KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
BLANK SPACE: The Royals were blanked on 2 hits in last night’s 3-0 defeat on the tilted stage of Progressive Field, falling to 0-5 on this trip…Aaron Civale was up to his usual tricks, holding the Royals scoreless over 7.0 innings with 9 strikeouts…the Royals had three baserunners all night, including a walk in the 9th that was erased by a double play that resulted in end game…Daniel Lynch completed 6.0 innings for the fifth time in his last 6 starts, allowing just 3 runs to record his 4th quality start in 8 outings…Josh Bell took Lynch down with just one single blow, a 2-run homer in the 4th…the Royals were blanked for the 11th time this season—and second time in their last 3 games—matching the Detroit Tigers for the most times being shut out this season.
KANSAS SWIFTY: As the Royals close out the 1st half with a 4-game series in Cleveland, Kansas City is enchanted to be hosting Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which began last night and continues tonight at Arrowhead Stadium.
There are 10 active big league players whose first or last name is Taylor, and the Royals have two of them in Taylor Clarke and Josh Taylor, who is on the 60-day IL…if you count all players on 40-man rosters, the Royals lead the league in Taylors including Samad Taylor, who was optioned to Omaha on Tuesday.
TEA TIME: The Royals and Guardians last night played a 1-hour, 51-minute game that was faster than the wind, passionate as sin and marked the 2nd-quickest 9.0-inning game in the Majors this season, longer only than Game 2 of a doubleheader on April 18 between these Guardians and the Tigers in Detroit on April 18… last night marked the Royals 3rd-fastest 9.0-inning game in the Wild Card Era (since 1995), longer only than a 1-hour, 41-minute game on July 4, 2002 at Detroit and a 1-hour, 44-minute game on May 10, 2005 at Toronto.
The Royals have played 8,598 games in their 54-season history, and only 17 lasted 9.0 innings and took less time to complete than last night’s 1-hour, 51-minute game…the fastest 9.0-inning game in franchise history lasted just 95 minutes, a 2-1 loss at Oakland on Sept. 28, 1971 in which all 3 runs came on solo homers.
Kansas City’s average game time of 2:36 remains tied with Miami and Tampa Bay for the fastest in MLB.
MAYBE WE GOT LOST IN TRANSLATION: The Royals are 0-5 on this road trip, during which they’ve been outscored 31-8 (-23) and have scored just 1 run in their last 27.0 innings…they’re batting .166 (26-for-157) on the trip with 3 home runs, but none in their last 3 games, a stretch in which their only run scored on Nick Pratto’s RBI single in the 1st inning here on Thursday night…this 5-game slide marks Kansas City’s 3rd-longest losing streak this year, behind a season-long 10-game drought from June 5-16 and a 7-game skid from April 14-21.
STARBUCKS LOVERS: The Royals have a long list of Starbucks Lovers on the team, and some caffeine might come in handy this weekend as they play back-to-back day games to end the 1st half of the season…today marks the Royals 38th day game of the season and they’re scheduled for 64, which would tie for the 2nd most in club history, trailing last year (69)…the Royals are 13-24 in day games but are 10-11 in their last 21 matinees.
During Spring Training, several Royals players shared their go-to coffee orders with Royals Digital Reporter Carrie Lippert-Gillaspie…Salvador Perez, for example, drinks Cuban coffee…Bobby Witt Jr. takes his coffee cold with three pumps of vanilla syrup, and MJ Melendez claims to be caffeine free.
CRUEL SUMMER: Royals fans know all too well the reality of this year, one so casually cruel in the name of being honest…the Royals enter today a season-high 39 games under .500 for the first time since ending 2019 59-103.
Thursday night marked Kansas City’s 31st blown lead loss of the season, as their 1-run lead in the 1st lasted a single frame before Cleveland tied it in the 2nd and broke the game wide open with a 4-run 6th…the Royals 31 blown lead losses are the most in the Majors, ahead of the White Sox (29), Cardinals (28) and Athletics (27)…the Royals have held a lead in 41 of their last 60 games (68.3%) since the start of May, but they’re a Major League-worst 18-42 (.300) during that stretch with 23 blown lead losses.
The Royals 31 blown lead losses are 5 shy of their total from all of last season, when they suffered 36 blown lead losses, and are 22 shy of the franchise record of 53, set during their 103-loss 2019 season.
They are 6-23 when scoring in the 1st inning and have lost 13 of their last 14 games when scoring in the 1st.
THIRTEEN (SALVY’S VERSION): Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez and Taylor Swift have a weird but beautiful connection with the No. 13…Salvy has worn No. 13 during his 12-year career with the Royals, and Swift was born on Dec. 13, turned 13 on Friday the 13th and her first No. 1 hit, “Our Song” had a 13-second intro.
