KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
DODGEBALL: The Royals dominated every phase of the game in yesterday’s 9-1 win over the Dodgers at Kauffman Stadium, in which they clinched their first series win since May 15-17 at San Diego, snapping a run of 12 consecutive winless series (10 losses and two splits) in between…Brady Singer earned his team-best 5th win with 7.0 innings of 1-run ball, lowering his ERA over his last 10 starts to 3.54 (22 ER in 56.0 IP)… the offense, which had scored a total of 10 runs over its final 5 games of June, has scored 15 runs in the 1st 2 games this month—both wins—including a 15-hit outburst yesterday that included 8 knocks with a runner in scoring position, the Royals highest single-game total in two years, since June 4, 2021 vs. Minnesota (8).
Maikel Garcia had a career-best 4 hits, becoming the youngest Royal to record a 4-hit game from the leadoff spot since Carlos Beltrán in 1999…he went 9-for-12 (.750) in 3 games vs. the Dodgers last weekend.
Nicky Lopez matched a career high with 4 RBI and has reached safely in 10 of his last 20 plate appearances over a span of 8 games, during which he has recorded 5 hits, 3 walks and 2 hit-by-pitches.
Bobby Witt Jr. filled the box score with 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 sac. bunt and 1 sac. fly, becoming the second player in the last five seasons to check all those boxes in the same game, joining J.P. Crawford on Aug. 26, 2022.
Drew Waters recorded his 6th multi-hit effort in his last 10 games, a stretch in which he’s batting .389 (14-for-36) with a team-high 9 runs, 5 extra-base hits and 7 RBI, for a .639 slugging pct. and 1.075 OPS.
WE’RE GOING STREAKING!: The Royals have won back-to-back games for the first time since May 28-29 vs. Washington and at St. Louis, and they’re one of eight teams who are undefeated in the month of July…tonight they seek their first 3-game win streak since last Sept. 20-24, when they won 4 straight games, including a 3-game sweep vs. these Twins in Kansas City…the Royals are the only team without a 3-game win streak in 2023.
POWER OUTAGE: The Royals have not homered in their last 7 games, since Edward Olivares’ home run in the 8th inning off Tampa Bay’s Zack Littell in Kansas City’s 9-4 win on June 24…the 7-game home run drought is the Royals longest in four years, since an 8-game drought from May 11-19, 2019, and it’s the 2nd-longest streak in the Majors this season, 1 game behind Cincinnati’s run of 8 consecutive homerless games from April 18-25.
BUMPS AND BRUISES: Royals batters have taken a hit-by-pitch in 8 consecutive games—including 2 yesterday—to match the 4th-longest streak in the Majors since 1901, trailing a 10-game streak by the Astros in 2006, and a pair of 9-game streaks by the Rays, including one in 2015 and another in 2018… for the season, Kansas City has been plunked 43 times, which are the 6th most in the American League and only 4 behind Los Angeles and Oakland (47 each) for the league lead…the Royals are on pace for 85 bruises, which would mark their 2nd most in franchise history behind their 89 plunkings in 2007.
VS. TWINS: The Royals tonight begin their final trip before the All-Star break with the 1st of 3 games at Target Field…this marks their first trip to Minnesota since the end of April, when they lost 3 of 4…the Royals are 1-6 vs. the Twins this season, and have lost 10 of their last 11 games at Target Field…they haven’t won a series here since Sept. 10-12, 2021, when they took 2 of 3, although they did split a 4-game set here from May 26-29, 2022.
Tonight’s game at Target Field will start at 7:10 p.m. CT, 30 minutes later than the originally-scheduled time of 6:40, to allow the Twins to honor their long-time scout Mike Radcliff, who passed away in February.
This series will continue with a 1:10 p.m. CT start tomorrow—Independence Day—and will end with 6:40 start on Wednesday…the Royals will close out the 1st half with a 4-game set in Cleveland this weekend.
ROYALS ON THE MEND: The Royals have had 16 players spend time on the Injured List, including 11 players who are currently on it, five of whom were on the Opening Day roster…their 11 current injuries include seven pitchers— five of which have made at least 1 start—and two position players who were in the lineup on Opening Day.
Michael Massey continued his rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha yesterday and went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk in Game 1 of the Storm Chasers doubleheader vs. Iowa…Massey was placed on the 10-day IL on June 18 (retro to June 15) with a left hand laceration he suffered on June 14 vs. the Reds.
Brad Keller made his 2nd rehab appearance (1st start) in Game 1 of Omaha’s doubleheader yesterday and allowed 1 hit and 3 walks over 2.0 scoreless innings with no strikeouts…Keller last pitched for the Royals on May 15 and was placed on the 15-day Injured List on May 19 with a right shoulder impingement.
