Athletics vs Royals match player stats | 2026 Series Game 4 Thursday, August 20th

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ATH @ KC

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Athletics @ Royals Series Game 4 Matchup Details

Teams : Athletics at Kansas City Royals
Series Game 4
Date : Todays Game is on Thursday, August 20th
Time : 20/08/26 14:10:00 PM EST First Pitch

Positives for the Athletics Series Game 4 Game Today

When estimating his BABIP ability, Henry Bolte is projected as the best hitter in the game by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,Henry Bolte is penciled in 1st on the lineup card in today’s game, which would be an upgrade from his 73% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the lineup this season.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles Kauffman Stadium as the 7th-best park in Major League Baseball for run-scoring.

,Built 886 feet above sea level, Kauffman Stadium has the 4th-highest altitude in the league, which often leads to more offense.

,Hot weather is strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer strikeouts), and the weather report calls for the highest temperatures on the schedule today at 82°.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Maikel Garcia in the 96th percentile when assessing his batting average ability.

,Maikel Garcia is projected to hit 4th in the batting order in this matchup.

,In the past week’s worth of games, Jonah Heim’s 42.9% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 16.3%.

,Lawrence Butler has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this season (78% of the time), but he is projected to hit 4th on the lineup card in this game.

,Lawrence Butler will have the handedness advantage against Randy Dobnak in today’s matchup.

,Vinnie Pasquantino is penciled in 5th in the lineup in this game.

,The #8 park in the league for boosting batting average to lefties, via the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Kauffman Stadium.

,The Athletics infield defense projects as the worst among all the teams in action today.

,Donovan Walton will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Randy Dobnak in today’s matchup.

,Donovan Walton has a good chance to have an advantage against every reliever throughout the game, since the bullpen of the Kansas City Royals only has 1 same-handed RP.

,Donovan Walton has compiled a .353 wOBA (the best measure of overall offense) this year, placing in the 88th percentile.

,Nick Loftin is projected to hit 1st in the batting order in this game, which would be an upgrade from his 72% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the batting order this year.

,Hitting from the opposite that Gage Jump throws from, Nick Loftin will have an advantage today.

,Hitting from the opposite that Gage Jump throws from, Tyler Tolbert will have an advantage today.

,Jeff McNeil is penciled in 2nd on the lineup card in today’s game, which would be an upgrade from his 88% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the batting order this year.

,Batting from the opposite that Randy Dobnak throws from, Jeff McNeil will have an advantage in today’s game.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Gage Jump in the 75th percentile as it relates to his overall pitching abilities.

,It is likely that we will see a Huge Pitchers Umpire (Cory Blaser) in charge of the strike zone in today’s game.

,In the majors, Kauffman Stadium’s LF dimensions are the deepest.

,With a 0.61 difference between Gage Jump’s 4.50 ERA and his 3.89 FIP, it’s safe to say he’s been one of the least fortunate pitchers in Major League Baseball this year and should perform better the rest of the season.

,Gage Jump has been one of the unluckiest hurlers in Major League Baseball on balls in play this year with a .318 BABIP and figures to see that luck normalize going forward.

,Thomas White is penciled in 5th in the lineup in today’s game.

,Kauffman Stadium ranks as the #8 ballpark in MLB for RHB batting average, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT).

,Thomas White has seen a sizeable improvement in his exit velocity of late; just compare his 87.7-mph average in the past week to his seasonal 85.4-mph mark.

,The Kansas City Royals have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Jeff McNeil has a strong chance of holding the platoon advantage against every reliever all game.

,The Athletics have 3 batters in their projected offense today with a high (i.e. over 27%) underlying K% (according to the leading projection system, THE BAT X) (Henry Bolte, Max Muncy, Zack Gelof).

,Given that flyball hitters perform worse against flyball pitchers, Randy Dobnak (49.9% GB% per the leading projection system, THE BAT) is well-situated in this matchup with 2 FB hitters in the opposing club’s projected offense.

,Randy Dobnak will benefit from the home field advantage today, which figures to bolster all of his metrics across the board.

,Home field advantage generally bolsters batter metrics across the board, and Tyler Tolbert will hold that advantage in today’s game.

,Checking in at the 81st percentile, Tyler Tolbert has posted a .328 wOBA (widely regarded as the top indicator of overall offense) since the start of last season.

,When estimating his home run talent, Carter Jensen ranks in the 85th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,Batting from the opposite that Gage Jump throws from, Maikel Garcia will have an advantage in today’s matchup.

