KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
DESERT DROUGHT: The Royals were shut out for the Major League-leading sixth time in yesterday’s 2-0 loss to the Diamondbacks in Arizona, suffering their 2nd straight rubber game defeat…Zac Gallen extended his scoreless streak to 26.0 innings with 6.1 scoreless frames in which he allowed 4 hits with 12 strikeouts…the Royals squandered a golden opportunity to snap Gallen’s scoreless streak in the 1st inning, when they had first and second with 1 out, before Edward Olivares and Michael Massey both struck out to end the threat…they didn’t see another scoring opportunity until the 9th, when MJ Melendez walked and Olivares reached on an error to begin the frame, setting up first and second with no outs against Andrew Chafin, who induced a pair of flyouts and a game-ending strikeout, as the Royals went 0-for-5 in scoring situations while stranding seven.
Former Royal Emmanuel Rivera had a hand in both Diamondbacks runs, as he singled to begin the 4th and scored on a 2-out, broken bat single by Evan Longoria…in the 5th, it was Rivera’s 2-out single that scored Alek Thomas, who drew a leadoff walk from Amir Garrett…starter Ryan Yarbrough allowed just 1 run on 4 hits over 4.0 innings, and four Royals relievers combined to allow 1 run on 2 hits over 4.0 innings.
FEWER FREEBIES: One point of emphasis for the pitching staff this season has been limiting walks, after the Royals issued the 2nd most in the Majors last season…new Pitching Coach Brian Sweeney has already seen a significant impact in that area, particularly with the starting pitchers…through 25 games, Royals starters have walked just 7.1% of batters faced, the 6th-lowest mark in the Majors…along those same lines, the Royals have had 14 games this season in which their starter recorded at least 5.0 innings and walked 1 batter or fewer, which is tied with tonight’s opponent—the Twins—for the most such starts in the Majors…in fact, Royals starting pitchers have issued 1 walk or fewer in 5 of the 6 games on this road trip, including each of the last 2.
PASQUATCH SIGHTING: Vinnie Pasquantino singled in the 1st inning yesterday off Zac Gallen to extend his on-base streak to 20 games, which is tied for the 3rd-longest active streak in the American League, trailing only Yordan Alvarez (24) and Eugenio Suárez (21)…this marks the 2nd-longest on-base streak of his young career, 1 game shy of a 21-game run from Sept. 15, 2022-April 1, 2023…including that streak, Vinnie has reached safely in 42 of his last 44 games dating back to last Sept. 15…during that stretch, he leads the American League (min. 150 PA) in on-base percentage (.429) and ranks 2nd in batting average (.340) to Bo Bichette (.341).
He hit .219 (23-for-105) through 29 career games following his late-June debut last season…but in 68 games since the start of last August, he’s been one of the best hitters in the league, ranking tied with Luis Arraez for 3rd (min. 250 PA) in average (.324), 4th in on-base percentage (.406) and 6th in OPS (.929).
BACK IN KC: Kansas City is hosting the NFL Draft this year, which begins tonight at 7:00 p.m. CT at Union Station in downtown Kansas City…VisitKC and the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission expects 300,000 people will be in Kansas City watching their favorite NFL teams make their picks over the next three days…this event will provide an exciting opportunity for visitors to experience all the great things Kansas City has to offer, including the local BBQ scene, the Power & Light District and the new airport, which opened in the spring.
Although Kansas City is one of the smallest markets in professional sports, its been one of the most successful over the last decade, during which all three of Kansas City’s professional sports teams have won a championship…Sporting Kansas City won the MLS Cup in 2013, followed two years later by the Royals, who won the World Series in 2015, and the Chiefs, who won Super Bowls in the 2019 and 2022 seasons.
The future in Kansas City is bright, even after the NFL Draft leaves town this weekend…the Kansas City Current are building a privately-funded soccer-specific stadium at Berkley Riverfront Park, which will be the first soccer stadium built for a National Women’s Soccer League team…Kansas City is also one of 16 host cities for the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
VS. TWINS: The Royals are visiting Target Field for 4 games this week, after being swept by the Twins in the season-opening 3-game series at Kauffman Stadium, in which they were outscored 11-4…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).
Since the start of last season, the Royals are 7-15 vs. the Twins and have been outscored 96-63 (-33).
The Royals 413 wins and 447 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.
ROAD WORK: The Royals are 5-7 on the road this season, including a 2-4 record on this trip, in which they’ve lost 2 of 3 against the Angels and Diamondbacks…this trip began a stretch in which the Royals will 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 three-city, 10-game trip and a season-long 10-game homestand from May 2-11.
