KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
WALKS WRECK ROYALS: The Royals suffered their 2nd straight 1-run loss in the series opener last night at Chase Field, dropping a 5-4 decision in a game of walks and missed opportunities…Brad Keller allowed 4 runs in 4.0 innings—on 95 pitches—and issued a career-high 6 walks, 3 of which scored…but after Kyle Isbel tied the game with an RBI single in the top of the 8th, it was a walk by Aroldis Chapman that proved to be the difference in the game…with 1 out in the bottom half, Chapman was called for an automatic ball vs. pinch hitter Christian Walker, because he came set before Walker was attentive to the pitcher…the violation nudged the count from 1-1 to 2-1, shifting it in favor of Walker, who drew a walk and later advanced to third on a single…with runners at the corners, Nick Ahmed hit a squibber 30.4 mph off the bat to first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, whose throw to home plunked Walker as he slid over the plate to score the go-ahead run… Pasquantino singled with 1 out in the 9th, but Salvador Perez and Franmil Reyes both struck out to strand the tying run, as the Royals went 3-for-10 in scoring situations and stranded a season-high-tying 10 baserunners.
The Royals issued a season-high-tying 8 walks last night to the Diamondbacks, who entered with a Majors-low 45 walks on the season…Royals pitchers issued only 3 walks in 3 games vs. Anaheim last weekend.
TATER TALES: Edward Olivares put Kansas City on the board last night with a solo home run in the 1st inning, marking the Royals 4th home run in the last 2 games, matching their total from their previous 12 games combined…Royals pitchers did not allow a home run last night for the first time since April 7 at San Francisco, snapping a streak of 14 consecutive games, which was the longest streak by the Royals since they allowed a homer in a franchise-record 21 straight games from Aug. 20-Sept. 11, 2017…last night was the third time this season the Royals out-homered their opponent, following April 7-8 at San Francisco, both of which were Royals wins.
PASQUATCH SIGHTING: Vinnie Pasquantino continued his strong start to the season last night, when he went 3-for-4 with a walk, extending his on-base streak to 18 games, which is tied for the 3rd-longest active streak in the American League, trailing only Yordan Alvarez (24) and Eugenio Suárez (19)…this marks the 2nd-longest on-base streak of his young career, trailing a 21-game run from Sept. 15, 2022-April 1, 2023…including that streak, Vinnie has reached safely in 40 of his last 42 games dating back to last Sept. 15…during that stretch, he leads the American League (min. 150 PA) in both batting average (.347) and on-base percentage (.440).
Vinnie hit just .219 (23-for-105) through his first 29 career games following his late-June debut last season…but in 66 games since the start of last August, he’s been one of the best hitters in Major League Baseball, ranking 4th (min. 250 PA) in batting average (.328) and on-base percentage (.413) and 3rd in OPS (.947), trailing only reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge (1.105) and Mike Trout (1.044).
Pasquantino has been on base 150 times in his young career, which is tied for the 3rd-highest total by a Royals player through 95 career games, trailing only Kevin Seitzer (167) and Carlos Beltrán (153).
SNAKE STORIES: The Royals are visiting Chase Field this week for the second time in as many seasons, after they had only three visits prior to 2022 and none since 2014…the Royals are 14-18 all-time vs. the Diamondbacks but are 7-5 (.583) at Chase Field, which is one of six active National League ballparks in which the Royals have a winning record, along with Truist Park (2-0), Great American Ballpark (8-4), loanDepot Park (4-2), Oracle Park (7-4) and American Family Field (8-7)…despite their success here historically, the Royals have lost 3 consecutive games here at Chase Field and are seeking their 1st win in this ballpark since Aug. 7, 2014.
In 32 games vs. Arizona, they have hit .288, their 2nd-best mark vs. any opponent, behind Colorado (.298).
This series marks the Royals return to the Valley, where they went 20-11-1 this spring, including an exhibition game vs. Great Britain…their 19-13-1 record (.594) in Cactus League play finished 2nd to the 18-11-2 Angels (.621), and their 19 wins in the state of Arizona this year trail only the hometown Diamondbacks, who have won 23 games, including 16 wins in Spring Training and 7 in the regular season.
Royals pitchers Brad Keller and Taylor Clarke were both drafted by the D-backs…Keller was selected in the 8th round of the 2013 Draft and Clarke was selected in the 3rd round in 2015…Keller was acquired by the Royals from the Reds, who selected him from the D-backs in the 2017 Rule 5 Draft…Clarke spent his first three seasons in the Majors with Arizona, but was non-tendered following 2021 and signed with the Royals.
