The Kansas City Royals will travel to Baltimore on Monday to kick off a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles. The 2-1 Orioles are fresh off of a 102-win season that saw them finish first in the AL East. The team would eventually lose three games to none to the eventual World Series Champion Texas Rangers in the 2023 American League Division Series. This winter, the team added a few key additions via trade and free agency. They added reliever Craig Kimbrel and infielder/outfielder Tony Kemp in free agency.
Via trade, the team added starting pitcher Corbin Burnes as well as relievers Kaleb Ort and Matt Krook. Notable subtractions from last season include Aaron Hicks, Adam Frazier, Kyle Gibson, Jack Flaherty, and Shintaro Fujinami. The Orioles are one of the American League favorites entering 2024. Much of that is thanks to their elite young core of talent, headlined by catcher Adley Rutschman and shortstop Gunnar Henderson. In the rotation, they have the aforementioned Burnes, who is a leading candidate for AL Cy Young this season. Prospect Grayson Rodriguez slots in as the team’s number-two starter.
Although the Orioles have a lot of firepower at the top of their lineup and in the front of their rotation, the back end of both becomes a little more suspect. Dean Kremer and Cole Irvin round out the rotation. Both had a FIP of over 4.40 in 2023. The second half of the lineup for the Os will include Ryan O’Hearn, Austin Hays, and Ramón Urías. Veteran center fielder Cedric Mullins will look to get back on track this season after finishing 2023 with a 99 wRC+ — his lowest mark since 2020. Perhaps the largest looming contributions for the Orioles will come from their farm system.
Top prospects Jackson Holliday and Heston Kjerstad could find their way up from Triple-A rather quickly this season. Kjerstad could slot easily into the outfield, whereas Holliday would need to fill in either at third base or second base. He could stay at his native shortstop depending on what the team decides to do with Gunnar Henderson.
Series Preview:
[ninja_tables id=”2817″]Scheduled Pitching Matchups:
Monday, April 1: RHP Michael Wacha (0.00) vs. RHP Dean Kremer (0.00)
Tuesday, April 2: RHP Alec Marsh (0.00) vs. LHP Cole Irvin (0.00)
Wednesday, April 3: LHP Cole Ragans (3.00) vs. RHP Corbin Burnes (1.50)
Royals starters have a league-leading 0.95 ERA this season. The Orioles should give them a stiffer challenge than the division-rival Twins. The Royals bats woke up in a big way on Sunday and will look to continue that strong momentum against the weaker back end of the Baltimore starting rotation. Burnes represents a much more difficult task on Wednesday.
The Royals are 42-78 all-time at Camden Yards.