KC Royals vs. New York Yankees: Series Breakdown and Prediction

2 of 3

Aug 31, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez (24) at bat against the Kansas City Royals during the twelfth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /

The KC Royals, now finally on a winning streak, look to continue their string of wins against American League East teams. This time, they’ll give it a go against the New York Yankees.

The KC Royals kick things off on Tuesday night after an off day Monday. The series will wrap up Thursday evening.

Game 1

RHP Jason Hammel (1-4, 5.97 ERA, 1.76 WHIP) vs. LHP CC Sabathia (2-2, 5.77 ERA, 1.51 WHIP)

Things get kicked off in this series with two struggling starting pitchers.

Stepping on the mound for the KC Royals will be Jason Hammel. We all though Hammel had fixed his issues with the change he made, only pitching out of the stretch. Those thoughts sort of changed after a bad start in Tampa, going seven, giving up six runs.

But Hammel’s last start in Kauffman may have been his best, a six inning, one performance against the Cleveland Indians.

In his last start, Hammel’s fastball hovered over the plate too much. That might be a lot of the problem too. Hammer’s strikeouts are up, walks are down, and hits are up.

Taking the mound for the Yankees will be the once heralded CC Sabathia. In the twilight of Sabathia’s career, you’d expect the obvious, his velocity is way down. Over the years, he’s lost about 4 mph on his fastball, 2 mph on his slider, and 2 mph on his changeup.

Don’t write him off for this start though. Current KC Royals hitters have a combined .637 OPS against him with one lonely homer.

Aug 31, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals left fielder Alex Gordon (4) at bat against the New York Yankees during the ninth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /

Game 2

LHP Jason Vargas (5-1, 1.01 ERA, 0.92 WHIP) vs. LHP Michael Pineda (3-2, 3.27 ERA, 0.99 WHIP)

Yeah! More Vargas! Something I didn’t think I’d be saying mid-May. But it is the truth. Watching Vargas pitch has been thoroughly entertaining. He is completely dominating and it is showing in the results, as he has posted a 1.01 ERA. The Royals have only lost two of his starts.

Vargas hasn’t made a start against the Yankees since May of 2015, pitching four innings of one run ball.

Expect Vargas to throw even more changeups than usual in this game. Yankee hitters have seen the sixth most changeups in baseball. He could have a good matchup with New York too. Take this for comparison. The Yankees score the fourth most runs in baseball when they are home. They score the 19th most on the road.

Now for the Yankees starter. Pitching for them will be lefty Michael Pineda. This could make some Royals hitters excited, especially Mike Moustakas. Moustakas has just purely dominated Michael Pineda in his career. He is 6 for 13 with five extra base-hits.

When the Royals face Pineda, they usually attack his fastball, so watch for that.

Aug 31, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi (28) talks with his infield on the mound against the Kansas City Royals during the seventh inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /

Game 3

LHP Danny Duffy (2-3, 3.38 ERA, 1.34 WHIP) vs. LHP Jordan Montgomery (2-2, 4.19 ERA, 1.40 WHIP)

Another intriguing pitching matchup, the KC Royals will send lefty Danny Duffy to the hill.

Duffy has pitched very well in his last two starts. But in his last start against Baltimore he looked like the Duffy of 2016. Striking guys out, more efficient. We had been missing some of that earlier this year.

Some things are starting to impress me about Duffy even more. He is cutting down on his flyballs, hard hit balls, and homers. That 3.6% HR/FB rate is sure to go up, but I could see Duffy definitely starting to limit the homers.

Pitching for the Yankees is Jordan Montgomery, the third lefty in this series for the Yankees. The rookie has pitched fairly well in the beginning of his major league career, owning a 4.19 ERA and even better 3.63 FIP.

Montgomery has a big arsenal, throwing five pitches. He has struggled so far with his fastball this year, but his worked all of his secondary pitches pretty well.

A good pitch he has is his cutter. Watch out for Salvador Perez against him, as he likes to jump on those cutters.

Series Prediction

Royals take 2 of 3

I think the pitching duals slightly favor the KC Royals. But it is baseball and they are bound to trip in at least one game.

Beat the Streak Record Run Comes to An End

Nonetheless, 2 of 3 against a hot team like the Yankees would be a very successful series.

Next: Beat the Streak Record Ends

Home / KC Royals News