Zack Greinke spent four seasons with the Diamondbacks from 2016-19, a stretch in which he won four Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, was a three-time NL All-Star and went 55-29 with a 3.40 ERA in 114 starts.
The Royals are 2-5 in Interleague play this season, including 5 straight losses after starting with back-to-back wins over San Francisco…thanks to the new balanced scheduled, the Royals are scheduled for a franchise-record 46 Interleague games this season, after playing no more than 20 in any season prior.
TRIP TRACKER: The Royals will continue this three-city road trip tonight in Phoenix with the 2nd of 3 games vs. the Diamondbacks…this trip began last Friday night in Anaheim, where they dropped 2 of 3 to start a stretch in which they’ll play 26 games in 27 days through May 17…the only off day during this run will come on May 1, which sits between the end of this season-long 10-game trip and a season-long 10-game homestand.
This trip will wrap up the month of April with 4 games in Minnesota vs. the Twins starting Thursday night.
Friday night’s game began a stretch in which the Royals will play 19 of 29 games on the road through May 21.
APRIL SHOWERS: The month of April has not been kind to the Royals in recent years, and that trend has continued this season…including their Opening Day loss on March 30, the Royals are 5-18 through 23 games, which is tied with Oakland for the worst record in the Majors and matches their 2nd-worst 23-game start in franchise history, better only than the 1992 Royals, who started 4-19…the schedule makers haven’t done the Royals any favors either, as their seven opponents to this point have a combined record of 89-71 (.556), and four of those seven teams are in 1st place in their division, including their current opponent, the 13-11 Diamondbacks…unfortunately, the schedule doesn’t ease up on this trip, as after tomorrow’s game in the desert, the Royals will fly to Minneapolis to begin a 4-game series vs. the Twins, who lead the American League Central with a 13-10 record.
PACE OF PLAY: Last night’s 2-hour, 56-minute game in Arizona was the Royals longest of the season, thanks in part to a combined 13 walks…but despite this, the Royals season average game time of 2:28 is still the fastest in the Majors and is 8 minutes lower than the Major League average of 2:36.
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: RHP BRADY SINGER (1-2, 8.14)
BRADY SINGER is making his 5th start of the season and 68th of his career tonight vs. Arizona…it’s his 2nd career start vs. the Diamondbacks and 1st since last August… Singer is in his fourth season in the Majors and was selected by Kansas City in the 1st round (18th overall) of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Florida.
LAST START: Singer suffered a 12-3 loss to the Rangers in the homestand finale last Wednesday, in which he was charged with 5 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks in 5.0 innings, with 4 strikeouts…the Rangers began the game with a single and a walk, the first of which scored on a sacrifice fly…Singer allowed back-to-back run-scoring hits in both the 2nd and 4th innings, but retired his last five batters and exited trailing 5-1.
Singer has allowed 19 runs in 21.0 innings this season, and 10 of those runs (52.6%) have come in the 1st or 2nd innings…since allowing 1 run on 2 hits in 5.0 innings in his season debut, he’s allowed 18 runs on 24 hits over his last 3 starts.
STOPPER: Brady has developed a reputation as the Royals stopper, a pitcher who can get a win following a loss…the Royals have lost 9 of their last 10 games and 2 straight, and are seeking a strong start tonight from Singer, who is 14-10 in 41 appearances following a Royals loss, with a 3.72 ERA (90 ER in 218.0 IP), including the Royals 1st win on April 3 vs. Toronto, which ended a season-opening 3-game skid.
WALK THIS WAY: Since the start of last season, Singer has recorded at least 5.0 innings without issuing a walk in 11 of his 28 starts—including 2 this season—which are tied for the 3rd most among American League pitchers during that span, trailing only Corey Kluber (13) and Jameson Taillon (12), who now pitches in the National League.
CASTING CALLS: In 28 starts since his May 17 recall last season, Brady has induced a called strike on 548 of his 2,713 pitches (20.2%), 3rd most in the Majors, trailing only Gerrit Cole (557) and Logan Webb (555)…Singer’s rate of 20.2% called strikes since last May 17 leads the Majors by a wide margin (min. 2,500 pitches), ahead of Alex Cobb (17.0%) and Adam Wainwright (16.6%)…since his 2020 debut season, Singer’s called-strike rate of 20.9% ranks 2nd in the Majors (min. 5,000 pitches), ahead of Rich Hill (20.3%) and Sonny Gray (19.9%) and trails only Wainwright (21.2%).
