ATLANTA BRAVES NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Braves and Royals tonight continue a three-game interleague series in what is scheduled to be the only meetings between the two clubs this season.
• The Braves hit five home runs in a 10-3 win over the Royals in the series opener last night.
• Atlanta and Kansas City have not played since 2019, when the Royals won three of four games between the clubs, including a two-game sweep
at Truist Park.
• The Braves have played just eight total games here at Kauffman Stadium and have compiled a 4-4 record in the park…Atlanta has never won a series here; the Braves and Royals split two games in 2013 and 2019, and Kansas City won two of three in 2016.
• Entering this weekend, Atlanta and Kansas City had played just 17 times since the advent of interleague play in 1997, with the Braves going
8-9 in these games…Atlanta’s 17 games versus the Royals were its second fewest against any A.L. team, just two more than the Braves have played against Cleveland…For comparison, Atlanta has played Boston 86 times in interleague play.
• RH Bryce Elder has never faced the Royals, nor has he pitched against any member of Kansas City’s current roster…The 6-foot-2, 225-pound righthander has yet to allow a run in two starts this season, pitching 12.1 scoreless innings and fanning 13…Atlanta has won both of his starts this year.
• LH Kris Bubic has never pitched against the Braves but has faced five members of Atlanta’s rosters and yielded a .357/.357/.786 line, including two homers in three at-bats against Matt Olson…The 6-foot-3, 225-pound native of San Jose, CA has made a pair of starts for the Royals this season, compiling an 0-1 record despite allowing just nine hits and two runs over 11.0 innings (1.64 ERA).
WIN: Atlanta beat Kansas City, 10-3, last night to win the opener…The Braves scored a season most 10 runs, and hit a season high five homers.
• Atlanta’s 10 runs were its most since also scoring 10 on September 6 of last season at Oakland, and its five homers were its most since also clubbing five on September 2 of last year versus Miami.
• The Braves are one of just six teams this season with five-or-more homers in a game, joining the Blue Jays, Brewers, Cubs, Rays and Giants… San Francisco is the only team to do so twice, including a majors-most seven homers on April 3 at the White Sox.
• Matt Olson and Austin Riley collected back-to-back home runs in last night’s first inning, the second time this season that Braves teammates
have homered in consecutive at-bats in the first frame…The Braves are one of just two teams in baseball with two sets of back-to-back homers in the opening inning, joining Minnesota.
ONE HUNDRED FOR RILEY: Austin Riley’s first-inning home run last night was the 100th of his major league career, and his third this season.
• Riley’s 100th homer came in the 464th game of his career…Since the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966, just two players have tallied 100 homers more quickly… Ronald Acuña Jr. needed 378 games to reach the mark, while Bob Horner needed 390.
• Since Riley’s debut on May 15, 2019, he is one of just 17 players in the majors to hit at least 100 home runs…NYM’s Pete Alonso has 140 in that span to lead the majors…Since the start of 2021, however, just six players have homered more often than Riley’s 74.
• 2B Ozzie Albies hit the 100th homer of his own career on Tuesday night against the Reds…Per Elias, Albies and Riley became just the fourth set of Braves teammates to hit their 100th homers in the same season…Chipper Jones and Javy Lopez were the most recent pair, doing so in 1998, while Jeff Blauser and Ryan Klesko did it in 1997…Hank Aaron, Del Crandall and Joe Adcock were the first set of Braves teammates to do so, all hitting career homer No. 100 in 1957 for Milwaukee.
TOP OF THE LINEUP PT. I: Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson and Austin Riley, Atlanta’s No. 1-3 batters in the lineup, combined to go 6-for-15 with six runs, three homers and five RBI last night.
• That trio has batted No. 1-3 for Atlanta in every game this season.
• The three are combining to bat .337/.429/.592 on the season, and Atlanta’s production from those spots in the order leads the majors with a 1.021 OPS.
• In the National League, Atlanta’s No. 1-3 batters lead in hits (57, tied), extra-base hits (21, tied), homers (11), runs (34) and RBI (33).
TOP OF THE LINEUP PT. II: In the first inning, Atlanta’s trio of Acuña Jr., Olson and Riley are batting a combined .526/.548/1.158 with a 1.706 OPS, all of which are tops in the majors.
