One of the few blemishes on Kris Bubic’s stellar season for Kansas City came against the New York Yankees.
The Royals’ left-hander will look for a better effort at home against those same potent Yankees — and some needed run support — while trying for a sixth straight quality start Wednesday night.
Bubic (5-3, 1.43 ERA) has been one of the majors’ biggest surprises while returning to the starter’s role for the first time since 2022 — and two years removed from Tommy John surgery. He is the majors’ ERA leader and has yielded just three runs and struck out 42 over 39 1/3 innings while going 3-1 over a six-start stretch.
“It’s been a really fun season,” Bubic, 27 and in his sixth big-league campaign, told MLB Network.
However, Bubic has received just four runs of support from his Kansas City teammates while on the mound in the last four starts. He yielded a run, two walks and four hits while striking out nine through seven innings in his most recent start June 1 against the Detroit Tigers, which the Royals lost 1-0.
“I go out there trying to control what I can control,” Bubic said. “If I can throw everything for strikes, I know more often than not, it’s going to be a decent day.”
Things weren’t so decent for Bubic in New York on April 16, when he allowed three runs, a season highs of seven hits and four walks over 5 1/3 innings of Kansas City’s 4-3 loss. New York star Aaron Judge went 2-for-2 with a double and a walk versus Bubic.
Judge, 4-for-7 with a homer lifetime against Bubic, clubbed a monster two-run blast in the first inning to set the tempo in New York’s 10-2 series-opening victory on Tuesday. The reigning American League MVP, Judge is batting .396 with 24 homers, including three in the past two games, and 58 RBIs.
“You always got to get better. Got to improve,” Judge told TBS.
While the American League East-leading Yankees pounded out 16 hits Tuesday to bounce back following two straight losses to rival Boston, the Royals continue to struggle. Kansas City was 24-16 on May 9 but has averaged 3.2 runs during its current 10-17 rut.
Despite the Royals’ offensive struggles, Vinnie Pasquantino extended his hitting streak to 10 games and on-base streak to 25 on Tuesday and is batting .377 in his past 31 games. Pasquantino is 1-for-3 with a walk against Wednesday’s scheduled Yankees starter, Clarke Schmidt (2-3, 4.04 ERA).
The veteran right-hander allowed three first-inning runs, including a two-run homer, then settled down to throw 4 2/3 scoreless innings and strike out eight during a 4-0 loss to Cleveland in his most recent start last Wednesday.
“Bounced back well, threw a lot of strikes, getting a lot of swings and misses,” Schmidt said of moving on from that rough first inning. “I was happy with that.”
Schmidt also battled when he also opposed Bubic and the Royals in April. He allowed three runs, four hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings of his 2025 season debut in that matchup on April 16.
New York’s Paul Goldschmidt and Jazz Chisholm Jr. are a combined 5-for-10 versus Bubic. However, Chisholm’s status is uncertain after he left the game on Tuesday with neck tightness.
–Field Level Media
