MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:
THE TWINS: Began their 63rd season with consecutive 2-0 victories at Kauffman Stadium… today they will play the three-game series finale against the Royals…after the game, they will travel to Miami to begin a three-game series against the Marlins from Monday-Wednesday…
following this trip, Minnesota will open its 14th season at Target Field with three against the Houston Astros (April 6-9) and three against the Chicago White Sox (April 10-12).
Twins are one of four teams in baseball yet to lose, joining Atlanta (2-0), Tampa Bay (2-0) and Texas (2-0).
OPENING DAY ON REPEAT: The Twins beat the Royals yesterday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium by a score of 2-0…Sonny Gray (1-0) was the starter and winner, pitching 5.0 shutout innings, with three hits allowed, four walks and one strikeout…the bullpen combined for 4.0 shutout innings, with one hit allowed, highlighted by Caleb Thielbar, who struck out three batters in the eighth inning and earned his second hold…Jorge López added a save with a scoreless ninth inning…the offense recorded five hits and were led by Byron Buxton, who went 2-for-4 with a double and both runs scored…the game was played in two hours and 18 minutes.
HANGING ZEROS: The consecutive shutout wins to start the season marks a Twins/Senators franchise record (since 1901)…below are the last six teams to start a season with consecutive shutouts according to Elias:
TEAM YEAR/OPPONENT STARTING PITCHERS
MINNESOTA TWINS……………….. 2023 AT KANSAS CITY…………………………. PABLO LÓPEZ, SONNY GRAY
San Francisco Giants……………2018 at Los Angeles-NL…………………………………….Ty Blach, Alex Wood
Los Angeles Dodgers………. 2016 at San Diego (3 straight)…..Clayton Kershaw, Scott Kazmir, Kenta Maeda
Detroit Tigers………………………….2015 vs. Minnesota ………………………….. David Price, Anibal Sanchez
Washington Nationals………………..2013 vs. Miami……………………….. Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez
Arizona Diamondbacks…………….2002 vs. San Diego………………………… Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling
ALSO: The last time the Twins shut out an opponent three straight times was July 5, 6 and 7, 2004 vs. Kansas City, by scores of 9-0, 4-0 and 12-0.
LASTLY: The Twins recorded 17 shutouts in 2022 and earned their second one on April 21 at Kansas City (Joe Ryan), in the club’s 12th game.
ROYALTY CHECK: The Twins and Royals are playing the third of 13 scheduled meetings in 2023…these two teams will meet next at Target Field for four games from April 27-30.
The Twins are 14-5 in their last 19 against KC since April 21, 2022, including a record of 6-3 at Kauffman Stadium in that span.
Since the start of last season, Twins starters have gone 10-4, 2.31 ERA (109.0 IP, 28 ER) with 27 walks, 94 strikeouts and a .197 (78-for-396) BAA vs. KC…also seven quality starts.
Carlos Correa is hitting .345 (40-for-116) with six doubles, six home runs, 16 RBI, 18 walks, a .433 on-base percentage and a .985 OPS in 31 games against the Royals since 2019…Correa has reached safely in 16-straight games at Kauffman, posting a .420 onbase percentage in that span.
Byron Buxton is hitting .325 (25-for-77) with eight doubles, three home runs, six RBI, 19 runs scored and a .940 OPS in his last 18 games against the Royals, reaching safely in all 18.
Notable individuals vs. Brad Keller: Max Kepler is hitting .368 (7-for-19) with one double, two home runs, five walks, a .500 on-base percentage and a .737 slugging percentage… Willi Castro is hitting .308 (4-for-13) with one home run and two walks.
RYAN KING: Joe Ryan has gone 4-0, 1.13 ERA (24.0 IP, 3 ER) with seven walks, 26 strikeouts with Royals batters slashing .159/.225/.280 in four career starts vs. KC — all coming last season…in two starts at Kauffman, he went 2-0, allowing just one run in 11.2 innings pitched…Ryan was one of seven starting pitchers in baseball to win four games against a single opponent in 2022 and was only pitcher to do it twice (also 4-0 vs. Detroit)…according to Elias, he became the first Twins rookie to earn four-plus wins against one team in a season.