A STAR IS BORN: Singer pitched a career-best 153.1 innings in 2022 in a career-high-tying 27 appearances (24 starts)…he began the season in the bullpen, but only pitched in 3 of the Royals first 16 games before being optioned to Triple-A on April 28…he returned on May 17 and made a team-high 24 starts from that point on.
Upon joining the starting rotation last May 17, Singer went 10-5 with a 3.11 ERA (51 ER in 147.2 IP), 8th best in the American League from May 17 through season’s end…his 10 wins were the most by a Royal since Jason Vargas tied for the Majors lead with 18 in 2017…Singer’s 3.23 ERA (55 ER in 153.1 IP) for the season was the 5th best by a Royal (min. 150.0 IP) in the Wild Card Era (since 1995), trailing only Zack Greinke in his 2009 Cy Young Award-winning season (2.16), James Shields in 2013 (3.15) and 2014 (3.21) and Yordano Ventura in 2014 (3.20)…the last Royal with a lower ERA than Singer’s and a higher win percentage (.667) was David Cone during his 1994 Cy Young Award-winning season, in which he went 16-5 (.762) with a 2.94 ERA (56 ER in 17.12 IP).
CHANGE OF TUNE: Brady threw 182 changeups in 24 starts last season, which accounted for 8.0% of his 2,273 pitches after returning from Triple-A Omaha on May 17…that total was more than double the 88 changeups he threw in 27 starts in 2021, which equaled 3.8% of his pitches thrown…after returning from Omaha last May 17 with a focus on mixing in the changeup, Singer went 10-5 with a 3.11 ERA (51 ER in 147.2 IP), after going 9-15 with a 4.67 ERA (103 ER in 198.1 IP) in his previous 42 career appearances (39 starts)…from last May 17 through season’s end, opponents went 8-for-34 (.235) vs. the changeup.
Through 4 starts this season, the changeup has accounted for 7.7% of his pitches, but opponents are 2-for-5 in at-bats ending on the changeup. VS. D-BACKS: Brady won his only previous career start vs. the Diamondbacks last Aug. 24 in Kansas City, a 5-3 victory in which he allowed just 1 run on 4 hits—including a solo HR by Daulton Varsho—over 7.0 innings…that was also the Royals only win over the D-backs last season…Singer went 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA (3 ER in 18.0 IP) in 3 Interleague starts last season, but in 2 starts this year, he’s 0-1 with a 10.64 ERA (13 ER in 11.0 IP)…he has yet to win a game in a National League park in his career, as he enters tonight 0-1 in 3 previous starts, including 1 at Wrigley Field and 2 at Oracle Park.
BUMPY ROADS: Singer is 2-3 with a 4.31 ERA (31 ER in 64.2 IP) in 13 road appearances (11 starts) since the beginning of last season, and held opponents to 2 runs or fewer in 5 of his 10 road starts in 2022…in his last 2 road starts, including 1 last September in Cleveland and 1 earlier this month in San Francisco, he’s allowed 11 runs on 15 hits in 11.2 innings…he’s seeking his 1st road win since last Sept. 17 at Fenway Park, a 9-0 victory over the Sox.
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS NOTES:
HERE’S THE STORY
♦ The D-backs are 2-3 in their 7-game homestand vs. Padres (1-3) and Royals (1-0).
♦ The D-backs are in first place in the NL West, 0.5 game ahead of the Dodgers.
♦ Arizona has been in or tied for fi rst place since April 8.
♦ Geraldo Perdomo is hitting .367 (18-for-49) with 5 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer and 12 RBI in 18 games this season…his average ranks third in the Majors [min. 50 PA], behind Luis Arraez/MIA (.444) and Harold Ramirez/TB (.371).
♦ Pavin Smith, since April 9, is hitting .355 (11-for-31) with 3 doubles, 2 homers, 11 RBI and 7 walks in 12 games this season.
♦ Ryne Nelson will be making his first career start against an AL opponent and fi fth overall start of 2023.
ROSTER MOVES
♦ The D-backs made the following roster moves:
Recalled INF Emmanuel Rivera from Triple-A Reno.
Optioned OF Jake McCarthy to Reno following last night’s game.
