Visiting Royalty…

This weekend we have guests from out of town, the Kansas City Royals. In the past, the Royals were more court jesters than royalty, but that all ended last year, with a deep run all the way to game seven of the World Series.

The Royals, so far, are proving last year was not a fluke, as they are 34-23 and are in first place in the AL Central, leading Detroit by two games.

Many experts *did* think of last year as a fluke, and predicted a drop off this year, especially due to the fact that staff leader James Shields left in free agency. Thanks to increased production from Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas, the usual great defense and excellent bullpen (Wade Davis is sporting a ridiculous 0.35 ERA in 26 innings. Small sample size, but still.) They are proving those experts wrong.

Given how good they are doing, and how well the Cards are performing, this series is a must see if you have access.

Personally, the game I’m most interested in watching is tonight’s, where Yordano Ventura faces off against a resurgent Jaime Garcia.

There may be better pitching match-ups in this series, but I think this one will be the most entertaining. Ventura this season has been as feisty as his fastball is fast (he can hurl it in there at 100 MPH) and I admittedly want to watch this game just to see him. His numbers aren’t as good as last years, when he went 14-10 with a 3.20 ERA, but he’s only 24, and I think he’ll turn things around.

As for Garcia, despite a 1-3 record, he’s been doing well. He has a 2.67 ERA and a 1.000 WHIP. It’s only been four starts though, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can keep it up, just as it’ll be interesting to see if he stays healthy as the season goes on.

The series as a whole will be fun. I always enjoy it when these two teams play.

 

As always, thanks for reading.

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