KC Royals Preview: 4 factors to focus on in NL East matchup

The KC Royals have done something no one thought would happen this season, and that is win six games in a row while sweeping the Minnesota Twins and New York Mets. The team is hitting on all cylinders for what seems to be the first time all year, with both hitting and pitching being hot at the same time.

The Royals just faced the Mets and face another National League East team fighting for a playoff spot when they open a three-game road series with Philadelphia tonight, The Phillies are in a bit of a different boat than the Mets as the Phils are in second place in the NL East.

The KC Royals go to Philadelphia for the first time since 2016

It has been a while since the Royals went to Citizens Bank Park and there are not many holdovers from either side from the last time (Salvador Perez and Aaron Nola still play for their respective teams). In the 2016 series, the Royals lost 2-1 with the win coming from an 8.2-innings outing from Danny Duffy which was closed out by Joakim Soria.

With the Royals' offense looking good, a visit to Philly may continue their win streak, but the Phillies are a solid team built on a lot of balance both in the rotation and starting lineup. The biggest weakness, so to say, for the Phillies is probably their bullpen mainly due to injuries.

This series will be an interesting one because the Phillies want to build up their Wild Card chances and the Royals want their hot play to continue. With that out of the way, let's take a look at four things to focus on in this series...

Dairon Blanco and Drew Waters are providing offensive spark for the KC Royals

It may be surprising to say, but Dairon Blanco has been a solid hitter for the Royals all season and he has been hot since the All-Star Break: in the eight games when he had a plate appearance, Blanco has slashed .368/.400/.632 for an OPS of 1.032. Overall, on the year he has an OPS of .701, but he is providing a lot of spark in the field and as a baserunner, swiping nine bags while being caught stealing three times. Will he stay this hot? Probably not, but it is good to see some bench bats providing some spark.

Drew Waters is a player to keep an eye on because he may have more of a future with the Royals—he's 24 and Blanco is 30. Waters has not been as good as Blanco since the Break, but during the last homestand he was great. Waters slashed .238/.489/.653 for an OPS of 1.142 during the six-game stint at Kauffman Stadium. Another key thing to keep an eye on is he didn't strike out much after fanning three times against the Twins in the first game of the homestand.

While both these outfielders have been wild cards overall, they have provided some spark to the Royals' offense during the current winning streak.

Now, let's take a look at the opposition and see why the Phillies will be tough...

The KC Royals will have their hands full with Philadelphia's balanced offense

While Kansas City's pitching has been good during this current and impressive winning streak. the important facts remain that the Mets, whom the Royals beat three times during the streak, don't have as potent an offense as they have had, but the Phillies do. The latter club's is a weird offense, though, at least in the sense that the usual suspects aren't overwhelmingly leading the charge. Instead, almost every regularly-starting hitter has an OPS+ over 100. The only two players who start often and don't have an OPS+ of at least 100 are Edmundo Sosa and Trea Turner (it has been a rough season for Turner).

Even f we take the OPS+ out of Philadelphia's offensive equation, the Phillies still have a balanced attack at the plate. They have their power hitters in Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper (once the latter gets going power-wise), they have contact batters in Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh, and their OBP people in Schwarber, Harper and Alec Bohm.

The Phillies' offense is balanced through and through, but there is one pitching matchup to keep an eye on and it doesn't involve Aaron Nola...

Game 2 starters for the KC Royals and Philly present an interesting matchup

Saturday's game shapes up as a battle of two starting pitchers trending in opposite directions this season. KC's Alec Marsh has struggled a lot in his time in the majors while flashing some high strikeout stuff, while Cristopher Sánchez is having his best season after two rough ones to start his career.

Sánchez comes into this series with a 2.66 ERA, a 7.80 K/9, a 1.52 BB/9, and a 0.7 fWAR on the season. The biggest downside to his game is the fact that he gives up home runs at a high rate at 1.33 HR/9. While Sanchez has that low ERA, the deeper stats don't reflect as well—his xERA is 3.85 and his FIP is 4.16. To put it plainly, Sánchez throws strikes and some of them are quite hittable.

On the other hand, Marsh has been less than stellar this year, as his 6.75 ERA demonstrates all too well. The biggest thing he has shown is the strikeout upside with a K/9 of 10.50, but he also walks too many batters (5.63 BB/9) and gives up way too many home runs (3.38 HR/9). The key for him in Saturday's matchup, and for the rest of the season, is to limit both walks and hard contact if he is going to stick at the major league level.

This series with the Phillies will be an interesting one. The Phillies look to build a Wild Card lead while the Royals look to build on their six-game winning streak.