Royal Scrolls: Backup Quarterbacks and Bombs in the Bay
An offensive outburst buries the Giants before a trip to the Twin Cities
Royal Scrolls is a recap of the week so far and a preview of the weekend ahead, along with news, nuggets and notes.
Backup quarterbacks.
Yes, backup quarterbacks. Put on your helmet; we’re doing cross-sport references today.
You know those games when a starting signal-caller goes down and hope seems lost (at least for fans), before the rest of the team rallies behind the second-stringer? If your Royals love is shared with their neighbors at Truman Sports Complex, you probably remember that not once but twice the Chiefs have won playoff games in the Patrick Mahomes era in which he left the contest early.
In 2023, Chad Henne marched 98 yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars for a first-half touchdown in relief of Mahomes, who injured his right ankle. Now, No. 15 did return to that contest for the second half, but he couldn’t do the same two years earlier in the divisional round against the Cleveland Browns. After a concussion knocked the Chiefs superstar out of the game, Henne filled in admirably, including an all-time third-down scramble and converting one of Andy Reid’s bravest play calls late in the fourth quarter.
Apologies for reminiscing. Back to the Royals.
In Wednesday’s series finale in San Francisco, the chips were down. Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo simultaneously hit the injured list over the weekend, leaving a hole in KC’s (28-23) starting rotation. While they’d turn to Johnny Wholestaff for a bullpen game, the Giants enjoyed the luxury of leaning on their ace in right-hander Logan Webb, the model of pitching consistency across the Big Leagues as the only starter to throw 200+ innings each of the last two seasons.
Add a flat Royals offense to the mix and it felt pre-ordained Kansas City would fly to Minnesota after losing its fourth straight series.
But baseball had other ideas, as it often does.
As the carousel turned and Royals hitters — each of whom recorded at least one hit — tagged Webb and reliver Spencer Bivens for eight runs in an eventual 8-4 victory, it had that feeling of a game when the offense knew it was its turn to pick up the staff after 50 games of the pitching carrying the load.
Captain Salvador Perez led the charge with three knocks, including an opposite field blast at 107.5 MPH. Five Royals enjoyed multi-hit efforts, including Maikel Garcia, Bobby Witt Jr., Drew Waters and Michael Massey.
It simply had that feeling of the backup quarterback (bullpen) needing a little extra support in a series-clinching contest. Henne-thing is possible, including Kansas City scoring more than four runs, apparently.
Crowning Achievements
A Surge in Pasquatch Sightings
Vinnie Pasquantino fired the opening salvo Wednesday with his first-inning RBI single to score Garcia, but it was his two-run homer off relief ace Tyler Rogers in Monday’s affair that earns him a Crowning Achievement.
The hulking left-hander smashed a 73 MPH slider on the outer half into the right-field seats in the eighth inning, breaking a scoreless deadlock to lead Kansas City to a 3-1 win.
Since the calendar flipped to May, Pasquantino has picked up the pace with a .298/.322/.464 slash and four homers. In that time, he owns a 50% hard-hit rate. He’s averaging 92.3 MPH off the bat. For a lineup in need of a spark, its three-hole stalwart is starting to smash.
A New (for Now) Ace of the Staff
With Ragans and Lugo on the mend, it’s safe to say Kris Bubic is the rotation’s best right now. He spun another spectacle Monday in his hometown, lobbing seven shutout innings against the Giants with five strikeouts, three walks and two hits allowed. Pasquantino picked him up in a big way late, giving Bubic a much-deserved win in the bay.
Among qualified MLB starters, the southpaw is now third in ERA (1.47), eighth in FIP (2.70), 20th in WHIP (1.06), 26th in strikeout rate (25%), fifth in CSW (31.2%) and owns the third-lowest Z-contact (78.6%). He’s pitching effectively within the parameters of the strike zone without giving up damage while stranding runners at an 87.6% clip.
In the series opener against SF, it was Bubic’s changeup limiting the effectiveness of Giants right-handers, returning 46.4% chase and 53.8% whiff. Over his last two starts, he’s turfed his four-seamer against lefties and ramped up his sinker usage to nearly 60% while honing in on the sweeper and slider as out pitches. His willingness to tinker, mixing his arsenal start-by-start, is an added wrinkle for opponents to grapple with.
Two-Way Brilliance from Isbel
At one point earlier this season, I wrote that Kyle Isbel earned a Crowning Achievement in part because he’s not the type of player who’d regularly appear here.
He’s proving me wrong seemingly every week.
Performing admirably from the ninth spot in the order, Isbel went 4-for-10 against San Francisco with a double, two runs and two RBI. He’s up to a .286/.290/.445 slash for a 97 wRC+, piecing together the best offensive campaign of his five-year career despite a laughably low 1.6% walk rate.
As much as even average hitting from him is a major boon for the lineup, it’s still Izzy’s range and timeliness in center field that makes him a valuable asset to the Royals. Wednesday’s matinee provided yet another highlight reel snare, this one coming in a massive bases loaded situation in the bottom of the fourth inning. Kansas City had pushed its lead to 6-2 but Steven Cruz’s back was against the wall with two away.