• The trio leads the majors in first-inning hits (20), extra-base hits (10), homers (7), runs (12) and RBI (12).
• As a team, Atlanta’s 14 first-inning runs are second most in baseball, behind just the Dodgers’ 15…The Braves plated four runs in the top of the first last night.
• The Braves have scored in the first inning in seven of their 14 games this season, and are a perfect 7-0 when doing so.
BRYCE ELDER: Makes his third start of the season, and has pitched 12.1 scoreless innings in his first two turns…Atlanta has won both starts.
• The last Atlanta pitcher to open a season with three straight scoreless starts was Paul Maholm, who did so in 2013.
Tonight’s Starting Pitcher – #55 Bryce Elder RHP
Tonight’s Game
• Set to make his 12th career start, 13th appearance and his first outing against KC.
• Enters play with seven consecutive outings of least 5.0 innings pitched.
• Is 2-1 with a 1.20 ERA over his last seven starts after being recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett, dating to August 14, 2022.
• His 1.20 ERA is the second lowest in baseball among pitchers with at least five starts during that span…Trails only Chicago’s (NL) Justin Steele’s 0.99 ERA. • In that stretch, Elder is averaging 6.1 innings pitched per outing, tied for the fifth highest rate in the majors.
• Scattered six hits while fanning seven hitters and issuing just one walk through 6.1 scoreless innings against Cincinnati during his last start.
• With his last outing against the Reds, Elder has now held opponents to one run or less while pitching at least 5.0 frames in six of his 12 career appearances… Tied for the second most such games in Braves franchise history through a players first 12 games, trailing only Michael Soroka with eight.
• Through 11 career starts, Elder has pitched 64.0 innings.
• His 64.0 frames tossed through his first 11 starts are tied for the twelfth-most in Atlanta franchise history and are the most since Tommy Hanson’s 67.0 innings pitched in 2009.
2022 Recap
• Made nine starts and pitched in 10 total games during his debut season, compiling a 2-4 record with a 3.17 ERA (19 ER/54.0 IP)…Surpassed his rookie innings limit in his final start of the season, but was rated as Atlanta’s No. 4 prospect during the season.
• Made his major league debut, April 12, and beat the Nationals, 16-4…Pitched 5.2 innings with six hits, three runs and four strikeouts…Allowed a pair of home runs.
• Pitched the first shuout of his career, September 26 at Washington, allowing just six hits and one walk…Struck out six…The Braves beat the Nationals, 8-0.
• The outing is the only shutout by a Braves pitcher on the season.
• Elder became the first Braves rookie to throw a shutout since Paul Marak in 1990.
• Started on August 14 at Miami…He pitched 7.0 innings in that start, allowing three hits and one run in the no-decision, and fanned a career-most 10 batters… The Braves beat the Marlins, 3-1.
• Became just the third Braves player in the live-ball era (since 1920) to log a double-digit strikeout effort within the first six games of his career…He joined LHP Mike Minor (12 strikeouts at the Cubs in his third career game) and RHP Ryan Weber (10 strikeouts vs. Washington in his fifth appearance).
• Was added as the 27th man for Atlanta’s doubleheader at New York on August 6, and pitched 2.1 innings of relief against the Mets in Game 1.
• Walked six batters in his start, April 24, and five in his start on April 17, after issuing zero bases on balls in his debut.
• The 11 walks are the most for any Braves pitcher in a two-game span since 2012, when Tommy Hanson also walked 11 between his starts on July 20 and July 25.
• Made 18 appearances and 17 starts for Triple-A Gwinnett on the season, and went 6-5 with a 4.46 ERA (52 ER/105.0 IP) and 97 strikeouts for the Stripers.
• Became the seventh pitcher in franchise history to debut with a start against the Nationals/Expos, and the first since Manny Banuelos pitched 5.2 scoreless innings on July 2, 2015 in his first career appearance.
• Including Elder, the seven pitchers combined to go 3-2 and compile a 3.23 ERA (14 ER/39.0 IP), including four starts of at least 5.0 innings and no more than two runs allowed.
• Atlanta improved to 5-2 in games in which a starting pitchers debuts against Washington, including wins in each of the last five such games.
Career
• Was originally drafted by Atlanta in the fifth round of the 2020 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Texas…Was the fifth member of the 2020 draft class to debut, and the lowest-selected pick to do so.
