MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:
THE TWINS: After completing their six-game homestand with a record of 4-2 (3-0 vs. Chica- go-AL and 1-2 vs. Seattle), the Twins began their six-game, seven-day road-trip with a loss to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium last night…tonight, the Twins will continue the trip with the second of three at Kauffman Stadium…they will complete the season series tomorrow afternoon, then travel to St. Louis for an off-day on Monday, followed by a three-game series with the Cardinals at Busch Stadium from Tuesday-Thursday…the Twins have gone 30-24 at home and 24-27 on the road.
Of the Twins’ 57 remaining games, they have an opponent winning percentage of .477, the second-lowest strength of schedule, trailing only the White Sox (.463).
WITT SLAMS THE DOOR ON THE TWINS: The Twins lost to the Royals last night at Kauffman Stadium by a score of 8-5 in 10 innings, making the Twins 10-5 in extras this season…Sonny Gray was the starter but did not factor into the decision, allowing three runs on five hits in 6.0 innings pitched, with no walks and five strikeouts…Jhoan Duran blew just his fourth save of the season, allowing four runs (3 earned) in the 10th inning, capped off by a Bobby Witt Jr. walk-off grand slam…the offense recorded eight hits, two from Ryan Jeffers, who drove in one run and stole one base…Jorge Polanco returned to the lineup and drove in two runs with a game-tying double in the top of the ninth inning.
The Twins suffered their fifth walk-off defeat of the season (also, April 18 at Boston, May 2 at Chicago-AL, May 15 at Los Angeles-NL and June 7 at Tampa Bay).
Willi Castro stole home on a double steal in the fourth inning, marking the Twins’ third steal of home this season — all by Castro — following May 24 vs. San Francisco and July 15 at Oakland…according to Elias, Castro’s three steals of home are the second most by a Twin in a single season since 1961, behind Hall of Famer Rod Carew’s seven in 1969.
ROCCO-FELLA RECORDS: Rocco Baldelli has a career managerial record of 49-29 vs. Kansas City, including a record of 20-18 at Kauffman Stadium…those are both his most wins vs. any opponent and in any non-Target Field ballpark…Rocco and Royals manager Matt Quatraro overlapped on the Tampa Bay Rays’ coaching staff for one season in 2018, as Rocco was the major league field coordinator and Quatraro was the third base coach.
Rocco played at Kauffman Stadium as an 11-year-old in 1992 during an AAU National Tournament…he and the team stayed at the Adam’s Mark hotel just up the road from the K.
ROYALTY CHECK: The Twins and Royals are playing the 12th of 13 scheduled meetings in 2023…through 11 games, the Twins have gone 9-2 and outscored the Royals 63-33…the Twins have gone 6-1 at Target Field and 3-1 at Kauffman Stadium.
Twins have scored 5.7 runs-per-game this season vs. the Royals and 6.6 in their last nine.
The Twins’ 21 wins vs. KC since the start of ’22 are their most wins vs. any opponent in that span.
Since the start of last season, Twins starters have gone 15-4, 2.40 ERA (164.2 IP, 44 ER) with 35 walks, 161 strikeouts and a .197 opponent batting average vs. KC.
Twins have a +56 run differential vs. KC since the start of 2022, outscoring them 148-92.
Carlos Correa is hitting .331 (50-for-151) with eight doubles, seven home runs, 18 RBI, 24 walks, a .423 on-base percentage and a .946 OPS in 40 games against the Royals since ‘19.
Byron Buxton is hitting .340 (36-for-106) with 10 doubles, seven home runs, 16 RBI, 29 runs scored and a 1.043 OPS in his last 27 games against the Royals…in 11 games this season, he is 15-for-38 and slashing .395/.444/.842.
