The Kansas City Royals take on the Cleveland Guardians tonight at Jacobs Progressive Field in a game with massive medium implications. Both teams are still in the playoff race, but remain longshots with playoff odds per FanGraphs of 2.9% and 9.8%, respectively. Having already lost the first two matchups of this four-game set, Kansas City will need a win tonight to have a shot at splitting the series.
Jonathan Bowlan will start for the Royals. Bowlan has made 26 appearances for the big league club this season, but this will be the first for him as a starter. He’s made eight straight scoreless relief appearances, a span which covers 10.2 innings. He hasn’t allowed a hit in this stretch, striking out 14 batters while walking five. He tossed an inning in Monday’s game and isn’t likely to go more than a couple frames tonight. Prior to this series, Bowlan pitched against Cleveland on July 26 and allowed two runs in 2.1 innings.
The Guardians will counter with Logan Allen. Allen has spent the entire season in the rotation and looked the part of a backend starter, posting a 4.46 ERA/4.64 FIP across 139.1 innings. He’s issued multiple walks in six consecutive starts, so the Royals can expect some free bases if they’re disciplined. He has only completed six innings once in that span. Allen last faced the Royals on August 26 last year, surrendering five runs across five innings.
The bottom third of Kansas City’s lineup is the starting outfield, which seems like somewhat of a microcosm of the 2025 Royals offense.