OK, LAST CHANCE BUCK: Byron Buxton has homered in 10 consecutive road series since June 3, 2022 (June 3 at Toronto, June 13 at Seattle, June 17 at Arizona, June 28 at Cleveland, July 4 at Chicago-AL, July 10 at Texas, July 26 at Milwaukee, July 29 & 30 at San Diego, August 9 at Los Angeles-NL and August 14 at Los Angeles-AL)…it is tied with Miguel Sanó (September 2016-June 2017) for the longest streak by a Twin (since 1961)…it marks the longest by any player since Justin Turner did it in 10-straight from June-September of 2019…the last player in baseball to go 11-straight road series’ with a homer was Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard from June-September of 2006 (Elias).
Buck has 98 career home runs, needing two to become the 20th Twin to reach 100 career homers (since 1961)…last Twin to reach 100 was Max Kepler on September 20, 2020 at Chicago-NL.
POWER OUTAGE: The Twins have yet to homer this season in 75 plate appearances…the last time the Twins opened a season by going homerless in their first series was in 2015 at Detroit; Brian Dozier hit the first homer that season in the club’s fourth game on April 10 at Guaranteed Rate Field against Chicago-AL…last season, Gio Urshela hit the first homer on Opening Day against Seattle at Target Field.
CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT: The Twins bullpen has combined for 7.2 scoreless innings, with one hit allowed, three walks and seven strikeouts, facing 25 batters…just two other bullpens in baseball have yet to allow a run: Kansas City (7.1 IP) and Milwaukee (6.0 IP)… additionally, the one hit allowed by the Twins ‘pen is tied with Cincinnati (9.2 IP) for fewest in baseball.
TWINS TRY CLEAN UP AT THE K: The Twins are seeking their first sweep of the season today…last season, they swept opponents eight times, all in three games…they swept Kansas City three times: May 20-22 at Kauffman Stadium, August 15-17 at Target Field, and September 13-15 at Target Field…the Twins’ first sweep of 2022 came from April 22-24 vs. Chicago-AL.
The Twins have opened a season by sweeping a three-game series eight times in their history, last coming in 2017, when they opened
with a sweep of the Royals at Target Field.
Since 2014, the Twins have swept the Royals 10 times (50 series), their most of any opponent in that span (White Sox – 9 times and
Tigers – 8 times).
SUNDAY THROWBACKS: Bally Sports North sideline analyst, Glen Perkins, appeared in 45 career games (3 starts) against the Royals, going 3-1, 3.39 ERA (61.0 IP, 23 ER) with 13 saves (15 opportunities), 10 walks and 51 strikeouts…Perk once saved two games in one day against the Royals on September 1, 2012 at Kauffman Stadium, the first Twins pitcher since good ol’ Rick Lysander did so on August 18, 1984 at Boston.
STARTING PITCHER – JOE RYAN 41
Making his first start and appearance of 2023, his third year with the Twins…also his 33rd career start and appearance.
Facing Kansas City for the fifth time in his career and is riding four-game win streak vs. the Royals…went 4-0, 1.13 ERA (24.0 IP, 3 ER) with seven walks and 26 strikeouts vs. KC in 2022.
Led Twins pitching staff in wins (13), innings pitched (147.0) and strikeouts (151) last season.
SPRING RECAP: Ryan made five Grapefruit League starts this spring, going 2-1, 2.16 ERA (16.2 IP, 4 ER) with three walks and 20 strikeouts…surrendered only two earned runs in his final 15.1 innings (1.17 ERA) after allowing two earned runs over 1.1 innings pitched in his first spring start…tossed 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits with one walk and five strikeouts at Boston March 22 and ended his spring campaign throwing 3.1 shutout innings vs. Pittsburgh March 27 (3 H, 0 BB, 4 K).
