “ugh, get these guys away from me.”
Poll
How will the Royals fare in Chicago?
This poll is closed
-
50%
Royals sweep
(44 votes) -
27%
Royals take two of three
(24 votes) -
17%
White Sox take two of three
(15 votes) -
5%
White Sox sweep
(5 votes)
All stats courtesy of FanGraphs and Baseball Reference through action on Wednesday, September 20.
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