,Maikel Garcia will hold the home field advantage in today’s matchup, which ought to improve all of his stats.

,Batting from the opposite that Randy Dobnak throws from, Carlos Cortes will have the upper hand today.

,Carlos Cortes will probably have an edge against every reliever from start to finish, since the bullpen of the Kansas City Royals only has 1 same-handed RP.

,Hitting from the opposite that Gage Jump throws from, Salvador Perez will have the upper hand today.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Zack Gelof in the 84th percentile as it relates to his home run talent.

,Zack Gelof has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this season (73% of the time), but he is projected to bat 3rd on the lineup card in today’s game.

,Zack Gelof has strong power (84th percentile) if he makes contact, but that’s usually a big “IF” (28.3% K%). Today, however, opposing pitcher Randy Dobnak doesn’t generate many whiffs (15th percentile K%) — great news for Gelof.

,The Athletics projected batting order profiles as the worst of all teams today in terms of overall offensive skill.

,It may be wise to expect worse results for the Athletics offense going forward, given that the leading projection system (THE BAT X) sees them as the 7th-luckiest offense in the game this year.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Bobby Witt Jr. as the 2nd-best hitter in the majors when assessing his batting average talent.

,Bobby Witt Jr. is projected to bat 2nd on the lineup card today.

,Home field advantage typically improves batter metrics in all categories, and Kyle Isbel will hold that advantage today.

,When assessing his strikeout talent, the leading projection system (THE BAT) forecasts Gage Jump in the 87th percentile among all starting pitchers in baseball.

,Gage Jump has posted a 25.9% K% this year, placing in the 81st percentile.

,Lawrence Butler may have an edge against every reliever from start to finish, since the bullpen of the Kansas City Royals only has 1 same-handed RP.

,Zack Gelof has made big improvements with his Barrel% in recent games, upping his 8.9% seasonal rate to 29.4% in the past two weeks.

,Bobby Witt Jr. projects as the 5th-best hitter in the league, via the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,Bobby Witt Jr. will hold the platoon advantage against Gage Jump in today’s game.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Vinnie Pasquantino in the 79th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive ability.

,Home field advantage typically bolsters hitter metrics across the board, and Vinnie Pasquantino will hold that advantage in today’s game.

,Home field advantage generally bolsters hitter metrics across the board, and Nick Loftin will hold that advantage in today’s matchup.

,Home field advantage generally improves hitter metrics across the board, and Carter Jensen will hold that advantage today.

,By putting up a .463 Expected wOBA (or xwOBA, an advanced metric created by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) based on Statcast data) since the start of last season, Carter Jensen is positioned in the 100th percentile for hitting ability.

,When it comes to plate discipline, Carlos Cortes’s ability is quite good, posting a 1.71 K/BB rate this year while checking in at in the 79th percentile.

,In the last week’s worth of games, Thomas White’s 36.4% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 11%.

,Kyle Isbel has seen a sizeable increase in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 89.5-mph average to last season’s 85.7-mph mark.

,When it comes to his home run talent, Salvador Perez ranks in the 88th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,Salvador Perez will possess the home field advantage in today’s game, which ought to improve all of his stats.

Negatives with the Kansas City Royals Series Game 4 Game Today

Hitting from the same side that Randy Dobnak throws from, Henry Bolte encounters a tough challenge today.

,Henry Bolte hits many of his flyballs to center field (41.4% — 100th percentile) and will be challenged by MLB’s 4th-deepest CF fences in today’s game.

,Extreme groundball batters like Henry Bolte tend to be less successful against extreme groundball pitchers like Randy Dobnak.

,Among all the teams playing today, the strongest infield defense is that of the Kansas City Royals.

,Playing on the road typically lowers hitter stats across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which ought to be the case for Henry Bolte today.

,In today’s game, Maikel Garcia is at a disadvantage facing the league’s 4th-deepest CF center field fences given that he hits his flyballs towards center field at a 38.6% rate (87th percentile).

,This year, Maikel Garcia’s 4.9% Barrel%, an advanced metric for measuring power, places him in the 24th percentile among his peers.

,This year, Maikel Garcia’s flyball exit velocity (an advanced stat to study power) is in the 10th percentile at 88.4 mph.

,Maikel Garcia has done a bad job optimizing his launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls. His 4.7° figure is among the lowest in the majors since the start of last season (4th percentile).

,Maikel Garcia has paced 6.1 dingers per 600 plate appearances this year, checking in at the 5th percentile for power.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jonah Heim in the 2nd percentile as it relates to his BABIP ability.

