Game of the Week: June 16: KC @ TEX

[Commissioner Erick]

Kansas City Royals (46-26) @ Texas Rangers (42-30)


KC: Taylor Lehman (6-3, 3.92)
TEX: Aaron Taylor (4-5, 3.78)


Royals 3 Key Stats:

.328: Luis Nunez’ average: Kansas City has gotten great production from Roderick Dalton and Jorge Vargas, but to be a truly special offense often takes a third guy. Kansas City has that third guy in Luis Nunez. A promising speed-and-defense youngster for the Giants, as San Francisco upgraded its offensive talent, Nunez was reduced to a smaller role and then traded to New York. He provided good defense there with a little bit of pop, and was shipped to Kansas City this offseason. Nunez had never hit better than .253 before though, making his 2031 numbers a pleasant surprise. His 12 homers are five off a career high, and he’s continued to be strong in the field. With Dalton and Vargas a force ahead of Nunez, his ability to be a threat has allowed Kansas City to remain a power.

.635: Kansas City’s OPS against lefties in June: Kansas City has a sub-.500 record this month, and a main reason is their lack of production against lefties. The team has a .635 OPS against southpaws this month, fourth lowest in the AL. Several righties haven’t hit lefties this month, leading to the struggles, as T.J. Hardman, Joey Young, Luis Garcia, and Jonathan Bakos are all hitting .154 or worse. Kansas City has been fine against lefties looking at entire season, but today’s matchup with Aaron Taylor will explain more about whether this is a midseason blip or an element of concern.

68: RBI’s for Jorge Vargas: Kansas City’s star is once again pulverizing opposing arms. His 68 runs driven in is second in the league to Ernesto Montemayor and puts Vargas on pace for 153. The slugger is on pace for the same 45 homers as last year, but is also pacing for 41 doubles, his most since 2028. His .290 average would also be his best mark since 2028. Kansas City’s offense runs through Vargas, and Vargas has Kansas City posting the third most runs in the AL.


Rangers 3 Key Stats:

.218: Texas’ average against lefties: Only the Angels and White Sox have worse averages against lefties than Texas. The Rangers do employ five righties when left-handers are on the mound, but Steve Goode, Joe Bryson, and Bryan Martelo are high-power, low-average sluggers, Freudis Nova has weird reverse splits this year, and Juan Gestoso has the same .260 average against righties and lefties. It’s resulted in the team barely being above .500 against left-handed starters. This could be an issue against strong Royals starter, Taylor Lehman today.

84: Steals for Texas: The Rangers have 84 stolen bases, easily the most in the AL, and at an efficient 79.2% clip. Four players have double figure steals—Freudis Nova, Juan Gestoso, Luis V. Garcia, and Lambert Swinkels—plus Steve Goode is knocking on the door with nine. Virtually the entire lineup is geared to run, which will put extreme pressure on Taylor Lehman and Jorge Parra today.

.218: Josh Weyer’s average: Weyer has slugged it well this year as he already has 23 homers and a .536 slugging percentage. He’s also walked at a reasonable rate with 33 free passes this year. He’s done nothing else well. He’s only hitting .218, has struck out 64 times, and has only four doubles—though he also has three triples somehow. As a DH, this has resulted in an .841 OPS but only 0.5 WAR. Texas needs to see the average a little bit higher for Weyer to be a plus player at DH.


Questions for the GMs:

For Daniel Kent, Doug Rothenberg has recovered from his hamstring tendinitis injury. Will he be back in the lineup today?

Will Nick Ramsay come off the IL today?

Texas runs a lot. Do you want Lehman to keep one on first when a runner reaches, or solely focus on hitters at the plate?

For Dave Lowitzki, your team has struggled against lefties. Is there anything you can do to turn that around?

You only use a seven-man bullpen when most use eight or nine (or even 14). Why have you settled on that number?

You’re rostering two Rule-V backup Second Basemen. Do you feel you can get away with that over a whole season?


TRIVIA: Who is the last Rangers Second Baseman to hit more than 20 homers in a season?

[daveltex]

Your team has struggled against lefties. Is there anything you can do to turn that around?

It was a known problem coming into the season and was the primary reason we brought in Martelo. There's not a ton we can do about it in the short-term, but we faced this same problem last year and then saw a mid-season trade for Heliot Ramos which helped a lot. So... wait and see. But, also, if anyone has some RH batters they want to trade me (and retain some salary), lets talk!

You only use a seven-man bullpen when most use eight or nine (or even 14). Why have you settled on that number?

Because it is generally working? But also, carrying 8 or 9 relief pitchers is totally unnecessary. I'm philosophically opposed to it in real life and in OOTP life. And I need the roster room for...

You’re rostering two Rule-V backup Second Basemen. Do you feel you can get away with that over a whole season?