LAST MLB OUTING: Ryan shut out the Detroit Tigers over 6.0 innings pitched on September 30, 2022, allowing five hits with one walk and eight strikeouts en route to his team-leading 13th win…broke Twins single-season rookie strikeout record with his second strikeout of the outing, fanning Spencer Torkelson in the second inning…lowered his September earned run average to 2.20, his lowest in a month since April 2022 (1.17 ERA)…logged his sixth start of the season with eight-or-more strikeouts and his third scoreless appearance over his previous four starts.
WHO’S YOUR ROYAL: In four career starts vs. Kansas City, all of which came in the 2022 season, Ryan went 4-0, 1.13 ERA (24.0 IP, 3 ER) with seven walks and 26 strikeouts…threw more innings against the Royals than any other opponent in 2022…was one of seven starting pitchers in baseball to win four games against a single opponent in 2022 and was only pitcher to do it twice (also 4-0 vs. Detroit)… in last start vs. Kansas City on September 13, 2022, threw 7.0 hitless innings with two walks and nine strikeouts in a 6-3 Minnesota win…became first rookie in Twins/Senators history (1901-present) with an outing of at least 7.0 no-hit innings…Twins lost combined no-hitter in ninth inning.
RYAN ON THE ROAD: Ryan went 6-4, 4.22 ERA (64.0 IP, 30 ER) with 18 walks and 61 strikeouts in 12 road starts last season…was more effective at home in 2022, going 7-4, 3.04 ERA (83.0 IP, 28 ER) with 29 walks and 90 strikeouts…his 0.77 ERA in two career starts at Kauffman Stadium is tied for his second-best ERA at an opposing venue with Detroit’s Comerica Park, trailing only his 14.2 career scoreless innings at Cleveland’s Progressive Field…has similar home/road splits over his career, going 8-4, 3.79 ERA (76.0 IP, 32 ER) in 14 road starts and 7-5, 3.50 ERA (97.2 IP, 38 ER) in 18 home starts.
LEFT/RIGHT: Over his first two seasons, Ryan has slightly better splits against left-handed hitters than righties, with lefties batting just .194 with a .631 OPS since his debut in 2021…right-handed hitters are hitting .214 with a .667 OPS off Ryan…in 2022, lefties slashed .202/.288/.348 against Ryan with eight home runs and 56 strikeouts…his .202 opponent batting average vs. lefties ranked ninth in the American League last season (min. 50.0 IP)…Ryan has a higher strikeout percentage against right-handed hitters in his career, fanning 31.9% of righties and 19.4% of lefties.
THE ARSENAL: Ryan has displayed a four-pitch mix so far in his career, relying primarily on his fastball – he threw it 65.8% of the time in 2021 and 60.1% of the time in 2022…trained at Driveline baseball performance center in the offseason and retooled his slider and changeup…here’s a look at the Ryan’s repertoire from 2022, per Baseball Savant.
PITCH (AVG. MPH) PCT. (# OF PITCHES, VS. RHB/LHB) RESULTS
4-Seam Fastball (92.0)………….60.1% (1436 pitches, 685/751).. .174 (54-for-310), 10 2B, 1 3B, 9 HR, 96 K
Slider (82.0)………………………….20.6% (494 pitches, 464/30) .245 (35-for-143), 10 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR, 41 K
Changeup (84.6)……………………12.1% (290 pitches, 18/272)…… .277 (18-for-65), 5 2B, 3 HR, 8 K
Curveball (74.9)……………………..7.2% (171 pitches, 30/141)……………… .286 (8-for-28), 3 2B, 6 K
Ryan had a .268 wOBA on his four seamer in 2022, which was sixth best in the majors (min. 250 PA)…also had a -21 run value on the pitch, good for fourth among major league pitchers under those same parameters.
2022 NOTES:
Made Twins Opening Day roster, the first of career…spent nearly all season with Minnesota.
Was club’s Opening Day starter April 8 vs. Seattle, allowing two runs in 4.0 innings pitched with four walks and four strikeouts and was dealt the loss in a Twins 2-1 defeat…became second rookie in franchise history (since 1901) to start on Opening Day, joining Tom Hall on April 8, 1969.
