TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:
WINS AND LOSSES: Texas beat the Astros last night in Houston, 9-1, as club has won 2 of 3 and 5 of last 7 G for a 9-6 (.600) record on the season, 5th-highest win pct. in the A.L…have a 6-6 record last 12 G since club’s 3-0 start to the season…team has matched a season high point at 3 games above .500 for a 4th time, and is seeking to reach 4-over after win on 8/5/19 at CLE (58-54)…Texas has been .500-or-better following every game in 2023…the current 9-6 record is the Rangers’ best 15-G start since 2016, and matches team’s best record thru 15 G in the last 11 years beg. 2013 (also 9-6 in both 2013 and 2016)…Texas won its next game in both 2013 and 2016 to start 10-6 in those years…TEX recorded its 9th win in 2022 on May 3…Rangers’ 3-0 start was team’s longest season-opening win streak since 2011 (6-0).
STANDINGS: The Rangers have sole possession of 1st place in the A.L. West for a 3rd straight day and 8th day overall in 2023…have a season-best 1.5-game division lead over 2nd-place SEA, the team’s largest lead in the West since the end of the 2016 campaign (won division by 9.0 games)…TEX has been alone or tied atop the division for 16 of the season’s first 17 days, including 9 straight to begin the year.
• From 2017-22, the Rangers had one day in which it held, or was tied for, 1st place in the West (1-0 on 7/24/20, tied for division lead).
SERIES STUFF: Texas took last night’s series-deciding contest in Houston, winning the Rangers’ 1st rubber game of 2023…it was the Rangers’ 1st road series win of 3+ games since taking 3 of 4 G from 8/19-22/22 at MIN…TEX has won consecutive series for the 1st time this season, now 3-2-0 overall in series this year and 1-1-0 on the road.
VS. KANSAS CITY: The Rangers and Royals wrap the season series with a 3-G set this week at The K…TEX leads season series 2-games-to-1, losing last week’s series finale on Wed. in Arlington…TEX has still won 5 of 7, 10 of 13, 13 of 18, 16 of 23, and 20 of last 28 against KC overall (beg. 5/25/18)…TEX has won 7 straight season series against KC (2015-19, 2021-22)…have a 32-11 (.744) mark vs. KC since the start of 2016, 3rd-highest win pct. for any team against any opponent (min. 25 G) over that span behind OAK (32-9, .780 vs. DET) and CLE (29-9, .763 vs. LAA).
• Rangers are 31-19 (.620) at The K since start of 2008, winning 8 of 12 and 12 of last 17, and going 17-4-2 in series here since start of 2004…overall, TEX leads all-time series 279-265-1, but Royals have a 143-121 edge at this park since The K opened in 1973.
ON THE ROAD: The Rangers are 3-3 (.500) on the road this season, winning 3 of last 4 away games after a 0-2 start… team’s current 6 road games are T2nd-fewest in MLB (5- CHC)…Texas is in a span of playing 7 of 10 games on the road…in fact, beginning with this trip, Rangers are scheduled to play 28 of 43 games from 4/14 through the end of May on the road…club went 34-47 (.420) overall in away games last year, winning back-to-back road games just twice over the season’s final 3 months.
A GOOD WEEKEND IN HOUSTON: The Rangers took 2 of 3 G in Houston over the weekend, ending a span in which the club dropped 11 consecutive series at Minute Maid Park, as it was team’s 1st series win at MMP since a 3-G sweep, 7/27-29/18…from 2019-22, TEX was 5-29 at Minute Maid.
• Last night’s 9-1 win was Rangers’ largest at MMP since an 11-2 win on 7/27/18, which was also the last time that Texas had scored as many as 9 runs in Houston.
MLB CENTRAL: With this series in K.C., each of Rangers’ 1st 3 road series (and each of 1st 7 series/21 G overall) are being played in the Central Time Zone through this weekend’s 3-G set vs. OAK…beginning with next week’s trip to CIN, 11 of Rangers’ 12 road series (34 of 37 games) prior to the All-Star break will take place outside of Central Time…the only exception will be a 3-G set at CWS, 6/19-21.
