Kansas City Royals DVOA, Stats, & MLB Rankings

Kansas City Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia is not in the team's starting lineup on Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners. This will be only Garcia's second game of the season starting on the bench. In his absence, veteran Adam Frazier will start at third base and hit out of the leadoff spot for KC against Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo. Garcia has been productive for the upstart Royals in 2024, hitting .239/.288/.369 with four home runs, 25 RBI, 10 stolen bases and 20 runs scored in 192 plate appearances. He's riding a modest four-game hitting streak in which he's gone 4-for-17 (.235) with an RBI and two steals. Frazier will have more DFS upside as a sleeper on Wednesday out of the leadoff spot, but he's never faced Woo in his career and has gone just 15-for-84 (.179) on the year with a homer and eight RBI.

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen produced his best start of the year on Monday, going seven scoreless innings while allowing only one hit and four walks. The Rangers, unfortunately, couldn't provide Lorenzen with any offense, as he finished with a no-decision in the 7-0 loss to the Cleveland Guardians. The performance lowered his ERA to 3.75 and WHIP to 1.22 on the season, but the four walks gave him 18 walks on the season in only 36 innings. The ERA and WHIP are on par with his career numbers of 4.10 and 1.32, but the walks are higher than normal, as he's averaging almost double the amount of walks per inning with 0.5 walks. The heavy load of walks doesn't bode well for his next outing when he faces a patient Philadelphia Phillies team that ranks fifth in the league in taking free passes.

Kansas City Royals relief pitcher James McArthur was called upon to hold a three-run lead versus the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. The right-hander allowed a solo blast to cut the lead down to two runs. McArthur would retire the next three batters he faced to earn his ninth save of the season. The 27-year-old now holds a 4.42 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, and an 18/3 K/BB ratio across 18 1/3 innings. McArthur has converted nine of his 12 save chances this season. Despite some struggles, the Royals appear to be sticking with McArthur as the closer going forward.

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo was excellent on the mound during Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Angels. The right-hander has been outstanding lately and his success continued here. Lugo coasted through eight innings, allowing one run, and racked up a career-high 12 strikeouts. The veteran right-hander holds a 6-1 record, 1.66 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and a 48/12 K/BB ratio over 59 2/3 innings. He'll look to keep the great times rolling against the Oakland Athletics next weekend.

Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino will be receiving the day off on Sunday as the Royals look to clinch a series victory in a four-game set against the Los Angeles Angels. After getting off to a slow start to the season, the 26-year-old has been turning things around the past few weeks with a .350/.370/.600 line since April 30. As a result, Salvador Perez will shift to first base, which opens catching duties for Freddy Fermin, who will bat in the five-hole. Fermin has posted an excellent 11.1% K rate and a modest .241/.302/.328 line with one long ball through 20 games. He could be worth consideration in DFS as he faces southpaw Patrick Sandoval, who enters Sunday with a 4.85 ERA and 1.49 WHIP.