Diego Hernandez continued his rehab assignment last night with High-A Quad Cities and went 1-for-4 with a triple and a walk while serving as the DH…in 8 rehab games, including 6 in the Arizona Complex League, he’s 13-for-34 (.462) with 9 runs, 5 extra-base hits and 7 RBI…Hernandez, who was placed on the 40-man roster last offseason, is working his way back from a dislocated shoulder he suffered this spring.
Ryan Yarbrough continued his rehab assignment Thursday night with Triple-A Omaha and allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and 1 walk in 4.2 innings, with 9 strikeouts, his 3rd rehab start and 2nd with Omaha…Yarbrough is recovering from skull fractures suffered when he was hit by a comebacker on May 7 vs. Oakland.
Left-handed pitcher Angel Zerpa had his rehab assignment transferred to Triple-A Omaha last Wednesday and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks in 4.1 innings…Zerpa, who was placed on the 60-day Injured List on March 15 with left shoulder tendinopathy, has a 2.19 ERA (3 ER in 12.1 IP) in 4 rehab starts.
CHARLES IN CHARGE: Minor League Baseball announced today that Royals minor league infielder Austin Charles was named the Carolina League Player of the Week for the period of June 26-July 2…Charles, 19, went 6-for-16 (.476) in 5 games last week with Class-A Columbia with 4 doubles, 7 RBI, 4 walks and 2 stolen bases…Charles, who the Royals selected in the 20th round of last year’s Draft, is batting .293 in 20 games across two levels.
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: LHP AUSTIN COX (0-1, 2.25)
AUSTIN COX is expected to make his 8th career appearance (2nd career start) tonight vs. the Twins…Cox 26, was selected by the Royals in the 5th round of the 2018 Draft out of Mercer University (Ga.), and made his big league debut on May 4, 2023.
He is one of six pitchers the Royals selected in the 2018 Draft to appear in a Major League game, joining Brady Singer (18th overall), Jackson Kowar (33rd), Daniel Lynch (34th), Kris Bubic (40th) and Jonathan Heasley (392nd).
LAST APPEARANCE: Making his 1st start, Austin took his 1st career loss on June 28 vs. the Guardians as he allowed 4 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks with just 2 strikeouts across 3.2 innings of work as the Royals fell 14-1 at Kauffman Stadium…he went 1-2- 3 in the 1st and stranded a pair in the 2nd, before loading the bases with no outs to begin the 3rd, setting up José Ramírez for a grand slam, which snapped Cox’s scoreless streak at 14.1 innings to begin his career…Cox exited with two on and 2 out in the 4th in favor of Brooks Kriske, who stranded the inherited runners.
The Ramírez grand slam snapped Cox’s scoreless streak at 14.1 innings to begin his career, which tied Kris Wilson (2000) for the 3rd-longest scoreless-inning streak to begin a career in Royals history, according to Elias, trailing Bob McClure (17.0 IP) from 1975-76 and Aaron Crow (15.1 IP) in 2011.
MAJOR LEAGUE RECORD HOLDER: Cox began his Major League career by retiring 35 of the first 39 batters he faced across 6 relief appearances, allowing only 4 walks…his 39 batters without allowing a hit marked the longest such streak in the Expansion Era (since 1961), according to Elias, surpassing the record held by Mark Rogers (32, Sept. 10-Oct. 1, 2010) and Joel McKeon (32, May 6-25, 1986), as well as the previous Royals record, held by D.J. Carrasco (23, April 2-14, 2003). Ê Austin’s 11.1 hitless innings to begin his career is also an Expansion Era-record, and no other pitcher has had even 10.0 hitless innings to begin a Majors career.
Cox had the excellent start to his career immortalized by the sports card company Topps, who created a limited edition “Topps Now” card to commemorate his accomplishments…the card was sold for only 24 hours and sold out within just a few hours.
LET’S GET STARTED: Austin is making his 2nd Major League start tonight, and he has been built up as a starting pitcher in the minors, having already made 8 starts in Triple-A Omaha this year, in which he went 2-1 with a 2.92 ERA (12 ER in 37.0 IP) and a .233 opponents’ batting average…for his minor league career, 80 of his 89 career outings have been starts, in which he recorded a 3.46 ERA (150 ER in 388.1 IP) and 346 strikeouts, with a 21-16 personal record to a 45-35 team record.