MAKE IT COUNT: Marcus Semien hit the only HR in last night’s Sunday Night Baseball game in Houston, a game-breaking grand slam to give Texas a 6-0 lead in the 7th inning…it was just the Rangers’ 2nd road HR of the year, the club’s 2nd slam of the season (also Adolis García on 4/10 vs. KC).
• While the Rangers rank T7th in the A.L. w/ 16 HR in 2023, team has 6 HR of 3-or-4 runs, tied with TB for most in MLB.
• According to Stathead, Semien’s slam was just the 7th on a 0-2 pitch by a Ranger since pitches were 1st tracked in 1988, 1st since Johan Heim on 4/14/22 vs. LAA off Shohei Ohtani… the only other such slam by a Ranger in the 7th-inning-or-later was by Juan Gonzalez on 4/2/98 vs. CWS.
TAKING THE SHOW ON THE ROAD: Jacob deGrom makes his 1st road start with Texas tonight at The K…the Rangers’ no. 1 starter has gone 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA (3 ER/13.0 IP), 20 SO/2 BB, and a .191 opp. BA in last 2 starts…that span includes his start on Tues. vs. KC (ND, 7.0 IP, 2 R-ER, 0 BB, 9 SO).
• deGrom has struck out 27 of 66 (40.9%) batters faced through 3 starts, as opponents have missed on 39.9% of swings…he entered the day with the highest SO/9 (14.58) among A.L. qualifiers, 2nd in MLB (15.19-ATL’s Spencer Strider)…deGrom’s 13.50 SO/BB ratio is 2nd-best in MLB
(SF’s Anthony DeSclafani has 16 SO/0 BB)…is 27 SO rank T4th in the A.L./T5th in MLB.
• His 27 strikeouts entering tonight are the most strikeouts by any pitcher over his first 3 starts as a Ranger (Stathead), surpassing the previous high mark of 26 by Nolan Ryan in 1989…the club record for most strikeouts in a pitcher’s 1st 4 appearances with Texas?: 38 by Ryan in 1989.
LARGE IN THE MARGIN: Last night was the Rangers’ 6th win this season by 4+ runs, the 3rd-most such wins by any MLB team in ‘23 (12-TB, 7-MIL, 6-TEX)…TEX also has 4 losses by 5+ runs, T2nd-most in MLB (5-OAK, 4-TEX/DET/ MIA/SF)…overall for the year, the Rangers’ +20 run differential is 5th-best in MLB: +72-TB, +28-MIL, +25-NYY, +24-ATL, +20-TEX.
• Last night was Rangers’ 6th game with 8+ runs in ‘23, T2nd-most in MLB: 8-TB, 6-TEX/LAD…TEX also has 6 G w/ 2-or-fewer runs, T6th-most in MLB.
STARTERS STILL GOING: Andrew Heaney posted 5.0 SHO IP last night at HOU, the 1st scoreless start by a Ranger in ‘23…it was just the 7th time since the start of 2022 for an opposing starter to pitch at least 5.0 scoreless innings at Minute Maid.
• Since beginning the 2nd turn through the rotation in ‘23, TEX starters have a 3.16 ERA (18 ER/51.1 IP) over past 10 G, allowing 2-or-fewer ER in 9 of those 10 contests.
LOWE TOO: Nathaniel Lowe enters tonight with an 11-game hit streak, tied for the longest active streak in the A.L. and T2nd-longest active run in MLB (16 G-PHI’s Bryson Stott)…it matches the longest hit streak of his career (also 11 G, 7/25- 8/4/22…the only longer hit streak by a Ranger since the start of 2021 was Adolis García’s 23-G run from 8/3-27/22.
• Lowe has hit safely in 9 of 10 career games here at The K (.293/.341/.415/.756), including a memorable HR into the fountains in RF on 4/4/21
CITY CONNECTS UNVEILED: The Rangers today unveiled the club’s Nike City Connect uniforms that will be worn for the first time at Friday’s home game vs. Oakland…the uniforms honor the remarkable story of how the organization landed in Arlington, Texas, through the rich baseball history of Dallas and Fort Worth, the significance of April 21 in Texas, and the tireless efforts of the late Mayor of Arlington, Tom Vandergriff.
