Series Preview #39: Diamondbacks @ Royals

After an off day yesterday, the team is now in Kansas City, ready to face off against the other Missouri MLB team. The Royals hold a special place in my heart as I went to college in Missouri when they were at the height of their World Series (es) runs! Plus, all my best friends (and significant other or two) were from the west side of the state, so I was immersed in the Royal Blue.

Unfortunately for the City of Fountains, the Royals currently dwell just above the cellar of the AL Central thanks only to Detroit and their monstrously horrific season. In a very winnable division, the Royals sit at 50-74, 16 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for first and 17 games out of the final AL Wild Card spot.

Hope can be seen in the lineup however, as the Royals have graduated several top prospects in 2022. Most notably Bobby Witt Jr. But don’t sleep on Nick Pratto, MJ Melendez Drew Waters or Kyle Isbel. Much like the mid-20s Diamondbacks, the mid-20s Royals are filling their roster with young bats they hope will propel them to more October/November glory! Also similar to Arizona, the pitcher prospects Kansas City has lauded the last few years are developing slower than some wanted (or in some cases, just simply aren’t looking like quality MLB caliber guys).

We may even get to see old friend Luke Weaver who has lowered his KC ERA to 6.75 from 9.00 recently! C’mon Rivera, let’s see some fireworks!

Tuesday August 23, 2022

5:10pm Arizona Time: Zach Davies (2-4, 3.99 ERA, 6.87 K/9) vs. Jonathan Heasley (1-7, 5.61 ERA, 6.79 K/9)

Zach Davies will return to the mound to face an anemic lineup opposite Jonathan Heasley set to face a slightly less anemic lineup... Luckily, Davies is pitching far better than Heasley. There is a very good chance that continues. Don’t get complacent though; we all remember Davies’ first start back from the IL against Cleveland. And the rookie hitters mentioned earlier aren’t exactly push overs. They are developing much like Thomas, Perdomo and Varsho. The hit parades can happen without warning and be shocking.

Despite all that, I still favor Arizona to take the first of two.

Wednesday August 24, 2022

5:10pm Arizona Time: Zac Gallen (9-2, 2.78 ERA, 8.95 K/9) vs. Brady Singer (6-4, 3.27 ERA, 9.33 K/9)

Wednesday’s game on the other hand is surprisingly close. Gallen will have the ball for the snakes. He’s been on a roll with 21.1 scoreless innings, pitching into the 8th, and just generally chucking baseballs like a Cy Young winner. Singer has uh... not exactly been doing that. But don’t discount his arm. He is a former first round pick and high end prospect. He’s striking out a metric butt-tonne of hitters this season. His peripherals suggest some negative regression may occur, but at this point, that regression won’t be much, nor would be shocking if it never happened.

Obviously a high strikeout pitcher throwing against the Arizona lineup isn’t a recipe for success, but the team only stuck out twice total on Sunday. TWICE! Regardless who is 60ft 6in from the plate, that’s impressive.

I’ll hedge my bets on this game and call it a toss up with the slightest edge to Arizona because of Gallen’s amazing streak. Unfortunately this is a Spencer’s Spicy Review (patent pending), so my bad luck is likely to mess Gallen up even from 600+ miles away.