Salvy will represent the Royals in next Tuesday’s All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park in Seattle…this season marks his eighth All-Star selection, 2nd most in Royals history behind George Brett (13!), and the most among active catchers…the Royals Captain leads American League catchers this season (min. 60% games at the position) with 15 home runs and ranks 2nd among American League catchers with 40 RBI.
Perez, who is mired in a 3-for-40 slump over his last 11 games, remains stuck on 499 career extra-base hits, which is tied with Royals Hall of Famer Mike Sweeney for 6th most in franchise history…with his next extra-base hit, he will become the sixth Royals player to record 500 (nice!), and will join Hall of Famer George Brett (1,119), Hal McRae (681), Frank White (625), Amos Otis (623) and Alex Gordon (573) (that’s a real legacy to leave)…he’ll become one of 28 active players with 500 extra-base hits, a list that’s headed by Miguel Cabrera (1,142), who has 291 more than Nelson Cruz (851), the next-closest player.
His 499 extra-base hits rank 21st all-time among primary catchers (min. 75% games played at the position), 5 shy of Jason Kendall (504) for 20th…that list is headed by Hall of Famer Iván Rodríguez (934).
HITS DIFFERENT: Bobby Witt Jr. ranks tied with Corbin Carroll for 4th in the Majors with 26 stolen bases, which trails only Esteury Ruiz (43), Ronald Acuña Jr. (41) and Wander Franco (28)…Witt Jr. ‘s 26 steals are the most by a Royals player before the All-Star break since Adalberto Mondesi had 28 in 2019…Bobby’s combination of 26 steals and 13 homers are matched by only two players: Acuña Jr. and Carroll…only one other Royals player has matched Witt Jr.’s combination of homers and steals before the break: Royals Hall of Famer Amos Otis, who had 14 HR and 27 steals at the break in 1971, a season in which he was an American League All-Star and finished 8th in the AL MVP voting.
Witt Jr. and Carroll are the fourth and fifth players with at least 13 homers and 26 steals before the break in his age-23 season (or younger), following Hanley Ramírez, who did it in 2007, César Cedeño, who did it in three straight years from 1972-74 and Bobby Bonds, who did it in 1969.
TODAY’S STARTERS: RHP BRADY SINGER (5-7, 5.52)
BRADY SINGER is making his 18th start of the season and 81st of his career today vs. Cleveland…it’s his 10th career start vs. the Guardians and 2nd this season…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.
THE LAST TIME: Singer earned his team-best 5th win of the season in last Sunday’s series-clinching, 9-1 victory over the Dodgers at Kauffman Stadium, in which he
allowed just 1 run on 4 hits and 3 walks in a season-high-tying 7.0 innings, with 4 strikeouts…he stranded 1-out walks in the 1st and 2nd innings and worked around
a leadoff single in the 3rd, but allowed the game-tying run to score in the 4th, as his leadoff walk eventually came around to score on a Miguel Vargas sacrifice fly… following that sac. fly, he scattered just 2 hits through the end of the 7th inning, retiring 10 of his last 12 batters as Kansas City’s offense built Brady a 9-1 lead.
In 2 career starts vs. the Dodgers, he’s 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA (1 ER in 13.0 IP), which is the lowest ERA vs. the Dodgers among active pitchers (min. 2 starts).
I’M STILL STANDING: Following a breakout season in 2022, Brady has struggled through ups and downs this year, as he’s been charged with at least 4 earned runs in 8 of his 17 starts, something that happened in only 5 of his 24 starts last season…the Royals, predictably, are 1-7 in games that he allows at least 4 earned runs…but
on the flip side, he’s held opponents to 2 earned runs or fewer in his other 9 starts, in which the Royals are 6-3…after going 2-4 with an 8.82 ERA (33 ER in 33.2 IP) and 7 HR allowed in his 1st 7 starts, he’s 3-3 with a 3.54 ERA (22 ER In 56.0 IP) with only 3 homers allowed in his last 10 starts…the Royals are 7-10 in his 17 starts overall. Ê Singer’s ERA has dropped as each month has passed this season, from 8.49 (28 ER in 29.2 IP) in April to 5.47 (15 ER in 24.2 IP) in May to 3.49 (11 ER in 28.1 IP) in June and 1.29 (1 ER in 7.0 IP) in his only start this month.