SHORTS: RHP Will Smith has stranded all 9 inherited runners to begin the year…the Rangers’ 3 games in Houston over the weekend account for the club’s highest 3 attended contests in 2023 (all over 39,000)
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER – #48 Jacob deGrom, RHP (1-0, 4.32)
TONIGHT: The 34-year-old right-hander is slated to make his 4th start and appearance of the season in tonight’s series opener in Kansas City…will be making his 1st road start with Texas…will be pitching on extra 5 days’ rest after taking no decision in Rangers’ 8-5, 10-inning walk-off win on Tues. vs. KC (see below)… deGrom has gone 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA (3 ER/13.0 IP), 20 SO/2 BB, and .191 opp. BA in last 2 starts after allowing career-high 6 extra-base hits on Opening Day, 3/30 vs. PHI (3.2 IP, 5 R-ER)…has 27 strikeouts over 3 starts, the most strikeouts by any pitcher over his first 3 starts as a Ranger (Stathead)…the 2-time National League Cy Young Award winner (2018-19) signed a 5-year free agent contract with Texas on 12/2/22…owns the 3rd-lowest ERA in the Expansion Era (since 1961) among pitchers with at least 200 starts: 2.19-Sandy Koufax, 2.49-Clayton Kershaw, 2.55-deGrom…was the N.L. Rookie of the Year in 2014, and is one of just 3 pitchers in baseball history to win multiple Cy Young Awards and a Rookie of the Year Award (also Justin Verlander and Tom Seaver)…has received Cy Young Award votes in 6 of the last 8 seasons (2015-17-18-19-20-21), including 5 straight years prior to an injury-shortened 2022 campaign…spent his entire career with the Mets organization prior to signing with Texas, as he was selected by New York-NL in the 9th round of the 2010 MLB Draft…the Deland, Fla. native and resident played college baseball at his hometown Stetson University…in college, played third base and shortstop his first 2 years before converting to a pitcher as a junior in 2010…Texas has gone 3-0 in deGrom’s 3 starts.
THRU THREE: Has struck out 27 of 66 (40.9%) batters faced through 3 starts, as opponents have missed on 39.9% of swings…has 27 strikeouts over 3 starts, the most strikeouts by any pitcher over his first 3 starts as a Ranger (Stathead), surpassing the previous high mark of 26 by Nolan Ryan in 1989…the club record for most strikeouts in a pitcher’s 1st 3 appearances with Texas?: 38 by Nolan Ryan in 1989…it is also the 3rd-most strikeouts ever by a TEX pitcher through his first 3 outings of a season, bested only by Yu Darvish in 2013 (28) and Nolan Ryan in 1991 (28)…he is the 1st pitcher in WSH/TEX franchise history to post 27+ SO and 2-or-fewer BB over his first 3 outings of a season…opposing batters have swung and missed on 55 of 138 (39.9%) swings taken against deGrom in 2023, the highest whiff rate in MLB this season (min. 3 GS).
LAST START: Will be facing Royals for a 2nd straight start, as he took ND in Rangers’ 8-5 walk-off win in 10 innings on Tues. vs. KC (ND, 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R-ER, 0 BB, 9 SO, 0 HR, 98 pitches/68 strikes)…exited with a 3-2 lead and in position for the win, but the TEX bullpen allowed 3 R to set up Jonah Heim’s walk-off 3-R HR in the 10th…allowed single runs in the 3rd and 4th innings, but never faced more than 5 batters in a frame, and had 17-or-fewer pitches in 6 of 7 innings worked (20-pitch 4th)…only inning without a SO was a 10-pitch 5th frame.
VS. KANSAS CITY: Has gone 1-0, 1.93 (3 ER/14.0 IP) in 2 G/GS career vs. KC, including last week’s outing (see above)…only reg. season start at The K was 8/17/19 (W, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R-ER)…allowed just one hit thru 6 IP in that game, and lone run allowed scored when Pete Alonso made an error in the 4th inning…also took the loss in Mets’ 7-1 defeat in 2015 World Series Game 2 on 10/28/15 at KC (L, 5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R-ER, 3 BB, 2 SO)…was scoreless thru 1st 4.0 IP of the Fall Classic start before K.C. rallied for 4 runs in the 5th…was outdueled by Royals’ starter Johnny Cueto, who threw a CG in the contest (W, 9.0 IP, 1 R-ER).