Posted 20.0-scoreless inning streak from April 15-May 3, longest for a Twins pitcher on season.
Went 3-1, 1.17 ERA (23.0 IP, 3 ER) with six walks and 25 strikeouts in four April starts, the lowest ERA for a rookie in March/April (min. 20 IP) in Twins/Senators history (since 1901).
Threw 100-plus pitches in seven of 27 starts, including a season-high of 110 August 9 at Los Angeles-AL…also most for Twins starter in 2022.
Went 3-0, 1.09 ERA (24.2 IP, 3 ER) with eight walks and 27 strikeouts in final four starts from September 13-20.
Led Twins staff in wins (13), innings pitched (147.0) and strikeouts (151), and ranked second in starts (27).
KING OF THE K: Ryan has 181 career strikeouts through his first 32 games, the most in Twins/Sena- tors history through a pitcher’s first 32 career games…also holds the record through a pitcher’s first 34 career games, four ahead of Francisco Liriano (177 from 2005-06)…his 9.4 strikeouts-per-9.0 innings ratio in his career is eighth best in Twins franchise history and his 3.48 strikeouts-per-walks ranks 11th (min. 150.0 IP).
CAREER NOTES
• 2023 marks his sixth professional season, including 2020.
• In 2022, his first full major-league season, was Twins Opening Day starter and led both the club and all AL rookies in wins (13), innings pitched (147.0) and strikeouts (151).
• Made his major league debut for the Twins on September 1, 2021 vs. Chicago-NL (L, 5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R/3 ER, 1 HR, 1 BB, 5 K).
• Helped Team USA win the silver medal in baseball at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics…went 1-0, 1.74 ERA (10.1 IP, 2 ER), one walk and eight strikeouts in two starts.
• Acquired by the Twins on July 22, 2021 from the Tampa Bay Rays, alongside righthanded pitcher Drew Strotman, in exchange for designated hitter Nelson Cruz…learned about the trade while in Japan with Team USA.
• In 2020, was part of the Rays 60-man player pool and spent the summer at the alter- nate training site in Port Charlotte, Florida…ranked by Baseball America as the No. 12 prospect in the Rays system following the season.
• In 2019, was named Rays minor league Pitcher of the Year after going 9-4, 1.96 ERA (123.2 IP, 27 ER) in his first full professional season…divided the year between Low-A Bowling Green (6 starts), High-A Charlotte (15 games, 13 starts) and Double-A Montgomery (3 starts).
• Garnered several other awards in 2019, including: MiLB.com organization All-Star honors, Baseball America High Class A All-Star, two-time Florida State League Pitcher of the Week (June 17-23 and August 5-11) and Rays minor league Pitcher of the Month for July and August.
• Made professional debut in 2018 for Short-A Hudson Valley…went 2-1, 3.72 ERA (36.1 IP, 15 ER) in 12 games (7 starts) for the Renegades, with 14 walks and 51 strikeouts.
• Selected by the Rays in the seventh round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of Division II California State University, Stanislaus.
• Went 8-1, 1.65 ERA (98.1 IP, 18 ER) in 14 starts as a senior at Stanislaus and led all divisions of college baseball with 127 strikeouts…earned three selections to All-America teams, including first team All-America honors by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association…pitched three seasons at California State University, Northridge before transferring to Stanislaus.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
SAME STORY: The Royals suffered another 2-0 loss yesterday vs. Minnesota, falling to 0-2 for the 16th time in franchise history and the first time since 2018…they produced seven baserunners vs. Twins starter Sonny Gray, who held Kansas City to 0-for-8 in scoring situations and stranded two in the 2nd, three in the 3rd and one in the 5th and 6th…much like Zack Greinke on Opening Day, Jordan Lyles allowed 2 runs (1 ER) in 5.1 innings, 1 of which came after he exited…the game lasted only 2 hours, 18 minutes, which matches the Royals second-shortest game of last season, longer only than the 2-hour, 11-minute game they played vs. Detroit last Sept. 11.
