Texas Rangers vs Kansas City Royals Picks and Predictions June 22nd 2024

Rangers’ Jon Gray, Not Max Scherzer, Draws Start vs. Royals

The Texas Rangers will have a hard-throwing right-hander on the mound Saturday afternoon as they go for the series win against the visiting Kansas City Royals. However, it won’t be the one many Texas fans hoped for.

Scherzer’s Delay

Different news sources announced recently that three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer would make his 2024 season debut Saturday. On the other hand, Texas coach Bruce Bochy said on Friday that Jon Gray would start instead.

Scherzer, who underwent offseason back surgery and has been battling a nerve issue in his thumb, has made three rehab starts for Triple-A Round Rock. In those starts, he allowed six runs in 11 innings (4.91 ERA) while striking out 17. So why isn’t he starting?

“We just want to make sure nothing is wrong. That’s all, the manager added that the team would evaluate Scherzer again on Saturday and that he might start the finale of the three-game set against Kansas City on Sunday.

Bruce Bochy

Jon Gray’s Recent Performance

Gray (2-3, 3.31 Time) will attempt to return quickly from a 14-2 misfortune to the New York Mets on Monday, during which he permitted nine runs and 11 hits, both matching his vocation high, in three or more innings. Gray then gave the impression that he might have been giving away his pitches.

“My stuff was really good,” Gray said. “I thought I threw the ball really good. But I don’t care how nasty it is, I don’t care if it’s 110 miles per hour, if they know it’s coming, they know it’s coming. I tried to do a lot of different things just to try and throw them off. But it seemed like they still knew it was coming. So I don’t really know. It’s a shame, I guess. I mean, that’s baseball, right?”

The 32- year-old veteran is 1- 1 with a2.18 ERA in three career starts against the Royals. He wound up with a no- decision at Kansas City on May 5 after allowing two runs on seven hits in seven innings. He struck out seven without issuing a walk.

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Michael Wacha’s Return

Gray will be opposed by right-hander Michael Wacha (4-5, 4.24 ERA), who is set to be activated off the injured list. Wacha’s left foot was broken by a comebacker hit by the San Diego Padres’ Luis Arraez on May 31.

“His rehab went well,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “He’s feeling good, and we’re lucky it’s as short term as it was.”

Wacha is 0-2 with a 5.79 ERA in five career starts against Texas. He gave up seven runs on nine hits over 3 2/3 innings against the Rangers on May 4 in a 15-4 loss.

Rangers’ Recent Win

Texas won the opener of the groups’ most recent series, winning 6-2 on Friday night. Marcus Semien featured the Officers’ five-run 6th inning with a three-run twofold, and Nathan Eovaldi got the success, permitting two runs north of six innings.

“It’s always good to have a big inning like that, especially in a tight ballgame,” Bochy said. “Good at-bats, we had some walks there. Marcus topped it off. It’s something we’ve been missing at times, and he came through with a big three-run double there.”

Bruce Bochy

Kansas City’s Struggles

Kansas City, which fell to 2-5 on its nine-game road trip, jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third on Kyle Isbel’s fifth home run of the season. However, Isbel, who is batting .308 with seven RBIs over his past 13 games, departed in the fifth inning due to lower back tightness.

“It’s probably something he could have played with, but we didn’t want to chance it,” Quatraro said. “We’re in a long stretch of games, so we’re going to see if we can calm it down a little bit. We don’t think it’s anything serious.”

Isbel said he’s “been feeling it the past couple of days. It just kind of cramped up on me. It should be good (Saturday).”

Conclusion

As the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals plan for Saturday’s down, the spotlight will be on Jon Dim as he tries to bounce back from his past excursion and on Michael Wacha, who gets back from injury. The Royals hope to improve their road trip, while the Rangers want to win the series. The two groups will be intently checking their central participants and changing their methodologies as needs be.