ON THE ROAD: Makes his 1st road start in a Texas uniform tonight…went 1-3, 3.77 (12 ER/28.2 IP) in 5 G/GS on the road in 2022, allowing 3-R-or-less in 4 of the 5 outings…from 5/27/19 to the end of the 2021 season, made 20 road starts, going 9-0 with a 1.90 ERA (26 ER/123.0 IP) and 0.94 WHIP, posting 166 SO/25 BB (12.15 SO/9) while allowing just 9 HR (0.66 HR/9)…has a career 2.97 road ERA, over three-quarters of a run higher than his home figure (2.17).
2023: Has gone 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA (3 ER/13.0 IP), 20 strikeouts/2 walks, and .191 opp. BA in last 2 starts after allowing career-high 6 extra-base hits on Opening Day, 3/30 vs. PHI (3.2 IP, 5 R-ER)…deGrom is 1st pitcher in WSH/TEX franchise history to post 27+ strikeouts and 2-or-fewer walks over his first 3 outings of a season…it is just the 15th instance in the Modern Era (beg. 1901) of a Major League pitcher recording 27+ SO/2-or-fewer BB in first 3 G of a season, with deGrom now being responsible for 2 of those occurrences (also 28 SO/1 BB in first 3 G of 2022)…the only other MLB hurler to pull the trick twice? Curt Schilling in 2001-02…his 11 SO on 4/5 vs. BAL marked the 59th double-digit strikeout game of his career, tied with David Cone for 16th-most in the Modern Era (since 1901)…was perfect through 4.0 innings in that outing, retiring all 12 batters faced before Ryan Mountcastle led off the 5th with a double…according to Elias Sports Bureau, deGrom’s 9 career starts opened with 4.0+ perfect innings are T2nd-most in baseball since the beg. of his debut season in 2014: 10-Max Scherzer, 9-deGrom/Clayton Kershaw, 8-Madison Bumgarner/Justin Verlander.
DE-GOAT: A 2-time National League Cy Young Award winner with the Mets (2018-19), deGrom leads MLB pitchers over the last 4 seasons since the beg. of 2020 (min. 200.0 IP) in ERA (1st, 2.20), opp. BA (1st, .167), WHIP (1st, 0.75), strikeouts per 9 innings (1st, 14.15), and walks per 9 innings (1st, 1.46)…has averaged 10.95 strikeouts per 9 innings in his MLB career from 2014-23, the 2nd-best figure in Major League history among pitchers with at least 1300.0 innings (11.09-Chris Sale)…1,634 career strikeouts are the most in MLB history by any pitcher through his first 212 outings in the big leagues…also has the highest swing-and-miss rate (31.1%) since pitches were first tracked in 1988 (min. 1,000.0 IP).
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
COMEBACK FALLS SHORT: The Royals were swept by the Braves with a 5-4 loss at Kauffman Stadium yesterday, falling to 4-12 overall and 1-9 through their first 10 home games…trailing 4-2 in the 7th inning, Vinnie Pasquantino tied the game with a 2-run home run, putting the Royals in position to salvage the final game of the series…with the go-ahead runner at third base and only 1 out in the top of the 8th, Aroldis Chapman struck out Austin Riley and Sean Murphy to escape the threat, but Kansas City went 1-2-3 in the bottom half…in the top of the 9th, Ozzie Albies doubled with 1 out and Vaughn Grissom singled him home off Scott Barlow to give the Braves the lead and their first series sweep in Kansas City, as the Royals went quietly in the bottom half.
Zack Greinke was charged with 4 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk in 6.0 innings, with 6 strikeouts, but some subpar defense made the line look worse than it was…in a scoreless tie in the 3rd inning, he yielded a 1-out, 2-run triple to Matt Olson on a ball that fell under the glove of Edward Olivares—who was charging in from right field—and rolled all the way to the wall…Austin Riley followed with a sacrifice fly that made it a 3-run inning, and began a stretch in which Greinke retired 10 of his last 12 batters.
