This is the finale of a three-game series in Kansas City between the Royals and visiting Los Angeles Angels.
Kyle Hendricks is scheduled to pitch for Los Angeles, while Noah Cameron is slated to start for Kansas City.
Angels at Royals prediction, preview
Kyle Hendricks is 35 years old and is averaging 86.7 mph on the fastball. Move over to the right lane!!! The strikeout rate is only 15.3% and the swinging strike rate is 7.7%. The chase rate is 29.4%, though. He throws a sinker 38.1% of the time and the changeup 38.4%. The average exit velocity is 86.4 mph, barrel rate is 7.8% and the hard hit rate is 34.3%. Hendricks has allowed 21 home runs. The ERA is 4.89 while the FIP is 4.75.
15 of the 21 home runs have come off the bat of righties. The K-BB% is 11% against righties and only 7% against lefties. Hendricks has been slightly better on the road, but that’s not really saying much.
In 26 starts, Hendricks has allowed more than three earned runs nine times. He’s gone at least six innings 10 times. This will be his first time facing Kansas City this season.
Against right-handed pitching, the Royals rank 29th in strikeout rate and 22nd in ISO. Their wOBA ranks 24th in the MLB.
Noah Cameron was a highly touted prospect who mowed down minor league hitters. Through 108 innings in the majors, the strikeout rate is only 18.9%. The swinging strike rate is 10.8% and the walk rate is only 7.1%, which is decent for a rookie pitcher. He’s allowed 13 home runs. The launch angle is 13.8 degrees but the average exit velocity is 87.7 mph. The barrel rate is only 5.3% and the hard hit rate is 37.1%. The ERA is 2.92, but the FIP is much higher at 4.11. The BABIP is only .240 while the strand rate is 83.7%.
10 of the 13 home runs have come off the bat of righties. The K-BB% is 10.8% against righties compared to 15.4% against lefties. The FIPs are almost identical at home and on the road, but the K-BB% is 6.5% higher at home but the HR/9 is 1.29.
In 19 starts, Cameron has allowed more than three earned runs five times. He got lit up for six earned runs in Chicago against the White Sox in his most recent outing. Cameron has gone at least six innings nine times, but five of those were in the first five starts of the season. This will be his first time facing the Angels this season.
Against left-handed pitching, the Angels have the highest strikeout rate, the third-best ISO, and rank 18th in MLB for wOBA.
As for the bullpens, since August 1, Los Angeles has the 15th-lowest FIP, while Kansas City ranks first.
Angels at Royals pick, best bet
The ballpark in Kansas City mitigates some of the prospect of a blowout. In addition, the Royals bullpen has been very good. That said, Hendricks isn’t a very good pitcher while Cameron is susceptible to righty power, which the Angels have. Taylor Ward, in particular, has a .322 ISO against left-handed pitching. The O/U is high for a reason.
