The Royals were supposed to have a contending team this year, while the Cardinals were rebuilding. But those roles have reversed, with the Royals limping along at the bottom of the standings, looking ahead to next year, while the Cardinals are ahead of schedule with an exciting young team that is winning games. St. Louis has been on a roll lately, winning 9 of their last 13 games.
St. Louis Cardinals (40-32) vs. Kansas City Royals (30-45) at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Cardinals: 4.53 runs scored/game
(14th in MLB), 4.38 runs allowed/game (15th)
Royals: 4.01 runs scored/game (26th), 4.69 runs allowed/game (19th)
Jordan Walker is enjoying a breakout season – only nine hitters have hit more home runs than his 18, and only Nick Kurtz has driven in more runs than his 56 RBI. Iván Herrera has the seventh-best on-base percentage in baseball at .398. He’s a .306/.453/.468 hitter in road games. Nathan Church is hitting .321/.387/.393 in nine games since returning from the Injured List.
Alec Burleson hits just .186/.220/.244 against lefties. Former Royals outfielder Nelson Velázquez was called up after hitting .232/.344/.420 with seven home runs in 40 games at Triple-A. The Cardinals demoted former first-round pick Nolan Gorman this year after he was hitting .194 through 62 games. Shortstop Masyn Winn became the youngest player in club history to win a Gold Glove last year, and rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt is third in all of baseball in Outs Above Average at +13.
This series will feature a weird off-day on Saturday due to the World Cup. Parking will be more of a challenge this series so plan ahead. Thursday’s game will simulcast free on over-the-air KCTV 5 in Kansas City, while Friday’s game airs exclusively on Apple TV’s Friday Night Baseball.
Matthew Liberatore has a reverse split, with lefties hitting .319/.342/.623 against him. He has allowed four or more runs in 7 of his 14 starts. Opponents are hitting just .167 against his curveball with a 38 percent whiff rate.
Michael McGreevy has a Quality Start in each of his last three outings. He has the fourth-lowest strikeout rate among qualified starters. Seth Lugo is expected to return this series after missing his last start due to a line drive to the head.
Dustin May pitched a one-hit shutout against the Padres in his last start, taking a perfect game into the seventh inning. He struggled in his first two starts after joining the Cardinals as a free agent, but has a 2.54 ERA over his last 12 starts. Opponents are hitting just .211 against his 96.9 mph fastball.
The Cardinals bullpen has a 4.23 ERA, filled mostly with anonymous relievers. Riley O’Brien is having a breakout season at age 31, and is tied for third in baseball with 18 saves. Kansas City native Ryne Stanek has the 15th-highest strikeout rate among relievers. Lefty JoJo Romero has allowed the fifth-highest hard-hit rate among relievers.
The Cardinals have bounced back not through big free agent signing or splashy trades, but by identifying good talent and getting the best out of them, and cutting bait on players that weren’t performing. They have also built a top-five farm system by trading away veteran players, positioning themselves well for the future. With the Royals playing for next year, there are probably a lot of lessons they can learn from their neighbors across the state on how to rebuild quickly and field a winning team.
