New York Yankees @ Kansas City Royals: Will Warren vs. Michael Wacha

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 16: Will Warren #29 of the New York Yankees looks on from the dugout during the game against the New York Mets at Citi Field on May 16, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images The Yankees got out of town at a good time. Aaron Judge’s wal

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The Yankees got out of town at a good time. Aaron Judge’s walk-off home run salvaged the tail-end of a lackluster (not to mention rainy) homestand for the Bombers, who will spend their Memorial Day in a much warmer neck of the woods. The forecast calls for sunny skies with game-time temperature somewhere in the low-80s at a ballpark where the Yanks have generally had success in prior seasons: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The Royals, who the Yankees swept in a three-game set last month, enter

this series at 22-31. However, their starter in tonight’s opener is a familiar and pesky foe.

Michael Wacha has faced the Yankees 13 times in his MLB career, posting a 3.12 ERA across 69.1 innings, posting 70 strikeouts against only 22 walks. He took a turn in the rotation in that April series, completing six quality innings with two earned runs on three hits, striking out six and walking three. The Yankees still won the game 4-2, but the veteran righty has demonstrated a knack at blunting the Bombers. He’s having a terrific start to his season overall, posting a 2.70 ERA through his first ten starts.

Will Warren, though, was not to be outdone. When he faced the Royals on April 18th, he took their lunch money. In seven full innings, he struck out 11 batters to tie his career-high without allowing a single walk, with two runs allowed on five hits in a 13-4 blowout victory. Warren’s progress has slowed a tad this month, but with a 3.01 FIP entering action, he is still doing enough to win ballgames more often than not. And hey, he has a 6-1 record to prove it. No matter how obsolete wins are as a stat, pitchers still value them; and you can’t totally bumble your way into winning six games before the end of May.

Warren and the Royals offense are evidently a good match for the Yankees’ purposes; though in all fairness Kansas City has had little success against AL pitching across the board. The encouraging strides they took to make it to the Bronx for a playoff series two years ago have slowed substantially. Bobby Witt Jr. remains a can’t-miss star, but the supporting cast has been quite unimpressive. There’s still a gaggle of younger hitters who are trying to prove themselves, such as Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen; they’re both a little above-average, trying to offset the lack of production from guys like Salvador Perez and Vinnie Pasquantino.

Put another way, the slumping Yankee offense needn’t move heaven and earth to succeed in this series. It wouldn’t hurt, though.

The lineup will start like yesterday’s, with Trent Grisham in the leadoff spot ahead of Aaron Judge and Ben Rice. Cody Bellinger will clean up ahead of Paul Goldschmidt and Jazz Chisholm Jr. The bottom third of the lineup will see Anthony Volpe inserted at shortstop, with J.C. Escarra taking the day behind the dish and José Caballero shifting to the hot corner.

Seeing as today is Memorial Day, this game will be broadcast on national TV! ESPN has the rights to this one, and it’ll start at a strange 3:40 pm time slot. But hey, that’s what holidays are for.

How to watch

Location: Kauffman Stadium — Kansas City, MO

First pitch: 3:40 pm ET

TV broadcast: ESPN

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | 96.5 The Fan, Royals Radio Network (KC)

Streaming: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)

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