Starting pitching will be X-factor for KC Royals in series vs. power-hungry Yankees

With an 8-8 record to start the 2025 season, it's safe to say that not all has gone to plan for the Kansas City Royals so far. However, one area of their game in which they're currently passing with flying colors is the strength of their starting pitching.

While it's still early and a bit unclear whether or not this rotation can sustain the magnificent pace that it's currently on, it's effectiveness can't be discounted at the moment. Their staff sit third in MLB in ERA at 2.77, first in FIP at 2.89 and within the Top 10 in both WHIP and K/9.

And if we learned anything from Cole Ragans' 7 2/3 inning masterclass in Sunday's victory over the Guardians, it's that starting pitching has been this team's backbone amidst their struggles with the bats as well as in the bullpen.

Starting pitching will be X-factor for KC Royals in series vs. Yankees

The Royals start the week with a three-game rematch against the New York Yankees in the first matchup between these two since last year's ALDS - where the Yankees dashed Kansas City's postseason dreams in four games.

While Ragans unfortunately won't be taking the mound this series, the Royals have their next best trio slated to go to attempt to tame the Yankees' bats. The 2024 AL Cy Young runner-up, Seth Lugo, will get the ball on Tuesday night fresh off a couple of bounce-back-worthy starts after rough opening start to the campaign. Then, it'll be Michael Wacha, who rebounded nicely during Thursday's matchup against the Twins after a rough outing against Baltimore the start prior. Kris Bubic will round things off, and while he may not have thrown a scoreless start for the third time in a row on Friday, he still proved that his move back to the rotation was definitely the right decision to make.

Having these three at the top of their game will be crucial for the Royals if their to have a shot at taking down the Yankees for mutliple reasons.

For one, their offense has not nearly been as strong as it should be for team with the contending aspirations that the Royals have. They sit in the bottom 10 in the league in AVG (T-21st), OBP (24th), SLG (28th), HR (T-29th), RBI (25th) and wRC+ (26th). And yesterday's four runs in their victory marked the most run support this offense had given it's pitchers since Monday's 4-2 win over Minnesota.

Then there's the bullpen which, although has been showing signs of improvement and has been able to overcome adversity in the past, isn't at full strength and is more of middling entity at best currently, when compared to other bullpens around the league. They sit 14th in ERA, 24th in FIP, 17th in WHIP and 15th in BAA, making it difficult to place complete trust in this group.

Then moving to factors outside of Kansas City's control, the Yankees' offense looks as potent as ever. They hold the best wRC+ in baseball at 140, 13 points higher than the Chicago Cubs in second. This is in large part to top five rankings in AVG (5th), OBP (5th), SLG (1st), HR (3rd) and RBI (2nd). Not to mention, Yankee Stadium is always a difficult ballpark to keep the long ball at bay in, as according to Baseball Savant's Statcast Park Factor metrics it ranks the eighth most hitter-friendly park in baseball and the second most conducive to home runs this season.

Thankfully, on top of the other metrics in which their starting staff ranks so highly in, they also hold the third lowest HR/9 total in the majors at 0.59. And all three starters slated to pitch this week hold a HR/9 total at 0.60 or under (Lugo at 0.54, Wacha at 0.60 and Bubic at 0.48).

With an offense as miserable as Kansas City's has been of late and a bullpen with as many questions as theirs currently has, it will be imperative that their two craftiest veterans in the rotation in Lugo and Wacha, and their extremely promising looking rebound arm in Bubic, are at the top of their game if they're to silence that bats of Aaron Judge and the Yankees' band of big boppers in their home ballpark.