Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Kansas City Royals: What To Expect
The Pittsburgh Pirates are on fire as of late, having won 10 of their last 15 games, including a nine-game road trip that saw them go 6-3 and win three straight series. The team now returns home bringing that momentum with them as they host their first Interleague series of the 2021 season when they bring in the Kansas City Royals for a two-game series. After starting the year 1-6, the Pirates have gone 4-0-1 in their past five series and have not lost a series since April 5th through April 7th in Cincinnati. During that time, the pitching has been consistent, and the bats have started to come to life. They are looking to keep that momentum going as they are back in their home yard and looking to get over the .500 mark for the first time since Opening Day.
However, standing in their way is another team that is red hot to start the season in the Kansas City Royals. After finishing 2020 26-34, and in fourth place in the American League Central, the Royals went out and made additions to their team. These additions have paid off through the first 21 games of the season as the Royals have won their last five games and seven of their last nine dating back to April 17th. Neither team is full of big-name players, but both teams are playing the game the right way as of late and are seeing success because of it. For this short two-game series it will be a battle of young team's building for the future as each is trying to stay hot. We take a look at what to expect in this short two-game series as Interleague play comes to PNC Park for the first time in 2021.
Scouting the Royals
Along with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Kansas City Royals have been one of the hottest teams in baseball. They are currently on a five-game winning streak and are coming off of a sweep of the Detroit Tigers. However, they aren't doing it with gaudy power numbers or big-name talent, they are doing it with good fundamental baseball and strong pitching performances. As a team, the Royals are middle of the road in terms of ERA at 4.08, and luckily for the Pirates, they miss the team's top pitcher in Danny Duffy. However, they still have to face hot young pitcher Jakob Junis. After starting the year in the bullpen, Junis has thrived in the starting rotation. He had a rough outing last time out, allowing five runs in five innings, but prior to that he went five innings in each of his first two starts and allowed two runs or less in each game.
The leader of this current surge for the Kansas City Royals has been outfielder Michael A. Taylor. Taylor signed with the Royals as a free agent this off-season and made some changes to his swing that have benefitted him in the long run. Over his last seven games, Taylor is hitting a healthy .350 (7-20) with four walks and two stolen bases at the top of the lineup. Once Taylor sets things up, Carlos Santana has been the one benefitting on the run production side of things. After a slow start to the season, Santana has turned it on as of late hitting .269 with three home runs and nine RBI in his last seven games. Overall, he is hitting .230 on the season and is leading the team with five home runs and 18 RBI to this point. While there isn't a lot of offense from the Royals, they have the ability to score quick runs on you, and the Pirate's pitching staff will be tasked with stopping that from happening.
Pitching, Pitching, Pitching
As it seems like we say in almost every series the Pirates have played this year, pitching is the key to success. The Pirates will be going up against two pitchers who are putting together good seasons in Mike Minor and Jakob Janis, and they will have to match them blow for blow. The Pirates counter with Tyler Anderson and Mitch Keller, and both pitchers have some confidence behind them coming into their starts. Anderson has been consistent all year, going 2-2 with a 3.92 ERA in his four starts this season. He has gone at least five innings in every start and has been able to keep his team in games. His last start came against the Tigers in game one of last Wednesday's doubleheader and he went 5.0 innings allowing two runs on three hits while walking two and trying his season-high with seven strikeouts.
However, the pitcher with the most improvement from his third start to his fourth start was Mitch Keller. After looking absolutely awful against the San Diego Padres, Keller came back and completely turned things around in his fourth start. He started game two of last Wednesday's doubleheader and ended up going five innings allowing two runs on five hits while striking out five. The big thing for Keller in that start is that he did not walk a batter in his five innings of work. Control has been such a big problem for Keller the last two years and is one of the reasons he holds a 7.16 ERA. He is hoping to start becoming more consistent and work that ERA down over his next couple of starts. If these two can come out and deliver similar starts to their last time out, the Pirates could add another successful series to their belt.
New Outfield Alignment in PNC
With the designating of both Anthony Alford and Dustin Fowler for assignment last week, the outfield alignment has been shuffled around. On the road trip, we saw Phillip Evans man left field, and do it at an average level, but PNC Park's left field is a whole different animal. It is one of the biggest left fields in all of Major League Baseball, and Evans will be challenged out there to cover ground. Bryan Reynolds is a more than capable center fielder, but I worry about the speed of Evans, especially with that big 410 notch. The Pirates may need to switch up their alignment a little bit to accommodate. Newly acquired Ka'ai Tom is expected to join the Pirates today, and he has decent speed, but as a Rule 5 pick, there is a little bit of an unknown there.
However, the Pirates may be able to take advantage of the hot bats and just flip their recent alignment. Erik Gonzalez has been getting time at third base with the injury to Ke'Bryan Hayes, and Gonzalez's defense and speed are a little better than Evans. I could see the Pirates simply flipping the two players and having Gonzalez out in left field, and Evans at third base. As the season has gone on, Evans has had a better grasp at defense at the hot corner. He has his fielding percentage up to .950 and has been growing with every game. Gonzalez has solid defense wherever he goes and can cover a lot of ground in the outfield. The Pirates are trying their best to get the hot bats on the field, and a simple shift might help their defense get just a little bit better at home.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (11-11) kick-off their short two-game Interleague home series when they take on the Kansas City Royals (14-7) tonight at 6:35 pm. Tyler Anderson (2-2, 3.92) looks to continue to hold the opposition to three earned runs or less as he takes on Jakob Junis (1-0, 3.71) for the Royals. You can watch the game on AT&T Sportsnet 2, listen on 93.7 The Fan, or follow along with us on Twitter by following @Buccos_Cove.
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