The Yankees’ weekend series against the Rays had plenty of buildup and ultimately left us with a taste of wanting more, as a postponement on Saturday prevented either team from actually gaining a game on the other in the AL East. All the excitement of Aaron Judge’s walk-off, two-run blast on Sunday would have been so much better had the Yankees gained ground on the Rays, but we’ll take it nonetheless. The turnaround is a fast one as the Yankees travel to the Midwest for a three-game set with the Royals,
starting with a Monday afternoon matchup on Memorial Day at Kauffman Stadium.
In the Royals, the Yankees will find a team whose inability to build a competent lineup around Bobby Witt Jr. has been a longstanding issue. This year, the underperformance of the likes of Maikel Garcia, Vinnie Pasquantino, and the aging Salvador Pérez are all contributing to pedestrian numbers from the offense as a whole, despite having the league leader in hits (Witt).
Monday: Will Warren vs. Michael Wacha (3:40 pm ET)
Recovering well from a blow-up against the Rangers earlier this month, Will Warren hasn’t been able to complete six full innings in each of his last two starts, but he has done enough to earn the win in both of them, moving to a fantastic 6-1 record. For as great as Warren has been for the majority of the season, that record can also be traced to the Yankees’ propensity to score a lot of runs when he is on the mound. Through Warren’s first 10 starts of 2026, the Yankees have averaged a whopping 7.8 runs per game, and in order to carry on that trend, they’ll need to go through the veteran Michael Wacha.
Out of all the responsible parties for the Royals’ subpar record in a weak division, Wacha is certainly not involved, easily their best starting pitcher up to this point. In fact, the Yankees’ offense remembers all too well Wacha’s capabilities, as the right-hander tossed six innings of three-hit ball in the Bronx earlier this season. And that’s to say nothing of his history with New York from his days with the Rays and Red Sox. Let down by his offense, Wacha saw the Royals lose that game, 4-2. And while length has been a minor problem for Warren as of late, Wacha has finished at least seven innings four times this year, including a couple of times in May.
Tuesday: Cam Schlittler vs. TBA (7:40 pm ET)
The Royals currently have just four true starters working their schedule, with this fifth slot last most recently used for a combination of Bailey Falter and Luinder Avila, the former as an opener and the latter as the bulk option. These two last pitched on May 19th as the Royals lost at home to the Red Sox. Despite the defeat, they did alright, particularly Avila, who tossed three scoreless innings before Kansas City’s bullpen faltered late, no pun intended. As much as the lack of depth behind Wacha, that bullpen is also a weakness for the Yankees to explore, with KC ranking 23rd and 26th in bullpen ERA and WHIP, respectively. We don’t yet know for sure if this will be manager Matt Quatraro’s plan for tomorrow as he yet to announce a starter, but it’s a distinct possibility.
Machine-like over the course of the season, the league leader in ERA at 1.50, Cam Schlittler, will face a repeat opponent for the first time in 2026, having been on the winning end of that matchup against Wacha last month. The Yankees seem to be cutting him loose a bit, setting a season-high 106 pitches in each of his previous two starts. One note of interest about Schlittler’s campaign is that five of his six wins have come on the road. During his most recent start away from home, he set a new high for 2026 with nine strikeouts across his 6.2 innings of one-run ball in Queens.
Wednesday: Gerrit Cole vs. Noah Cameron (7:40 pm ET)
There is always a sense of nervousness when a pitcher of Gerrit Cole’s caliber returns from such a lengthy absence. Undergoing a meticulous process for his return with several rehab outings, Cole was ready to go in his return, and apart from the lack of strikeouts as the Rays showed up with an aggressive game plan, the veteran former Cy Young winner did about as great a job as anyone could’ve hoped. Cole’s fastball sat in the 96+ mph range from the first through his last inning, and he’ll look to get a better feel for the secondaries against the Royals.
One of the pleasant surprises of this Royals team a year ago when he finished fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting, Noah Cameron has not yet been able to replicate his 2025 numbers, currently boasting an ERA closer to 5.00 than his 2025 mark. Cameron’s last start was his best of the year, holding the Mariners to six scoreless, but with no support from an offense that, outside of Bobby Witt Jr., has had minimal action, Cameron still saw his team lose that one by a score of two to nothing.
