Red Sox @ Royals Series Preview: The Second Round of Laundry

After dealing with the Chicago variant, it’s time for the 23-16 Royals to face the other sock-themed baseball team, the Boston Red Sox.

The Red Sox are entering Kansas City with a 20-19 record, good for second in the AL East two games behind the Yankees. They’ve scored 191 runs and allowed 172 runs and are 5-5 in their last 10 games. More importantly, their $300 million designated hitter is making a big deal about being encouraged to play first base.

At least he and the rest of the offense have been playing well so far.

Boston Red Sox, On Offense

The Red Sox have a team-wide 107 wRC+, essentially making them the 11th best offense in baseball. Over the last two weeks, it’s been the 6th best with a 124 wRC+ while the Royals’ has been 120. As expected, the driving force has been Rafael Devers, posting another OPS in the comfortable 800’s. He has a career OPS north of .900 against the Royals throughout his career. The other key Sox hitter is their most recent major free agent signing, Alex Bregman, who’s hitting at a clip reminiscent of his 2019 runner-up MVP campaign.

The third hot bat can’t be ignored. Right fielder Wilyer Abreu received down-ballot Rookie of the Year votes last year but has truly exploded offensively, wielding a 158 wRC+ on the season and a 210 wRC+ over the last two weeks. He, Ceddanne Rafaela and Kristian Campbell, one of MLB’s top prospects going into this year, have injected a strong youth movement into the Boston lineup.

Boston Red Sox, In Relief

Boston has what you might call a lopsided bullpen. It does have quality arms, but it’s not a consistently strong unit. Red Sox relievers are 15th in ERA and an impressive 4th in FIP but they tie Toronto and Philidelphia for most blown saves and are in the bottom 5 bullpens for left on base percentage. Still, I think it has potential with familiar friends Aroldis Chapman and Liam Hendriks posting quality numbers so far along with just two relievers having ERAs above 4. Speaking of old friends, the Red Sox rotation might look familiar to Royals fans.

Game Times & Pitching Matchups

Friday, May 9 @ 6:40 PM
RHP Hunter Dobbins (2-1, 3.78 ERA, 16.2 IP) v RHP Michael Lorenzen (3-3, 4.23 ERA, 38.1 IP) – Dobbins is a 25-year-old rookie with a 5-pitch mix that includes a splitter, sweeper, curveball, slider and four-seamer. He’s off to a solid start as a contact-oriented pitcher who’s limited exit velos well, especially by encouraging hitters to make weak contact out of the zone. Michael Lorenzen, as expected as the #5 starter, has been very up and down for the Royals this season, but has yet to have a truly horrific start. In fact, his last start was his season-worst at 5 earned runs in 4.2 innings, but the Royals still won the game as it was Baltimore’s Home Run Derby.

Saturday, May 10 @ 6:10 PM
LHP Garret Crochet (3-2, 2.02 ERA, 49 IP) v LHP Cole Ragans (2-1, 3.79 ERA, 35.2 IP) – This will likely be the most exciting SP matchup in all of baseball on Saturday, two left-handed Cy Young contenders. Crochet, traded from the White to Red Sox over the winter, is living up to the lofty expectations placed on him so far, but some might say things are a bit off. His walk rate is nearly double that of last season with a notably reduced strikeout clip; an interesting aspect noted by Nick Pollack of Pitcher List is that his extension has been getting lesser and lesser with every start this year, thus making his stuff less lethal. Meanwhile, Cole Ragans is still not too distant from a groin injury, although he recorded 11 strikeouts in his last start suggesting that everything is probably fine.

Sunday, May 11 @ 1:10 PM
RHP Lucas Giolito (0-1, 8.38 ERA, 9.2 IP) v RHP Seth Lugo (3-3, 2.84 ERA, 50.2 IP) – Giolito was a White Sox staple for what felt like many years, then signed with Boston in 2024 and required Tommy John before throwing a pitch for them in the season. His two starts were one solid start versus Toronto and then one very bad start against Texas. Giolito has a career 3.60 ERA in 135 innings against the Royals and has often felt like a nightmare for KC to face. Seth Lugo has seemed to find his groove again this season; after a bit of a rocky start, he now has a 2.65 ERA in his last 5 starts and has pitched more than 6 full innings in 4 of those starts.

This series’ theme is Round & Laundry by Carole & Tuesday.

Image credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck (Imagn Images)