Royals vs Rays Series Preview: Tampa Bay Prohibitive Favorites
Battle of AL's Best vs One of AL's Worst
The Kansas City Royals visit the Tampa Bay Rays for a four-game series beginning Thursday. The Royals vs Rays series preview notes Tampa Bay is going to be huge favorites in all four games. This is simply a case of one of the best teams in MLB hosting one of the worst.
The MLB standings by division have Tampa Bay at 52-25 in the AL East. The Rays’ .675 winning percentage is the best in baseball. Tampa Bay has a five-game lead over second-place Baltimore in the division.
The Royals are 20-54 and trail the Minnesota Twins by 16.5 games in the AL Central. Only the Oakland A’s have a worse record than Kansas City. The Royals’ run differential of -118 is second-worst in the league behind Oakland.
Kansas City’s woes are easy to define. The team doesn’t hit well and it pitches even worse. The MLB team stats have the Royals at No. 23 in team batting average at 2.33. The Royals are No. 29 in runs scored and No. 26 in home runs.
On the mound, the Royals rank No. 28 in team ERA. Colorado and Oakland have worse numbers. Kansas City pitchers have converted 10 of 20 save opportunities.
Tampa is No. 5 in team batting average at .263 and the Rays are No. 2 in home runs. Tampa Bay has scored 428 runs, which is No. 2 in Major League Baseball.
The Rays are No. 2 in team ERA at 3.53. Only the Houston Astros have a better number at 3.51. The Rays have blown a few save opportunities, but are holding hitters to an MLB low .222 batting average.
Thursday’s Game
The Royals vs Rays series preview notes one of the few bright spots for the Royals this year is Jose Cuas. The second-year pro is 3-0 with a 4.15 ERA. He is expected to get his first start of the year in the game. He’s been used in short relief so far this season. So he’s not likely to pitch many innings in this one.
The Rays will counter with Shane McClanahan, who has been brilliant this season. McClanahan is 11-1 with a 2.12 ERA. The Rays are 13-2 when he starts. Surprisingly, Tampa Bay is 9-5-1 in totals with McClanahan on the mound, primarily due to the 5.93 runs it scores with him pitching. Tonight’s Game: June 22, 2023 – (ML -370/KC +290), (RL Tampa -1.5 -170, KC +1.5 +150), (Over/Under 8 EV/-120)
Friday’s Game
Zack Greinke is expected to start for the Royals and Zach Eflin is the listed pitcher for the Rays. Greinke is 1-7 with a 4.81 ERA for the Royals. Kansas City has gone just 3-12 in the games he’s started this year, losing the last seven. Eflin has pitched well for the Rays, but has gotten solid run support. Eflin is 8-3 with a 3.26 ERA and the Rays are 10-3 when he takes the mound. The line will be a bit lower than Thursday’s game. But Eflin should still be close to the -300 range.
Saturday’s Game
The Royals are scheduled to send Jordan Lyles to the mound in this one. To be kind, Lyles has been absolutely brutal this season. He sports an 0-11 record with an ERA of 6.89. Lyles has made 15 starts this season and Kansas City has lost each one. To be fair, quite a few of the losses have been close. The Royals are being outscored 3.8 to 6.6 in the games Lyles has started. So it’s not as though they’re losing every game 8-2. Seven of the 15 losses have been by two runs or less.
The Rays haven’t listed a starting pitcher for Saturday. Tampa Bay can always have a bullpen game on any given day. The Rays have the arms to do so. The Rays should be in the -300 range once again.
Sunday’s Game
The Royals vs Rays series shows Daniel Lynch and Tyler Glasnow the expected starters. Lynch is 1-3 with a 4.45 ERA. Kansas City is 2-3 in the games Lynch has started and is coming off a 1-0 win in his last outing. This will be just his sixth start of the season.
Glasnow is making his sixth start of the season after early season injuries. He’s been roughed up a little bit his last two starts. His stats aren’t the greatest, as he brings a 4.97 ERA into the game. He has fanned 33 hitters in 25 1/3 innings, but hasn’t found his midseason form just yet. Still, the Rays will be close to -300 once again.
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