The New York Yankees are coming off a thrilling victory Sunday night and are set to begin a four-game series against the Kansas City Royals.
As the Bronx Bombers enter this series with the best record in the American League (46-21) by 2.5, the Royals have enjoyed a strong start to the season as well. Kansas City is 39-27, four games behind the division-leading Cleveland Guardians (42-22).
While the Yankees have been led by superstars Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, the Royals are being led by MVP candidate shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., one of the best young players both at his position and across the entire league.
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Coming off a series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers that was salvaged with a Sunday night win, the Yankees own a 24-11 record on the road—the best in MLB. Meanwhile, the Royals are 24-11 at home this season—the third-best mark in the American League and fourth-best in MLB.
As the Yankees are 8-2 in their last 10 games, the Royals own a 5-5 record in their last 10.
Yankees at Royals series preview: 5 things to watch
Will Juan Soto play?
The Yankees got a taste of life without Soto, and it wasn't pretty. After dealing with forearm discomfort for 1-2 weeks, Soto needed some rest. While the MRI came back clean on both his elbow in forearm, showing only some inflammation, the Yankees felt it best to give him a few days rest over the weekend.
Soto didn't play at all during the weekend series against the Dodgers, but he did take his normal routine before Sunday night's game. Manager Aaron Boone said all things went well in that regard, and that there's a hope Soto makes his return against the Royals on Monday night.
MORE: Yankees reveal potential return for Juan Soto
Before Sunday night's win, the Yankees were 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position during the first two games of the series against the Dodgers. Soto's return will be a welcomed sight whenever it happens.
American League MVP race preview?
There is still a long way to go before the American League MVP is determined, but we may get a glimpse of what the race will look like down the stretch. Entering Monday, Judge (4.9) and Witt Jr. (4.2) lead MLB in fWAR. It's hard to argue anybody other than Judge deserves the award right now, but Witt Jr. is right behind him.
The 23-year-old son of former MLB pitcher Bobby Witt, the young shortstop is one of the brightest stars in the game. His .320 average leads the American League and ranks third in MLB. He's second in the American League in stolen bases (19) and sixth in OPS (.927) and wRC+ (154). On defense, he leads all MLB shortstops in Outs Above Average (10).
Meanwhile, Judge is the runaway favorite for the AL MVP right now. No one in baseball is better than the Yankees captain. Despite literally giving the rest of the league a one-month head start, Judge enters Monday leading MLB in home runs (24), OPS (1.139), slugging percentage (.703), on-base percentage (.436), walks (55), extra-base hits (46) and total bases (168).
MORE: Aaron Judge has been on absurd stretch since first career ejection
Probable pitchers for Yankees at Royals
For the most part, we know what the Yankees rotation will look like for the road series, but it seems to be less determined on the Royals' side of things. Here's how the probable pitching matchups line up entering Monday (we'll update if more information comes out):
Monday, June 10 - 8:10 p.m. ET
Carlos Rodon (8-2, 3.08 ERA) vs Seth Lugo (9-1, 2.13 ERA)
Tuesday, June 11 - 8:10 p.m. ET
Marcus Stroman (5-2, 3.04 ERA) vs Brady Singer (4-2, 2.76 ERA)
Wednesday, June 12 - 8:10 p.m. ET
Cody Poteet (2-0, 1.72 ERA) vs TBD
Thursday, June 13 - 2:10 p.m. ET
Nestor Cortes (3-5, 3.68 ERA) vs Alec Marsh (5-3, 4.05 ERA)
Two strong offenses facing off
The Yankees and Royals both boast strong lineups entering this series. While the Yankees are tied for the most runs (331) in the American League and second-most in MLB, the Royals (329) are right behind them coming in at fifth overall in MLB.
Meanwhile, the Royals have been tough outs at the plate owning the third-fewest strikeouts (464) and seventh-best OPS (.730) in MLB. The Yankees clearly are a different lineup without Soto, but they proved Sunday night in the 6-4 win that they can still get the job done.
Anthony Rizzo struggles
The Yankees gave Rizzo the day off Sunday to clear his head as he works through an impeccably rough stretch. There's also a chance Rizzo gets the day off Monday, but that hasn't been determined yet.
Since the start of May, Rizzo is hitting a paltry .192 with two home runs, 10 RBI and a .514 OPS in 136 plate appearances. He has just seven walks and 17 strikeouts during that span. The month of June has been even worse. In 29 plate appearances over seven games, Rizzo has just one hit and a .136 OPS.
For more Yankees coverage, check out Kevin Hickey's work on Sporting News.
