The Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers will have to wait until Thursday before their first game of the 2015 MLB postseason, but both clubs already announced who their first few starters will be for that series.
Kansas City will host the winner of tonight's AL Wild Card Game between the New York Yankees and Houston Astros. Manager Ned Yost announced the team's first three starters for their ALDS matchup, which will begin on Thursday.
#Royals manager Ned Yost announces that @YordanoVentura will start Game 1 of the ALDS and @JohnnyCueto will go in Game 2. #TakeTheCrown
— Royals (@Royals) October 6, 2015
.@Royals to start @YordanoVentura Game 1, @JohnnyCueto Game 2, Edinson Volquez Game 3 of #ALDS vs. #WildCard winner. pic.twitter.com/nPE46sL66U
— MLB (@MLB) October 6, 2015
That's right, Johnny Cueto will not be the Game 1 starter. Ventura has been much more consistent as of late, going 9-1 with a 3.10 ERA since July 26. On the other hand, Cueto is 4-7 with a 4.76 ERA and 1.45 WHIP since the Royals acquired him prior to the trade deadline. But after five straight starts where he surrendered a total of 28 earned runs, the right-hander has settled down to go 2-1 with a 3.24 ERA in his last four outings.
Yost seemingly feels Ventura, who has five postseason games under his belt (all during last year's World Series run) versus Cueto's one, is better fit to start Game 1. The young right-hander is 1-0 with a 3.20 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in five games (four starts) in the playoffs.
As for the Rangers, they'll face the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS on Thursday afternoon and they announced today who will be starting the first two games of that series.
Yovani Gallardo will start Game 1 of ALDS for #Rangers. Cole Hamels gets Game 2.
— Jeff Wilson (@JeffWilson_FWST) October 6, 2015
.@Rangers to start Yovani Gallardo in Game 1 and Cole Hamels in Game 2 of #ALDS vs. @BlueJays. pic.twitter.com/FM5AtaN75o
— MLB (@MLB) October 6, 2015
Hamels started the final game of the MLB regular season, which helped the Rangers win the AL West title, so Gallardo will get the nod against the league's best offense in Toronto on Thursday.
Gallardo finished the regular season 13-11 with a 3.42 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 132 strikeouts in 33 starts (184 1/3 innings) while Hamels was 13-8 with a 3.65 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 215 strikeouts in 32 starts (212 1/3 innings).
Gallardo will have a tough assignment, as he'll likely go up against David Price, but Texas is on a roll and hopes to capitalize against the Blue Jays, who lost four out of their final five games of the season.
