Game thread XLI - Red Sox at Royals

Can you believe the season is already a quarter done?

Coming into the weekend, pretty much everyone who knew anything about baseball thought the series would include an epic pitcher’s duel. I don’t think anyone expected last night’s matchup between Michael Lorenzen and Hunter Dobbins to be that game, but here we are. Can tonight’s matchup between Cy Young Award contenders Cole Ragans and Garrett Crochet possibly compare? Only way to find out.

One weird thing about this matchup is that if you knew nothing about the two pitchers involved, you might think it was a bit lopsided in favor of the Red Sox. Cole Ragans actually has the worst ERA of any starter to appear for the Royals this year at 3.79. Crochet, on the other hand, has done nothing but dominate since joining the more colorful Sox team in an offseason trade. His 2.02 ERA is seventh in MLB.

But we have seen Ragans, and we know he can match up with Crochet just fine when he’s healthy. Heck, Ragans is still tied for sixth in MLB with 57 strikeouts - one more than Crochet - despite missing a start with that tight groin. He’s got a better FIP than Crochet, too (2.38 to 2.84).

It should be a great pitching matchup, even if it can’t live up to last night’s game. Here’s hoping the outcome is still the same, at least in terms of which team is celebrating in their locker room at the end.

Lineups

Since the Royals are facing a lefty, Canha gets a second consecutive start; the Royals still haven’t lost except once when he’s done that. Michael Massey and Kyle Isbel are omitted from the lineup entirely, and the sole lefty who will start, Vinnie Pasquantino, is demoted to the sixth spot. That’s still higher than against other recent tough lefties, perhaps representative of how much better he’s been hitting lately.

The Red Sox will still have three lefties in their lineup. Wilyer Abreu has been one of their better hitters, and he’ll be near the bottom of the lineup. Jarren Duran and Rafael Devers will bat one and two despite Ragans. Hopefully, that will bite the Red Sox hard.

Also of note, the Red Sox will have switch-hitting sophomore Nick Sogard, who has primarily been a middle infielder in his career, start at first. It will be his first major league start at the position and only the eighth time he’s ever played there in his professional career. I guess the Red Sox are getting desperate at the slow corner. Sogard, cousin to veteran Eric Sogard, had a weak debut last season, slashing .273/.326/.325/.651. He’s been even worse in AAA to begin this season. He doesn’t really hit for power or have much speed, by his minor league numbers. I can’t imagine this is the solution the Red Sox want to use long-term.