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 6-19 through 25 games, which is 1 game better than the worst 25-game start in franchise history, done in 1992, 2006 and 2018, when the Royals started 5-20…the schedule makers haven’t done the Royals any favors either, as their seven opponents to this point have a combined record of 99-75 (.569), and four of those seven teams are in 1st place in their division, including tonight’s opponent, the 14-11 Twins, who own a 2-game lead in the AL Central.
PACE OF PLAY: There have been 345 9-inning games in the Majors this season, and the average game time has been 2 hours, 36 minutes…the Royals 25 games this season—including 1 that required extra innings—have averaged 2 hours, 29 minutes, which is 7 minutes below the league average and is the fastest average time in the Majors this season, ahead of tonight’s opponent, the Twins, whose average is 2:30.
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: RHP ZACK GREINKE (0-3, 4.61)
ZACK GREINKE is making his 6th start of the season and 520th of his career tonight
vs. the Twins, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Jim Bunning (1955-71) for 40th all-time, 1 shy of Andy Pettitte and Hall of Famer Jim Palmer (521) for 39th…it’s his 28th career start vs. the Twins and 2nd this season…Greinke, now in his 20th season in the Majors, is a six-time All-Star, a six-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner and was named the American League Cy Young Award winner in 2009 with the Royals.
He is one of three pitchers in Major League history with at least six Rawlings Gold Gloves and six All-Star selections, along with Greg Maddux and Bob Gibson.
Among active pitchers, Greinke ranks 1st in starts (519), innings (3274.1), 2nd in wins (223) and 3rd in strikeouts (2,901)…he is one of three pitchers in Major League history to win a Cy Young Award, a Rawlings Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger Award, along with Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser.
LAST START: Greinke did not figure into the decision of the Royals 11-8 comeback win last Saturday night in Anaheim, in which he allowed 4 runs on 7 hits and no walks in 5.0 innings, with 2 strikeouts…Mike Trout was responsible for 3 of the 4 runs charged to Zack, including an RBI single in the 3rd inning and a 2-run homer in the 5th…the other run came on a solo home run by Hunter Renfroe in the 4th…Zack exited with a 6-4 lead and was in line for his 1st win of the season, but the bullpen yielded 2 runs in the 6th and 2 more in the 8th, before the Royals scored 5 runs in the top of the 9th to overcome a 2-run deficit and snap a 7-game losing streak.
WALK THIS WAY: Zack has recorded at least 5.0 innings and issued 1 walk or fewer in each of his last 8 starts dating back to Sept. 20, 2022 vs. these Twins, a stretch in which he’s recorded only 6 walks in 45.2 innings, tied for the fewest walks in the Majors during that time among pitchers who have made at least 8 starts…his streak of 8 such starts is the longest active streak in the Majors and is 1 shy of Jason Hammel’s 9-start run in 2017 for the longest in Royals history…this includes all 5 of Zack’s starts this year, which is 1 shy of the Royals record to begin a season in club history, trailing Dick Drago in 1971 and Zack’s own 6-start streak to begin last season.
BACK IN BLUE: Zack returned in 2023 for the second straight year to Kansas City, where he spent the first seven seasons of his Major League career, after being selected by the Royals 6th overall in the 2002 Draft…Greinke is the 33rd player to play for the Royals, leave the organization and later return…he missed time due to two stints on the Injured List in 2022, limiting him to only 137.0 innings, the 4th fewest in his career behind the shortened 2020 season (67.0 IP), 2006 (6.1 IP) and 2007 (122.0 IP)…he did, however, rank 2nd among Royals starters with a 3.68 ERA (56 ER in 137.0 IP).
Tonight marks Zack’s 201st start with the Royals, which ranks 8th in club history, trailing Paul Splittorff (392), Mark Gubicza (327), Dennis Leonard (302), Kevin Appier (275), Bret Saberhagen (226), Larry Gura (219) and Danny Duffy (204).
GRE1NKE: After surpassing 500 career starts and 50,000 pitches thrown last season, Greinke is on the verge of many more milestones this year…among them is a rare feat, courtesy of Baseball Reference’s Kenny Jackelen…Greinke has struck out 997 different batters in his 20-year career and is three new strikeout victims shy of joining Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens as the only pitchers in Major League history to fan 1,000 different batters…there are three active Twins who Zack has yet to strike out, including Willi Castro, Nick Gordon and Christian Vázquez.
