The Guardians coming to town to end the season rubs salt in the wound of this season. Cleveland has been completely ordinary. They were at .500 a few games into September, and yet they have already clinched a playoff spot and are in control their own destiny to win the division this weekend, one game ahead of the White Sox. If only the Royals could have bee mediocre this year.
The Guardians have actually scored fewer runs than the Royals, yet have a winning record. That should give you an indication of how different their pitching staffs are.
Cleveland Guardians (83-76) vs. Kansas City Royals (68-91) at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Guardians: 4.11 runs scored/game (27th in MLB), 4.09 runs allowed/game (8th)
Royals: 4.23 runs scored/game (23rd), 4.94 runs allowed/game (26th)
Angel Martinez is hitting .395/.395/.895 with four home runs in his last 10 games. Steven Kwan is hitting .350/.438/.423 since the All-Star break. Rookie Chase DeLauter is hitting .325/.377/.469 against left-handers. Jo Adell is hitting .237/.311/.396 in 45 games with the Guardians since being acquired from the Angels.
José Ramírez has just 12 home runs, his fewest total since 2016, and his 94 wRC+ is his worst since 2015. Chandler Simpson is the only qualified hitter with fewer home runs than Kwan. Brayan Rocchio is hitting .216/.271/.313 on the road. The Guardians are 27-21 in one-run games. Cleveland has the third-best success rate at stealing bases at 83 percent.
Gavin Williams leads MLB with 244 strikeouts. He pitched seven shutout innings his last time out and has a 2.92 ERA in his last 11 starts. Noah Cameron has a 2.01 ERA over his last 11 games.
Lefties are hitting .239/.301/.450 against Tanner Bibee. Bobby Witt is a career .370 hitter (10-for-27) with three home runs and five walks against him, while Salvador Perez is 2-for-24 (.083). With 5.2 innings, Michael Wacha can become the only American League pitcher to reach 200 innings pitched this year.
The Guardians have not yet announced a starter for the finale, it will likely depend if they have anything left to play for at that point. Daniel Lynch gave up a career-high nine runs in four innings in his last start against the White Sox.
The Guardians once again had a very good pen, with a collective 3.48 ERA, sixth-best in MLB, with the best strikeout rate. Cade Smith has the fourth-highest strikeout rate among all relievers, and over the last two seasons combined he has 5.3 fWAR, second behind only Mason Miller among relievers. He leads MLB with 41 saves, and has not blown a save since August 5, and has not given up a run in his last 12 outings. Hunter Gaddis has given up just three runs in 23 innings over his last 24 games. Righties are hitting just .137/.283/.235 against lefty Erik Sabrowski with a 43 percent strikeout rate.
The last series of the year is bittersweet in a season like this. The Royals will finish in last place and you want to quickly put this season in the rearview mirror. On the other hand, the next regular season Royals games isn’t for another six months – if there’s no work stoppage. From everyone at Royals Review, thanks for spending this disappointing season with us, and we hope to see some better baseball next year!
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