RISPY BUSINESS: The Royals situational hitting woes continued yesterday, as they had the bases loaded with no outs in the 3rd inning, but scored only 1 run on a double play ball…the Royals are 2-for-11 with the bases loaded this season, with 3 strikeouts and 3 grounded into double plays…the Royals rank 30th in the Majors with a .188 average in scoring situations, and nearly half of their 26 such hits this season came in 2 games, but they’ve been held to 1 hit or fewer with a runner in scoring position in 11 of their 16 games, including yesterday.
The opportunities have been plentiful, as their 138 at-bats in scoring situations rank 12th in the Majors, and that includes 60 at-bats with a runner in scoring position in 5 games since last Tuesday, which ranks tied with the Rays for 5th in the Majors during that time, and every team ahead of them has played 6 games.
Situational hitting was an issue for this Royals offense early last season, when they hit .205 in scoring situations through 39 games, but hit .261 over their last 122 games, which ranked 11th in the Majors.
APRIL SHOWERS: The month of April has not been kind to the Royals in recent years, and that trend has continued in 2023…including their Opening Day loss—which took place on March 30—the Royals are 4-12 through 16 games, which marks the 2nd-worst record in the Majors ahead of Oakland (3-13), and is their worst 16-game start since 2018, when the Royals were 3-13 at this point…the schedule makers haven’t done the Royals any favors either, as their five opponents to this point have a combined record of 46-31 (.597), and three of those five teams are in 1st place in their division…that includes the American League West-leading Texas Rangers (9-6), who took two of three from the Royals last week in Arlington and are now in Kansas City for a 3-game set beginning tonight…unfortunately, the schedule doesn’t ease up much anytime soon, as two of the three opponents on the Royals upcoming road trip are in 1st place, including Arizona (9-6) and Minnesota (10-6).
SUPER DUPER: Royals Replay Specialist, Bill Duplissea, remains a perfect 3-for-3 on challenges this season after yesterday, when in the 5th inning he called for a review of a pickoff attempt at first base, which showed that Zack Greinke’s throw and Vinnie Pasquantino’s tag beat Ronald Acuña Jr. back to the bag…based on the totals shared by Major League Baseball last Friday, the Royals were one of five teams that has yet to lose a challenge this season…the Royals—under Duplissea’s direction—have finished in the top three in replay success rate in five of the last seven seasons from 2016-22, and since Instant Replay was instituted for the 2014 season, the Royals lead the Majors in overturn rate (66.0%) and have had the fewest calls confirmed (27).
VS. TEXAS: The Royals and Rangers are meeting for 3 games in Kansas City this week, after these two teams played last week in Arlington, where the Royals dropped two of three…following Wednesday’s finale, they will have played 6 games vs. each other over 10 days…in fact, the Royals 6-game season series vs. the Rangers will end before the Royals play a single game vs. three of their four division rivals, as they won’t see the White Sox until May 8, their 1st meeting vs. Detroit won’t come until May 22 and their 1st game vs. Cleveland is June 27.
The Royals have lost seven straight season series to the Rangers dating back to 2015, and are 1-2 vs. them this season entering tonight…that means the Royals must sweep this set to win the season series vs. Texas for the first time since 2014 (5-1), but with two wins, they can split the season series and end the drought of losses…the Royals are 14-36 (.280) vs. Texas since 2015, a stretch in which they’ve been outscored 252-172 (-80)…this includes a 12-game losing streak vs. the Rangers from July 23, 2016-July 15, 2017.
These two franchises have played each other in six different ballparks, including Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium (1969-72) and Kauffman Stadium (1973-present), and RFK Memorial Stadium, where the Washington Senators played from 1962-71…the franchise became the Rangers in 1972 and played in Texas’ Arlington Stadium through 1993, before Globe Life Park was introduced in 1994…that ballpark still stands across the street from the new Globe Life Field, which opened in 2020 and is now in its fourth season.
