Detroit confronts a revitalized Kansas City lineup powered by Bobby Witt Jr., while a depleted pitching staff relies on Keider Montero to navigate this high-stakes divisional showdown.
The last time the Detroit Tigers saw the Kansas City Royals, the series looked like a tight, low-scoring AL Central matchup. Detroit won the April 15 finale, 2-1, on Wenceel Pérez’s go-ahead eighth-inning homer, giving the Tigers their fifth straight win at the time.
A few weeks later, Kansas City looks like a much different club.
The Tigers open a three-game series Friday night at Kauffman Stadium with Keider Montero scheduled to face left-hander Kris Bubic. The Tigers at 18-20 and the Royals at 17-21 entering Friday, with Montero carrying a 2-2 record, 3.48 ERA and 25 strikeouts. Bubic enters at 3-1 with a 3.32 ERA and 42 strikeouts.
On paper, that record does not scream red-hot. The recent results do.
Kansas City had won five straight before dropping the final two games of its series against Cleveland. Before that, the Royals swept the Seattle Mariners, including a 4-1 win Sunday behind seven strong innings from Bubic. That win gave Kansas City seven victories in nine games at the time, and it came after the Royals had been buried in an earlier losing skid.
The improvement has been easy to spot. Bobby Witt Jr. remains the player who changes the temperature of a game in one swing, one steal or one defensive play. Vinnie Pasquantino is giving Kansas City another middle-of-the-order presence, and Jac Caglianone has added left-handed thump to a lineup that needed more impact. In Tuesday’s win over Cleveland, Witt homered, Pasquantino drove in runs and Caglianone also went deep as the Royals beat the Guardians 6-2.
The Royals have also gotten contributions from less obvious places. Isaac Collins was a factor in the Seattle sweep and continued to show up during the Cleveland series, while Michael Massey hit a two-run homer in Kansas City’s 5-3 win Tuesday. Stephen Kolek, activated from the injured list, gave the Royals six innings in that game, and Kansas City’s bullpen covered the final three innings.
That matters because Detroit is not arriving with a normal rotation. Montero gets the opener, Ty Madden is expected to pitch Saturday and Sunday is lined up as a bullpen start on Sunday Night Baseball. The Tigers are still trying to piece together innings after Tarik Skubal’s elbow injury added to an already thin pitching picture. Madden just gave Detroit five scoreless innings in relief against Boston, a badly needed performance after being recalled from Triple-A Toledo.
Montero’s start is probably the best matchup of the weekend for Detroit. He is coming off one of his better outings of the season, allowing one run over 6 2/3 innings in a 5-1 win over Texas. Dillon Dingler gave him early breathing room with a three-run homer, but Montero did his part by limiting damage and keeping the ball in the yard after Jake Burger’s solo shot.
That formula has to carry over. Against this version of Kansas City, free passes and extra outs are dangerous. Witt can turn a walk into a runner on third in a hurry. Pasquantino can punish mistakes. Caglianone gives the Royals a different look from the left side and he showed a cannon of an arm in right. And while Salvador Perez has been quiet lately, the Tigers have seen enough of him over the years to know better than to treat that as permanent. He always finds a way to punish Tigers pitching.
The Royals are battling a few pitching injuries of their own. Cole Ragans left Wednesday’s start with left triceps and elbow soreness, creating uncertainty in their rotation. The bullpen was also asked to cover six innings that night, and Kansas City gave up eight runs in Thursday’s loss to Cleveland.
That gives Detroit a path. The Tigers have to make the Royals’ starters work, get into the middle of the bullpen and avoid letting Kansas City dictate the game with speed and contact. Bubic has been sharp, but Detroit cannot let him cruise. Madden’s assignment Saturday will be about strikes, tempo and keeping Kansas City from building innings. Sunday will be more complicated because bullpen games require nearly everything to line up correctly.
This is no longer the same Royals team Detroit beat in mid-April. Kansas City looks more confident, more athletic and more dangerous at the plate. The Tigers are walking into a divisional road series against a club that has started to find itself as they start taking on more AL Central teams.
For Detroit, the weekend is simple enough: get a quality start from Montero, give Madden actual run support and find a way through Sunday’s bullpen game. To borrow from Pee-wee’s Playhouse, the secret word is “survival.” Every time Tigers fans hear it between now and the All-Star break, they can scream accordingly.
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