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KC Royals: Who Will Be Game 4 Starter For Royals

By Leigh Oleszczak

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The KC Royals are up two games to none over the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS, and the series now shifts to Toronto.

Throughout the ALDS, the Kansas City Royals went with three pitchers in their starting rotation. Yordano Ventura started Game 1, Johnny Cueto Game 2, and Edinson Volquez was the starter of Game 3. Ventura and Cueto started Games 4 and 5.

A lot of the time, teams seem to roll with four starters in the postseason, but it’s not uncommon for teams to go with three. The Royals, however, likely will go with four in the ALCS.

The Blue Jays announced that they’d have four starters in this series and they currently plan to throw R.A. Dickey on the mound in Game 4. The Royals will likely start either Kris Medlen or Chris Young in Game 4, but who should they start?

Medlen was in the Royals’ rotation near the end of the season, but he hasn’t pitched in a game since October 1st when he started against the Chicago White Sox. Medlen went six innings in that game and only allowed two runs off of four hits. Only one of those runs was earned.

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Young has seen action on the mound more recently, as he took over for Ventura in Game 1 against Houston. Ventura was pulled after only two innings due to a torrential down pour that lasted close to 45 minutes, and caused Ned Yost to pull his starter.

Young went on to pitch four innings of relief, only allowing three hits and one run. Young was a starter in this rotation for several months, but began to decline and was eventually put back into the bullpen.

It’s tough to say which guy will end up taking the bump for the boys in blue. Medlen hasn’t pitched in over two weeks (nearly three by the time Game 4 rolls around) and Young has looked really good out of the bullpen.

Both guys have proved to have big roles for this KC Royals team, but both guys can’t start Game 4. My guess would be that Medlen would start since he looked to be doing pretty well in that role for Kansas City. It could be problematic that Medlen hasn’t seen the mound in over two weeks though, but maybe Medlen won’t be affected by that.

Either way, I think Kansas City Royals fans will have confidence in whichever guy gets the call to start Game 4. Both guys have been tremendous pick ups by Dayton Moore this past off season, but only one can get the start.

Kris Medlen 2015 stats (8 starts, 15 games total):

  • 58.1 innings pitched
  • 6-2 record
  • 30 runs allowed
  • 56 hits allowed
  • Six home runs allowed
  • 40 strikeouts
  • 18 walks allowed
  • 4.01 ERA
  • 1.27 WHIP

Chris Young 2015 stats (18 starts, 34 games total):

  • 123.1 innings pitched
  • 11-6 record
  • 44 runs allowed
  • 91 hits allowed
  • 16 home runs allowed
  • 83 strikeouts
  • 43 walks allowed
  • 3.06 ERA
  • 1.09 WHIP

Who do you think should be the starter in Game 4 for the Kansas City Royals?

Next: All Hail Edinson Volquez

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