,Jonah Heim is penciled in 7th on the lineup card in today’s game, which would be a downgrade from his 58% rate of hitting in the top-half of the lineup this year.

,As a switch-hitter who is weaker from the 0 side of the plate, Jonah Heim will be at a disadvantage batting from his weak side against Randy Dobnak in this game.

,Today, Jonah Heim is at a disadvantage facing the league’s 4th-deepest CF center field fences given that he hits his flyballs towards center field at a 39.2% rate (94th percentile).

,Lawrence Butler has a 96th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (37.4%) and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of MLB’s deepest LF fences in today’s matchup.

,Playing on the road generally lowers hitter metrics in all categories due to the lack of home field advantage, which should be the case for Lawrence Butler in today’s game.

,Lawrence Butler’s ability to hit the ball at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has declined from last year to this one, falling from 45.4% to 39.4%.

,Lawrence Butler has posted a .280 wOBA (the best measure of overall offense) this year, checking in at the 11th percentile.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Vinnie Pasquantino in the 7th percentile as it relates to his BABIP talent.

,Gage Jump will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Vinnie Pasquantino in today’s matchup.

,Vinnie Pasquantino pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (36.9% — 91st percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them towards MLB’s deepest RF fences today.

,This year, the hardest ball Vinnie Pasquantino has hit reached a maximum exit velocity of 108.1 mph (a reliable stat to measure power), placing in the 14th percentile.

,Checking in at the 13th percentile for Sprint Speed at 25.72 ft/sec this year, Vinnie Pasquantino is not very athletic.

,When assessing his home run skill, Donovan Walton ranks in the 17th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,Donovan Walton is projected to bat 8th on the lineup card in this matchup.

,This year, Donovan Walton has been pulled from the game early in 28% of his appearances when starting against righty on the mound.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles Kauffman Stadium as the 6th-worst park in MLB for left-handed home runs.

,The deepest right field dimensions in the league are found in Kauffman Stadium.

,When estimating his home run skill, Nick Loftin ranks in the 22nd percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,Nick Loftin has been lifted for a pinch-hitter 15% of the time when starting against a left-handed pitcher this year.

,Nick Loftin pulls many of his flyballs (35.2% — 83rd percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of MLB’s deepest LF fences today.

,Nick Loftin’s exit velocity on flyballs has dropped off this year; his 91.6-mph figure last year has lowered to 88.7-mph.

,Over the last two weeks, Nick Loftin’s exit velocity on flyballs has fallen from his seasonal figure of 88.7 mph to 84.9 mph.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Tyler Tolbert in the 9th percentile as it relates to his home run ability.

,Tyler Tolbert is projected to hit 8th in the batting order in this matchup.

,Tyler Tolbert has been lifted for a pinch-hitter 39% of the time when starting against a lefty on the mound this year.

,Tyler Tolbert has an 83rd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34.3%) and will be challenged by baseball’s deepest RF fences today.

,Based on Statcast data, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Expected HR per 600 plate appearances (0.6) implies that Tyler Tolbert has had some very good luck since the start of last season with his 14.7 actual HR/600.

,As it relates to his home run talent, Jeff McNeil ranks in the 16th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,Jeff McNeil pulls many of his flyballs (36% — 87th percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of baseball’s deepest RF fences in today’s game.

,Playing on the road typically lowers hitter metrics in all categories due to the lack of home field advantage, which should be the case for Jeff McNeil in today’s game.

,Jeff McNeil’s exit velocity on flyballs has decreased this season; his 89.6-mph figure last year has dropped off to 87.1-mph.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Donovan Walton in the 13th percentile as it relates to his BABIP ability.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Gage Jump to throw 85 pitches today (3rd-least on the slate), considering both his underlying tendencies and the matchup.

,The Kansas City Royals have been the 10th-unluckiest offense in baseball this year, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), and are likely to perform better in future games,The leading projection system (THE BAT) ranks Kauffman Stadium as the 5th-best venue in the majors for walks.

,When it comes to his overall offensive ability, Thomas White ranks in the 23rd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

,Randy Dobnak will hold the platoon advantage over Thomas White in today’s game.

,Thomas White hits a high percentage of his flyballs to center field (39.3% — 95th percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of baseball’s 4th-deepest CF fences in today’s game.

,Extreme groundball bats like Thomas White tend to perform worse against extreme groundball pitchers like Randy Dobnak.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Nick Loftin in the 24th percentile when estimating his BABIP talent.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Randy Dobnak in the 1st percentile as it relates to his strikeout ability.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Kauffman Stadium as the worst venue in Major League Baseball for strikeouts.

