KC Royals Series Preview: Big changes in Chicago

Who can we expect Tony La Russa to play against the KC Royals?

Tony La Russa is a master of lineup construction. He’ll pick his batting order against Kansas City this week from among these probable starters:

C: Yasmani Grandal (.235/.435/.471, 1 HR, 6 RBI)

1B: Jose Abreu (.207/.294/.414, 2 HR, 9 RBI)

2B: Nick Madrigal (.238/.360/.286, 0 HR, 0 RBI)

SS: Danny Mendick (.333/.500/.333, 0 HR, 1 RBI)

3B: Yoan Moncada (.182/.357/.227, 0 HR, 0 RBI)

LF: Andrew Vaughn (.154/.353/.231, 0 HR, 1 RBI)

CF: Luis Robert (.286/.355/.464, 1 HR, 3 RBI)

RF: Adam Eaton (.208/.345/.333, 1 HR, 3 RBI)

DH: Yermin Mercedes (.565, .583/.826, 1 HR, 6 RBI)

La Russa might sit righty Madrigal and start switch hitter Leury Garcia at shortstop against righthanded KC starter Brad Keller.

The White Sox closed out their season-starting road trip with an 8-4 loss to Seattle Wednesday. They led 4-1 after scoring a run in the sixth inning, but the Mariners sent 11 men to the plate in their half of the inning and scored seven runs on six hits to take the lead. Seattle did most of the damage against Sox reliever Matt Foster, who was charged with five of those seven runs.

The Royals and White Sox will take Friday off unless weather wipes out this afternoon’s contest. They’ll play Saturday and Sunday, with both games scheduled for 1:10 p.m. CDT starts. As of late Wednesday night, Kansas City manager Mike Matheny hadn’t publicly announced his starting pitchers; expect Chicago to go with righthander Dylan Cease Saturday and lefty Carlos Rodon Sunday. Through Wednesday, Cease is 0-0 and in one game, while Rodon is 1-0 after holding Seattle scoreless for five innings Monday in his only start.

The Royals, 3-2 after losing to Cleveland Wednesday, trail first-place Minnesota by a half-game in the Central. The White Sox, 3-4, are in fourth, 1.5 games back.

Can the KC Royals improve on last season’s 1-9 record against the White Sox? We’ll begin to find out today.