This is one of those catches we’ve started taking for granted. As always, Isbel gets a great break off the bat and charges hard, pulling in a liner off the bat of Wilmer Flores for a critical out that could’ve trimmed a four-run lead to just two if it finds the grass.
Instead, it’s a harmless final out of the frame and the Royals tacked on two more runs of their own in the fifth to put the game out of reach.
Weekend Preview
This month has been kind to Minnesota. The Twins (27-22) ripped off 13 straight victories from May 3-May 17 and have won eight of their last 10, helping them charge back into the AL Central race after an underwhelming start to 2025.
Both Kansas City and Minnesota enjoyed an off day Thursday, and it came at a good time for both clubs. While the Royals burned through their bullpen in Wednesday’s finale in San Francisco, the Twins finished Monday’s suspended game against Cleveland with a 6-5 win before falling in a second game of the afternoon, 5-1.
It’s the second meeting of the season between the division rivals after KC took three of four at Kauffman Stadium in early April, including a pair of one-run victories across a tightly contested midweek matchup.
Pitching Probables
7:10 p.m. Friday: LHP Noah Cameron vs. RHP Pablo Lopez
If you recall, Lopez suffered a hamstring injury his last time out against the Royals on April 8, requiring an IL stint and one rehab start with Triple-A St. Paul. He’s mostly looked like himself in five Major League starts since then, working at least five innings each time out with his only hiccup coming in a four-run outing against San Francisco on May 11. Otherwise, he’s allowed two runs or less each time on the bump while striking out six or more — when healthy, Lopez is reliable as they come.
He’s also an arm Kansas City has become familiar with as a division foe. With seven career starts against the Royals, including a 2019 outing as a Marlin, Lopez has worked a 2.23 ERA and .216/.247/.352 slash against the Boys in Blue.
The right-hander’s arsenal starts with his 94.6 MPH four-seamer at the top of the strike zone that plays up to a 95.9 MPH perceived velocity thanks to 93rd-percentile extension. Lopez works horizontally from there with a plus changeup against lefties and hard-breaking sweeper reserved for righties that induces chase at a top-tier 42.7% clip. (There’s a reason Salvador Perez has two hits and six strikeouts in 16 at-bats against Lopez.)
With a 5.1% walk rate and .198 batting average against, both ranking inside the top 20 among MLB starters with 40 or more innings, he limits action on the basepaths, strikes out hitters at a 27.7% clip and keeps the ball in the ballpark. An undeniable ace.
1:10 p.m. Saturday: RHP Michael Wacha vs. RHP Zebby Matthews
Kansas City transitions from one of its most familiar AL Central foes in Friday’s opener to right-hander Zebby Matthews making his second Big League start of 2025 on Saturday. His season debut decidedly did not go as planned against Milwaukee, striking out five but allowing four runs on five hits and three walks across just three innings.
Matthews did make two starts against the Royals in 2024, so he’s not a complete unknown. He finished with five innings both times out, allowing two runs and four runs, respectively, with 14 combined hits while totaling nine punchouts.
The four-seamer and cutter were his weapons of choice against the Brewers, using them on 80% his offerings — though that may have stemmed from control issues more than game plan as his slider returned just a 16.7% in-zone rate.
In Triple-A this year, the mix was much more balanced, flashing 42% usage of his four-seam fastball, 25% slider, 20% cutter. He’ll work in a changeup against left-handers that provides decent run and 11 inches of vertical separation from the four-seamer.
1:10 p.m. Sunday: LHP Kris Bubic vs. RHP Bailey Ober
It’s back to the well on Sunday against Bailey Ober, who’s made 11 starts against KC already in his five-year career. The 6-foot-9 righty has been a trusted starter for Minnesota… except against the Royals. They’ve seen him well with a .305/.330/.514 slash line, slugging 10 home runs and sticking him with a 5.90 ERA.
However, he found success against this watered-down version of Kansas City’s offense on April 10 in his third start of 2025, stringing together six innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts, five hits and one walk. Ober generates the 99th-percentile extension you’d expect from his frame, allowing his 90.6 MPH four-seamer to play up two ticks to a 92.5 MPH perceived velocity.
He excels at limiting free passes with a 5.7% walk rate, but does allow plenty of fly balls and loud contact with a 90.4 MPH average exit velocity against (28th percentile) and 42% hard-hit rate (42nd percentile). Despite an upper echelon 34% chase rate, the strikeout rate is pretty meager at 19%.
In totality, Ober is one of the most interesting pitchers in the game. You see his frame and expect big velo, but it’s not there. You see the velo readings and expect he pitches to a lot of contact, but he owns a heavy chase rate. You see the chase rate and expect he must generate a lot of strikeouts, but they’re pretty underwhelming.
Twins Notes
Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa are on the injured list with concussions after colliding in the outfield while tracking a Cedric Mullins popup on May 15.
Simeon Woods Richardson, whom Kansas City faced in the earlier four-game set this season, was shipped to Triple-A St. Paul a week ago to give way to Matthews in the rotation.
Isbel may be the pleasant surprise of the year (so far). His defense has always been upper-echelon...but now he is starting to hit! The other one may be Garcia, but (for some reason) I always expected him to hit; Isbel was never viewed in the same way.
Hopefully the Royals can take advantage of the absence of BOTH Correa and Buxton this weekend and take sole possession of second place!