ROYAL CRUSH: The Twins have a .818 winning percentage (9-2) vs. Kansas City this season… below are the highest winning percentage for the Twins in a single season (since 1961) vs. individual teams (minimum of 10 games played):
OPPONENT WIN PERCENTAGE YEAR
Boston…………………………………………………. .944 (17-1)……………………………………………………… 1965
Toronto………………………………………………… .917 (11-1)……………………………………………………… 1979
Detroit…………………………………………………. .917 (11-1)……………………………………………………… 1988
Toronto…………………………………………………. .900 (9-1)………………………………………………………. 1977
Los Angeles-AL……………………………………… .846 (11-2)……………………………………………………… 1992
Texas (Washington)……………………………….. .833 (15-3)……………………………………………………… 1965
New York-AL…………………………………………. .833 (10-2)……………………………………………………… 1969
Milwaukee……………………………………………. .833 (10-2)……………………………………………………… 1975
Cleveland…………………………………………….. .833 (10-2)……………………………………………………… 1991
New York-AL…………………………………………. .833 (10-2)………………………………………………………. 1991
Cleveland……………………………………………… .818 (9-2)………………………………………………………. 1977
Kansas City…………………………………………… .818 (9-2)………………………………………………………. 2023
ADDITIONALLY: The Twins’ .818 winning percentage vs. KC this season is the best in their history, ahead of their .737 (14-5) winning percentage from both 2002 and 2019.
THIS AND THAT:
Alex Kirilloff is slugging .730 against right-handed pitching over the last 14 days (11 games) — 3rd best in baseball.
Edouard Julien has an OBP of .490 over the last 14 days (12 games) — tied for fourth best in baseball.
Max Kepler is batting .320 with two strikes over the last 14 days — tied for seventh best in baseball.
Carlos Correa has 23 extra-base hits out of 49 total hits against starting pitchers this season — eighth best in baseball.
Bailey Ober has walked just five of 173 right-handed batters (3%) this season — seventh best in baseball among starting pitchers with at least 40.0 innings pitched (league avg: 7%)…Ober has not issued a walk to his last 46 batters faced, the fourth-longest active streak in baseball.
STARTING PITCHER – BAILEY OBER 17
2023: 6-4, 2.76 ERA CAREER: 11-10, 3.41 ERA
Making his 17th start of the season and seventh road start…also his 48th career start and appearance.
Facing the Royals for the second time this season and the seventh time in his career…is 0-1, 4.00 ERA (27.0 IP, 12 ER) with five walks and 28 strikeouts in his six previous starts.
Began the season with Triple-A St. Paul and was recalled when Kenta Maeda landed on the Injured List on April 29…since being inserted into the rotation, the Twins have gone 10-6 in his 16 starts.
Selected by the Twins in the 12th round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of the College of Charleston.
LAST START: Did not factor into the decision despite recording his seventh-consecutive quality start on July 23 vs. Chicago-AL, a 12-inning, 5-4 Twins’ victory…pitched 6.0 innings and allowed three runs (2 ER) on five hits (2 HR), with no walks and six strikeouts…marked the second time in his career he has issued zero walks in at least two-consecutive starts (also, 3 starts from August 30-September 12, 2021)…allowed solo homers to Eloy Jiménez in the second inning and Zach Remillard in the third inning; marked the fourth time this year he has permitted two homers in a start (May 11 vs. San Diego, June 14 vs. Milwaukee, June 20 vs. Boston)…later allowed an unearned run in the top of the sixth inning after Oscar Colás advanced to third on an error and scored on Remillard’s RBI single… relieved by Oliver Ortega in the seventh inning who combined with Jorge López to pitch 3.0 scoreless innings (Ortega – 2.0 IP, López – 1.0 IP)…the Twins tied the game in the bottom in the ninth inning with three runs off Kendall Graveman (RBI doubles by Willi Castro and Alex Kirilloff and a sacrifice fly by Carlos Correa)…Jhoan Duran entered in the 10th inning and permitted an RBI double to Tim Anderson…the Twins won the game in the 12th inning via a walk-off RBI single by Ryan Jeffers to complete the sweep of the White Sox.
Among American League pitchers with at least 15 games started in 2023, Ober ranks first in WHIP (0.97), third in ERA (2.76), fifth in walks-per-9.0 innings (1.71),
sixth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.00) and seventh in opponent batting average (.215).
Currently owns a 10-game streak with three-or-fewer earned runs allowed, tied with NYY’s Gerrit Cole for the second-longest active streak among American League starters this season, trailing only NYY’s Clarke Schmidt (11).
Has recorded a quality start in seven-straight outings, the second-longest active quality start streak among all starters in the majors, trailing only SD’s Joe Musgrove (8).