,In his last game started, Randy Dobnak wasn’t on when it came to striking batters out and only managed to post 2 Ks.

,The #6 venue in MLB for suppressing home runs to right-handed batters, via the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Kauffman Stadium.

,Carter Jensen is projected to hit 7th in the batting order in today’s game, which would be a downgrade from his 89% rate of hitting in the top-half of the lineup this season.

,Batting from the same side that Gage Jump throws from, Carter Jensen will be at a disadvantage today.

,In the past week’s worth of games, Carter Jensen’s Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 9.8% down to 0%.

,Over the past 7 days, Carter Jensen’s exit velocity on flyballs has fallen off from his seasonal figure of 92.8 mph to 87.1 mph.

,When assessing his home run ability, Thomas White ranks in the 16th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,When it comes to his home run skill, Maikel Garcia ranks in the 20th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Carlos Cortes in the 18th percentile when estimating his BABIP talent.

,Carlos Cortes is projected to hit 6th on the lineup card in this game, which would be a downgrade from his 67% rate of hitting in the top-half of the batting order this season.

,This year, Carlos Cortes has been replaced by a pinch-hitter in 37% of his appearances when starting against right-handed pitcher.

,Today, Carlos Cortes is at a disadvantage facing the league’s 4th-deepest CF center field fences given that he hits his flyballs towards center field at a 39.3% rate (95th percentile).

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Tyler Tolbert in the 14th percentile when assessing his overall offensive talent.

,Tyler Tolbert has been lucky this year, posting a .355 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .274 — a .081 disparity.

,Salvador Perez’s BABIP ability is projected in the 9th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,Salvador Perez is penciled in 6th in the lineup in this matchup, which would be a downgrade from his 84% rate of hitting in the top-half of the lineup this year.

,Salvador Perez pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (36.4% — 89th percentile) and will be challenged by the league’s deepest LF fences in today’s game.

,Salvador Perez has negatively regressed with his Barrel% recently; his 9.6% seasonal rate has dropped off to 3.4% in the last 14 days.

,Salvador Perez’s exit velocity on flyballs has declined of late; his 92.5-mph seasonal EV has decreased to 82.4-mph over the last 7 days.

,Randy Dobnak will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Zack Gelof in today’s matchup.

,In today’s game, Zack Gelof is at a disadvantage facing the league’s 4th-deepest CF center field fences given that he hits his flyballs towards center field at a 38% rate (75th percentile).

,Zack Gelof will be at a disadvantage playing on the road today.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimates Zack Gelof’s true offensive skill to be a .308, indicating that he has had positive variance on his side this year given the .047 difference between that figure and his actual .355 wOBA.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT) forecasts Randy Dobnak in the 12th percentile as it relates to his overall pitching skills.

,Among all starting pitchers, Randy Dobnak’s fastball velocity of 91 mph is in the 12th percentile this year.

,Bobby Witt Jr. has a 90th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.6%) and will have to hit them out towards the game’s deepest RF fences today.

,In the past week’s worth of games, Bobby Witt Jr.’s Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 11.5% down to 0%.

,Bobby Witt Jr.’s average exit velocity has dropped off in recent games; his 92.3-mph seasonal figure has dropped to 86.6-mph in the last week’s worth of games.

,Bobby Witt Jr.’s ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has dropped off of late, decreasing from 45.1% on the season to 34.4% in the last 14 days.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Kyle Isbel in the 8th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive ability.

,Kyle Isbel is projected to hit 9th on the lineup card in this matchup.

,Kyle Isbel has been pinch hit for 18% of the time when starting against a left-handed pitcher since the start of last season.

,Batting from the same side that Gage Jump throws from, Kyle Isbel encounters a tough challenge in today’s matchup.

,Gage Jump will be at a disadvantage playing as a visiting player in today’s game.

,In notching a .335 Slugging Percentage (SLG) this year, Lawrence Butler grades out in the 12th percentile.

,Bobby Witt Jr.’s exit velocity on flyballs has declined this year; his 94.5-mph mark last season has fallen off to 92-mph.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jeff McNeil in the 18th percentile as it relates to his BABIP skill.

,Checking in at the 16th percentile, Vinnie Pasquantino sits with a .288 wOBA (widely regarded as the top indicator of overall offense) this year.

,Carlos Cortes will be at a disadvantage playing as a visiting player in today’s matchup.

,As it relates to his overall offensive ability, Jonah Heim ranks in the 25th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

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