Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Yankees and Royals play a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium starting on Tuesday at 7:40 p.m.
5 things to watch
NY’s early season sweep
Even with Carlos Carrasco starting the opener and a rusty Clarke Schmidt making his season debut, the Yanks rolled through Kansas City earlier this season.
New York put up four runs in all three games, and they held the Royals to only five runs total as they easily secured the three-game series sweep.
Carrasco provided five strong innings to kick off the series, Jasson Dominguez delivered a three-run knock in the middle game, and then Aaron Judge came through with a go-ahead homer late in the finale.
They’ll look for much of the same, this time on the road.
The Yanks, of course, are coming off a disappointing three-game home series loss to the Red Sox but they still hold a 4.5 game lead on the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.
Kansas City has the unfortunate fate of being stuck in the same division of the surging Detroit Tigers — they currently sit in fourth and are 1.5 games back of the Blue Jays for the final Wild Card spot.
Max is back.
Max Fried suffered his first rough outing of the season against the Dodgers, allowing six runs on eight hits across five innings of work in a series opening loss.
It didn’t take the left-hander long to return to his dominant form, though.
Fried bounced back tremendously his last time out — allowing just three baserunners as he cruised through six shutout innings in a win over the Guardians during Thursday’s series finale.
He’s now won eight of his first 13 contests in pinstripes, pitching to a stellar 1.78 ERA and 0.94 WHIP.
The southpaw has stepped in masterfully for the Bombers with ace Gerrit Cole sidelined, and continues making a strong case to potentially be the All-Star Game starter for the AL.
He’ll look to keep that rolling against rookie Noah Cameron in the opening match of this three-game set.
AL Player of the Month vs. AL Pitcher of the Month
The middle game of this set brings an intriguing matchup of two of baseball’s best to this point.
With Kris Bubic taking the mound in the middle game for the Royals, the American League Pitcher of the Month will have his opportunity to face-off with the AL Player of the Month, Aaron Judge.
Bubic has been one of the most unexpected risers this season and he was spectacular last month — allowing just two earned runs while striking out 33 batters in 32.1 innings of work over five outings.
He carried that success over to his first June start, giving up just one run on four hits and two walks while striking out nine in a tough-luck loss to the Tigers.
And we know what Judge has done during his historic start to the season.
With a pair of opposite-field homers during Sunday’s series finale loss to the Red Sox, the star outfielder is now hitting an incredible .396 with a .493 on-base percentage and 1.264 OPS on the year.
In a relatively small sample size, Judge has gotten the best of the matchup of the two thus far — hitting .571 with a two-run homer over seven career at-bats against the 27-year-old southpaw.
First look at baseball’s next young star
The Royals added another huge big to their lineup last week, calling up top prospect Jac Caglianone.
Caglianone was selected out of Florida with the sixth overall pick in last years draft and he quickly established himself as one of the top young talents in the minor leagues.
The sweet-swinging lefty produced nine doubles, 15 homers, 56 RBI, and a .982 OPS in just 50 games between Double-A and Triple-A before receiving the call.
He had gotten off to a bit of a slow start at the plate but has been hitting the ball with authority and finally saw the results on Sunday — recording four knocks during the series finale victory over the White Sox.
He became the first Royal since Bo Jackson (Sept. 1986) to put together a four-hit showing within their first six MLB contests — some seriously strong company.
Caglianone will certainly be looking to do more damage in his first games at Kauffman Stadium.
Watch out for the Pasquatch
Royals slugger Vinnie Pasquantino was off to a bit of a slow start the last time the Yanks saw him — but he’s on an absolute tear right now.
The 27-year-old was handed AL Player of the Week honors on Monday evening.
He hit an even .500 (13-for-26) with two homers, seven RBI, a double, a walk, four runs scored, a .769 slugging percentage and a .536 on-base percentage in six games against the Cardinals and White Sox.
Pasquantino is now riding a nine-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in 24 straight — the longest stretch by a Royal since Nicky Lopez in 2021.
It’ll be up to Fried, Clarke Schmidt, and Will Warren to keep him in check.
Predictions
Who will the MVP of the series be?
Aaron Judge.
The Captain has 14 homers and a 1.066 OPS in 40 career games against the Royals.
Which Yankees pitcher will have the best start?
Max Fried.
Coming off back-to-back losses, the Yanks need Fried to pitch like the ace he’s been.
Which Royals player will be a thorn in the Yanks’ side?
Bobby Witt Jr.
The star SS loves to see the pinstripes coming, and he’s hitting .345 over his last seven games.
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