TWO STARTS AGO: Earned the win in his 10th quality start of the season on July 18 at Seattle, a 10-3 Twins’ victory…pitched 6.0 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits (1 HR), issued no walks and struck out five batters…allowed all three runs in the first inning off six hits (a leadoff single by J.P. Crawford, a two-run home run by Eugenio Suárez, a single by Jarred Kelenic, a single by Teoscar Hernández, an RBI double from Ty France and a single by Mike Ford)…the only out he recorded was a strikeout to Cal Raleigh…assisted by Max Kepler and Joey Gallo, who each threw out a runner out at home; per Elias, it marked the first time in Twins history (1961-present) that the club recorded multiple outfield assists resulting in putouts of a runner by the catcher in the first inning, as well as just the third time that the club recorded two such assists in any inning, joining the sixth inning on April 10, 2014 (Darin Mastroianni and Aaron Hicks) and the sixth inning on April 7, 2021 (Jake Cave and Kyle Garlick)…only allowed two base runners after the first inning (a double in the second inning to Jose Caballero and a fifth-inning hit-by-pitch to Suárez)…relieved by Jordan Balazovic in the seventh inning as the bullpen combined to pitch 3.0 scoreless innings.
OBER VS. KANSAS CITY: Facing the Royals for the second time this season and seventh time in his career tonight…is 0-1, 4.00 ERA (27.0 IP, 12 ER) with five walks and 28 strikeouts in six previous starts against Kansas City; Twins are 3-3 in those starts…last faced the Royals on April 29 at Target Field, taking a no-decision in a 3-2 Twins’ loss; allowed one run on four hits in 5.2 inning pitched, with two walks and six strikeouts…marked his longest start by innings against Kansas City in his career.
Twins are 5-1 in Ober’s six starts against American League Central opponents this season, with Ober going 1-0, 1.76 ERA (30.2 IP, 6 ER) with four walks and 29 strikeouts. AIs 4-4, 3.43 ERA (126.0 IP, 48 ER) with 22 walks and 123 strikeouts in 25 career starts against the AL Central.
ROAD WARRIOR: Ober is making his seventh road start of 2023 tonight…Twins have won five of his six road starts this year, with Ober going 4-1, 2.41 ERA (37.1 IP, 10 ER) with five walks, 40 strikeouts and five quality starts…won his last road start on July 18 at Seattle, a 10-3 Twins’ win (6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R/ER, 1 HR, 0 BB, 5 K)…is 2-3, 2.98 ERA (57.1 IP, 19 ER) with 13 walks and 50 strikeouts in 10 home starts this season.
Is 0-1, 3.21 ERA (14.0 IP, 5 ER) with two walks and 11 strikeouts in three career starts against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium; Twins are 2-1 in those games.
Has similar numbers on the road and at home in his career…is 5-6, 3.33 ERA (113.2 IP, 42 ER) with 18 walks and 110 strikeouts in 22 career road starts…in 25 home starts, he is 6-4, 3.48 ERA (129.1 IP, 50 ER) with 30 walks and 127 strikeouts.
LEFT AND RIGHT: Left-handed hitters are batting .208 (37-for-178) with 41 strikeouts and 13 walks against Ober after 16 starts this season…right-handed hitters are hitting .223 (37-for-166) with 49 strikeouts and five walks…lefties went 2-for-7 with one strikeout against him in his last start on July 23 vs. Chicago-AL while righties went 3-for-15 (2 HR) with three RBI and five strikeouts…in his career, left-handed hitters are batting .248/.308/.389 with 99 strikeouts against Ober…righties are hitting .223/.248/.430 with 138 strikeouts off him.
Owns the 12th-lowest opponent batting average against left-handed hitters among American League pitchers with at least 15 starts this season…also has the fifth-lowest slugging percent- age (.298) and sixth-lowest OPS (.566) against lefties this year.
