Game of the Week: June 17: KC @ SEA

[Commissioner Erick]

Kansas City Royals (46-25) @ Seattle Mariners (34-40)


KC: Vincente Corado (9-3, 2.53)
SEA: Dakota Hudson (2-3, 4.46)


Royals 3 Key Stats

9: Wins for Vicente Corado: Corado had an outstanding rookie year in 2028, improved in 2029 after starting the season late with an oblique strain, and has dominated in 2030. He leads the AL in Wins, is second in WAR with 3.4, and his 2.53 ERA is sixth in the league. He also has 111 strikeouts, giving him a 2.43 FIP that leads the AL. Only 25, he looks like the frontrunner for the Cy Young Award.

.294: Roderick Dalton’s average: The Australian native hasn’t brought the power he had in Detroit to Kansas City, but he has brought the average. Dalton has hit as high as .365 in his career, and hit .288 last year, so this excellent average may be his floor. He hit 40 home runs though last year, and has just 12 so far this year. The Royals will need him to have a bit more power to have the offense they want to have.

24: Jorge Vargas’ home runs: Unlike Dalton, Vargas has provided the power. He has 24 long balls so far, and will challenge his career high of 52. His .267 average is an upgrade on last year’s disappointing .248 mark. He leads the AL in OPS and is back to being perhaps the best hitter in the American League.


Mariners 3 Key Stats

5.07: Seattle’s bullpen ERA: Normally a team with an excellent bullpen, the Mariners have struggled with their relief work this year. Anyelo Luna, usually in the running for Reliever of the Year, has a 4.94 ERA with four homers already yielded. Adam Hall has a 5.40 ERA as a setup man. Woo-seok Ko has a 6.25 mark and has demanded a trade, and Marcus Stroman has a 5.35. Seattle’s offense has been good, the starters have been fine, and the defense has been solid. If the pen can shape up, Seattle can make a go of things.

18: Home runs by Michael Green: Part of a very good AL position player rookie crop, Green may be the best of them all. He already has 18 homers and 10 doubles. With a .304 average and a good walk rate, Green has a .970 OPS. Not a great defensive player, Green’s bat has shown it can play anywhere.

.580: Mickey Moniak’s OPS: Seattle signed Moniak partway through the season and the former Philly has struggled shaking off the rust. Without the benefit of spring training, he’s been very slow to start. He hasn’t homered and he has a .277 OBP. However, there’s hope that Moniak is shaking off the rust. He has hits in 13 of his last 15 games, and multiple hits in four of them. If he can get going ahead of Green, Seattle will suddenly have a potent offense.


Questions for the GMs:


For Daniel Kent, Xavier Edwards has a shoulder injury. Will he go on the IL or play through it?

Harland Guenette has a bad knee. Doctors say he should be fine tomorrow, but it could limit him today. Will he get the day off?

Former Royal Dakota Hudson is on the mound for Seattle. Knowing him from his Royals days, what’s the key to beating him?

For Jay Bigs, Juan Guevara’s back has melted down and he’ll miss a month. How will you replace him on the roster?

Caleb Swift should be healed from his broken foot. Will he be back in the lineup?

Will Odmar Galindo be back this week or next?



TRIVIA: Which University of Arizona graduate is not only the only Wildcat to have 30 home runs in a season, but the only Wildcat position player to ever make the PBA?

[Jay Bigs]

Juan Guevara’s back has melted down and he’ll miss a month. How will you replace him on the roster?
Reyna will resume his role in the starting lineup who was solid for us last year. Which position each OF will play is up for discussion but expect to see some competition for places while Guevara gets his back fixed.


Caleb Swift should be healed from his broken foot. Will he be back in the lineup?
For now he will have a short stint in Tacoma for a bit of rehab before we bring him back into the Majors. He started the year pretty well for a guy with not many ML swings so keen to see if he can improve over the season.


Will Odmar Galindo be back this week or next?
Is this a joke? Galindo is likely to get injured putting on socks in the morning before he walks back into the big league pen but we always have hope. Despite his injuries his arm has not lost any of its vigor he has been called back up after his perfect pitching in AAA not giving up a single run during his rehab assignment. As you eluded to for some reason either by bad luck or early errors, or simply players not having a good start to the year our pen which looked like the strongest assest has struggled. The mound dropping could have had a bigger impact in Seattle that expected before the year started but lately its been improving so I think they are getting used to it and I would expect to see some quality out of the pen going forward.

