The Royals will play the Guardians in a four-game series this week.
The Kansas City Royals swept the Seattle Mariners over the weekend and they are looking to carry the momentum into their next series. However, that series will be against the Cleveland Guardians, who are currently tied with the Detroit Tigers for first place in the American League Central standings. Meanwhile, the Royals are in fourth place, but they are only 2.5 games back of first place.
The Royals can take a big step forward by winning the four-game series, which is scheduled to begin on Monday and end on Thursday.
Without further ado, here are three things to watch in the series.
Royals' Starting Pitching
Michael Wacha, Noah Cameron, Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo are scheduled to start in that order against the Guardians this week. Kansas City's starting pitching has been up and down all season long.
Wacha and Lugo have performed well, while Ragans and Cameron have struggled. Notably, Ragans -- the team's ace -- has pitched to an underwhelming 5.29 ERA.
The Guardians' offense is far from the best in baseball, but they are capable of finding ways to score runs. The Royals will need more consistency from their starting pitching.
Cleveland's pitching is quite strong, so a bad pitching performance from the Royals will cause trouble when it comes to their chances of winning.
Bobby Witt Jr.'s Performance
The best players often find ways to step up in the big moments. The Royals will need Witt to do exactly that this week.
Witt, the Royals' 25-year-old star shortstop, is having a fine season. He is hitting .281/.357/.407 across 34 games played. The power has not been ideal, but Witt is still playing well.
If the Royals are going to upset the Guardians at home, the ball club will need a big series from its best player.
Winning Close Games
The Royals have earned victories in half of their close games this season. There is a good chance that many of the upcoming four contests against the Guardians will be competitive ball games.
The Royals need to find ways to win the one and two run games. Of course, they would love to win regardless of the final score. Taking care of business in the close games is of utmost importance, though. It is often something that determines how well a ball club performs overall in a season.
The first game of the series is scheduled for 7:40 PM EST on Monday night.