Zack has struck out 10 sets of brothers in his 20-year career and is seeking to make the Gordon brothers his 11th…Dee-Strange Gordon has fanned three times vs. Greinke, but his brother Nick is 7-for-13 vs. Zack with no strikeouts.
VS. TWINS: In 31 career appearances vs. the Twins, Zack is 5-14—his most losses vs. any opponent—with a 4.51 ERA (82 ER in 163.2 IP)…he has not beaten the Twins since April 30, 2014 with the Dodgers, and in 8 starts since, he’s 0-6 with a 4.54 ERA (20 ER in 39.2 IP)…this includes a 2-0 loss on Opening Day at Kauffman Stadium, in which he allowed just 2 runs in 5.1 innings.
Greinke is 1-7 in 10 career starts at Target Field, but he has received 0 runs of support in each of his last 4 starts here dating back to 2017.
BUMPY ROADS: Greinke exited his most recent start last Saturday in Anaheim with a 6-4 lead, and was in line for the win before the Angels tied the game in the 6th…that means Zack is still seeking his 1st road win since Aug. 13, 2021, when he recorded 7.0 scoreless innings of 2-hit all with the Astros at Angel Stadium…in 19 road starts since, he’s 0-10 with a 5.91 ERA (63 ER in 96.0 IP), but has held opponents to 3 earned runs or fewer in 12 of those 19 starts.
MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:
THE TWINS: Have gone 3-3 through six games on their current 10-game homestand, going 1-2 against the Nationals last weekend, followed by a 2-1 series victory over the Yankees this week…this evening, Minnesota will continue the homestand with the first of four against the Royals, then wrap the series on Sunday afternoon…the Twins have gone 7-5 at Target Field and 7-6 on the road.
Twins have won three of their last four games since April 23 after going 1-6 in a seven-game stretch from April 15-22.
BIG YANKEE INNINGS KEEP BROOMS IN CLOSET: The Twins lost to the Yankees yesterday afternoon in the three-game series finale, failing to record their second sweep of the season and first of the Yankees since 1991…Kenta Maeda (0-4) was the starter and loser, allowing a career-high 10 runs on 11 hits in 3.0-plus innings pitched as New York posted a five-run second and a six-run fourth…the offense recorded five hits, two from Jose Miranda, who hit his first and second home runs of the season, marking the second multi-homer game of his career…Joey Gallo also added a home run, his team-leading seventh of the season.
EVERYTHING IS WINDERFUL NOW: The Twins have returned right-handed pitcher Josh Winder from rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 15-day Injured List…Winder, who has missed the club’s first 25 games of the season with a right shoulder strain, made five appearances on rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul (2 games) and Low-A Fort Myers (3 games), combining to go 1-1, 4.00 ERA (9.0 IP, 4 ER), four walks and 11 strikeouts…the 26-year-old made 15 appearances (11 starts) for the Twins last season, going 4-6, 4.70 ERA (67.0 IP, 35 ER), 18 walks and 47 strikeouts…to make room for Winder on the 26-man roster, the Twins have optioned left-handed pitcher Brent Headrick to Triple-A St. Paul…Headrick, who made his major league debut on April 19 at Boston, appeared in three games for the Twins, posting a 3.24 ERA (8.1 IP, 3 ER) with one save, four walks and 12 strikeouts.
ROYALTY CHECK: The Twins and Royals are playing the fourth of 13 scheduled meetings in 2023…these two teams opened the season at Kauffman Stadium from March 30-April 2 as the Twins swept the three-game series, outscoring the Royals 11-4.
The Twins are 15-5 in their last 20 against KC since April 21, 2022, including a record of 8-2 at Target Field in that span…Twins have won seven-straight home games vs. KC, with their last home defeat coming on May 28, 2022.
Since the start of last season, Twins starters have gone 11-4, 2.27 ERA (115.0 IP, 29 ER) with 29 walks, 100 strikeouts and a .194 (81-for-417) BAA vs. KC…this season in the three games, Pablo López, Sonny Gray and Joe Ryan went 3-0, 0.55 ERA (16.1 IP, 1 ER) with eight hits allowed, nine walks and 15 strikeouts…the one run allowed was a home run by Edward Olivares off Joe Ryan.
Carlos Correa is hitting .339 (41-for-121) with six doubles, six home runs, 16 RBI, 18 walks, a .424 on-base percentage and a .962 OPS in 32 games against the Royals since 2019.
Byron Buxton is hitting .333 (27-for-81) with eight doubles, three home runs, six RBI, 19 runs scored and a .950 OPS in his last 19 games against the Royals, reaching safely in all 19…he has multiple hits in five of his last six vs. KC…in the three-game series earlier this season, he went 6-for-13 with a walk (.462/.500/.692).