PROBLEMS AT THE PLATE: The Royals have been shut out in each of their first 2 games for the first time in franchise history, becoming just the fifth team in American League history to suffer this feat, following the 2015 Twins, 1977 Mariners, 1947 Indians and 1940 Senators…the Royals 18.0-inning scoreless streak to begin the season is their longest in franchise history, surpassing the 11.0 scoreless innings that began the 2013 and 1976 seasons…only one team in Major League history has been blanked in their first 3 games: the 2016 Padres.
The Royals remain well shy of the franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings at any point in the season, set by the 2017 Royals, who went 45.0 innings without a run over parts of 6 games, from the 3rd inning on Aug. 24, 2017 vs. Colorado through the 2nd inning on Aug. 29, 2017 vs. Tampa Bay.
The Royals have recorded only 6 hits, their fewest through 2 games in franchise history, which matches the lowest hits total by any American League team since the designated hitter was instituted in 1973.
The Royals are 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position through 2 games and have stranded 14 baserunners.
On the bright side, the Royals have drawn 10 walks in 68 plate appearances, or 1 walk per 6.80 plate appearances, which is the 2nd-best rate in the Majors through the first three days of the season…in 2022, the Royals offense walked once every 13.07 plate appearances, which ranked 20th in the Majors.
Vinnie Pasquantino went 1-for-3 with a walk yesterday, extending his career-best on-base streak to 21 games dating back to last Sept. 15, which marks the 3rd-longest active streak in the Majors, according to Elias, trailing only Aaron Judge’s 35-game on-base streak and Shohei Ohtani’s 25-game on-base streak.
PITCHING IN: Despite the Royals offensive woes, the pitching staff has been fantastic, holding the Twins to just 4 runs (3 ER) through the first 2 games…the club’s 1.50 ERA (3 ER in 18.0 IP) ranks tied for 3rd in the Majors, trailing only the Twins (who have blanked the Royals through 18.0 innings) and the Rays (1.00 ERA).
Seven of the Royals eight relievers have been deployed through the first 2 games, and have combined to hold the Twins scoreless over 7.1 innings, with just 4 hits and 3 walks allowed and 11 strikeouts…the Royals bullpen is one of three that has not yet allowed a run, along with the Twins (7.2 IP) and Brewers (6.0 IP).
The Royals 4 runs allowed matches their 4th fewest through 2 games in franchise history, more than last year’s club, who allowed 1 run through 2 games, and the 1985 and 1972 Royals, who allowed 2 runs.
They’re the sixth team in American League history to allow 2 runs or fewer in each of their first 2 games and lose them both, following the 1972 White Sox, 1956 Indians, 1947 Indians, 1913 Yankees and 1908 Athletics.
SERIES SPEAKING: The Royals today are trying to avoid being swept in a 3-game series to begin the season, a feat they’ve suffered six times previously, in 2017 at Minnesota, 2001 at Yankee Stadium, 1999 vs. Boston, 1996 at Baltimore, 1993 vs. Boston and 1992 at Oakland…the club record for consecutive losses to begin the season is 7, set in 1992…since the start of 2022, the Royals are 7-14 vs. the Twins and have been outscored 89-59 (-30).
The Royals and Twins will play 13 games against each other in 2023 as part of Major League Baseball’s balanced schedule…excluding 2020, the 13 games this year will be the fewest between these two teams in a single season since 2000 (12)…the Royals will travel to Target Field for a 4-game set from April 27-30 and for 3 games from July 3-5, and they’ll host the Twins back here at Kauffman Stadium from July 28-30.
The Royals 413 wins and 446 losses vs. the Twins are both their most vs. any opponent…last season, the Royals went 7-12 vs. Minnesota to lose the season series vs. the Twins for the first time since 2019.
CAPTAIN SALVY: The Royals announced prior to Thursday’s season-opening game that Salvador Perez has been named team Captain…Perez, 32, joins Royals Hall of Famers George Brett (1989-93), Frank White (1989-90) and Mike Sweeney (2003-07) as the only team Captains in club history…Salvy is a seven-time American League All-Star, a five-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner, a four-time Silver Slugger Award winner and a two-time Royals Les Milgram Player of the Year…he was unanimously named the Most Valuable Player of the 2015 World Series, and ranks among the Royals all-time leaders in home runs (223, 2nd), RBI (732, 7th), extra-base hits (471, 7th), total bases (2,205, 8th), doubles (237, 9th) and hits (1,277, 8th).