RAID THE ZONE: Through the first 16 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 2.96 BB/9 ratio and a 3.00 K/BB ratio, and 18th in first-pitch strikes (59.9%)…Royals starting pitchers, specifically, have controlled the strike zone well, issuing 1 or no walks in 11 of 16 starts this season, tied with Tampa Bay, Minnesota and Cleveland for the most such starts in the Majors…likewise, Royals starters have posted a 2.13 BB/9 ratio, which ranks 5th in the Majors behind the Giants (1.74), Guardians (2.04), Twins (2.10) and Dodgers (2.11).
NEW DAY, NEW LINEUP: Tonight marks the Royals 17th game of the season, and they are playing with their 17th different lineup combination…they are one of four teams this season that entered today without fielding the same lineup more than once, along with the Astros, Marlins and Pirates…this approach from new Manager Matt Quatraro and his staff is much different than the one employed last year, when the Royals featured 137 different starting lineup combinations, which were the 8th fewest in the Majors…the Major League average last season was 145 different starting lineup combinations, and the Tigers led the league with 161 unique lineups.
PACE OF PLAY: The new pitch timer rules have already produced dramatic results through the first 18 days of the regular season…through 216 games that have ended in 9 innings, the average game time has been 2 hours, 37 minutes, and only 22 of the 216 games (10.2%) have lasted at least 3 hours…the Royals 16 games have averaged 2 hours, 29 minutes, which is 8 minutes below the league average and is the 2nd-fastest average time this season, longer only that the Twins (2:25)…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 9.3 and stolen base success rates have jumped from 75.4% to 82.6%…the current success rate of steals would shatter the Major League record set in 2021 at 75.7%
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: RHP JORDAN LYLES (0-2, 5.19 ERA)
JORDAN LYLES is making his 4th start of the season and 325th appearance (218th start) of his career tonight vs. Texas…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.
ROUND ONE GOES TO TEXAS: Lyles didn’t factor into the decision last Tuesday when the Royals lost 8-5 in 10 innings in Arlington vs. these Rangers, despite pitching a season-high 6.1 innings and allowing 4 runs with 4 strikeouts…he worked a scoreless 1st inning before a 2-out single by Brad Miller gave the Rangers a 1-0 advantage in the 2nd, and they tacked on 2 more in the 3rd courtesy of a Nathaniel Lowe double and a sac. fly by Adolis García…he settled down to retire nine of the next 10 he faced through the 6th, but a leadoff walk in the 7th came around to score on a 1-out double by Marcus Semien, that effectively knocked Lyles out of the game…the Royals fought to force extra innings, taking Lyles off the hook for the loss, but fell in the 10th as Jonah Heim hit a 3-run, walk-off homer off Scott Barlow.
YOU AGAIN?: Tonight marks Jordan’s 218th career start, but just the 10th time in his career in which he has made back-to-back starts against the same team, most recently doing so May 18-23 of last year vs. the Yankees…he went 1-1 with a 3.29 ERA (5 ER in 13.2 IP) in those consecutive starts vs. the Yankees, but he is 1-7 with an 8.31 ERA (85 ER in 47.2 IP) when making a 2nd straight start vs. an opponent in his career.
Not only is he opposing the same team for the 2nd straight start, but he’s opposing two-time Cy Young winner, Jacob deGrom for the 2nd straight outing, after deGrom threw 7.0 innings of 2-run ball last Tuesday in Arlington.
The universal designated hitter makes this an uncommon occurrence in 2023, but on July 14, 2017, when Lyles was pitching for the Rockies and deGrom was with the Mets, deGrom got a single in his only plate appearance vs. Lyles.
2022 IN REVIEW: Lyles led the Orioles with a career-high 32 starts in his only season with Baltimore last year, which tied for the 3rd most in the American League…he matched a career high with 12 wins, the most by an Orioles pitcher since John Means had 12 in 2019, and the most by an Orioles right hander since Dylan Bundy had 13 in 2017…he matched a career high with 13 quality starts, also doing so in 2021.
