The Cleveland Guardians are floundering at three games under .500 but now could be the time to make a move.
The Guardians open a three-game road series in Kansas City on Tuesday night and the contest is the first of seven games against the lowly Royals over the final 13 games before the All-Star break.
The gift from the schedule makers arrives as Kansas City has dropped 18 of its last 23 games despite coming off a four-game split of a road series against the American League-best Tampa Bay Rays.
The Royals are an astounding 34 games below .500 and have the second-worst record in the majors, ahead of only the Oakland Athletics.
Kansas City hasn’t won a series in 11 attempts since taking two of three from the San Diego Padres in mid-May. They had a chance to win one against the Rays before having just four hits and striking out 17 times Sunday during a 3-1 loss.
“We did some good things, but to me, it doesn’t matter,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said afterward. “Split or whatever, you want to win every game. And when you don’t, it’s a disappointment regardless of who you’re playing.”
Cleveland is just two games out of first place in the less-than-fearsome AL Central. The first-place Minnesota Twins were the only division team above .500 entering Monday’s play.
The Guardians put together a four-game winning streak before losing two of three to the visiting Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend. Cleveland lost 5-4 in 10 innings on Sunday when it went just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
That dropped the Guardians to 15-18 in one-run games — the most such losses in the majors.
Highly regarded prospect Gavin Williams (0-0, 6.35 ERA) will make his second career start for the Guardians in the opener.
The right-hander is Cleveland’s No. 1 prospect and ranked No. 16 overall by MLB Pipeline. Williams was a first-round draft choice — No. 23 overall from East Carolina — in the 2021 draft and has quickly soared up the farm system.
He made his debut against the A’s on Wednesday and gave up four runs and four hits over 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision. Oakland scored all four of the runs in the third inning with Ryan Noda’s three-run homer representing the big blow.
Guardians right-hander Cal Quantrill, a 15-game winner last season, appears ready to rejoin the club after a stint on the injury list due to shoulder soreness as Cleveland works on a pitching plan moving forward. Quantrill pitched five shutout innings in a rehab outing at Double-A Akron on Sunday.
“If you go to a six-man (rotation), you’re actually making your bullpen shorter,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona told reporters. “I can see us, like when we insert Cal, trying to use that maybe as a once through where you get an extra starter. But I don’t know that we could stay with it. I don’t see how we would do it.”
The Royals will send right-hander Brady Singer (4-7, 6.34) to the mound.
Singer, 26, has dropped his last three starts and has a 5.94 ERA during the stretch. He lost to the Detroit Tigers in his last outing when he gave up five runs and seven hits over seven innings.
Singer is 2-1 with a 4.88 ERA in nine career appearances (eight starts) against Cleveland. Jose Ramirez is 7-for-16 with two homers off Singer, while Steven Kwan is 5-for-10 and Myles Straw is 6-for-13. Josh Naylor (2-for-12) has a homer.
Naylor is batting .368 with two homers and 17 RBIs in June.
–Field Level Media