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Yanks Go Yard Radio Show Rewind: Yankees-Royals Preview (5/15-5/17)

By Ricky Keeler

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On last night’s episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, brought to you by KNODA.com, I started off the show by talking about the New York Yankees (21-15) losing three out of four games to the Tampa Bay Rays this week at Tropicana Field. New York was able to score 11 runs on Monday to get CC Sabathia his first win of the season. However, the Yankees had trouble scoring runs past the first inning in the other three games and needed a Alex Rodriguez ninth inning home run on Thursday to avoid going three straight games without an extra base hit.

Even with losing the series in Tampa, they still are in first place in the AL East by a game. Their starting pitching was strong in this series, but Chase Whitley suffered a right elbow injury in the second inning on Thursday. This afternoon, Whitley was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to an elbow sprain. According to CBS Sports and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, Whitley’s injury could mean Tommy John surgery for the 25-year old right hander:

This weekend, the Yankees travel to Kansas City to take on the defending American League Champions, the Kansas City Royals (22-13). The Royals were one win away from the World Series last year, but this should be a great series that features two of the best bullpens in the game.

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Coming into tonight’s action, the Yankees and the Royals bullpens have each held opponents to a .177 average, but its Kansas City who has the edge in terms of bullpen ERA (1.65 to 2.29 for the Yankees). What’s impressive about that for Ned Yost’s club is that this week is one of the rare times that they have had Greg Holland, Kelvin Herrera, and Wade Davis all active.

It was well known that the bullpen would be the main strength of the Royals this year, but let’s take about their offense. Their team batting average of .287 is the best in baseball. They are third in runs scored and third in on-base percentage. First baseman Eric Hosmer has carried his success from the postseason into this year. He is hitting .333 with seven home runs and 29 RBI’s to go with a .404 on-base percentage.

That being said, this is a rotation that is missing the veteran presence that James Shields gave them, which he is now giving to the Padres. Kansas City’s starters’ ERA of 4.64 is 11th in the American League. Yordano Ventura, who will not be pitching this series, has a 5.36 ERA and has given up 14 earned runs in his last three starts combined.

To help preview this weekend’s series at Kauffman Stadium, I spoke with Dave Hill, the co-editor of Kings of Kauffman to talk about how the Royals are playing with a chip on their shoulder, the struggles of Ventura, the emergence of Hosmer, and how the AL Central has looked over the first month and a half:

  •  Pitching Matchup Breakdown
  • Chris Young (tonight’s Royals starter) has only given up seven hits this year
  • Michael Pineda (tonight’s Yankees starter) only struck out nine Royals in two starts last season.
  • Danny Duffy (tomorrrow’s Royals starter) has thrown four innings in two starts this month
  • CC Sabathia (tomorrow’s Yankees starter) coming off a season high nine strikeouts in his last start.
  • Edinson Volquez (Sunday’s Royals starter) has to attack the strike zone to be successful.
  • Nathan Eovaldi (Sunday’s Yankees starter) gaining more confidence by the start from Joe Girardi
  • Royals Hitters To Watch: Salvador Perez and Kendrys Morales
  • Yankees Hitters To Watch: Carlos Beltran and Brett Gardner
  • Should Joe Girardi use more Jose Pirela at second base?
  • Ryan Madson an X-Factor in the Royals bullpen

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