Detroit Tigers lineup at Royals: C Jake Rogers in with other regulars in series opener
Detroit Tigers (23-23) at Kansas City Royals (29-19)
When: 7:40 p.m. Monday.
Where: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
TV: Bally Sports Detroit, FS1 outside of Detroit. (Have Xfinity but still looking for a way to watch BSD? Here are some other options.)
Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1). (Tigers radio affiliates).
Probable pitchers: Tigers RHP Reese Olson (0-4, 2.09 ERA) vs. Royals RHP Michael Wacha (3-4, 4.71 ERA).
Weather: Low 80s, 30% chance of rain beginning at 8 p.m.
Tigers lineup:
LF Riley Greene
DH Mark Canha
CF Wenceel Pérez
RF Kerry Carpenter
3B Gio Urshela
1B Spencer Torkelson
2B Colt Keith
SS Javier Báez
C Jake Rogers
P Reese Olson
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Game notes: The Tigers make their first appearance of the season at the gem of Missouri (sorry, St. Louis), Kauffman Stadium. MLB’s sixth-oldest stadium hasn’t always been the friendliest of confines for the Tigers, though they went 5-2 there last season despite posting just a .242/.335/.361 slash line against Royals pitching. (Tigers pitchers, meanwhile, held Royals hitters to a similarly putrid .230/.294/.357 slash line. Maybe there’s something in that Arthur Bryant sauce?)
Still, there are a least a few Tigers who enjoy stepping into the batter’s boxes at The K, with a trio of hitters posting OPSes over .900 the past two seasons:
Riley Greene: .908 — Greene has five multi-hit games in his 13 appearances in K.C., including a 3-for-4 performance on July 19 last season. Still, Greene’s success has mostly come from making contact and working walks; he has just four extra-base hits in 57 plate appearances at The K while picking up 10 singles and seven walks.
Javier Báez: .918 — We know, we’re surprised, too. But El Mago’s magic in K.C. as a Tiger is only slightly better than his career OPS there of .912 — maybe they should run the fountain more at Comerica Park when he’s hitting? In his past two seasons as a Tiger, Báez has seven doubles, a triple and a homer in 59 plate appearances. He also had a big game last July 19, picking up his first homer there since Aug. 6, 2018.
Spencer Torkelson: .927 — Tork REALLY likes to hit at The K, with six multi-hit games — and three three-hit games — in 17 appearances. The most notable of those, of couse, was his July 18, 2023, performance, in which he went 3-for-5 with a pair of homers, a double and five RBIs as the Tigers scored four runs with one out in the ninth inning of an eventual 11-10 loss.
Then again, not every Tiger thrives in K.C.’s barbecue-and-Butker fueled environment: Pour one out for poor Jake Rogers, who has a .133/.188/.167 slash line — with four hits and 12 strikeouts in 30 at-bats —over eight games at The K, and Andy Ibanez, who also has only four hits (though only three strikeouts) in 20 at-bats for a .200/.238/.200 slash line.
On the mound, this will be Reese Olson’s first appearance at The K. He had little trouble with Royals hitters last season, however; he racked up 15 strikeouts and just three walks over 11 2/3 innings in two appearances. (Though, in what has become something of a theme over two seasons, he failed to pick up a win in either.)
The Royals, meanwhile, will send veteran righty Michael Wacha to the mound; he struggled against the Tigers at the end of April, giving up four runs on nine hits — two of which were home runs — with three strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. The home run hitters? Wenceel Pérez, for the first of his career, and … Jake Rogers. Something’s gotta give, we guess.
After tonight, the Tigers and Royals continue their series with another night game Tuesday — with Casey Mize on the mound for the Tigers — before wrapping it up Wednesday afternoon with Tarik Skubal toeing the rubber.
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Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers lineup at Royals: C Jake Rogers in with other regulars
