Kansas City Royals DVOA, Stats, & MLB Rankings

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans picked up the win in Wednesday's 8-4 victory over the Red Sox. The southpaw went six-and-a-third innings, allowing four runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out seven. The 26-year-old is now 9-7 on the year with a 3.27 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and 166 strikeouts (third-most) in 140 1/3 innings pitched. He'll get the Twins on the road in his next turn through the rotation, a team he's faced twice already this season. Over those two outings he's thrown 11 innings, allowing a total of four earned runs on 13 hits and four walks while striking out 16 batters.

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. put together yet another huge night at the dish in Wednesday evening's win over the visiting Boston Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium, piling up three hits, two home runs, three runs, and four RBI in the victory. Witt put the Royals on the board with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning on Wednesday, later restoringKC's lead with a two-run double in the fourth inning and putting the Royals up 8-4 with his second homer of the game in the sixth inning. The 24-year-old budding superstar has been utterly unstoppable at home this season, slashing .409/.458/.736 with 12 big flies, 25 doubles, eight triples, and 46 RBI over 235 at-bats (61 games).

Kansas City Royals reliever Hunter Harvey tossed a shutout frame to pick up his first save of the season on Sunday in a 3-2 win over the Detroit Tigers. Harvey allowed just a hit while striking out one. It appears as though the Royals are ready to turn to Harvey in the ninth, as he has been used in back-to-back games as the closer and James McArthur has been a disaster for some time now. In any leagues where saves count fantasy managers should be looking to pick up Harvey, as he appears to be the next man up in Kansas City's bullpen.

Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino homered in a 6-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night. He is now hitting .266 with 15 home runs, 79 RBI, a stolen base and 50 runs scored. This continues a hot streak for the slugger; he's hitting .355 with four home runs, 12 RBI, a stolen base, and five runs scored in his last seven games. Pasquantino will look to continue his hot hitting tomorrow in the series finale against lefty Bryan Sammons.

Kansas City Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia will head to the bench Saturday night for the Royals debut of Michael Lorenzen against the Detroit Tigers. He will be replaced in the lineup by the recently acquired Paul DeJong, who will bat seventh in and play third base in Garcia's place. Garcia is hitting .237 with six home runs, 45 RBI, 27 stolen bases and 69 runs scored in 467 plate appearances. It's a rare day off for a guy who leads the league in games played with 108. This seems to be a day of rest for Garcia, who should be back in the lineup tomorrow for the series finale.