Michael Lorenzen is too sick to pitch, and the Royals need a win
Last night’s disappointing defeat is in the rearview mirror. It’s a new day, and with Michael Lorenzen coming off his best start of the season, the Royals should have an excellent shot at bouncing back. Wait, what’s that? Lorenzen is sick? Angel Zerpa will make his first start since 2023?
Oh, lovely.
Yes, you heard right, Zerpa will get the start today. Probably because he made the Mets look so awful yesterday, and the team wants to get the bullpen game off to the best start they can with Lorenzen’s illness taking him out of what would have been his last start of the “first half.”
While the Royals attempt to piece things together, the Mets will have a not-dissimilar issue. Frankie Montas is scheduled to start for baseball’s most expensive team. Montas has made three starts this season due to a preseason injury and has allowed 10 runs in 14.2 innings. Which isn’t quite fair, because the first five innings were scoreless. Yes, his ERA has been over 9 in his last two starts. With a bullpen game going for KC, the offense had better take advantage of the gift that is Frankie Montas starting. Of particular note, he allowed two home runs in each of his last two starts, and the Royals’ power bats have been heating up ever since July started.
Lineups
Powder blue Saturday.
The Royals are using the exact same lineup they used last night for the first time in…a long time. The Mets swapped in Brett Baty for Ronny Mauricio, leading to a bunch of positional changes, but otherwise it’s very similar to last night as well. The good news is that Jim Wolf will not be the homeplate umpire. The balls and strikes will probably be better.
By the way, today is also the day of the Futures Game; it will start at roughly the same time as the Royals game. Why you would schedule your Futures Game at the same time as meaningful regular season games is beyond me. But I don’t run a multibillion-dollar industry, so what do I know?