... the two rule-V 2b. But, it is actually only one (Acheson). Ronchetti was a rule V guy last season. I still like him a lot, though his production continues to be lacking. I was pretty ready to see Luis Torres called up this year, but after an injury he's been struggling, so we'll see if he can turn it around in AAA before getting the call to the big leagues.

[kcgm]

1) Doug Rothenberg has recovered from his hamstring tendinitis injury. Will he be back in the lineup today?

Yup! Happy to get Rothenberg back. He's been great offensively but his fielding needs to be better.

2) Will Nick Ramsay come off the IL today?

No. I like what Overton has given us out of the pen and I wanna keep him in the majors as long as possible.

3) Texas runs a lot. Do you want Lehman to keep one on first when a runner reaches, or solely focus on hitters at the plate?

Depends who the runner is. Don't let them get easy bases but also don't be so concerned with the runners that it effects your pitching.

[Commissioner Erick]

Royals 6 - Rangers 4


WP: E. Rodriguez (2-0)
LP: M. Patch (3-1)
SV: R. Gomez (7)


Texas got a big-time effort from pitcher Aaron Taylor, but it wasn't enough to keep the Kansas City Royals from winning the game, 6-4. Taylor threw 7.0 innings of 3-hit ball for the losing team. Rafael A. Gomez converted his 7th save in 7 tries. Kansas City goes to 47-26. The win puts them 5 games up in their division.

Kansas City used the clutch hitting of T.J. Hardman to capture the win. The third baseman drilled a 2-run double in the top of the ninth inning to give the Royals the lead, 6-4. For the game, Hardman had 1 single and 1 double in 4 at-bats.

"Say want you want about this team, they play nine innings hard," said Kansas City manager Daniel Kent.


Questions for the GMs:


For Daniel Kent, you played T.J. Hardman at third over Harland Guenette, who has struggled this year. Any chance Hardman, who had the big two-run double in the ninth, could take over for Guenette?

Your pen went 4.2 innings allowing just one hit with three arms who weren't on the team last year. How satisfied are you with the job you've done adding to what has historically been a strong bullpen?

Your offense struggled against Trout Taylor. Do you have a bit of a weakness against left-handed pitching?

For Dave Lowitzki, Marshall Patch struggled against the heart of Kansas City's order. Are you worried he's not good enough to handle the very elite bats in the AL?

Taylor looked great out there. Where do you think he stacks up among some of the AL's best arms? Only 24, he has room to improve as well.

Despite your struggles against lefties and Kansas City's strengths, you were able to have success against Taylor Lehman and knock him out early. What did your hitters do to have success against him?


TRIVIA: Who is the only Royal to have over 100 steals in his career?

[kcgm]

1) You played T.J. Hardman at third over Harland Guenette, who has struggled this year. Any chance Hardman, who had the big two-run double in the ninth, could take over for Guenette?

Hardman will probably get somewhat more playing time at 3B, but overall he hasn't been great either. Guenette has a track record and better ratings so he'll likely still get the lion's share of the playing time. I might sniff around at the trade deadline for a deal that makes sense if there're 3B available. Guenette's a free agent after this season, i'll likely be looking for a new 3B this offseason with the hope that 1st round pick Tim McGinn can replace Guenette as the long term answer there.

2) Your pen went 4.2 innings allowing just one hit with three arms who weren't on the team last year. How satisfied are you with the job you've done adding to what has historically been a strong bullpen?

Pretty happy, I think we've taken a bit of a step back from last season as guys like Frank Aguilar and Roger Airhart have struggled. Marcus Thomas has been a great addition and fits really well with what I prefer as a RP with good stamina who can go multiple innings in an appearance and eat a lot of innings. I wasn't expecting Overton to look this good this soon but I may have stumbled into another late inning weapon as well. Overall I don't think it's been perfect, but I like where it's at and I think some of my AAA prospects, such as John Jones, could bolster it as well.

3) Your offense struggled against Trout Taylor. Do you have a bit of a weakness against left-handed pitching?

Maybe a bit. Dalton and Vargas are both LH and Bakos, my best RH hitter, hasn't had a great season so far. I'm not super worried though, Taylor's a great SP and I think most everyone struggles against him.

[daveltex]

Marshall Patch struggled against the heart of Kansas City's order. Are you worried he's not good enough to handle the very elite bats in the AL?

I'm not overly concerned about it... its one game. I'm still pretty content with my bullpen, at least for now. Patch has his moments where he blows up a bit, but overall he's been good.

Taylor looked great out there. Where do you think he stacks up among some of the AL's best arms? Only 24, he has room to improve as well.

He's clearly heading in the right direction. I think that he has to be considered in the conversation of AL's best arms, but, even better, he still has a lot of room to grow.

Despite your struggles against lefties and Kansas City's strengths, you were able to have success against Taylor Lehman and knock him out early. What did your hitters do to have success against him?

Heh... I have no idea. Hopefully, my hitting coach figures it out though.

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA 1: Nobody guessed Jonathan Cardona

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA 2: Nobody guessed Terrance Gore