CHASING STORMS: Austin made 10 appearances (8 starts) in Triple-A Omaha this year across two stints, and went 2-1 with a 3.83 ERA (18 ER in 42.1 IP) and 36 strikeouts…he began the season with Omaha and remained there until he was selected on May 3…prior to his initial call-up, he went 1-0 with a 2.21 ERA (5 ER in 20.1 IP) across 5 games (4 starts)…he made his Major League debut on May 4 vs. Baltimore and pitched 2.0 scoreless innings of relief, and was optioned postgame back to Omaha, where he remained through June 6…from May 5-June 6 with the Storm Chasers, he went 1-1 with a 5.32 ERA (13 ER in 22.0 IP), and was recalled on June 7.
MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:
THE TWINS: Completed their nine-game, 10-day road-trip with a record of 4-5, going 2-1 in Detroit, 0-3 in Atlanta and 2-1 in Baltimore…tonight, the Twins will begin the pre-ASG portion of their schedule with a six-game, seven-day homestand, which consists of three games against the Royals through Wednesday, an off day on Thursday, then three games against the Orioles over the weekend…the Twins have gone 23-19 at home and 19-24 on the road.
TWINS LOSE AT THE WIRE IN BALTIMORE: The Twins lost to the Orioles yesterday afternoon in Baltimore by a score of 2-1…All-Star Sonny Gray was the starter but did not factor into the decision, pitching 6.0 shutout innings with two hits, three walks and seven strikeouts…Jhoan Duran (2-3) was dealt the loss, allowing two runs to score in the eighth inning on three hits and one walk…the offense recorded six hits, including doubles from Willi Castro and Michael A. Taylor…despite the defeat, the Twins won the series 2-1, giving them 12 series wins on the season.
SONNY’S A STAR: Starting pitcher Sonny Gray was named to the American League All-Star team yesterday, marking his third career selection…Sonny was named to the 2015 team with Oakland (DNP) and the 2019 team with Cincinnati (DNP)…Gray has gone 4-2, 2.50 ERA (93.2 IP, 26 ER) with 36 walks, 96 strikeouts and just three home runs allowed in 17 starts…among AL starters, he ranks first in home runs allowed, second in FIP (2.81), ERA and third in slugging percentage (.326) and fourth in WAR (2.90)…Gray becomes the 18th different starting pitcher in club history to be selected to the All-Star team…below are the Twins All-Star SPs (since 1961):
PLAYER YEAR PLAYER YEAR PLAYER YEAR
Camilo Pascual……………1961 Jim Perry……………………..1971 Johan Santana…………. 2005
Jim Kaat……………………..1962 Bert Blyleven………………..1973 Johan Santana…………. 2006
Camilo Pascual……………1962 Frank Viola…………………..1988 Francisco Liriano……… 2006
Camilo Pascual……………1964 Scott Erickson………………1991 Johan Santana…………. 2007
Jim Grant…………………….1965 Jack Morris…………………..1991 Ervin Santana………….. 2017
Jim Kaat……………………..1966 Brad Radke………………….1998 José Berríos……………… 2018
Dean Chance……………….1967 Joe Mays……………………..2001 José Berríos……………… 2019
Jim Perry……………………..1970 Eric Milton …………………..2001 Jake Odorizzi……………. 2019
ROYALTY CHECK: The Twins and Royals are playing the eighth of 13 scheduled meetings in 2023…through six games, the Twins have gone 6-1 and outscored the Royals 36-18…Minnesota swept the Royals to open the season at Kauffman Stadium from March 30-April 2, then took three of four at Target Field from April 27-30.
Twins have scored 6.4 runs-per-game in their last five vs. the Royals.
The Twins are 18-6 in their last 24 against KC since April 21, 2022, including a record of 11-3 at Target Field in that span…in fact, Twins have 18 wins vs. KC since the start of 2022, their most wins vs. any opponent in that span.
Since the start of last season, Twins starters have gone 13-4, 2.50 ERA (136.2 IP, 38 ER) with 33 walks, 126 strikeouts and a .200 opponent batting average vs. KC.
Twins have a +44 run differential vs. KC since the start of 2022, outscoring them 121-77.
CROWN ‘EM: Notable individual numbers vs. the Royals:
Carlos Correa is hitting .326 (44-for-135) with six doubles, seven home runs, 17 RBI, 21 walks, a .417 on-base percentage and a .943 OPS in 36 games against the Royals since ‘19.
Byron Buxton is hitting .333 (32-for-96) with 10 doubles, six home runs, 13 RBI, 24 runs scored and a 1.033 OPS in his last 23 games against the Royals, reaching safely in all 23… in seven games this season, he is 11-for-28 and slashing .393/.452/.893.