• Of the first five members to play in the majors from the 2020 draft class, three were selected with the first 11 picks in the draft – Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson (No. 1 overall), the Angels’ Reid Detmers (No. 10) and the White Sox’s Garrett Crochet (No. 11).
• The other two were both selected by Atlanta, and chosen with the 126th (Spencer Strider) and 156th (Elder) overall selections.
• Made his professional debut during the 2021 season and pitched across three levels of the Braves’ farm system…Went a combined 11-5 with a 2.76 ERA (41 ER/133.2 IP) and 151 strikeouts in 24 games, all starts.
• Named the Double-A South Pitcher of the Week for July 5-July 11, and Double-A South Pitcher of the Month for July…In nine starts he went 7-1 with a 3.21 ERA (20 ER/56.0 IP).
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
CLUNKER AT THE K: The Royals suffered a 10-3 loss to the Braves at Kauffman Stadium last night, in which they surrendered 5 home runs, 1 shy of the franchise record…Brady Singer suffered his 1st home defeat since last June, and was charged with a career-high 8 runs on 10 hits—including 4 HR—in 5.0 innings, but did not walk a batter and struck out 8…Bobby Witt Jr. recorded 3 of the Royals 7 hits on offense, his second straight 3-hit effort.
3-HIT WITT: Bobby Witt Jr. recorded his second straight 3-hit game last night, matching a run of back-toback 3-hit games last May 27-28…he’s the third player in Royals history to have back-to-back 3-hit games multiple times before his 23rd birthday, following Eric Hosmer (twice in 2011) and George Brett (4 times).
After starting the year 5-for-35 (.143), he’s 9-for-17 (.529) in his last 4 games, including 3 multi-hit efforts.
RISPY BUSINESS: The Royals season-long situational hitting woes continued last night, as they went 2-for11 with runners in scoring position, and rank 29th in the Majors with a .198 average in scoring situations… similarly, the Royals have struggled to drive in the runner from third base with less than 2 outs, a trend that continued last night…on the season, the Royals are batting .214 (9-for-42) in those situations and have struck out more times (18) than they’ve scored the runner from third (14)…the Royals had 6 plate appearances last night vs. Charlie Morton with a runner at third and less than 2 outs…in those situations, they went 0-for-4 with a sacrifice fly, a hit-by-pitch that drove in a run and an inning-ending double play.
VS. BRAVES: The all-time series between the Royals and Braves is split right down the middle, as each team has 9 wins and 9 losses, including 4 of each here in Kansas City and 5 of each in Atlanta…with a win today or tomorrow, the Braves would clinch their first series win at Kauffman Stadium, as they’re winless in their previous three sets here, including losing two of three in 2016 and 2-game splits in 2013 and 2019.
Including last night’s game, the Royals 18 games vs. the Braves are tied with the Marlins, Nationals and Padres for their 4th fewest vs. any opponent, more than only the Mets (16), Phillies (15) and Dodgers (15).
The Royals are 2-2 through the first 4 games of their franchise-record 46-game Interleague schedule.
Royals Executive VP and GM J.J. Picollo worked for the Braves from 1999-2005 and served as the Director of Minor League Operations in his final year before joining Kansas City in 2006…while with Atlanta, he also held positions as the Assistant Director of Player Development and as an Area Scouting Supervisor for Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Washington D.C.
Peter Moylan, who pitched for the Royals from 2016-17, returns to Kansas City this week as part of the Braves Bally Sports crew…following a 12-year big league career, Moylan is now in his fifth season appearing on the Braves Live pregame and postgame shows, and is in his second season calling games in the booth.
AFTERNOON DELIGHT: Today’s 3:05 p.m. CT start snaps a run of 4 consecutive night games, but marks the Royals 8th day game already this season…including another daytime start tomorrow at 1:10 p.m. CT, the Royals are scheduled for 64 day games overall this season, which would match 2021 for their 2nd most in team history, trailing only last season, when they played a franchise-record 69 day games.