ON DECK: After beginning the season with 3 day games vs. the Twins, the Royals will host the Blue Jays for 4 games starting tomorrow night…that series will include three 6:40 p.m. CT starts and a 1:10 p.m. CT start on Thursday to wrap the first homestand…the Royals first road trip will take them to San Francisco next weekend for the Giants home opener, then to Texas—where they played 2 exhibition games last week—for 3 night games… today marks the second of 12 consecutive days with a game before the next off day on Thursday, April 13.
BALANCED SCHEDULE: For the first time since Interleague play was introduced in 1997, Major League Baseball has adopted a balanced schedule starting in 2023, in which the Royals will play all other 29 teams…they’ll play a total of 52 games vs. American League Central opponents, 64 games vs. teams from the American League East and West and 46 Interleague games, including 4 vs. St. Louis and 3 vs. all others…following their 2-game set at Busch Stadium from May 29-30, the Royals are scheduled for back-to-back off days on May 31-June 1, before beginning a 3-game homestand vs. Colorado…this will mark the first time that the Royals will have scheduled back-to-back off days since April 6-7, 2016…another scheduling quirk later in the season will come after the Royals host the Cardinals for 2 games from Aug. 11-12…on the following day, Sunday, Aug. 13, the Royals have a scheduled off day, which will be the first known originally scheduled off day on a Sunday in Royals history.
PACE OF PLAY: In addition to the balanced schedule, another big change for the 2023 season is the new pitch timer rules, which provided stunning results during Spring Training…in 453 games that lasted 9 innings across both leagues this spring, the average time of game was 2 hours, 34 minutes, and only 40 of those 453 games (8.8%) lasted at least 3 hours…Kansas City played 33 Cactus League games and 31 of them lasted 9 innings with an average of 2 hours, 31 minutes, slightly below league average…the other 2 games were shortened by rain…the Royals longest game of the spring was a 3-hour affair on March 11 vs. Milwaukee and their shortest 9-inning game was the March 26 contest in Mesa vs. the Cubs, in which they finished in 1 hour, 57 minutes…in the 2022 regular season, the Royals average time of game was 3 hours, 3 minutes, which tied for the 4th-fastest in the Majors.
Through 35 games across Major League Baseball over the first three days of the regular season, the average game time has been 2 hours, 41 minutes, and only 10 of the 35 games (29%) lasted at least 3 hours…the Royals and Twins have finished their 2 games at 2:32 and 2:18.
TODAY’S STARTERS: RHP BRAD KELLER (6-14, 5.09 ERA IN 2022)
BRAD KELLER is making his season debut and the 106th start of his Major League career…since his debut in 2018, he leads all Royals pitchers in wins (35), starts (105), innings (633.2) and strikeouts (475)…among all pitchers who have made debuted since 2018, his 105 starts rank 2nd, trailing only Shane Bieber’s 112 starts with Cleveland.
HIGHS AND LOWS: In his fifth Major League season in 2022, Brad made 35 outings (22 starts), after a mid-season shift to the bullpen resulted in his first relief appearances since his 2018 debut season…despite the change, he eclipsed 100 strikeouts for the third year—second consecutive—but also posted an ERA north of 5.00 for the second straight season, just .30 points below his career-high 5.39 ERA in 2021.
Keller tied his career high with 14 losses (also 2019) while his 139.2 innings pitched were the most he’s thrown in a season since 2019 (165.1 IP)…despite spending the majority of the final two months of the season in the bullpen, he finished with 11 quality starts, 3 shy of Brady Singer, who led the Royals with 14.
