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Is it possible for a series to be less interesting than a Royals/White Sox series? Time will tell as the Kansas City Royals venture into Comerica Park to face the Detroit Tigers. These teams have played each other a bunch, yet it seems like maybe they haven’t played each other at all because there’s not one memorable thing that happened in any of the previous series between these down-on-their-luck clubs this year.
Game times and pitching matchups are as follows:
- Thursday, September 20 — 6:10 PM CDT — Jorge Lòpez versus Matthew Boyd (L)
- Friday, September 21 — 6:10 PM CDT — Ian Kennedy versus Francisco Liriano (L)
- Saturday, September 22 — 5:10 PM CDT — Jakob Junis versus Jordan Zimmermann
- Sunday, September 23 — 12:10 PM CDT — Brad Keller versus Daniel Norris (L)
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 |
Game 1 | ||||||||||||
Jorge López | 16 | 52.2 | 38 | 17.0 | 22 | 9.9 | 3.93 | 3.76 | 4.56 | 4.75 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
Matthew Boyd (L) | 29 | 165.1 | 155 | 22.9 | 49 | 7.2 | 4.08 | 4.09 | 4.66 | 4.24 | 2.6 | 2.8 |
Game 2 | ||||||||||||
Ian Kennedy | 20 | 106.2 | 97 | 20.8 | 39 | 8.4 | 4.73 | 4.65 | 4.66 | 4.55 | 0.8 | 0.5 |
Francisco Liriano (L) | 25 | 125.0 | 101 | 18.5 | 69 | 12.6 | 4.54 | 5.29 | 4.78 | 5.09 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
Game 3 | ||||||||||||
Jakob Junis | 28 | 165.0 | 153 | 21.7 | 41 | 5.8 | 4.42 | 4.83 | 4.17 | 3.98 | 0.8 | 1.2 |
Jordan Zimmermann | 23 | 120.1 | 102 | 20.0 | 22 | 4.3 | 4.41 | 4.75 | 4.29 | 4.14 | 0.9 | 0.6 |
Game 4 | ||||||||||||
Brad Keller | 40 | 133.1 | 94 | 16.9 | 47 | 8.4 | 3.17 | 3.52 | 4.17 | 4.42 | 2.4 | 3.3 |
Daniel Norris (L) | 9 | 34.2 | 40 | 25.6 | 15 | 9.6 | 5.71 | 4.56 | 4.27 | 3.98 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
These pitchers are all so well known to Royals fans that it makes you want to retch. The only semi-interesting thing going on this series will be how much Ned Yost decides to let Ryan O’Hearn and the other young hitters who struggle against lefties play against the three southpaws the Royals will be facing.
Detroit Tigers 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 |
Nicholas Castellanos | RF/DH | 635 | 21 | 80 | 82 | 2 | .297 | .354 | .491 | .360 | 129 | 3.0 | 2.4 |
Jeimer Candelario (S) | 3B | 582 | 19 | 74 | 53 | 2 | .228 | .316 | .407 | .314 | 98 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
Niko Goodrum (S) | Util | 458 | 16 | 52 | 45 | 12 | .236 | .310 | .431 | .319 | 101 | 1.1 | 1.5 |
JaCoby Jones | CF | 429 | 11 | 47 | 34 | 11 | .210 | .264 | .379 | .278 | 73 | 1.1 | 2.2 |
Jarrod Saltalamacchia (S) | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .333 | .000 | .230 | 40 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Grayson Greiner | C | 99 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 0 | .224 | .313 | .294 | .275 | 70 | 0.0 | -0.1 |
Christin Stewart (L) | LF/DH | 41 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | .229 | .341 | .257 | .282 | 75 | 0.0 | -0.4 |
Mikie Mahtook | LF/CF | 224 | 8 | 22 | 27 | 4 | .216 | .290 | .377 | .289 | 80 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
Jim Adduci (L) | 1B | 169 | 3 | 18 | 20 | 1 | .273 | .293 | .404 | .299 | 87 | -0.1 | 0.1 |
James McCann | C | 432 | 8 | 31 | 35 | 0 | .216 | .264 | .313 | .254 | 56 | -0.2 | -0.6 |
Pete Kozma | SS | 51 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | .163 | .180 | .265 | .192 | 14 | -0.2 | -0.1 |
Dawel Lugo | 2B | 72 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | .206 | .250 | .265 | .230 | 40 | -0.3 | 0.3 |
Victor Reyes (S) | OF | 209 | 1 | 33 | 11 | 9 | .232 | .250 | .300 | .240 | 46 | -0.8 | -0.5 |
Ronny Rodriguez | SS | 184 | 4 | 16 | 19 | 2 | .206 | .247 | .312 | .244 | 50 | -0.8 | -1.2 |
Victor Martinez (S) | DH | 498 | 9 | 31 | 53 | 0 | .247 | .295 | .348 | .278 | 73 | -1.7 | -1.2 |
After losing José Iglesias, Miguel Cabrera, and John Hicks for the season, the Tigers have two above-average hitters and four above-replacement-level (per fWAR) position players. To say things don’t look good for this squad would be accurate. Having accumulated 8.4 fWAR as the final week of the season approaches, they have been the third-worst collection of hitters and fielders in baseball. Their 84 wRC+ puts them in a five-way tie for the worst mark in baseball. Their .295 wOBA is fourth-worst in the game.
Poll
Who will win this series?
This poll is closed
-
37%
Royals
-
11%
Tigers
-
35%
No one
-
15%
Screw this, I’m watching Mandy on a loop