ARSENAL: Ober has used a four-pitch mix in his 16 starts of the 2023 season, per Baseball Savant… mostly uses his slider against righties while relying on his changeup and curveball against lefties… threw 32 changeups in his last start on July 23 vs. Chicago-AL, his most in any start this year… here’s a look at his repertoire:
PITCH (AVG. MPH) PCT. (#, vs. RHB/LHB) RESULTS
4-Seam Fastball (91.3)………. 43.8% (626 pitches, 277/349)… .237 (33-for-139), 8 2B, 7 HR, 38 K Changeup (83.5)……………….. 26.5% (379 pitches, 134/245)… .183 (19-for-104), 2 2B, 1 3B, 27 K Slider (81.2)………………………. 21.2% (303 pitches, 231/72)…… .243 (17-for-70), 6 2B, 4 HR, 21 K Curveball (77.7)…………………… 8.5% (122 pitches, 29/93)………………… .161 (5-for-31), 1 2B, 4 K
Currently has a run value of 10 on his changeup, tied for the third highest in all of baseball… his .183 opponent batting average against his changeup is the seventh lowest in baseball (min. 100 plate appearances).
His .200 opponent batting average across all of his secondary pitches (changeup, slider and curveball) is the eighth lowest in the American League and 17th lowest in baseball (min. 150 plate appearances).
WALK IT LIKE I TALK IT: Despite owning a career-high 4.9 walk percentage this season, Ober still ranks in the 92nd percentile across baseball and second on the Twins pitching staff, trailing Joe Ryan (4.6).
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
WALK-OFF GRAND SLAM!: Bobby Witt Jr. stole the show in last night’s 8-5 win in 10.0 innings over the Twins to begin this 6-game homestand, in which he hit a walk-off grand slam to cap his 4-hit, 6-RBI night…it was the 78th walk-off homer in franchise history but just the 7th walk-off grand slam and 1st since Salvador Perez did it to these Twins on Sept. 14, 2018…the Royals trailed 2-1 in the 6th inning, when they got 3 straight 2-out hits off Sonny Gray, including a game-tying RBI double by Witt Jr., who later tacked on an RBI single in the 8th to give Kansas City a 4-2 lead…but the Twins scored 2 runs in the 9th to force extras, and plated their automatic runner in the top of the 10th to take a 5-4 lead…the Royals loaded the bases with 1 out in the bottom half on a pair of walks to set the stage for Witt Jr., who hit a 101.8-mph heater that was in and off the plate from Jhoan Duran, and sent it 414 ft. to put an exclamation point on the Royals most thrilling victory of the season.
All 6 of Kansas City’s previous walk-off grand slams broke a tie, making Witt Jr. the first player in Royals history to hit a walk-off grand slam with his team trailing…according to STATS Inc., Witt Jr. is the youngest player in Major League history to hit a walk-off grand slam with his team trailing in extra innings.
The Royals won following an off day for the first time this season, after beginning 0-13 after an off day.
DUAL THREAT: Bobby Witt Jr. last night recorded his 8th career game with a home run and a stolen base, matching Ronald Acuña Jr. for the most such games in the Majors since the start of last season, 1 ahead of Mookie Betts and Francisco Lindor (7)…Witt Jr.’s 17 home runs are tied for the team lead with Salvador Perez, and his 29 stolen bases rank 4th in the Majors behind Acuña Jr. (49), Esteury Ruiz (43) and Corbin Carroll (30).
Witt Jr. matched a career high last night with 4 hits and set a new career high with 6 RBI…he’s the third player in Royals history to record at least 4 hits, 6 RBI and a stolen base in a game, following Eric Hosmer on July 26, 2017 at Detroit and Bo Jackson on April 14, 1987 vs. Detroit…he’s the 5th player since 1901 to match those totals in a game at age-23 or younger, joining Justin Upton (May 20, 2009 Game 2), David Wright (Aug. 10, 2005), Jimmy O’Connell (June 1, 1923) and Ty Cobb (Aug. 27, 1909).
Bobby is on pace for 26 home runs and 44 stolen bases, a combination that has been matched only 16 times before, most recently by Mike Trout, who had 30 HR and 49 steals during his 2012 rookie season.
He leads the Royals with 107 hits and 57 RBI and is tied for the lead with 17 HR, as he attempts to become the first to lead the Royals in all three categories since Billy Butler had 192 hits, 29 HR and 107 RBI in 2012.
