Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Picks and Predictions June 29th 2024

Royals Vie for Third Straight Win in Series with Guardians

The Kansas City Royals are glad to have Michael Massey back in action, even if it’s only as a hitter instead of his regular role at second base.

The Royals have beaten the visiting Cleveland Guardians twice to open a four-game series that continues Saturday afternoon.

Michael Massey’s Impact

Returning from Injury

Massey missed the first 19 games of the season due to a back injury. He returned to play 29 games, then sat out 27 more contests because of a lower back ligament sprain before returning on Monday. Before his latest absence, the third-year player was hitting .294. Since his return, he is just 2-for-11 in four games, all as the designated hitter or a pinch hitter as the club is cautious about his return to the field.

“We’re going to listen to him,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “If it’s not working, if he doesn’t feel well, then we won’t keep pushing, because we really value having his bat in there.”

Performance and Lineup Role

Massey, who often bats fifth behind Salvador Perez, has a .283 average and six homers. The Royals own a 22-11 record when Massey plays, but they are 24-27 without him.

When Adam Frazier landed on the injured list this week due to a right thumb strain, Maikel Garcia shifted to second base with prospect CJ Alexander brought up from the minors to play third.

“Maikel’s a really good infielder,” Quatraro said. “He’s a shortstop by trade, so that’s a more natural transition than what he did last year to learn third. He will definitely play third again at some point, but we don’t want to make it a day-to-day thing, back and forth.”

Alexander sat out on Friday after going 0-for-6 in his first two major league games, with rookie infielder Nick Loftin getting the start at third. Loftin went 0-for-2 with two walks as Kansas City won 10-3, one night after beating Cleveland 2-1.

Pitching Matchup

Kansas City Royals

• Cole Ragans (5-5, 3.03 ERA): Ragans has just one win in his past six starts, and it came in his most recent appearance. He struck out 11 in six innings, allowing one run on four hits and three walks, while beating the Miami Marlins on Monday. In his only appearance against Cleveland, Ragans took a loss after surrendering four runs — three earned — on six singles in five innings on Sept. 25, 2022, while pitching for the Texas Rangers.

Cleveland Guardians

• Tanner Bibee (6-2, 3.50 ERA): Bibee has made two starts against the Royals and came away with no-decisions both times despite pitching to a 2.70 ERA. Most recently, he allowed three runs — two earned — in five-plus innings with a walk and seven strikeouts, vs. Kansas City on June 6. Cleveland is 13-3 in games Bibee has pitched this year. He won four of his past six starts, posting a 2.86 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings during that span. Bibee won in Baltimore on Monday, yielding two runs — one earned — in six innings while striking out seven.

“Tanner was outstanding again,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “He’s doing this time and time again. He kept making pitches and grinding through six. Tanner picked us up and turned in a quality start.”

Cleveland Guardians

Pitching Staff Boosts

There is a possibility that the Guardians’ pitching staff will receive a reinforcement in the near future. The team agreed to a major league contract with southpaw Matthew Boyd pending a physical exam, while right-hander Gavin Williams (suffering from right elbow pain) may come back from the injured list.

Boyd underwent Tommy John surgery following 15 starts with Detroit in the previous year. He has a 4.94 ERA through portions of nine seasons, yet injuries have restricted him to only 163 innings since the beginning of the 2021 season.

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Williams started 16 games in his first year in 2023 and ended with a 3.29 ERA. He has been sidelined on the 60-day injured list since spring training, but he finished his sixth rehab outing on Thursday, recording six strikeouts in four innings of one-run ball for Triple-A Columbus.

“He completed around 80 pitches,” Vogt stated. Clearly, we will need to make a decision in the coming days. We’re still figuring out our next steps.

In summary

The Royals are counting on Cole Ragans to come through with another solid performance as they seek their third consecutive victory over the Guardians. In the meantime, the Guardians will rely on Tanner Bibee to stop their losing streak and maintain his strong run of performances. Both teams are bringing back important players from injuries, which makes this game even more interesting.