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The Houston Astros are absolutely rolling. The Kansas City Royals are in the midst of a miserable month (two wins in June). This has all the makings of a bloodbath.
Game times and pitching matchups are as follows:
- Friday, June 22 — 7:10 PM CDT — Danny Duffy (L) versus Dallas Keuchel (L)
- Saturday, June 23 — 6:15 PM CDT — Ian Kennedy versus Lance McCullers Jr.
- Sunday, June 24 — 1:10 PM CDT — Jason Hammel versus Justin Verlander
All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs
Royals at Astros 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 |
| Game 1 | ||||||||||||
| Danny Duffy (L) | 15 | 82.2 | 69 | 18.6 | 40 | 10.8 | 5.55 | 5.58 | 5.34 | 5.07 | -0.3 | -0.2 |
| Dallas Keuchel (L) | 15 | 91.0 | 71 | 18.2 | 23 | 5.9 | 4.15 | 4.04 | 3.54 | 3.80 | 1.1 | 0.1 |
| Game 2 | ||||||||||||
| Ian Kennedy | 15 | 79.2 | 75 | 21.0 | 31 | 8.7 | 5.31 | 4.70 | 4.50 | 4.43 | 0.5 | -0.3 |
| Lance McCullers Jr. | 15 | 88.1 | 90 | 24.9 | 34 | 9.4 | 3.77 | 3.63 | 3.53 | 3.74 | 1.5 | 0.5 |
| Game 3 | ||||||||||||
| Jason Hammel | 15 | 90.1 | 59 | 14.8 | 25 | 6.3 | 4.88 | 4.01 | 4.83 | 4.82 | 1.1 | 0.0 |
| Justin Verlander | 16 | 107.0 | 130 | 32.0 | 21 | 5.2 | 1.60 | 2.48 | 3.51 | 2.95 | 3.8 | 3.7 |
Well, none of these matchups look good for the Royals. Such is this season. Dallas Keuchel is having a down year, but he still obviously possesses an advantage over the 2018 version of Danny Duffy. Lance McCullers Jr. has also been an underachiever on Astros dominant pitching staff, but his stuff is still filthy, and he’ll get to face the Royals’ “offense.” Justin Verlander is pitching better than he ever has in his life, which is a high bar.
Houston Astros position players
| Name | Pos | PA | HR | R | RBI | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ | fWAR | rWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Pos | PA | HR | R | RBI | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ | fWAR | rWAR |
| Jose Altuve | 2B | 333 | 7 | 49 | 39 | 11 | .347 | .401 | .495 | .386 | 151 | 3.4 | 3.7 |
| George Springer | CF | 333 | 15 | 56 | 42 | 5 | .279 | .355 | .486 | .363 | 135 | 2.4 | 2.8 |
| Carlos Correa | SS | 298 | 13 | 45 | 47 | 2 | .270 | .352 | .488 | .356 | 131 | 2.4 | 2.8 |
| Alex Bregman | 3B | 329 | 11 | 44 | 42 | 6 | .268 | .374 | .471 | .367 | 138 | 2.3 | 2.5 |
| Max Stassi | C | 139 | 7 | 20 | 21 | 0 | .264 | .338 | .504 | .361 | 134 | 1.3 | 1.3 |
| Marwin Gonzalez (S) | Util | 257 | 5 | 24 | 33 | 2 | .257 | .331 | .398 | .319 | 105 | 0.8 | 1.7 |
| Josh Reddick (L) | RF | 195 | 6 | 32 | 20 | 1 | .241 | .328 | .382 | .313 | 101 | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| Evan Gattis | DH/C | 234 | 14 | 30 | 47 | 1 | .255 | .312 | .505 | .345 | 123 | 0.8 | 1.2 |
| Brian McCann (L) | C | 156 | 5 | 17 | 17 | 0 | .217 | .301 | .348 | .289 | 84 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| Tony Kemp (L) | OF | 97 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 3 | .313 | .383 | .422 | .353 | 128 | 0.2 | 0.6 |
| Yulieski Gurriel | 1B | 253 | 2 | 30 | 31 | 2 | .300 | .324 | .396 | .312 | 100 | 0.1 | 1.0 |
| Tyler White | IF | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .286 | .375 | .429 | .352 | 128 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Jake Marisnick | OF | 136 | 5 | 17 | 15 | 2 | .176 | .200 | .321 | .224 | 39 | -0.1 | 0.5 |
Not a single position player below replacement level (per rWAR)? Their riches are embarrassing. Their 15.1 fWAR as a team are third-best amongst all baseball teams. They are slashing .267/.337/.440 with a .336 wOBA and 117 wRC+. The only Royal with a better wRC+ than the entire Astros team combined is Jorge Soler.
Poll
How will the Royals fare in Houston?
This poll is closed
-
24%
Poorly
(23 votes) -
25%
Disastrously
(24 votes) -
50%
More badder
(48 votes)