Royals Pitchers Exceeding Preseason Expectations

Out of the bullpen, Davis continues to dominate, allowing just one hit in his 5.2 innings of work. Uncharacteristically, he’s already walked four. He’s up to five saves in just 10 games and ideally Kansas City’s offense will pick up and save his arm for another post-season run.

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Meanwhile, set-up man Kelvin Herrera looks almost unhittable after adding a slider to his prior two-pitch repetoire of a fourseam fastball and change-up.

Luke Hochevar and Danny Duffy are trending the wrong way, but both are capable of throwing more than one inning late in games. Hochevar’s numbers are a bit skewed because of a home run he gave up against Minnesota, but he’s allowed just four hits in five innings of work.

The one thing the Royals hurlers need to improve on is walks. Entering Saturday’s games, the Kansas City Royals were third in the league in walks allowed with 48. That could be a pivotal stat: teams that have walked 39 batters or more have a combined 38-48 record. That figure falls to 30-46 with the KC Royals taken out of the equation.

Next: Edinson Volquez Pitches KC To 4-2 Win

Bottom line, the season is young. Hitting tends to pick up as the temperatures begin to rise and hitters get more at-bats. But the big question for the Kansas City Royals entering the 2016 campaign was starting pitching. So far, so good for the boys in blue.