CENTRAL OF ATTENTION: The Twins have gone 15-12 against the AL Central this season, going 3-4 vs. the Guardians, 6-1 vs. the Royals, 3-3 vs. the White Sox and 3-4 vs. the Tigers…they began the season 12-6 in their first 18 vs. the division but have since gone 3-6…after this series, Minnesota’s next inter-division series will be hosting the White Sox for three from July 21-23…below are the Twins pitching numbers compared to other AL divisions/NL:
W-L ERA BAA K/BB K/9.0 WHIP OPS
CENTRAL 15-12 2.98 .212 3.00 8.7 1.10 .605
EAST 12-14 4.13 .237 3.52 9.1 1.19 .693
WEST 5-4 3.71 .232 4.50 11.1 1.14 .672
NATIONAL 10-13 3.72 .235 3.26 10.3 1.24 .705
FOLLOW THE LEADER: Carlos Correa is leading off tonight for the fourth-consecutive game… he led off all three games at Baltimore, going 4-for-12 (.333) with a double and an .801 OPS…he singled to start games one and three…prior to the Orioles series, he made three career starts from the leadoff spot in a three-game stretch for Houston from April 22-24, 2021 vs. Los Angeles-AL.
THE BUCK STARTS HERE: Byron Buxton has hit safely in each of his last four games, hitting .333 (5-for-15) with two doubles, one home run, three RBI, two walks, a .412 on-base percentage, a .667 slugging percentage and a 1.078 OPS in thats span.
Buxton is 4-for-his-last-8 vs. left-handed pitching, including two doubles and one home run.
STARTING PITCHER – JOE RYAN 41
2023: 8-5, 3.44 ERA CAREER: 23-14, 3.56 ERA
Making his 17th start and appearance of 2023 and his eighth home start of the year…also his 49th career start and appearance.
Facing Kansas City for the second time this season and sixth time in his career; is 5-0 with a 1.20 ERA (30.0 IP, 4 ER), nine walks and 32 strikeouts in five previous starts vs. the Royals.
Owns most strikeouts (286) and second-most wins (23) through a pitcher’s first 48 career games in Twins history (since 1961).
LAST TIME OUT: Took the loss on June 27 at Atlanta in the Twins’ 6-2 defeat at Truist Park…pitched a career-low 3.0 innings, allowing six runs on a season-high nine hits (career-high-tying 5 HR), with no walks and five strikeouts…allowed three home runs and one triple in the first inning, yielding solo homers to rightfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. and catcher Sean Murphy and a two-run homer to third baseman Austin Riley; his four runs allowed in the first inning were the most he has allowed in the first in any start of his career…allowed back-to-back solo home runs to centerfielder Michael Harris II and Acuña Jr. in the second inning; marked the first time he has allowed back-to-back home runs in his career…pitched a scoreless third inning before being relieved by Oliver Ortega to start the fourth; Ortega and Brent Headrick combined to throw 5.0 scoreless innings, but the Twins went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and dropped the middle game of the three-game series.
Tied his start on July 29, 2022 at San Diego for the most home runs he has allowed in his career… he is one of three pitchers in Twins/Senators history (since 1961) to allow five home runs in a game (also, Carlos Silva on August 22, 2006 at Baltimore and Bert Blyleven on September 13, 1986 vs. Texas)…is the only pitcher in franchise history (since 1901) to allow five home runs more than once.
TWO STARTS AGO: Pitched his first career complete-game shutout on June 22 vs. Boston at Target Field, as Minnesota won 6-0 in the series finale to split the four-game set…allowed just three hits and struck out nine batters without issuing a walk in 9.0 innings…retired 20 of the first 21 batters he faced, allowing only a fourth-inning single to designated hitter Justin Turner in that span…allowed one single in the seventh and eighth innings but stranded both runners…sent down the Red Sox in order in the ninth inning, retiring leftfielder Masataka Yoshida on a flyout to leftfield to finish the shutout.
Became the first Twins pitcher with a complete game since José Berríos on June 7, 2018 vs. Chicago-AL, ending a 724-game span between complete games for Minnesota…also became the first Twin with a complete-game shutout since Berríos blanked the Orioles 7-0 on April 1, 2018 in Baltimore.
Threw a career-high 112 pitches, surpassing his previous high of 110 on August 9, 2022 at Los Angeles-NL…also pitched into the ninth inning for the first time in his career, besting his 7.2-inning start on September 18, 2022 at Cleveland for his longest career outing by innings.
