Gamethread LXIV - White Sox at Royals

It will be a battle of the aces

The Royals broke their losing streak last night. That’s really good news because they seem primed to start a new one today. The Royals will send their “ace” Brad Keller to the mound, today. Keller is a perfectly reasonable middle-of-the-rotation starter. He is not an ace. The fact that he looks like an ace on the current Royals staff is more an indictment against the rest of the rotation.

The White Sox will counter with Lucas Giolito. Lucas was a hot prospect when he arrived in the White Sox rotation but after some struggles he seems to have finally figured some things out. He has a 2.54 ERA so far, this year, eighth in the MLB. His 2.6 fWAR so far has him tied with Hyun-Jin Ryu for third most valuable starting pitcher in the big leagues. Not only has Lucas been phenomenal this year but he’s basically always been that good against the Royals. In nine career starts against them he has a 2.43 ERA and they’ve never tagged him with a loss.

Something else worth keeping an eye on is the matchup between Keller and White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson. The two of them ignited a brawl last time they faced each other when Anderson celebrated a home run and hurt Keller’s feelings so Keller felt it necessary to hurl a projectile more than 90 MPH at him like a spoiled toddler. Hopefully we won’t see any such childishness during today’s game.

Lineups

P.S.

Happy birthday, Terrance!