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Even with the Royals playing serviceably against the Twins and Tigers coming out of the All-Star break, it’s hard to fathom this series coming out any way other than badly for the Royals. Four games in hell commence shortly.
Game times and pitching matchups are as follows:
- Thursday, July 26 — 6:05 PM CDT — Jakob Junis versus Sonny Gray
- Friday, July 27 — 6:05 PM CDT — Brad Keller versus CC Sabathia (L)
- Saturday, July 28 — 12:05 PM CDT — Heath Fillmyer versus Luis Severino
- Sunday, July 29 — 12:05 PM CDT — Burch Smith versus Masahiro Tanaka
All stats courtesy of FanGraphs and Baseball Reference
Royals at Yankees 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 | ||||||||||||
Jakob Junis | 18 | 105.2 | 98 | 21.4 | 30 | 6.6 | 5.03 | 5.36 | 4.48 | 4.12 | -0.1 | 0.5 |
Sonny Gray | 19 | 96.0 | 91 | 21.2 | 42 | 9.8 | 5.34 | 4.42 | 4.26 | 4.37 | 1.1 | -0.2 |
Game 2 | ||||||||||||
Brad Keller | 30 | 70.1 | 44 | 15.1 | 29 | 9.9 | 3.20 | 3.55 | 4.35 | 4.62 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
CC Sabathia (L) | 18 | 100.0 | 77 | 17.9 | 29 | 6.7 | 3.51 | 4.55 | 4.52 | 4.45 | 1.1 | 1.2 |
Game 3 | ||||||||||||
Heath Fillmyer | 6 | 22.1 | 13 | 14.4 | 10 | 11.1 | 2.82 | 4.50 | 4.51 | 4.74 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
Luis Severino | 21 | 133.1 | 152 | 28.8 | 32 | 6.1 | 2.63 | 2.83 | 3.09 | 3.18 | 4.0 | 4.4 |
Game 3 | ||||||||||||
Burch Smith | 27 | 50.0 | 51 | 23.6 | 24 | 11.1 | 5.58 | 5.02 | 4.57 | 4.13 | -0.1 | -0.2 |
Masahiro Tanaka | 16 | 92.1 | 92 | 24.9 | 23 | 6.2 | 4.09 | 4.58 | 3.56 | 3.58 | 0.9 | 1.1 |
So at least one of these pitching matchups doesn’t look like a complete advantage for the Yankees before taking the opposing lineups into consideration. Keller against Sabathia is fairly even on paper. That’s pretty much it. Junis and Gray looks fairly even until you consider that Junis gets to pitch in Yankee Stadium and leads the majors in dongs allowed while accruing 60% of his innings pitched at Kauffman Stadium. This start has Guthrie-level disaster written all over it. The Royals may as well forfeit before Saturday’s game even starts.
New York Yankees 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 |
Aaron Judge | RF | 441 | 26 | 69 | 61 | 6 | .283 | .397 | .550 | .402 | 158 | 5.0 | 5.5 |
Giancarlo Stanton | DH | 434 | 23 | 61 | 59 | 3 | .282 | .350 | .516 | .366 | 133 | 3.1 | 2.8 |
Didi Gregorius (L) | SS | 407 | 17 | 59 | 56 | 10 | .262 | .323 | .471 | .336 | 112 | 2.9 | 2.6 |
Aaron Hicks (S) | CF | 333 | 16 | 47 | 44 | 8 | .242 | .344 | .473 | .351 | 122 | 2.8 | 2.8 |
Brett Gardner (L) | LF | 383 | 9 | 59 | 33 | 9 | .252 | .342 | .395 | .324 | 104 | 2.4 | 2.9 |
Gleyber Torres | 2B | 241 | 15 | 30 | 42 | 2 | .294 | .350 | .555 | .381 | 143 | 1.6 | 2.2 |
Miguel Andújar | 3B | 356 | 12 | 47 | 41 | 1 | .292 | .326 | .500 | .351 | 122 | 1.4 | 1.2 |
Austin Romine | C | 144 | 6 | 18 | 28 | 0 | .264 | .322 | .473 | .339 | 114 | 0.9 | 1.4 |
Greg Bird (L) | 1B | 181 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 0 | .231 | .326 | .462 | .337 | 113 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
Kyle Higashioka | C | 33 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | .167 | .242 | .500 | .313 | 96 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
Tyler Wade (L) | Util | 57 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | .185 | .228 | .315 | .237 | 44 | -0.2 | 0.1 |
Brandon Drury | Util | 57 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 0 | .176 | .263 | .275 | .245 | 50 | -0.4 | -0.4 |
Neil Walker (S) | 1B/2B | 228 | 3 | 28 | 22 | 0 | .203 | .289 | .292 | .260 | 60 | -0.6 | -0.8 |
The Yankees are hitting .254/.331/.460 with a .339 wOBA and a 115 wRC+. That wRC+ (which adjusts for park factors) is the best in baseball. Is there any way this won’t be a total disaster?
Poll
How will the Royals fare at Yankee Stadium?
This poll is closed
-
31%
Yankees sweep
-
16%
Yankees sweep
-
37%
Yankees take three of four
-
15%
Split
There can be only one (and that one ain’t the Royals).