He was one of two pitchers in 2022 with at least 11 quality starts and 14-plus losses, joining Seattle’s Marco Gonzales (18 QS/15 L)…that marked the second season of Keller’s career in which he posted that combination following 2019 (14 QS/14 L), and he joined Miami’s Sandy Alcantara (2019, 2021) as the only pitchers in the Majors to record those numbers twice in the last four seasons.
SPRING IN SURPRISE: Brad went 3-1 and pitched to a 4.95 ERA (11 ER in 20.0 IP) over 6 Cactus League starts…in his final start of the spring on March 24, he turned in 5.0 scoreless innings with just 5 hits and 1 walk allowed, while striking out 9 batters and earning the win over the Giants…he recorded multiple strikeouts in all 6 of his Spring Training outings, striking out 25 batters in 20.0 innings of work (11.3 K/9).
RISPY BUSINESS: Opponents batted just .245 (78-for-318) off Keller with nobody on base last season, however that mark rose to .319 (75-for-235) with runners on and rose even higher to .357 (45-for-126) with runners in scoring position…only two pitchers in the Majors surrendered as high of an opponents’ average with runners in scoring position (min. 125 batters faced with RISP), as Philadelphia right hander Kyle Gibson pitched to a .364 opponents’ average (47-for-129, 149 PA) and Washington left hander Patrick Corbin posted a .357 opponents’ average (60-for-168, 194 PA).
HELP WANTED: Brad went 6-13 as a starting pitcher in 2022 despite recording 11 quality starts, second by a Royal to only Brady Singer’s 14…the Royals supported him with a total of 35 runs in his 22 starts, including 2 runs or fewer in 17 of his 22 starts, 1 run or fewer 12 times and no runs seven times…he finished with a 2.57 run support average as a starter, the lowest total in the Majors among pitchers who made at least 20 starts in 2022, and it set a new franchise low for a starting pitcher with the same qualifier…since 1974—when run support data is available—the lowest single-season run support average by a qualified Royals pitcher was previously 2.94 (83 RS in 254.0 IP) by David Cone in 1993.
FROM THE GROUND UP: Keller has a career 52.4% groundball rate, which ranks 4th in the Majors since the start of 2018 (min. 600.0 IP), trailing Dallas Keuchel (55.2%), Marcus Stroman (54.8%) and Luis Castillo (52.6%)…likewise, his lifetime HR/9 rate of 0.84 (59 HR in 633.2 IP) ranks 4th in the Majors since 2018 (min. 600.0 IP), trailing Jacob deGrom (0.72), Zack Wheeler (0.76) and Max Fried (0.78)…his groundball percentage improved last season as he posted a 53.6% clip, but he allowed 17 home runs, 1 short of his career high set in 2021, for a 1.10 HR/9 rate.
He induced 13 double plays in 2022 and has an American League-most 76 since the start of 2018, one more than Seattle’s Marco Gonzales (75).
DECISIONS, DECISIONS: With a loss in his last start on Aug. 13 vs. the Dodgers, Keller extended his streak of starts with a decision to 15—in which he’s 5-10—which is the longest run of starts with a decision by a Royal since José Lima had 15 consecutive decisions from June 26-Sept. 18, 2005, and it is the T-14th longest such streak in Royals history…Dennis Leonard holds the club record with 26 straight starts with a decision (Aug. 26, 1997-June 23, 1978).
BRAD TO THE RESCUE: Keller earned his 1st career save in the sweep-clinching victory over these Twins last Sept. 22, in what was his 136th Major League appearance…he did not have a save in his minor league career either, as 100 of his 106 appearances were starts…he became the 16th Royal to make at least 20 starts in a season while also recording a save, and the first to do so since Danny Duffy made 24 starts and had 1 save in 2015.
VS. MINNESOTA: In 13 career appearances (11 starts) against the Twins, Brad has gone 3-5 despite posting a 3.90 ERA (28 ER in 64.2 IP) with 60 strikeouts (8.4 K/9), and he’s held them to a .239 batting average (58-for-243)…his last start vs. Minnesota came on May 27, 2022 at Target Field in which he yielded 6 runs in 4.0 innings, however he had allowed just 2 runs or fewer in 5 of his 10 previous starts against the division rival.