ZACK ATTACK: Royals starter Zack Greinke is 5-14 in 31 career games (27 starts) vs. Minnesota, his most losses against any opponent…additionally, he is 1-7 in 10 career starts at Target Field and 1-2 in six career games (4 starts) at the Metrodome.
Lifetime vs. Greinke: Nick Gordon is 7-for-13 (.538) with two doubles and one home run…Byron Buxton is 5-for-13 (.385) with a triple and a walk…Christian Vázquez is 3-for-4 (.750)…Jose Miranda is 3-for-10 (.300)…Trevor Larnach is 3-for-5 (.600) with a home run.
CENTRAL HEATING: The Twins are playing a series against an AL Central opponent for the third time this season after sweeping the Royals in three games at Kauffman Stadium from March 30-April 2, followed by a 2-1 series victory over Chicago-AL from April 10-12…they will play their division for just 52 games this season, compared to the 76 times in previous seasons…the Twins went 39-37 against the AL Central last season.
Each of the Twins next 10 games are against AL Central opponents…after that stretch, they will not play another team within the division until hosting the Guardians for four games from June 1-4.
Below are the Twins pitching numbers compared to other AL divisions/NL: W-L ERA BAA K/BB K/9.0 WHIP OPS
CENTRAL 5-1 1.96 .157 2.63 8.2 0.89 .520
EAST 5-5 4.41 .250 3.84 9.9 1.27 .708
WEST 2-1 3.54 .221 6.67 12.9 1.04 .619
NATIONAL 2-4 3.63 .240 4.75 9.9 1.12 .654
POWER SURGE: The Twins have homered in a season-long nine-straight games, since April 18…since that date, they have hit 15 home runs, tied for second most in baseball with Los Angeles-AL and Los Angeles-NL, and trailing Atlanta (16).
Their current stretch is the club’s longest since July 4-14, 2022, when they also homered in nine-straight…last time they homered in at least 10-straight came September 26, 2001-April 10, 2022 (also 10), spanning two seasons…the last time they homered in at least 10 straight in a single season came from May 20-June 5, 2021, homering in 16 straight.
POLANCO PARTY: Jorge Polanco has hit safely in all five games since his return from the IL (left knee inflammation) and is hitting .409 (9-for-22) with four doubles, one home run, six RBI and a 1.136 OPS…he enters today with 99 career home runs, looking to be the 21st player in club history to reach the 100-home run mark (since 1961).
Since Friday, he has nine hits, tied with Yandy Díaz, Mauricio Dubón, Jarren Duran and Ramon Urías for second-most the AL, trailing Adolis García(10) and Masataka Yoshida (11).
JOSE IS ON HIS WAY: After starting the season hitting .191 (9-for-47) with no extra-base hits and a .461 OPS in his first 12 games, Jose Miranda is hitting .288 (15-for-52) with two doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, four walks and a .351 on-base percentage in his last 14 games.
MASHER OF BASEBALLS: Joey Gallo hit his seventh home run of the season yesterday and now has an at-bat-per-home run ratio of 6.00, the highest in baseball (minimum 45 plate appearances)…despite missing 10 games (right intercostal strain — April 11-19), he still leads the club in homers and ranks tied for second in the American League and tied for sixth in baseball.
Gallo has already hit 14 home runs in 59 games since leaving the Yankees at last year’s trade deadline.
Additionally, he leads all of baseball in slugging percentage (min. 40 PA) at .810 and ranks third in OPS (1.177)
STARTING PITCHER – TYLER MAHLE 51
2023: 1-2, 3.32 ERA CAREER: 33-41, 4.32 ERA
Making his fifth start and appearance of 2023 and third home start…also his 123rd career appearance and 122nd start.
Facing Kansas City for the first time this year and fourth time in his career…1-0, 2.25 ERA (12.0 IP, 3 ER) with six walks and eight strikeouts in previous three appearances (2 starts) vs. Royals.
Acquired from the Cincinnati Reds via trade on August 2, 2022 in exchange for minor league infielders Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Spencer Steer, and left-handed pitcher Steve Hajjar
LAST TIME OUT: Did not factor into the decision against Washington on April 21 at Target Field, with a 3-2 Twins defeat, opposite Trevor Williams…pitched 6.1 innings and allowed one run on three hits with no walks and four strikeouts…his lone blemish came from a solo shot from Joey Meneses in the seventh inning; Meneses was the last batter he faced…was relieved by Caleb Thielbar, who retired the next two batters of the inning…in the eighth inning, Griffin Jax allowed two RBI singles to give the Nationals the lead.