[kcgm]

1) Xavier Edwards has a shoulder injury. Will he go on the IL or play through it?

With Joey Young out for the year we don't have much of a plan B. I don't think it'll hurt his bat since he hasn't been hitting anyway but we need his glove in the field.

2) Harland Guenette has a bad knee. Doctors say he should be fine tomorrow, but it could limit him today. Will he get the day off?

Guenette will sit out. Since it's only a one day injury it's not worth risking him.

3) Former Royal Dakota Hudson is on the mound for Seattle. Knowing him from his Royals days, what’s the key to beating him?

Hudson isn't the pitcher he was in his prime, but he's still very solid. With pitchers like him who limit HRs, the key is sequencing. You need to string hits on balls in play together. Pitchers like Hudson won't beat themselves, but they also don't have the high octane stuff to feel like just getting the bat on the ball is a miracle. You're going to have to put balls in play and hope enough fall in for hits in quick succession.

[Commissioner Erick]

Mariners 4 - Royals 3


WP: W. Ko (2-2)
LP: V. Corado (9-4)
SV: D. Farris (2)


The Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-3, at Amazon Prime Park. The Mariners got a fine performance from left fielder Mickey Moniak, who was 2-3 with a home run and a walk. The winner was Woo-seok Ko in relief. His record improves to 2-2. Vincente Corado took the loss. Dan Farris, credited with the save, is now 2 for 3 in save opportunities.

The Mariners got a big at-bat from center fielder Andres Reyna. For the game, Reyna was 1 for 4 with a home run. He drove in 2 runs and scored once. In the bottom of the fifth, with a runner on 1st, he stroked a 2-run home run. His 2nd home run of the season gave Seattle a 4-3 lead.

"We'll just keep our nose to the grindstone," Reyna told the Seattle Daily.

The Mariners now have a mark of 35-40.


Questions for the GMs:


For Daniel Kent, Bryce Zettel started for Jorge Vargas and went 0-5, dropping his average to .225. How disappointed are you that he hasn't played better in the opportunities he's gotten, meaning there's a big dropoff when Vargas or Dalton get days off?

Did you agree with Jorge Parra pinch hitting for Jesus B. Sanchez in the ninth?

Switching gears, you picked Jayden Harris in the first round of the draft. What do you like about the righty pitcher to cause you to draft him?

For Jay Bigs, Woo-seok Ko pitched well in 1.2 innings, coming on for Dakota Hudson in the fourth. Does his outing may you more or less likely to grant his recent trade request?

Do you feel that Mickey Moniak is playing himself back into peak form?

You picked Kareem Oluniide out of Oklahoma State in the first round. What do you like about the Right Field prospect?


TRIVIA: Who is the last Mariner with 30+ homers in a season?

[Jay Bigs]

Woo-seok Ko pitched well in 1.2 innings, coming on for Dakota Hudson in the fourth. Does his outing may you more or less likely to grant his recent trade request?
I think one thing that Ko has forgot about is that no one else wants him. We dont either but hes under contract so we will use him till he leaves. My predecesor loved Ko but hes not be inspiring since ive been in seattle but we do not cave to player pressure, the vibe in the clubhouse is strong with the superb leadership of Reese.

Do you feel that Mickey Moniak is playing himself back into peak form?
When we signed him out of FA recently we knew he would have to shake the rust off without a spring training run out to get him up to speed. First month we were unsure if he deserved the contract but this month hes really starting to see the ball well, we hope he will find his career form as the season progresses.    

You picked Kareem Oluniide out of Oklahoma State in the first round. What do you like about the Right Field prospect?
Originally a SP in the draft we were very happy to find Kareem drop to us. He has serious impact potential with a good glove to back it up, and an absolute cannon for an arm which youd expect of guy who primarily pitched in college. Fun fact, Kansas City were interested in Kareem and he would not of got past him had we gone another way. 

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA 2: Jon correctly guessed Ivan Johnson

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA 1: Ben correctly guessed Sonny Badillo