Lyles eclipsed the 100-pitch threshold in 11 of his 32 starts (34.4%), tying him for 6th in the AL in 100-plus-pitch games, ahead of Justin Verlander and Shohei Ohtani, who both recorded 10 games of at least 100 pitches last season.
Pitching in the American League East for the first time in his career, Lyles struggled mightily vs. the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Rays, going 6-7 with a 5.94 ERA (59 ER in 89.1 IP), and those teams combined to slash .301/.363/.523 (111-for-369) off him with 18 home runs…when facing all other opponents, Lyles was 6-4 with a 2.91 ERA (29 ER in 89.2 IP) and an opponents’ batting average of .249 (85-for-341) with just 8 homers allowed.
WALKING THE WALK: Jordan enters tonight’s start with a career 2.3 K/BB rate (1033/448), including a 2.80 BB/9 rate in 2021 and a 2.61 BB/9 rate in 2022…among pitchers with at least 60 starts since 2021, his BB/9 rate of 2.68 ranks 5th in the American League, trailing only Cole Irvin (2.08), Jameson Taillon (2.13), Gerrit Cole (2.17) and José Berríos (2.21).
SLOW TO START: Through the first eight seasons of his career (2011-18), only 115 of his 217 Major League outings (53.0%) were starts…but since the 2019 season, 102 of his 107 outings (95.3%) have been in a starting role, making him one of 22 pitchers to make at least 100 starts since 2019.
WORKHORSE: The Royals are the eighth club Lyles has played for at the Major League level and he has played in parts of 13 seasons 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 beginning of 2021, his 376.1 innings rank 4th among American League pitchers, including a career-high 180.0 innings with Texas in 2021.
He was one of only four pitchers in the AL to record at least 175.0 innings from 2021-2022, along with Gerrit Cole, Cole Irvin and Robbie Ray.
Across his 13 seasons and 324 Major League appearances, he has only been placed on the Injured List on five occasions: 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).
VS. TEXAS: Lyles has made 13 career appearances (11 starts) vs. the Rangers, and is 2-6 with a 6.21 ERA (43 ER in 62.1 IP), but that includes 9 appearances between 2011-16…the remaining 4 appearances have come since 2019, in which he is 1-1 with a 3.04 ERA (8 ER in 23.2 IP), including 6.1 innings of 4-run, 4-strikeout ball in a no-decision last Tuesday down in Arlington…after going 0-5 in his first 6 starts vs. the Rangers, he’s 2-1 in his last 7 appearances (5 starts) with a 3.00 ERA (11 ER in 33.0 IP) and has allowed more than 2 runs in just 1 of those appearances.
Lyles spent the 2020-21 seasons with the Rangers and amassed an 11-19 record with a 5.60 ERA (148 ER in 237.2 IP), 182 strikeouts and an opponents’ batting average of .280 (261-for-932)…he set a career high in innings pitched in 2021 (180.0) and tied his career high in strikeouts (146, also 2019), but also led the league in earned runs (103) and home runs allowed (38).
FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR OWN HOME: Over the course of his 13-year career, Lyles has fared better when pitching in front of his home fans, going 36-39 (.480) with a 4.76 ERA (364 ER in 688.0 IP) in 165 appearances…in 159 appearances (110 starts) on the road, he’s 30-53 (.361) with a 5.46 ERA (398 ER in 655.2 IP)…in 2022 while pitching for the Orioles, Lyles pitched extremely well while in Camden Yards, pitching to a 3.47 ERA (32 ER in 83.0 IP) across 14 starts, but was hit hard on the road, where he was hit to the tune of a 5.25 ERA (56 ER in 96.0 IP) in 18 starts.
Although he’s just starting to call The K “home,” he’s looking to change course here, as he’s 1-3 in 5 starts with a 5.02 ERA (16 ER in 28.2 IP) at The K.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS: Lyles has been nothing if not a consistently strong defender, averaging less than 1 defensive miscue per season (12 in 1343.2 IP)…he has not committed an error since Sept. 22, 2020, and has made 68 appearances (66 starts) since his last miscue in the field.
His 376.1 innings without an error since the start of 2021 are the 2nd most among all pitchers, trailing only Yankees ace Gerrit Cole (410.1)
