Freezer burned

You could see the player's breath as they exhaled. You could see the steam popping off the catcher's mitts when the fastballs met leather. It was a brutally cold afternoon in Cleveland, one more conducive to curling than baseball. So it probably wasn't a surprise that the Royals bats spent the afternoon in a frozen state. A frigid pitcher's duel unfolded as the Royals ultimately lost 2-1 in walkoff fashion.

Let’s open by discussing the hit. The Hit. Yes, there was just one hit on the afternoon from the Royals. It was this one, from Carter Jensen:

If that looks familiar, that’s because it was the second game in a row Jensen yanked one over the wall in right field. This was the Statcast data I used from Jensen's home run in Monday’s game:

And here is how his dinger looked to Statcast on Tuesday:

Never thought I would write a sentence like this but the geometry and physics involved in this is a lot of fun. It's fascinating to me that Jensen hit a 94.5 mph four-seamer on Monday at a launch angle of 21 degrees and he hit a 90.5 mph cutter on Tuesday at the same launch angle. The difference was two mph faster on the exit velocity which resulted in a slightly higher apex and 30 more feet of distance. On a colder day. Sometimes I marvel at the data at our fingertips.

Oh! There is also this from the wonderful Sarah Langs:

I do not have to remind you that September 2021 was the final month in the season where Perez hit his franchise record-tying 48 home runs. There's a reason people like yours truly (and probably you!) are fully onboard the Carter Jensen for Rookie of the Year hype train.

And, with one swing of the bat, that was the offense on Tuesday.

Actually, that wasn't quite all of the offense. The Royals somehow drew eight walks on the afternoon. Eight walks! That's quite a lot for the Royals. They drew that many only twice last year. And in the three-plus years with Matt Quatraro at the helm, the Royals have now collected eight or more walks in a game five times. Their record in those games is now 2-3.

How about some more fun from Stathead? Going back to the Royals first year in existence in 1969 there have been 13 instances when a team has drawn eight or more walks while mustering only a single hit. It was the first time in franchise history the Royals have accomplished this.

Starter Noah Cameron looked unperturbed by the elements on the mound. He operated at his normal pace with the routine mechanics and worked to what has become his usual results. He steamed through 5.2 innings allowing six hits, a walk and five strikeouts. Cameron recorded just two one-two-three innings but kept in command by working ahead in the count—he threw 17 of 24 first pitch strikes—and dancing around hard contact. It was a typically Cameron kind of start.

He was followed by Daniel Lynch IV and Nick Mears who both twirled scoreless outings. Aside from losing the plot on that dreadful, rainy night against the Twins last week, Lynch has now turned in a performance of quality in three of his four outings in this young season.

Lynch is throwing his sinker more this year—it's become his favored pitch. Yet he flipped the script again on Tuesday by leaning on his slider more than usual while largely eschewing his four-seamer. You can't argue the results. He generated a whiff on five of nine swings. He threw two changeups on the afternoon, both put into play on the ground. It was smooth sailing for Lynch over his workman-like 1.1 innings.

Mears was fantastic as usual in his inning. He walked a batter, but struck out two. The first whiff came on a nasty elevated changeup.

There was some late arm-side run on that pitch. Also, check out the puff of steam off Jensen's glove. Honestly, I don't know how anyone did anything productive on Tuesday. The conditions were terrible. I think I'd rather sit through that rain slog the Royals played against the Twins than to become a popsicle in the sun in Cleveland.

The second Mears strikeout came via an assist from Jensen who challenged a slider on a 1-2 pitch that was called a ball.

It was a...strike?

Oh my. I am in love with the ABS challenges. Honestly, calling a pitch like that a strike is silly. But the rules are the rules and if a seam of the baseball hits the lowest corner of the strike zone, that's going to be a strike. Let's roll.

As Matt Quatraro is sorting through the arms in the relief corps, he would be wise to slide Lynch and Mears further to the back of the bullpen, for use in higher-leverage, late inning situations. They've been consistent in their quality.

With neither Matt Strahm or Lucas Erceg available as they had pitched on back-to-back nights, and with the Royals not wanting to go to Steven Cruz or Luinder Avila, Quatraro went to John Schreiber to keep the game deadlocked in the ninth. That didn't work as he allowed a single, a walk and another single to draw the game to a conclusion.

Quatraro had this to say about using Schreiber in the ninth:

Schreiber is a guy who is going to be in those games in that spot anyway. Even if they (the aforementioned relievers who were not used) were available, he’s in there. I’m not worried about Schreibes at all. We’re going to use him in high-leverage against righties and lefties. This team is always challenging with the matchups, but we have a ton of confidence in him.

Schreiber has now appeared in five games this season and allowed a run to score in three of them. In his last three appearances, now covering 2.1 innings, he's allowed five walks (one of which was intentional). He epitomizes the inconsistencies we've seen from a number of Royals relievers over the first two weeks of the 2026 season. Quatraro has always had faith in Schreiber. Personally, I find him to be a perfectly cromulent reliever. Give him the ball in the sixth or seventh and let him do his thing. I'm just not sold on high-leverage situations being his forte.

It's another matinee for the Royals and Guardians as they wrap their quick three-game road trip Wednesday afternoon in Cleveland. Here are your probables:

LHP Cole Ragans (0-2, 3.60) vs. LHP Joey Cantillo (0-0, 3.00) at 12:10 p.m.

They return home to open a four-game series against the White Sox on Thursday night. As of this writing, the Royals have not announced their probables but it would be safe to assume Seth Lugo gets the ball on normal rest on Thursday and will be followed by Kris Bubic, Michael Wacha and Noah Cameron.