Why Royals shuffled their lineup for Friday’s series opener vs. Rangers in Texas
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- Royals changed their lineup with MacKenzie Gore scheduled as the Rangers' lefty starter.
- Manager Matt Quatraro placed Maikel Garcia third, batting directly behind Bobby Witt Jr.
- Lane Thomas will lead off and Salvador Perez will bat cleanup (fourth) in the lineup.
The reeling Kansas City Royals trotted out a different batting order for their road-series opener against the Texas Rangers on Friday night.
The Royals faced Rangers left-handed starter MacKenzie Gore at Globe Life Field. Gore owns a 4.42 ERA in 11 starts this season. And left-handed hitters have fared slightly better against him than right.
Lefties came in with a .790 OPS (on-base plus slugging) against Gore. Meanwhile, right-handed batters were hitting .191 against him in 176 plate appearances.
The Royals were going to try to counteract Gore with veteran outfielder Lane Thomas leading off. He has experience, with a career .818 OPS in the top spot in the batting order.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro dropped third baseman Maikel Garcia to the third spot. Garcia batted behind star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. Garcia normally hits leadoff.
“In some cases with Maikel, he gets hampered a little bit hitting in front of Bobby — we want Bobby to really get the chance to hit,” Quatraro said. “But in this case, I still want them together because I think that’s a really formidable duo back-to-back.”
The tweaked KC lineup featured Royals captain Salvador Perez batting fourth, Starling Marte fifth and Vinnie Pasquantino sixth.
The goal is to generate more opportunities on the basepaths with runners in motion.
“We’re trying to get as much traffic and create as much havoc at the top of the order as we can,” Quatraro said. “And I like the idea of Maikel hitting in front of Salvy. Maybe get him in motion a little bit more.
“Salvy, obviously, gets a lot of off-speed. He gets pitched very tough, but also, he’s a free swinger. So (if) Maikey’s running and Salvy’s swinging, maybe we get some holes opened up and we can get some stuff going.”
The Royals also gave outfielder Jac Caglianone a chance to face a tough left-hander. He batted eighth, following second baseman Nick Loftin, who filled the 8-hole. Ninth was Kyle Isbel.
Caglianone was batting just .190 (in 42 at-bats) against left-handed pitchers this year.
“He hits the ball hard,” Quatraro said. “You know, if we can get him to be disciplined up, I think there is a lot of stuff he can handle.”
It’s possible the Royals could experiment more with their lineup, too. As they search for more offense, grouping their best hitters together could lead to desired results.
Gore will be a staunch test. In his lone start against the Royals, he allowed just one run on three hits, striking out 11 in seven innings.
“He’s good,” Quatraro said of Gore. “He’s got plus-stuff, and he doesn’t give up a ton of hits. You’ve got to lay off the ball up. He’s got plus velo up in the (strike) zone. You know, a good pitch mix: slider, changeup, he can cut it. He’s got a lot of things that are impressive. So you’ve got to be disciplined, especially, up above the zone.”
This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 7:11 PM with the headline "Why Royals shuffled their lineup for Friday’s series opener vs. Rangers in Texas."