WALK THIS WAY: Brady has recorded at least 5.0 innings without issuing a walk in 13 of his 41 starts since last season—including 4 such starts this year—matching Kevin Gausman, Aaron Nola, George Kirby and teammate Zack Greinke for the 3rd-most such starts in the Majors during that time, trailing only Corey Kluber (15) and Jameson Taillon (14)…but on the flip side, Singer has issued multiple walks in 12 of his 17 starts this season—including 4 of his last 5 starts—which are 4 more than his total of multi-walk starts from all of last season, when he made 24 starts… he’s walked 34 batters in 89.2 innings this year for a 3.4 BB/9, 1 walk shy of his total from all of last season in 153.1 innings, when he recorded a career-best 2.1 BB/9.
CALL ME MAYBE: In 41 starts since his recall on May 17 of last year, Brady has induced a called strike on 769 of 3,907 pitches (19.7%), 4th most in the Majors behind Logan Webb (819), Gerrit Cole (778) and Aaron Nola (777)…his rate of 19.7% called strikes since May 17, 2022 leads the Majors (min. 3,000 pitches), ahead of Cobb, Rich Hill and Sonny Gray (17.6%), and since his 2020 debut season, Singer’s called-strike rate of 0.5% ranks 2nd in the Majors (min. 5,000 pitches), trailing Adam Wainwright (20.7%).
CAN’T TOUCH THIS: Singer has recorded 416 strikeouts in 435.2 innings since his 2020 debut for an 8.6 K/9, which is the best rate in Royals history among pitchers
who’ve started at least 70 games, ahead of Ian Kennedy (8.4), Jakob Junis (8.1) and Danny Duffy (8.1)…his 416 strikeouts are the 2nd most by a Royals pitcher through 83 career games, 2 shy of Royals Hall of Famer Steve Busby’s 418…the record for strikeouts by a Royal through 84 appearances is 427, also held by Busby.
DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’: Singer has had success in his career following a Royals loss, and he’ll attempt to be the stopper again today after Kansas City’s 3-0 defeat last night…in 50 career outings following a Royals loss, Singer is 17-13 with a 3.78 ERA (111 ER in 264.0 IP), and 4 of his 5 wins this season have followed a Royals loss.
CLEVELAND ROCKS: In 10 career appearances (9 starts) vs. the Guardians, Singer is 2-1 with a 4.33 ERA (26 ER in 54.0 IP), including 6.0 scoreless innings last week at Kauffman Stadium, where Brady did not figure into the decision of Kansas City’s 2-1 loss…Brady has recorded 6 quality starts in his 9 assignments vs. the Guardians but hasn’t beaten them since Sept. 20, 2021 here in Cleveland, where he allowed just 2 runs over 7.0 innings in a 7-2 victory…perhaps the best start of Singer’s young career came here at Progressive Park during his 2020 rookie season, when on Sept. 10 he took a no-hitter into the 8th and finished with 8.0 scoreless innings and 1 hit allowed.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Singer is 2-3 with a 7.03 ERA (25 ER in 32.0 IP) on the road this season, and has been charged with at least 4 runs in 4 of his 6 road starts…he’s also completed at least 6.0 innings in 4 of his 6 road starts, including a 7.0-inning outing in his most recent road assignment on June 21 in Detroit, where he allowed 5 runs on 7 hits in a 9-4 loss…his last road win came nearly two months ago, on May 16 in San Diego, where he allowed 4 runs (2 ER) in 6.0 innings.
He’s held Cleveland to 2 runs or fewer in 3 of his 4 career starts at Progressive Field, where he’s 2-1 with a 3.51 ERA (10 ER in 25.2 IP).
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
GUARDS WIN IN FASTEST HOME GAME IN 42 YEARS
The Cleveland Guardians returned to the .500-mark for the first time since April 28 (13-13), blanking the Kansas City Royals by a 3-0 final on Friday night at Progressive Field…marked Cleveland’s 8th team shutout of 2023, T3rd in the AL behind only Toronto (10) and Tampa Bay (9), also T5th in the Majors…coming off a 4-2 road trip, Guardians are 3-2 on 7-game homestand against Atlanta (1-2) & Kansas City (2-0, two-to-play)…Cleveland is 7-4-1 over club’s last 12 series since May 26 (23-16 record since 5/26). » AARON CIVALE turned in an exemplary effort, holding the Royals scoreless across his 7.0 frames to earn a third victory (7.0IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 9SO, WP, 100 pitches)…70% of his 100 offerings went for strikes, as the right-hander retired 10 straight to start the contest and 21 of the 23 batters he faced overall…surrendered just a pair of hits, both doubles…Cleveland played from ahead beginning in the bottom of the 1st when AMED ROSARIO doubled and later scored on JOSH NAYLOR’s one-out RBI-single…the long ball was a factor for a second straight night after the Guardians tagged a trio of homers in Thursday’s opener, as JOSH BELL added a 2-run shot (9) off southpaw Dustin Lynch (6.0IP, 6H, 3R-ER, BB, 3SO, HR, BK, 73 pitches) to plate [Josh] Naylor (lead-off single) in the 4th inning to put Cleveland ahead 3-0.
