Royals v. Indians – Pitching Matchups Preview

Sunday: RHP Edinson Volquez (3-2, 3.13 ERA) v. Josh Tomlin (4-0, 3.13 ERA)

Edinson Volquez’s scalding hot start to the season was stopped in it’s tracks with a five inning, eight earned run performance in Anaheim last week.

However, he came back and gave the Royals 7.2 brilliant innings, striking out seven and giving up just two runs in a tough luck, 2-0 loss.

The performance brought his ERA back down to 3.13 and, more impressively, a 2.95 FIP.

That one is actually pretty easy to explain, with his eight run hiccup last week being due to the Angels finding every possible hole in the infield.

Volquez did struggle a bit against Cleveland in 2015, giving up 16 runs in just 20.0 IP against the Indians.

He will opposed by 31-year old Josh Tomlin, who hasn’t exactly had bunches of success against the Royals, giving up seven runs of his own in 12.2 IP in 2015. That is good for a 4.97 ERA.

Must-See Matchup – Josh Tomlin v. Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez

For their career, Moustakas and Perez are hitting .516 off of  Tomlin (16-31) with six doubles and three home runs.

For a team really needing a jump start offensively, this should be a good candidate for that game with the Royals roster as a whole hitting .325 against Tomlin.

With that being said, the Royals haven’t hit anything in a long time, so maybe we should curb our enthusiasm.