Games Eighteen and Nineteen: Kansas City Royals at Chicago White Sox

Let’s play two!

The Royals of Kansas City will play two games this afternoon against the Pale Hose of Southside Chicago. Yesterday’s game was rained out, so it will be made up as part of a straight doubleheader, with the second game slated to begin shortly after the conclusion of the first.

Brady Singer will start the first game for Kansas City. He has been outstanding in his three starts this year, posting a microscopic 0.98 ERA. On one hand, his .182 BABIP against and 100% strand rate are entirely unsustainable. On the other, his peripherals are roughly in line with his strong 2022 season, and he is currently running career-bests in groundball rate (65.2%), swinging-strike rate (12.4%), and xERA (3.06). Singer pitched against the White Sox just a couple weeks ago, working 6.1 sharp innings with a Gavin Sheets solo homer representing the lone blemish.

Jonathan Cannon will start for the White Sox, making his big league debut. Drafted out of Georgia in 2022, he split his first pro season between High-A and Double-A and put up rather pedestrian numbers as a full-time starter. He made a couple solid starts at Triple-A this season before being called up. Cannon is a pitchability righty, showing a five-pitch mix without a plus offering. He doesn’t have a great option to neutralize lefties, so Vinnie Pasquantino and MJ Melendez should look to attack.

Michael Wacha will start take the ball for the second game. He’s been hit around a bit in his three starts but has put together a 17-4 K-BB ratio and only allowed one homer, leading to a 4.00 ERA but a 2.75 FIP. His best start of the season so far came against these White Sox in April 6, when he went seven shutout innings with eight punchouts and just three baserunners allowed.

The Sox will counter with Erick Fedde. In his return from the KBO, he’s already allowed five homers in 14.2 innings, but he’s been able to limit the damage enough to post a 4.30 ERA in three starts. He started opposite Singer on April 5 against the Royals, producing his best start of the young season. He worked around traffic for five innings of one-run ball, striking out four.

The Royals are calling up Anthony Veneziano as the 27th man.

First pitch: 1:10 pm CDT

Game two: 4:25 pm CDT

Royals lineup

White Sox lineup