Cleveland (44-44) sits in 2nd place in the AL Central standings, one half-game behind 1st-place Minnesota (45-44) and 5.5 games ahead of 3rd-place Detroit (-6.0G, 38-49)…Guardians have won 12 of 18, 19 of 31 and 22 of last 37, though have also dropped 38 of last 73 overall since starting the year 9-6.
GUARDIANS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR
Following last night’s victory, Cleveland is back at .500 for the first time since being 13-13 on April 28…a win today will put them above .500 for the first time since April 19, when the club was 10-9… entering yesterday’s contest, it was the 4th time in 8 days that the Guards were one game below .500…the club lost on the previous three occasions…Cleveland is currently .5 game out of the AL Central lead behind Minnesota (45-44)…the Guardians have spent 4 days in first place this season and 70 days in second place…the last time Cleveland was in first place was by .5 game on June 28, prior to that it was April 10.
ANDRÉS ACCELERATION
Since May 30, ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ has a slash line of .292/.370/.492 with 4 home runs, 23 RBI, 17 runs scored and an OPS of .861 in 34 games…in his 50 games prior to May 30, he owned a slash line of .220/.289/.322 with 3 home runs, 9 RBI, 23 runs scored and OPS of .611…he’s hit safely in 6 of his last 7 and 11 of his last 14 games dating back to June 22…since May 30, he’s hitting .325 (27-for-83) with 3 home runs and 20 RBI against righthanded pitching, compared to a .181 (23-for-127) clip with 2 home runs and 8 RBI in his 50 games prior…he’s also found success hitting on the road, batting .328 (22-for-67) with a .929 OPS in his past 18 road games, compared to a .204 (19-for-93) mark with a .572 OPS in 25 road games prior to May 30.
Gimenez was hitting just .183 (11-for-60) in at-bats ending with breaking balls before May 30, since then, he’s batting .333 (11-for33) against breaking balls…over this stretch, he has a 31% hardhit rate and an average launch angle of 19 degrees…before May 30, he had a 20% hard-hit rate with an average launch angle of 9 degrees.
HOME IS WHERE THE HITS ARE
Since June 1, the Guardians as a club are hitting .282 at home, 2nd in the AL behind Texas (.290) and 4th in MLB…Atlanta (.316) leads MLB with Miami (.297) in second…the club is also 4th in hits at home (168) during that span…much of that success has come from JOSH NAYLOR (.400, 3rd) and JOSÉ RAMÍREZ (.381, 6th)
who both rank in the top 6 in batting average at home over that stretch…the duo has combined for 9 home runs and 25 RBI in Cleveland’s 17 games at Progressive Field since June 1…Ramírez also ranks 2nd in the AL behind LAA’s Shohei Ohtani (.927) and 4th in MLB with a .762 home slugging percentage since June 1…
AMED ROSARIO is hitting .319 (22-for-69) with one home run and 14 RBI in 17 games at Progressive Field over this period as well.
NO STRIKEOUTS HERE
The Guardians have struck out 626 times in 2023 and have a plate appearance/strikeout rate of 5.30, both 2nd-best in MLB behind Washington (619, 5.34)…Cleveland and Washington are the only two teams with 2 players in the top 10 in plate appearances/ strikeout…JOSÉ RAMÍREZ ranks 3rd (10.44 PA/SO) and STEVEN KWAN (8.21 PA/SO) is 10th…however, Cleveland is seeing just 3.82 pitches per plate appearance this season, 25th in MLB.
PUT 4 ON THE BOARD
Cleveland is 32-10 on the season when scoring 4-or-more runs… since the start of last season, the Guardians are 110-23 (.827) when plating 4+ runs, good for 4th-highest win percentage among MLB teams during that span…the club totaled 4-or-more runs in 19 of its 33 games since June 1, going 15-4. Cleveland is 719-190 (.791) when scoring 4+ runs during the Terry Francona era (since 2013), holding the 2nd-highest win percentage in MLB behind Los Angeles-NL (783-168, .823)…over that period, the Guards are 170-525 (.245) when scoring 3-or-fewer runs, 2nd-best in the AL behind Tampa Bay (176-519, .253) and 5th-best in MLB.
