Series preview: Royals at Indians (July 4-July 6)

The Kansas City Royals make their second visit to Progressive Field this weekend. The Royals swept a two-game set in mid-June.

• Friday's game is at 7:05 PM (Ventura vs. Tomlin) [MLB.tv free game of the day]

• Saturday's game is at 7:05 PM (Guthrie vs. House)

• Sunday's game is at 1:05 PM (Duffy vs. Kluber)

Once the Royals head out, the Yankees and White Sox come to town before the All-Star break.

Division Watch: Rays at Tigers, Yankees at Twins, Mariners at White Sox.

Team in a Box

When last we met, Kansas City was in the midst of a real hot streak, reeling off thirteen of fifteen games. But just as hot as they were then, they have cooled off considerably since, losing eight of thirteen. That hot streak coincided with their offense finally getting untracked a bit as their runs/game have jumped from fourteenth to ninth. And they have finally found their long ball, hitting 20 homers in their past 21 games after hitting just 28 in the first 63.

The pitching has held steady since the last series, allowing three runs or less in eleven of those games, and giving up seven or more just three times. Defensively, they sit at ninth in errors and fielding percentage. Also, the Royals are one of the healthiest squads in MLB with just two guys on the DL.

Projected Roster

* include Angels stats

This is still a lineup that does not feature one 800 OPS bat for the season. However, they have been hitting the ball much better in the past three weeks. For example, Moustakas has a slash of 250/311/411 in his past 19 games which is oodles better than his season numbers. Perez, Butler, Escobar and Ibanez all have a 800+ OPS in those past 19 games.

There have been a few roster changes. Nori Aoki landed on the DL so Dyson is now playing regularly. Pedro Ciriaco and Justin Maxwell both were DFA'ed. The Royals also signed Ibanez after the Angels cut him. Colon just made his MLB debut.

Projected Staff

The rotation has been excellent this year as all have ERAs under 4.00. However, they don't look nearly as good in FIP (3.80 and above) except for Ventura who matches his ERA very closely at 3.29. Ventura had a very good June, 2.90 ERA in five starts but his K rate was down. He dominated the Indians on June 11, seven innings, one run, six hits, no walks and three strikeouts. Likewise, Guthrie also had a very good June, 2.88 ERA in his five starts. But he took the loss in Cleveland back in the April 21 4-3 Tribe win. Duffy had a rough patch at the end of May, but was sparkling in June, 1.69 ERA in six starts. He pitched two shutout innings against the Indians in April in relief. His only two starts against Cleveland came back in 2011.

Holland got a save against Cleveland in his only opportunity in that June 11 game and hasn't blown a save since May 5, although he did take the loss against Seattle recently. Davis has been amazing this year, but the Tribe did manage to score a run off him and tally four hits in two innings of work. Likewise, Crow has been very good as well, but Cleveland scored the last runs off of him on June 10, although he did get the save in that game.

On the Shelf

• RF Nori Aoki [15 day DL], no timetable for return
• RP Luke Hochevar [60 day DL], out for season

Almanac

*Does not include 2014 stats