BONUS BASEBALL: The Royals improved to 2-3 in extra-inning games with last night’s win, and their 5 games with bonus baseball this season are 1 more than the Cubs, Diamondbacks and Nationals (4 each) for the fewest in the Majors…the Twins, meanwhile, fell to 10-5 in extras this season and their 15 extra-innings games are tied with the Guardians and Tigers for the most in the Majors…the Royals are 12-15 in extra innings since the Automatic Runner Rule was instituted for the 2020 season, and 21 of those 27 games have ended in 10.0 innings.
Last night was Kansas City’s highest-scoring extra-inning frame since Sept. 22, 2013, when Justin Maxwell broke a scoreless tie in the 10th off Texas’ Joakim Soria with the 4th walk-off grand slam in Royals history.
DINGER PARTY: After being held homerless in their 4-game series vs. the Tigers last week at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals have hit 12 home runs in their last 7 games since the start of the last road trip to New York and Cleveland…in fact, 19 of their 28 runs scored during this 7-game stretch have come via home runs (67.9%), including 5 of their 8 runs in last night’s walk-off win…Kansas City’s recent run of reliance on homers contrasts with their season-long trend…the Royals have scored 128 of their 391 runs (32.7%) via homers, which is tied with Miami for the 3rd-lowest rate in the Majors, ahead of Cleveland (28.3%) and Washington (31.8%).
Royals catchers have hit 20 homers this season, which rank 2nd in the Majors behind only Atlanta (26).
HOME: The Royals continue this 6-game stay tonight with the 2nd of 3 games vs. the Twins, who are visiting Kauffman Stadium for the first time since the season-opening series…the Royals are just 16-36 (.308) at home this season, but they’re 5-5 here in 10 games this month and have outscored opponents 49-43 (+6)…including tonight, the Royals have 29 home games remaining and 11 of their next 18 games will be played in Kansas City.
TWINS TIES: The Royals are welcoming the Twins to Kauffman Stadium this weekend for the first time since the season-opening series from March 30-April 2, when the Twins swept the Royals in 3 games…this weekend marks the final meeting between these two teams, who will once again open the regular season against each other here at Kauffman Stadium in 2024…the Royals are 2-9 vs. the Twins this season, have been outscored 63-33 (-30) with 3 shutout defeats, and have already lost the season series for the second straight year (7-12 in 2022).
Salvador Perez is a career .294 hitter in 169 games vs. the Twins and ranks 2nd among active players vs. them in hits (189) and home runs (32), trailing only Miguel Cabrera (265 hits, 46 HR) in both categories… Salvy’s 109 RBI vs. the Twins are tied with José Abreu for 2nd among actives behind Cabrera’s 167 RBI.
SERIES SPEAKING: The Royals last night won their 2nd straight series-opening game after losing their previous 7 series openers…with a win tonight, the Royals would clinch their first series victory since June 30-July 2 vs. the Dodgers, and would snap a run of six losing sets since…aside from taking 2 of 3 from the Dodgers earlier this month, their only other series win at Kauffman Stadium came from May 8-11, when they took 3 of 4 from the White Sox.
TRIPLE THREAT: Maikel Garcia tripled in the 6th inning off Sonny Gray last night to start a 2-out rally in which the Royals took a 3-2 lead…it also marked Kansas City’s 26th triple of the season, breaking a tie with the Diamondbacks for the most in the Majors, while extending its American League lead to 5 more than Cleveland (21)…the Royals are attempting to lead the Majors in triples for the second straight season, after pacing the league with 38 in 2022…that was the first time they led the Majors in triples since 2009 (51), but the Royals 2,228 triples since their inception in 1969 are by far the most in the Majors, 139 more than the Pirates (2,089) and 292 more than the Tigers (1,936), the next closest American League team.
A Majors-most 11 different Royals have a triple, a group led by Bobby Witt Jr., whose 6 triples are 1 behind Shohei Ohtani and Ketel Marte (7 each) for the Majors lead…Witt Jr.’s 12 career triples are tied with Brian McRae for the most by a Royal through his first two big league seasons.
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: RHP JORDAN LYLES (1-12, 6.19)
JORDAN LYLES is making his 20th start of the season and 341st appearance (234th start) of his career tonight vs. the Twins…he was originally selected by Houston in the 1st round (38th overall) of the 2008 Draft out of Hartsville High School (S.C.), and signed a two-year contract with the Royals on Dec. 28, 2022.