LEAGUE LEADER: Ryan enters today leading American League pitchers in several statistical cat- egories…here are his numbers through 16 starts and how they rank among qualified AL pitchers:
STATISTIC RYAN’S #’S AL RANK
WHIP……………………………………………………. 0.97 …………………………………………………………… 2nd
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio………………………….. 7.00 …………………………………………………………… 2nd
Walks-per-9.0 Innings……………………………. 1.40 ……………………………………………………………. 3rd
Opponent OPS ………………………………………. .616 ……………………………………………………………. 4th
WAR……………………………………………………… 2.3 …………………………………………………………….. 8th
FIP………………………………………………………. 3.36 ……………………………………………………………. 8th
A ROYAL WELCOME: Facing Kansas City for the second time this season and sixth time in his career… has won each of his five previous starts vs. the Royals, going 5-0 with a 1.20 ERA (30.0 IP, 4 ER), nine walks, 32 strikeouts and a .155 (16-for-103) opponent batting average…defeated Kansas City on April 2 at Kauffman Stadium in his first start of 2023, allowing one run on three hits (1 HR) in 6.0 innings pitched with two walks and six strikeouts to guide Minnesota to a 7-4 win and a season-opening sweep of the Royals…last faced Kansas City at Target Field on September 13, 2022, throwing 7.0 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts in the Twins’ 6-3 victory.
Is one of four pitchers to win his first five career starts against the Royals since the inception of the franchise in 1969, joining James Shields (2006-09 with Tampa Bay), Ken Holtzman (1972-73 with Oakland) and Jim Palmer (1969-70 with Baltimore)…would become the first pitcher to win his first six starts against Kansas City with a win tonight.
HOME COOKING: In seven starts at Target Field this year, Ryan is 5-2 with a 2.70 ERA (46.2 IP, 14 ER), five walks, 51 strikeouts and a .185 (32-for-173) opponent batting average…his 0.79 WHIP at home this year is the lowest in the American League and second lowest in all of baseball (min. 5 home GS), trailing only Los Angeles-NL’s Julio Urías (0.73); also owns a 10.20 strikeouts-per-walk ratio at home, third best in the AL among pitchers with at least five home starts…snapped a two-game home losing streak with a complete-game shutout in his last home start on June 22 vs. Boston…is 3-3, 4.14 ERA (50.0 IP, 23 ER) with 10 walks and 54 strikeouts in nine road starts this season; Twins have gone 4-5 in his road starts.
Among pitchers with at least 10 career starts at Target Field, Ryan owns the lowest WHIP (0.95), opponent batting average (.187) and opponent OPS (.570) at the venue, while his 3.24 career ERA at Target Field is the seventh lowest since the park opened in 2010.
Ryan is 12-7, 3.24 ERA (144.1 IP, 52 ER) with 38 walks and 156 strikeouts in 25 career home starts…is 11-7, 3.93 ERA (126.0 IP, 55 ER) with 29 walks and 130 strikeouts in 23 road starts.
THE ARSENAL: Ryan has utilized a four-pitch mix in his first 16 starts of the 2023 season…has leaned on his four-seam fastball and split finger, combining to throw the two pitches 86.8 percent of the time this year…opposing batters went 5-for-6 with one triple and three home runs off his four-seam fastball in his last start on June 27 at Atlanta…Ryan also recorded four strikeouts with his split finger in his last outing, tied with his starts on June 22 vs. Boston and May 19 at Los Angeles-AL for his most strikeouts with a splitter in any start in his career…here’s a look at Ryan’s repertoire, per Baseball Savant:
PITCH (AVG. MPH) PCT. (# OF PITCHES, VS. RHB/LHB) RESULTS
4-Seam Fastball (92.5)……….58.8% (875 pitches, 460/415).. .219 (43-for-196), 7 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 61 K Split Finger (83.7)………………28.0% (416 pitches, 165/251)….. .171 (22-for-129), 4 2B, 2 HR, 32 K Sweeper (79.0)……………………..7.8% (116 pitches, 93/23)…………. .316 (6-for-19), 1 2B, 2 HR, 5 K Slider (82.6)………………………….5.4% (80 pitches, 65/15)………….. .444 (8-for-18), 1 2B, 2 HR, 6 K
Ryan’s split finger has accumulated a run value of -8 this season, the third-best run value on a splitter in the majors according to Baseball Savant…also has a run value of -12 on his four-seam fastball, the seventh-best run value on a four-seamer in baseball.
His .219 opponent batting average against his four-seam fastball is the seventh-lowest bat- ting average vs. a four-seamer in baseball (min. 150 plate appearances)…his .171 opponent batting average against his splitter is the also the seventh-lowest batting average against a splitter in baseball (min. 50 plate appearances).
