KC Royals series preview vs. Guardians as two rivals carry momentum into the weekend

A real of clash of a couple American League Central titans is slated to go down at Progressive Field in Cleveland this weekend as the Kansas City Royals take on the Guardians to start their 10-game road trip.

It's the second time these two will square off this season, after the Guardians managed to take the series win on Opening Weekend.

Now the Royals will look to get their revenge on the field and possibly settle a few scores outside off the box scores, as some late game fireworks in the series rubber match provides a whole new story line to follow this weekend.

Two AL Central rivals carry momentum into a weekend series

The Royals wrap up a pivotal early-season week of play fresh off a hard-fought series win over another division rival in the Minnesota Twins.

But they're not the only ones fresh off a big series as the Guardians enter Friday's contest coming off a series sweep over the Chicago White Sox this past weekend.

Pitching Matchups

Friday, April 11 at 5:10 CT: Kris Bubic vs. Tanner Bibee

I don't think this game would be circled as a battle of two aces at the start of the year, at least on Kansas City's side for that matter, but this might be the best pitching matchup we get all weekend.

Kris Bubic will look to go a third consecutive start without allowing an earned run. He enters this game as hot as anyone in baseball, as on top of his scoreless streak, he's also sporting 16 Ks on just eight hits in his first two outings.

And the Royals will look to see more of the Tanner Bibee who allowed seven earned runs on eight hits and four homers against the Los Angeles Angels last weekend, as opposed to the arm that shut them on Opening weekend allowing no earned runs off two hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Saturday, April 12 at 5:10 CT: Michael Lorenzen vs. Luis L. Ortiz

On Saturday Michael Lorenzen will make his first start since celebrating 10 years of MLB service time on Monday. He's been solid through two starts so far, sporting a 3.18 ERA to begin the year.

Ortiz on the other hand has had a disastrous start to the season as the Royals will certainly look to capitalize on his early misfortunes. He's sporting an 8.44 ERA after allowing 10 earned runs through 10.2 innings of work across his first two starts.

Sunday, April 13 at 12:40 CT: Cole Ragans vs. Ben Lively

It's an Opening Day rematch on Sunday and this time Cole Ragans will hope it looks more reminiscent of his last two starts as opposed his first start, in which he allowed three earned with just three strikeouts. Since then he's looked more like his dominant-self, with back-to-back double-digit strikeout outings including 11 across six innings on Tuesday night.

Lively on the other hand has looked like the solid arm he was last season through three starts, with a mid-4.00s ERA.

The Bullpens

The Royals will enter the weekend behind the eight-ball from a bullpen standpoint, as they will be without one-third of their backend bullpen trio, as Hunter Harvey will hit the 15-day IL with a right teres major strain, the team announced earlier today.

Thankfully though, the Minnesota series revealed a more complete bullpen with a couple of arms in John Schreiber and Daniel Lynch IV putting up better outings, rewarding manager Matt Quatraro for his belief in his 'pen as a whole despite some early season hiccups. The Royals will need those two in order to pick up the slack left in Harvey's absence.

On the other side, two thirds of the Guardians electric backend trio from a year ago looks strong, as Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis still have yet to surrender an earned run. But star closer Emmanuel Clase looks somewhat like a shell of his 2024 self, as he's sporting a 6.00 ERA with three outings allowing three or more hits already this season - including on Opening Day against the Royals.

The Lineups

Bobby Witt Jr. is obviously the guy to watch here, as amidst the Royals recent inconsistencies to score runs, their 2024 AL MVP runner up has been a bright spot. He'll look to extend his hitting streak to four games and hit safely in 12 of his first 14 games on Friday night.

On the other hand, Vinnie Pasquantino will look to get back on track and improve offensively after starting the year with a .178 AVG and .573 OPS. He'll attempt to replicate some of the power that had fans buzzing on Opening Day, when he launched a three-run shot against these Guardians.

On the other side, Cleveland is being led by their leadoff man in Steven Kwan, who the Royals will look to tame, after starting the year with a .356/.420/.511 slash line with a 177 wRC+.

Then there's a couple of big-time boppers that the Kansas City's staff will look to keep in the ballpark, as both José Ramírez and Kyle Manzardo have each gone yard four times already, with the latter also cashing in 11 RBI in the process.

Scores to Settle?

Lastly, we move beyond the pitching matchups and the lineup cards and address the fact that the last series between these two didn't end under the most flattering of circumstances. In the ninth inning of the rubber match, Clase took the mound to close things out for Cleveland and in the process brushed Jonathan India up around the head twice in a row, catching him flush the second time.

Pasquantino was vocal about his concern with the play - but still acknowledging it's likelihood of being unintentional - as well as how many times they were crowded inside during the series.

We'll have to wait and see whether any bad blood has boiled between these two, or whether this weekend will simply be business as usual.