LAST START: Lyles suffered his 12th loss of the season in Kansas City’s 8-5 defeat on Sunday at Yankee Stadium, in which he allowed 5 runs on a season-high 9 hits and 1 walk in 5.0 innings, with 3 strikeouts…he allowed hits to four of the first five batters he faced in a 4-run 1st inning, including a 2-run home run by Gleyber Torres…Lyles yielded a solo homer to Anthony Rizzo in the 3rd, but pitched a scoreless 4th and 5th before exiting with a 5-3 deficit…the Royals fell to 1-18 in Lyles’ 19 starts this year.
TURNING THE TIDE: Lyles began his Royals career with 15 winless starts through June 19, in which he went 0-11 with a 6.72 ERA (64 ER in 85.2 IP) and 18 home runs allowed (1.9 HR/9) to mark the longest losing streak of his career…the skid was snapped with a win on June 24 at Tropicana Field over the Rays, and in 4 starts since, he’s 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA (10 ER in 22.0 IP)…Lyles has completed at least 5.0 innings in 17 of his 19 starts, including each of his last 10 starts, and he’s one of eight American League pitchers with an active streak of at least 10 starts with 5.0 innings.
BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN: Lyles snapped a career-long streak of 11 losses over 15 starts on June 24 vs. Tampa Bay, as he guided the Royals to a 9-4 victory with 6.0 innings of 4-run ball, allowing 8 hits and 1 walk with 2 strikeouts…the Rays entered that game with the highest winning percentage in the Majors (.671) before Lyles took them down, making him the fifth pitcher since 1900, according to Elias, to snap a streak of at least 10 straight losing decisions as a starter vs. the Majors’ best team.
TROUBLE WITH THE LONG BALL: Lyles allowed at least 1 home run in 13 of his 19 starts this season for a total of 22 homers in 107.2 innings, which is tied for the 4th most in the American League, 6 behind leader Lance Lynn (28)…he has allowed multiple home runs in 8 of his 19 starts, which is tied for the most such games in the Majors.
THE ONE BAD INNING: Lyles allowed 4 runs in the 1st inning in his last start and has allowed at least 3 runs in a single frame in 10 of his 19 starts (11 instances)… he’s been charged with 41 runs (39 ER) in those 11 frames for a 31.91 ERA, which accounts for more than half of the 74 earned runs he’s allowed this season…if you set aside those 11 frames, he owns a 3.26 ERA in his remaining 96.2 innings.
THE ROLLER COASTER: A troubling trend has emerged for Lyles this season, as his struggles have come in the beginning and end of his outings, while he’s been solid in the middle innings…through his first 15 pitches, opponents have hit .385 (25-for-65) with 8 home runs, and from pitches 61 and up, opponents are batting .241 (35-for-145) with 11 doubles, 9 home runs and a triple…the good has come between pitches 16-60, when he has held opponents to a .223 average (47-for-211) with 16 extra-base hits.
WORKHORSE: The Royals are the eighth club Lyles has pitched for during his 13- year career that has included stops with Houston (2011-13), Colorado (2014-17), San Diego (2017-18), Milwaukee (2018-19), Pittsburgh (2019), Texas (2020-21), Baltimore (2022) and Kansas City (2023)…since the start of 2021, his 466.2 innings rank 4th in the AL behind Gerrit Cole (511.1 IP), José Berríos (488.1 IP) and Dylan Cease (469.0 IP).
During his 13 seasons, he has only been placed on the IL five times: June 10-29, 2019 (left hamstring tightness), March 28-April 4, 2019 (right side discomfort), June 24-July 29, 2018 (right elbow inflammation), June 1-end of season, 2015 (sprained left big toe) and June 5-Aug. 6, 2014 (fractured left hand).
TWIN CITIES: Lyles has faced Minnesota twice this season, going 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA (8 ER in 9.1 IP)…he made his 1st start of the season vs. the Twins on April 1
and pitched 5.1 innings and allowed just 2 runs (1 ER) with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.
In 5 career starts against Minnesota, he’s 0-2 with a 5.00 ERA (15 ER in 27.0 IP) and 24 strikeouts, but has allowed 3 runs or fewer in 4 of his 5 starts.