WIN % WHEN SCORING 4+ RUNS, SINCE 2013
TEAM WIN% RECORD
Los Angeles-NL .823 783-168
Cleveland .791 719-190
New York-AL .783 747-207
Houston .779 719-204
St. Louis .776 713-206
JUST TRYING TO BEAT THE TRAFFIC
Last night’s contest was completed in one hour and 51 minutes, marking Cleveland’s second-fastest game this season, one minute longer than Game 2 of a doubleheader on April 18 at Detroit (1:50)…it marks the fastest 9-inning game in Progressive Field history, passing a 9-0 victory over Chicago-AL in 1:56 on August 29, 2004…also marks the first 9-inning home game played in under 2 hours at Progressive Field since a 2-0 win over Minnesota in 1:57 on September 10, 2010…ties Cleveland’s fastest 9-inning home game since a 2-1 loss in 1:51 vs. Kansas City on September 5, 1980…Cleveland’s fastest 9-inning home game ever was 1:05 on April 23, 1936 against the Chicago White Sox at League Park.
TODAY’S STARTER – 63 GAVIN WILLIAMS RHP
WILLIAMS AT HOME, MLB
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 0-1 6.00 2 2 12.0 11 8 8 5 6
Career 0-1 6.00 2 2 12.0 11 8 8 5 6
WILLIAMS’ MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 0-1 3.79 3 3 19.0 12 8 8 6 12
Career 0-1 3.79 3 3 19.0 12 8 8 6 12
TODAY’S START
The 6-6, 250-pound 23-year-old right-hander is scheduled to make his fourth career start, third at home, on Saturday in the third contest of this 4-game set with the Kansas City Royals…made his MLB debut on June 21 vs. Oakland…Williams is the organization’s #1 prospect, MLB’s #5 pitching prospect and the #13 prospect overall (MLB.com)…he was selected in the first round, #23 overall, out of East Carolina University by Cleveland in the 2021 MLB Draft…became the 7th different rookie to make their Major League debut for the Guardians this season…is starting on 4 days’ rest.
In 12 starts at the Minor League level this season (3 at AA Akron and 9 at AAA Columbus), he was 4-2 with a 2.39 ERA (16ER/60.1IP) while striking out 81 and walking 24…opposing batters were hitting .186 (35-for-206) against him…in 3 starts for Cleveland, he’s 0-1 with a 3.79 ERA (8ER/19.0IP).
LAST TIME OUT
In Williams’ last outing, he suffered his first career MLB loss while facing one of baseball’s most potent offenses in the Atlanta Braves on July 3…he went 6.1 innings while allowing 7 hits and 4 runs (earned) with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts…he retired 5 of the first 7 Braves bats he faced, walking a hitter in each of the first 2 innings…in the 3rd, Michael Harris II hit a solo shot before a Ronald Acuña Jr. single and stolen base led to an Ozzie Albies RBI-single that put Atlanta in front 2-0…Williams retired 3 of 4 hitters in each of the 4th, 5th and 6th innings, but allowed solo home runs to Marcell Ozuna and Harris II to give Atlanta a 4-0 advantage…after an Orlando Arcia single in the 7th, his outing came to an end.
KAN YOU DO IT AGAIN?
His last time facing Kansas City on June 27, Williams twirled 7.0-shutout innings with one hit, 6 strikeouts and one walk, while not factoring into the decision…he retired the first six batters in order before having to navigate through traffic in the 3rd frame… after walking Nicky Lopez, BO NAYLOR erased him trying to steal second base…two more runners would reach base, but Williams got out of the inning with no damage…the rookie went on to retire the next 13 batters he faced in order to end his night…Williams became just the second pitcher in franchise history to throw 7.0+ innings with one-or-fewer hit allowed within their first two Major League games…the other was Addie Joss in 1902 (9.0IP, 1H).
ROAD TO THE SHOW
2023: Opened up the season at AA Akron and was effective in his 3 starts…over 14.1 innings he allowed just one earned run (0.63 ERA) on 6 hits with 20 strikeouts against 3 walks… was promoted to AAA Columbus following his start on April 20… made 9 starts at Columbus, posting a 3-2 record with a 2.93 ERA (15ER/46.0IP) with 61 punchouts and 21 walks…opposing hitters sported a .186 average (29-for-186)…at the time of his promotion to the bigs, among AAA pitchers (min 45.0IP), he was 2nd in SO/9 (11.93) 4th in WHIP (1.09) and 5th in ERA (2.93)…has not allowed opposing batters to hit above .190 at any level in his career…over his Minor League career he owns an 11.81 SO/9 and 3.59 SO/BB.
