Kansas City Royals DVOA, Stats, & MLB Rankings

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Michael Wacha turned in his third-straight quality start on Saturday evening against the St. Louis Cardinals. The right-hander tossed seven innings of two-run ball with five hits and two walks while striking out six batters. Since the start of July, the 33-year-old has held a strong 2.78 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and a 12:26 BB:K ratio. This is a great sign as he posted a 3.91 ERA through most of the first half. While his strikeout rate has not been high, he has done very well in limiting hard contact at an excellent 32.5% rate. Wacha is worth adding in shallow formats while he continues to enjoy this hot stretch.

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. had another monster performance on Saturday as he went 3-for-4 with a triple, three RBI, and a run. Witt brought in his first run of the game off a groundout to score Kyle Isbel in the third inning. Then, later in the seventh frame, the 24-year-old ripped an RBI triple to score Maikel Garcia. To cap off the night, he knocked an RBI single in the eighth to score Isbel for the second time. Through 118 games this summer, the former second-overall pick carries an incredible .347/.394/.604 line with 22 home runs and 25 RBI. Witt remains a top fantasy option in all formats and should be one of the first players selected in drafts next spring, given his elite five-category potential.

Kansas City Royals second baseman Michael Massey will miss Saturday night's game against the St. Louis Cardinals with back tightness. Maikel Garcia will lead off and play second base in his absence. Massey is hitting .265 with 10 home runs, 34 RBI, and 34 runs in 219 plate appearances this season. Look for Massey to be back in the lineup for the next series which starts on Monday against the Minnesota Twins.

Recently acquired relief pitcher Hunter Harvey (back) has been placed on the 15-day injured list by the Kansas City Royals with back tightness. In a corresponding move, the team recalled veteran reliever Carlos Hernandez. Harvey has two wins and one save with 55 strikeouts in 50 innings, a 4.44 ERA, and a 1.32 WHIP on the season. The team had been using a committee approach to closing, but look for James McArthur and Lucas Erceg to be the primary relievers to get save chances at this time for the Royals, who are 64-53 and fighting for their playoff lives.

Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Hunter Harvey (back) has been dealing with back tightness, manager Matt Quatraro said after Friday night's loss against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals. Harvey last appeared for the Royals when he picked up a save in Sunday's win over the division-rival Detroit Tigers, so this explains why he hasn't been seen on the mound since then. It's worth noting that Harvey exited his appearance on July 28 against the Chicago Cubs due to an apparent back injury, so it's fair to wonder if a similar issue has cropped up again. Consider him day-to-day ahead of Saturday's tilt against St. Louis. While the 29-year-old right-hander has given up four runs in 5 2/3 innings since joining KC ahead of the trade deadline, he was seemingly pushing closer James McArthur for ninth-inning work out of the bullpen. With that said, McArthur is worth rostering in all fantasy leagues until Harvey is out of the woods health-wise.