TWO STARTS AGO: Mahle took the loss against New York-AL on April 15 at Yankee Stadium, with the Twins falling 6-1 and snapping a four-game win streak…pitched 4.1 innings and allowed four runs (2 earned) on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts…opposed right-hander Domingo Germán, who earned the win…Mahle allowed a two-run home run to catcher Kyle Higashioka in the second inning and a solo home run to first baseman Anthony Rizzo in the third…was relieved in the fifth inning with one out by left-hander Jovani Moran, who stranded the two runners he inherited…Mahle became the first Twins starter to pitch fewer than 5.0 innings in 2023, snapping a 15-game streak of Twins starters pitching at least 5.0 innings from October 5, 2022 to April 14, 2023.
NUMBERS VS. THE ROYALS: Tonight is Mahle’s fourth career start vs. Kansas City and second with Minnesota…is 1-0, 2.25 ERA (12.0 IP, 3 ER) with six walks and eight strikeouts in three previous starts vs. the Royals…last start against Kansas City was on August 17, 2022 in his third start with Minnesota…did not factor into the decision after pitching only 2.1 shutout innings with just one strikeout…exited the game in the third inning with right shoulder fatigue…Twins won 4-0…earned his last win against the Royals on June 13, 2018 at Kauffman Stadium…pitched 6.1 scoreless innings, allowing three hits, two walks and striking out one batter in a 7-0 Cincinnati victory…Mahle’s ERA against the Royals is the third lowest across any team his faced, trailing Oakland (1.50) and Arizona (1.80)…his .135 opponent batting average against the Royals ranks 10th lowest across the league since 2018 (min. 10.0 IP).
HOME SWEET HOME: In 59 career home appearances (58 starts), Mahle is 13-19, 4.94 ERA (306.0 IP, 168 ER) with 124 walks and 351 strikeouts…he has better career numbers on the road, going 20-22, 3.73 ERA (325.2 IP, 135 ER) with 107 walks and 320 strikeouts in 63 career road starts…tonight is his fifth career start at Taget Field since becoming a Twin…in his previous four starts at Target he is 0-1, 3.92 ERA (20.2 IP, 9 ER) with three walks and 16 strikeouts.
LEFT LEADER: Left-handed hitters are batting .103 (3-for-29) with seven strikeouts against Mahle this season…his .103 opponent batting average vs. lefties ranks second in the American League this year behind Nestor Cortes (.095) (min. 4 GS)…is holding lefties to just 4-for-45 (.089) in his eight starts with the Twins since being traded from Cincinnati last season…righties are hitting .321 (17-for-53) with three doubles, three home runs and 15 strikeouts against Mahle in 2023.
Owns a .189 (127-for-671) opponent batting average against left-handed hitters since the start of 2020, second best in the majors in that span (min. 600 AB), behind only Milwaukee’s Brandon Woodruff (.187).
PITCH BREAKDOWN: Mahle has utilized a four-pitch arsenal this year, primarily relying on a four-seam fastball and slider…is tied for seventh with Logan Gilbert for least hits allowed on a slider at three…has exclusively used his cutter against lefties…here’s a look at Mahle’s 2023 repertoire, per Baseball Savant:
PITCH (AVG. MPH) PCT. (#, vs. RHB/LHB) RESULTS
4-Seam Fastball (92.9)……. 51.5% (183 pitches, 122/61)……………….. .263 (10-for-38), 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 K
Slider (84.3)……………………… 27.6% (98 pitches, 90/8)……………………………. .250 (7-for-28), 1 HR, 9 K
Split Finger (85.3)…………….. 18.6% (66 pitches, 24/42)…………………… .214 (3-for-14), 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 K
Cutter (84.7) ……………………….. 2.3% (8 pitches, 0/8)……………………………………………….. .000 (0-for-2)
NIGHT AND DAY: Mahle is making his third night start of the season…has enjoyed more success in his night starts this season going 1-0, 1.59 ERA (11.1 IP, 2 ER) with one walk and 11 strikeouts in his night starts compared to 0-2, 5.23 ERA (10.1 IP. 6 ER) with four walks and 11 strikeouts in two day starts…tied for fifth in the American League in lowest night ERA…is 18-20, 2.37 ERA (352.0 IP, 171 ER) with 131 walks and 357 strikeouts in 69 night games (68 starts) in his career.
