The vagabond Athletics will make their annual journey to Kansas City for the home series this week. They stand at 49-75. Heading into July, FanGraphs playoff odds had them about equal to the Astros for making the playoffs. They have had some truly unfortunate injury issues, with Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers both on the injured list right now.
It’s not like the Royals are much better at 51-74, but tonight Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia are returning to the squad and will start.
Hopefully those guys are healthy and rested and can show us what they can do the rest of the season.
The Royals will put Michael Wacha on the hill. Once again, I seem to get him a lot for my Monday games. He’s had a run of pretty good starts over the past few weeks, and with two of the Athletics stars out, no reason to believe that won’t continue.
Mason Barnett starts for the Athletics. The Athletics got him from the Royals in the Lucas Erceg trade in 2024. This year, he’s been stretched into a starter only in the past few weeks and has generally been shelled.
Given the context, it’s *really hard* for the Royals to have a better situation for a win tonight. Of course that probably means I’ll get to witness another bullpen blowup.
Lineups: