Yanks Go Yard Radio Show Rewind: Royals-Yankees Preview (5/9-5/12)

On Sunday night’s episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, we looked ahead to this week’s series between the Yankees and the Royals

Sunday, on the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show (recorded before last night’s Red Sox-Yankees game), I talked about the New York Yankees (11-18) winning the first two games of their series against the Boston Red Sox.

It was a series that featured a controversial 3-1 pitch to David Ortiz on Friday, Aaron Hicks hitting a game-winning home run, and the combination of Didi Gregorius and Austin Romine combining for five RBI’s Saturday. On the other hand, the Yankees had another injury happened when Jacoby Ellsbury left the game Friday after the first inning with a hip injury. Ellsbury is still not back in the lineup.

On Monday, the Yankees welcomed Aroldis Chapman back after he served his suspension for violating the domestic violence policy. Chapman will be the closer for this week’s series at Yankee Stadium against the defending World Series champions, the Kansas City Royals (15-15).

Coming into this series, Ned Yost’s team has lost four of their last six games and they are six games behind the White Sox in the AL Central. Plus, they are without third baseman Mike Moustakas, who went on the disabled list this weekend because of a fractured left thumb. Moustakas leads the team in home runs with seven.

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Right now, the Royals are struggling to score runs. They are tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for the second fewest runs in the AL (102) and they are one run ahead of the Yankees. However, first baseman Eric Hosmer is having a great season as he is hitting .336 in 30 games with five home runs and 15 RBI’s.

On the mound, Kansas City’s starting pitching has a 4.37 ERA through the first 30 games. The only starter in their rotation with an ERA under three is former Yankee Ian Kennedy (2.13). Kennedy signed a five-year, $70 million deal with the Royals this winter. The bullpen still remains one of the strengths for the team when the eighth and ninth inning guys (Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera) have yet to allow a run.

Next: Recap: No Sweep For You

To talk more about the Royals, I spoke with Mike Vamosi from Kings of Kauffman. Mike gave his take on the Royals’ first 30 games as well as the impact of losing Moustakas in the lineup. Here are some of the other topics we discussed:

• What has been behind Hosmer’s great start?
• Cause for concern about the rest of the offense?
• Pitching Matchup Breakdown
• Chris Young (tonight’s Royals’ starter) has given up eight home runs this year
• What to expect from Ivan Nova (tonight’s Yankees’ starter)
• Kris Medlen (tomorrow’s Royals’ starter) has 17 walks in six games
• Masahiro Tanaka (tomorrow’s Yankees’ starter) has held opponents to a .200 batting average
• Yordano Ventura (Wednesday’s Royals’ starter) has gone only four innings in two straight outings
• Michael Pineda (Wednesday’s Yankees’ starter) has a 2.49 ERA in his last four outings against KC
• How Ian Kennedy (Thursday’s Royals’ starter) has been so consistent for the Royals?
• Nathan Eovaldi (Thursday’s Yankees’ starter) coming off eight strong innings against the Red Sox
• Royals hitters to watch: Salvador Perez and Cheslor Cuthbert
• Yankees hitters to watch: Brian McCann and Aaron Hicks
• What to make of the rest of the Royals’ bullpen behind Davis and Herrera?
• Are the White Sox the biggest challenge to the Royals in the AL Central?

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE ROYALS-YANKEES SERIES PREVIEW SHOW!!!