PACE OF PLAY: The new pitch timer rules implemented for 2023 have already produced dramatic results through the first 16 days of the regular season…through 192 games that have ended in 9 innings, the average game time has been 2 hours, 37 minutes, and only 20 of the 192 games (10.4%) have lasted at least 3 hours… the Royals 14 games have averaged 2 hours, 28 minutes, which is 9 minutes below the league average and is the 2nd-fastest average time this season, longer only that the Twins (2:26)…compared to 9-inning games across the Majors last season, average time of game is down 26 minutes, while batting averages are up from .243 to .249, runs per game are up from 8.6 to 9.4 and stolen base success rates have jumped from 75.4% to 82.0%…the current success rate of steals would shatter the Major League record set in 2021 at 75.7%.
HOME: The Royals are 1-7 through their first 8 games at Kauffman Stadium this season, in which they’ve been outscored 39-20 (-19)…this marks their worst home start through 8 games since 2018, when they were also 1-7 at this point, and began 1-12 before winning their 2nd home game… with a win today, the Royals would snap a 4-game losing streak at Kauffman Stadium, and would force their 1st rubber game of the season tomorrow.
Following this 3-game set with the Braves, the Royals will host the Rangers for 3 games next week, beginning Monday night.
PITCHING PROPS: Through the first 14 games of the season, new Pitching Coach Brian Sweeney has made his mark on this pitching staff that finished near the bottom in several categories last season…the Royals finished last in the American League in 2022 with 589 walks and BB/9 ratio (3.74), and finished last in the Majors in K/BB ratio (2.02) and first-pitch strikes (58.0%)…this year, the Royals rank 6th in the Majors with a 3.23 K/BB ratio, 7th with a 2.96 BB/9 ratio and 15th in first-pitch strikes (60.6%)…Royals starting pitchers, specifically, have been among the most consistent in the Majors through the first two weeks of the season, as they’ve allowed 2 runs or fewer in 9 of 14 games, w
which trails only the Rays and Twins (10 each) among all teams
TODAY’S STARTERS: LHP KRIS BUBIC (0-1, 1.64)
KRIS BUBIC is making his 3rd start of the season and the 60th of his career today vs. the Braves, who he will face for the 1st time in his career…Kris was selected in the 1st round (40th overall) of the 2018 Draft out of Stanford University.
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’: Bubic turned in one of the best starts of his career last Sunday in San Francisco, where he held the Giants scoreless over 6.0 innings and allowed just 2 hits and no walks with a career-high-tying 9 strikeouts (also done on Aug. 21, 2021 at the Cubs in the famous “no rain” rain-delay game)…he became just the third Royals pitcher in the last eight seasons since 2016 to record a start of at least 6.0 scoreless innings and no more than 2 hits and no walks allowed, following Jonathan Heasley last June 10 vs. Baltimore and Jakob Junis on Sept. 3, 2018 at Cleveland.
From the last out in the 1st inning through the end of the 3rd, Kris struck out 5 of his 7 batters faced, and he exited after 6.0 innings with a 1-0 Royals lead, however Kansas City was tagged for 3 runs in the 8th en route to a 3-1 defeat.
Extended his homerless streak to 23.1 innings dating back to last Sept. 18, and is 3.1 innings shy of matching his career-best 26.2-inning streak (May 2-28, 2021).
He’s one of only eight pitchers in the Majors who have tossed at least 10.0 innings this year but have allowed 1 or no walks…his 13.0 K/BB ratio (13 K, 1 BB) ranks 4th among all pitchers (min. 10.0 IP), trailing only Anthony DeSclafani (11 K, 0 BB), Kenta Maeda (12 K, 0 BB) and Jacob deGrom (27 K, 2 BB).
A REVAMPED ARSENAL: Kris introduced a new pitch into his repertoire this season, a slider that he has thrown just 16 times over his first 2 starts of the season, however it is already proving to be a key piece of his arsenal…his 16 sliders have yielded 5 whiffs on 9 swings for a 55.6% whiff rate, according to Baseball Savant, and 10 of his 16 sliders have been thrown in a 2-strike count while 9 have been thrown against left-handed batters, whom he has held to a .125 batting average (1-for-8) this season.
In a recent FanGraphs article, Jake Mailhot pointed out that Bubic’s pitches have jumped in average velocity across the board this season, as his four-seamer increased from 91.9 to 93.2 mph and his changeup has increased from 80.7 to 83.2 mph, however he has still maintained a 10-mph differential between his fastball and changeup…his curveball has also jumped from 79.4 to 81.4 mph.