SNAKES AMONG THE REST
♦ The D-backs rank in the Majors in doubles (1st, 52), triples (T-3rd, 6), hits (4th, 210), strikeouts (5th, 179), average (6th, .261), stolen bases (T-7th, 21), runs scored (T-8th, 115) and slugging pct. (10th, .418).
VS. ROYALS
♦ Arizona is 4-1 vs. Royals in its last 5 meetings.
♦ Christian Walker, in his last 5 games, is batting .353 (6-for-17) with 1 double, 2 home runs and 3 RBI.
♦ Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is batting .344 (21-for-61) with 2 doubles, 2 homers, 8 RBI and 10 walks over his last 20 games vs. Royals (was with Toronto from 2019-2022).
♦ Andrew Chafi n, in his last 10 appearances, has gone 2-0 with 1 save, a 1.04 ERA (1 ER in 10.1 IP) and 15 strikeouts.
WALK IT OUT
♦ The D-backs drew a season-high 8 walks last night…the last time Arizona drew 8+ walks in a game was on Sept. 11, 2022 @ Rockies (9 walks).
♦ Arizona has walked 25 times in its last 8 games compared to 28 walks in their first 16 games, increasing their walk percentage from 4.9 percent to 8.2 percent.
TOP OF THE ORDER
♦ Last night, Geraldo Perdomo batted leadoff for the first time in his Major League career, going 2-for-4 with 1 RBI and 1 walk.
♦ Since April 3, the D-backs’ .321 (26-for-81, 9 2B, 1 3B, 9 RBI, 6 BB) leadoff average ranks fourth in the Majors, behind the Cubs (.375), Braves (.373) and Mets (.360).
RUN AT YOUR OWN RISK
♦ Gabriel Moreno’s 6 caught stealings (CS) are the second most in the Majors, behind J.T. Realmuto/PHI (7) and Shea Langeliers/OAK while his 66.7 pct. caught stealing pct. (6-of-9) leads all catchers [min. 4 CS].
FOR THE TAKING
♦ The D-backs’ 57 pct. extra bases taken percentage leads the Majors, ahead of the Reds (53%), Braves (51%) and Orioles (51%).
Percentage runner advanced more than 1 base on single or 2+ bases on a double.
STOLEN BASE RACE
♦ Corbin Carroll’s 8 stolen bases currently rank tied for third most in the Majors (also: Jorge Mateo/BAL & Anthony Volpe/NYY), behind Ronald Acuña Jr./ATL (12), Cedric Mullins/BAL (9) and Nico Hoerner/CHC (9).
♦ Carroll is only 1 of 3 players with 8+ stolen bases without a caught stealing (also: Mullins and Volpe).
GREETINGS, EVERYONE
♦ With the new balanced schedule, the D-backs will play all 29 teams for the time and host a franchise-record 22 teams, including 8 AL teams, at Chase Field
RHP RYNE NELSON ♦ #19
AT A GLANCE: Selected by the D-backs in the second round (56th overall) of the 2019 draft.
• Attended the University of Oregon, where he was a 2019 First-Team All-Pac-12 selection…finished his junior year with a conference-high 104 strikeouts and finished fourth in the nation with a 14.40 K/9 IP.
• A Nevada native, attended Basic High School in Henderson where he was a shortstop and pitcher.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Will be making his first career start against an AL opponent and fifth overall start of 2023.
• Has gone 1-0 with a 4.91 ERA (12 ER in 22.0 IP) over his first 4 starts this season.
• Has tossed 2 quality starts in his last 3 bids.
• Enters 2023 ranked as the D-backs’ No. 5 prospect by The Athletic (No. 8 by MLB Pipeline)…rated No. 7 and tabbed by Baseball America with the Best Fastball in the system.
LAST START: Did not factor in the decision on April 20 vs. Padres after allowing 5 runs over 5.0 frames.
VS. ROYALS: Will be making his first career start.
WHAT A DEBUT: In his Major League debut on Sept. 5, 2022 @ Padres, he set the D-backs record for most scoreless innings (7.0) in a Major League debut (later tied by Drey Jameson on Sept. 15) and tied for the most strikeouts (7) (also: Zack Godley on July 23, 2015 @ Brewers and Max Scherzer on April 29, 2008 vs. Astros).
• Came 1.0 inning shy of tying Geraldo Guzmán’s D-backs debut record (8.0 IP) set on July 6, 2000 @ Astros.
