The Rangers landed Nathan Eovaldi for this opener after his no-decision in St. Louis on June 2, where he went 6 innings and gave up 4 earned on 11 hits. The Royals counter with Stephen Kolek, who is back from the family medical emergency list that pulled him away from the team last week. His last time out, June 3 against Cincinnati, was a 7-inning, 2-run, 8-strikeout gem.
Texas is 32-33 and just took 2 of 3 from Cleveland at home, capped by a 10-0 thumping on Sunday. That gives them 4 wins in their last 5 and a little bit of life heading into a road series they should feel decent about. Kansas City is the more interesting team right now though — 4-1 over the last 5 and winners of 3 straight, all on the road in Minnesota by one run each.
The Royals' bigger issue isn't form, it's the training room. Bobby Witt Jr. was pulled from Sunday's game with right knee soreness and is day-to-day. Salvador Perez sat Sunday with a thumb issue. Jac Caglianone is dealing with a shoulder. A lineup missing any combination of Witt, Perez and Caglianone against Eovaldi is a very different lineup than the one Vegas modeled when this line opened.
- Day-To-DaySebastian Walcott SS — Rangers GM Ross Fenstermaker said Tuesday that Walcott could be ready for game action in August, "if all things according to plan" in his rehab from the internal brace procedure he underwent on his right elbow, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News reports.
- 10-Day-ILJosh Smith 2B — Smith (glute/wrist/illness) began a rehab assignment at Double-A Frisco on Saturday.
- 10-Day-ILDanny Jansen C — Jansen is not in the Rangers' starting lineup against the Guardians on Friday.
- 15-Day-ILCole Winn RP — Winn (arm) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Round Rock on Friday.
- 15-Day-ILChris Martin RP — The Rangers placed Martin on the 15-day injured list Monday with a right shoulder impingement.
- 60-Day-ILJordan Montgomery SP — Montgomery (elbow) threw a 20-pitch live batting practice session Wednesday, MLB.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILRobert Garcia RP — The Rangers transferred Garcia (shoulder) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Monday.
- 60-Day-ILCarter Baumler RP — Baumler (intercostal) has been shut down from his rehab assignment, MLB.com reports.
- Day-To-DayBobby Witt Jr. SS — Witt was removed from Sunday's game against Minnesota due to right knee soreness.
- Day-To-DaySalvador Perez C — Perez is not in Sunday's lineup against the Twins due to a right thumb injury, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.
- Day-To-DayJac Caglianone RF — Caglianone (shoulder) is not in the Royals' starting lineup against the Twins on Sunday.
- Day-To-DayAnthony Simonelli SP — no
- Day-To-DayJavier Vaz 2B — Vaz (fingers) has produced a .238/.304/.262 slash line with zero home runs and three stolen bases in 10 games since being activated from Double-A Northwest Arkansas' 7-day injured list April 22.
- Day-To-DayTyson Guerrero RP — no
- 15-Day-ILKris Bubic SP — The Royals announced Monday that Bubic (elbow) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday.
- bereavementStephen Kolek SP — Kolek took a no-decision Wednesday against the Reds, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out eight.
The market sees this as essentially a pick'em — Pinnacle has Texas at -114 and Kansas City at +103, with a fair-probability split of 52/48. The total sits at 9.5 with juice to the under (-124), which tracks given Kolek's 3.32 ERA and Eovaldi's ability to grind through 6-7 innings even on rough nights. The under is the bet that requires the least imagination here.
If Witt plays and Perez is back behind the plate, this is a real test for Eovaldi, who has been homer-prone all year. If they're both out, Texas has a clean path to running the table on a depleted Royals lineup. Watch the lineup card at 5:40 PM CT — that's the whole game.