In his start last Sunday in San Francisco, he racked up 19 swinging strikes in just 76 total pitches (25.0%), besting his previous career high of 17 swinging strikes in a start…the 19 swinging strikes marked the most in any outing by a Royals pitcher since Brady Singer also recorded 19 on Aug. 14, 2022 vs. the Dodgers.
2022, A BREAKDOWN: His 2022 season can be summarized in three stretches, with the first beginning on Opening Day and ending on May 11 at Texas, in which he went 0-3 with a 12.83 ERA (19 ER in 13.1 IP) through his first 6 outings (5 starts), capped by his lone relief appearance of the year on May 11 when he allowed a solo home run in his only inning of work, resulting in his option to Triple-A Omaha… Kris appeared to be rejuvenated by his time in the minors as he spun 5.0 scoreless innings of work in his return to the Majors on June 4 vs. the Astros, sparking a 13- game stretch through Aug. 10 in which he went 2-3 despite a 3.49 ERA (29 ER in 72.2 IP), and recorded a career-best four straight quality starts from July 17-Aug. 10…however, the tide turned beginning on Aug. 15 at Minnesota, as over his next 8 starts, he set a career-long losing streak by going 0-7 with a 7.58 ERA (32 ER in 38.0 IP) and .385 opponents’ average (60-for-156), before bookending his campaign with 5.0 scoreless frames vs. the Guardians in his Progressive Field debut on Oct. 1.
While in Omaha last May 12-June 3, he made 3 starts and was tagged for a 6.59 ERA (10 ER in 13.2 IP), but struck out 17 batters while walking just 4. Ê After being recalled from Triple-A on June 4, he exited all but 2 of his 22 starts with the Royals either leading (8 times), tied (3) or within 3 runs (9).
TWO FOR THE SHOW: Kris induced a team-best 19 groundball double plays last season, which finished ranked 4th in the American League, and
he has 39 groundball double plays in 270.0 innings since the start of 2021, which are the most in the American League during that stretch, only trailing San Francisco’s Logan Webb (42) and Colorado’s Germán Márquez (40) for the Major League lead…he has induced groundball double
plays at a rate of 1.30 per 9 innings in that span, which is the highest rate in the Majors (min. 250.0 IP), ahead of Pittsburgh’s Mitch Keller (1.17).
REVERSE SPLITS: Bubic faced 134 left-handed batters in 2022 and they finished 42-for-113 (.372) with 17 walks and 6 HR for a .459 on-base pct. and .611 slugging pct…right-handed batters, on the other hand, hit .287 (114-for-397) with 12 HR and a .436 slugging pct…his .372 opponents’ avg. vs. left handers was the highest in the Majors (min. 100 lefties faced), over 30 points higher than the next-worse pitcher (Cubs Rowan Wick, .341)…it tied Sidney Ponson’s 2009 season as the 4th-highest average surrendered to left-handed hitters in club history, but was the highest mark by a southpaw in Royals history.
Over his first 2 starts this season, he has held left-handed hitters to just a .125 clip (1-for-8), and right-handed hitters are batting .242 (8-for-33).
INTERLEAGUE ACTION: Today will mark Bubic’s 1st career appearance against a National League East opponent, however in 13 career starts vs. the
NL Central and West, he’s gone 2-6 with a 5.43 ERA (36 ER in 59.2 IP)…over those 13 outings, he’s racked up 65 strikeouts for a 9.8 K/9, which is the 6th-highest rate by any left-handed pitcher in Interleague play since the start of 2020 (min. 55.0 IP), behind only Robbie Ray (11.8), Carlos Rodón (10.8), Andrew Heaney (10.7), Clayton Kershaw (10.1) and Mike Minor (10.0)…both of his career-best 9-strikeout performances have come vs. NL teams.
IN THE CITY OF FOUNTAINS: Kris pitched at Kauffman Stadium in his 2023 season debut on April 4 vs. Toronto and was dealt the loss despite allowing just 2 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk in 5.0 innings of work…in 15 starts at home since the start of 2022, he’s gone just 1-7 and has pitched to a 5.64 ERA (43 ER in 68.2 IP), however he’s held opponents to 3 earned runs or fewer in 10 of those 15 starts…he’s lost each of his last 3 decisions at Kauffman Stadium dating back to last Aug. 26, and he has not been credited with a win in his home ballpark since last July 24 vs. Tampa Bay.
