(April 4th - Day 29)
We have a 4-game series at home against the Chicago White Sox kicking off today. Going 2-4 so far this year, the White Sox have compiled a .333 winning percentage. They are in 3rd place in the Central Division, 3.0 games behind the leader. Their 16 runs scored rank 13th in the American League, and their .214 batting average ranks 13th. On the other side of the diamond, they have given up 26 runs (6th) with their starters compiling an ERA of 4.12, which ranks 6th. Their bullpen sports an ERA of 4.30, ranking 10th.
Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
LHP C. Ragans (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs RHP E. Fedde (0-1, 10.12 ERA)
RHP M. Wacha (0-1, 5.14 ERA) vs RHP J. Kaprielian (0-1, 4.50 ERA)
RHP B. Singer (0-1, 7.11 ERA) vs RHP D. Thorpe (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
RHP M. Sauer (0-0, 1.42 ERA) vs LHP G. Crochet (1-1, 1.80 ERA)
The top 5 players on their team are:
1. SP Garrett Crochet (Age: 24, Overall: 75, Potential: 80)
2. CL Tanner Banks (32, 55, 55)
3. CF Luis Robert Jr. (26, 55, 55)
4. RP Jonathan Cannon (23, 50, 50)
5. 1B Andrew Vaughn (26, 50, 50)
Game Summary – April 4th - Royals Capture Close Win 2-1
The Kansas City Royals used a great performance from 26-year-old left-handed pitcher Cole Ragans to beat the Chicago White Sox, 2-1, at Kauffman Stadium. The win puts Kansas City at 3-4.
"Exciting game to play in," said Ragans. "Getting the win makes it even better."
The Royals got a clutch hit from third baseman Maikel Garcia. In the bottom of the tenth, he delivered a run-scoring single to win the game for the Royals. I like his contact and speed, which I think makes him a great lead-off hitter. We need to get him into the development lab this coming off-season and get his plate discipline up so he can get on base more.
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Cole Ragans
Ballpark: Kauffman Stadium
Weather: Partly Cloudy (40 degrees), wind blowing out to center at 10 mph
Start Time: 6:40 PM CT
Time: 3:27
Attendance: 18896
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Game Summary – April 5th - Royals Beaten by White Sox, 2-0
The Chicago White Sox locked up a win at Kauffman Stadium, knocking off the Kansas City Royals, 2-0. On the mound for Chicago was right-hander James Kaprielian. He played a major role in the triumph. Kaprielian got the win, improving to 1-1. He gave up 7 hits and walked 3 over 7.1 innings. He allowed no runs. Tanner Banks recorded the save for Chicago, his 3rd of the season. Brett Phillips hit a run-scoring triple off Michael Wacha in the top of the seventh, which put the White Sox in front, 1-0. In addition to the triple, Phillips had 1 single and 1 walk, while going 2 for 4.
"Nice to tuck this win away," said Phillips. The loss puts Kansas City at 3-5
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: James Kaprielian
Ballpark: Kauffman Stadium
Weather: Cloudy (44 degrees), wind blowing out to center at 10 mph
Start Time: 6:40 PM CT
Time: 3:00
Attendance: 23195
I benched Renfroe since he's already cold, 0 for 21 over 6 games, to give M.J. Melendez a start against RHP James Kaprielian. Let's see who wants the job more.
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Game Summary – April 6th - White Sox Score Late to Beat Royals, 2-1
Kauffman Stadium featured a tense pitchers' duel. The Kansas City Royals wasted an impressive 6-inning effort from starter Brady Singer, falling 2-1 to the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium.
The save went to Tanner Banks, number 4 for him. Chicago needed the clutch hitting of Yoan Moncada to seal the deal. The third baseman swatted a 2-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to put the White Sox on top, 2-1. For the game, Moncada had 1 home run and 1 single in 4 at-bats.
"If we play like this, we can win a lot of games," Moncada told the Chicago Gazette. Chicago goes to 4-5.
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Brady Singer
Ballpark: Kauffman Stadium
Weather: Rain (55 degrees), wind blowing out to center at 11 mph
Start Time: 6:10 PM CT
Time: 3:01
Attendance: 20608
Michael Massey became eligible to come off the IL list after about 4 weeks for back tightness. I’ll give him some rehab time in Omaha and consider bringing him up at the end of the month when I re-evaluate things after a decent sample of work from the guys. We’re bloated for infield at 2B, which now makes me regret the trade we made to Toronto just before kicking off the season. Maybe I just have no idea what I'm doing! We might need to consider some alternative templates for how we go into May and the rest of the season. We've got time to figure it out.
So, considering the bloated infield we have in our top minor clubs, I moved our only top prospect Javier Vaz, currently #172 playing in Triple-A, to learn CF since he has good instincts in the OF and his work ethic is great. He’s already developed as much as he can as a 2B, so I’m going to try and get as much utility as I can out of him. I think he’ll make a great lead-off hitter for us when he’s ready to come up and debut later this season. Garret Hampson, who's currently 29 and 7 years of pro service, has reached full development and needs to be traded. Currently, he's focusing on IF/2B, but he hasn’t developed fully in any position for me to be comfortable bringing him up. His high work ethic does boost his trade value, and our control on him is one year, so we need to decide on him this season. He’s shortlisted as a trade piece value.
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Game Summary – April 7th – Royals Earn Clutch Win, 4-3
Chicago got a terrific performance from pitcher Jonathan Cannon, but it wasn't enough to beat the Kansas City Royals. Kansas City won the Kauffman Stadium contest, 4-3. Cannon threw 7.0 innings of 6-hit ball for the losing team. Kansas City reliever Jordan Lyles got the win, raising his record to 1-0. Tanner Banks was tagged with the loss. Chicago drops to 4-6. Drew Waters was the walk-off hero for Kansas City. With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Royals' center fielder hit a dramatic run-scoring single to send the teams home. He’s also the player of the game in my view!
"This was a good win," said Waters.
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Jonathan Cannon
Ballpark: Kauffman Stadium
Weather: Partly Cloudy (52 degrees), wind blowing out to center at 12 mph
Start Time: 1:10 PM CT
Time: 3:16
Attendance: 23111
So instead of LHP Garrett Crochet we faced RHP Jonathan Cannon as a change from CWS in the pitching rotation. I hate to be cynical and suggest this is what gave us the win tonight, but I'll take it.
We got a day of rest before our next 3-game series with Houston starting on the 9th.