2 old friends, good club await the KC Royals in Baltimore

Baltimore, last season's winner of the American League East Division, may not boast as many former KC Royals as do the White Sox, but the Orioles have a couple of Kansas City alums waiting to test their former teammates when the two clubs open a three-game series Monday evening at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The Royals will almost certainly see one of those old friends on the field, but might not face the other during their first road trip of the season.

Will a former Royals pitcher work against his old teammates?

Over three months have passed since Kansas City moved on from one of the hurlers it swept up in its then-acclaimed raid on pitching at the 2018 major league draft. Traded by the Royals to Baltimore in January after going 5-11 with a 5.45 ERA for them in parts of three seasons, Heasley was rostered with the Orioles' Norfolk Triple-A affiliate Sunday when the big club recalled him.

Because Heasley had yet to throw a pitch for the Tides this season, it was Cionel Pérez's oblique injury, and not Heasley's 2024 performance, that triggered the move. That Pérez is a reliever suggests Heasley, who started his first 24 major league games for the Royals but worked exclusively out of their bullpen last season, won't begin any of the three KC-Baltimore contests. Whether Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde, last year's AL Manager of the Year, uses him depends primarily on how his rotation fares.

What other former teammate might the Royals face?

Ryan O'Hearn has made himself at home in Baltimore

One thing about Ryan O'Hearn seemed perfectly clear when Kansas City concluded its 97-loss 2022 season: his time in Kansas City needed to end.

The proof was in his numbers. O'Hearn finished the campaign with a .239 average, .290 OBP, and only one home run in 67 games, a dismal performance that gave him a .211/.282/.351 line and 26 homers in the four seasons that followed his impressive big league debut in 2018 when he homered 12 times and posted a .262/.353/.597 line.

And sure enough, the Royals traded O'Hearn to the Orioles two winters ago, and for whatever reason or reasons, he's thrived ever since. Playing more games (112) than he had in any previous season, he hit .289 with 14 homers and 60 RBI. His presence certainly didn't hamper the O's, who made it to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

Little has changed. Although Baltimore's season is only three games old, O'Hearn remains comfortable in his new home — after going 0-for-1 in the Orioles' loss to the Angels Sunday, he's hitting .286 with a double. And as often as Hyde likes to get him in the lineup, look for O'Hearn to see some action against Kansas City.

On to the probable pitchers...

Probable pitching matchups for the Royals-Baltimore series

Only the pitchers expected to start Wednesday afternoon's series finale — Kansas City's Cole Ragans and Baltimore's Corbin Burnes — have seen action this season. The rest will be making their 2024 debuts.

Michael Wacha is second-year KC manager Matt Quatraro's choice to begin Monday's series opener. Signed to a two-season $32 million deal in December (the second season is actually a player option), Wacha, 14-4 with a 3.22 ERA and 2.6 fWAR for San Diego last year, struck out 10 and gave up four runs in 9.1 Cactus League innings. He'll face righty Dean Kremer, whose 13 wins for Baltimore last season were second only to Kyle Gibson's 15.

Alec Marsh, named to the Royals' rotation a week before Opening Day, starts Tuesday's second game. while Cole Irvin, 1-4, 4.42 in 2023 after an offseason trade with Oakland made him an Oriole, will go for Baltimore.

Ragans, Kansas City's Pitcher of the Year in 2023, gets the Game Three start for KC after striking out nine over six innings, but taking the loss, on Opening Day. Burnes fanned 11 and surrendered only a run in winning Baltimore's Thursday opener against the Angels.

Which other players should Royals fans keep their eyes on?