I have missed the past two series in my “Three-Star” awards posts.
Part of it was due to timing, as graduation weekend made things quite busy last week. Part of it was due to deflating series losses against Boston (at home) and Houston (on the road). Add that to a missed week of the podcast (we will be recording again tonight), and it makes sense why the “Three-Star” series was on hiatus this past week.
The Royals still lost the I-70 Series to the Cardinals (Kansas City lost game two 1-0 on Saturday night). However, they saved face against their Eastern Missouri neighbors on Sunday afternoon. They avoided the sweep, winning 2-1 thanks to some stellar pitching from Michael Wacha and the Royals’ bullpen and clutch hitting.
In addition to a Royals win (with many Cardinals fans in the stadium), the Royals also hosted a STM Photo Day on the field before the first pitch. While I could not get pictures of every player who showed up, I did get some pictures of a few of my favorites (as I shared via Bluesky and Twitter).
It was a good day of Royals baseball at Kauffman Stadium. Even if the Royals lost, I think the high of being around some of my favorite players helped get me back on track regarding my love for this team (which was waning a bit after last night’s brutal loss). Getting the “Three-Stars” series back on track felt appropriate, especially since those posts highlight some top performers in each series, regardless of the outcome.
Let’s examine three Royals players who stood out against St. Louis this weekend at the K.
First Star: Maikel Garcia (4 H, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K)
Garcia continues to break out and be one of the Royals’ most dependable hitters this season.
After a four-hit series against the Cardinals, Garcia has improved his batting average to .301 and his OPS to .853 in 187 plate appearances this season. At this time last season, in 205 plate appearances, he only hit .249 with a .696 OPS.
The 25-year-old infielder has demonstrated growth in many key areas this season.
His barrel rate is up from 3.7% last year to 6.5% this season. His hard-hit rate is up from 42.8% in 2024 to 46.4% in 2025. He also shows much better plate discipline, as evidenced by his 0.68 BB/K ratio, a 28-point improvement from last season.
When looking at all his Statcast metrics in his TJ Stats summary card, Garcia seems on his way to a legitimate offensive progression that could be sustainable for the remainder of the season. His xwOBA is slightly lower than his actual wOBA, but it’s still an encouraging mark (and ranks in the 78th percentile via Savant).
Jonathan India got the day off due to his knee still sore after being cleated by St. Louis’ Willson Contreras on Saturday. Thus, Garcia was in the leadoff spot on Sunday and not only had a clutch RBI that gave the Royals the lead for good, but he also drew a walk against Matthew Liberatore, who’s been known for his excellent control this season (he has a 3.8% walk rate).
Even though it’s too early to give up on India (and Garcia struggled in the leadoff spot last year), Royals fans have to wonder if Matt Quatraro may flip Garcia and India’s spots in the batting order temporarily to help get India going while adding more baserunning ability in front of Witt.
Second Star: Noah Cameron (6.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)
Cameron was excellent in his first career start at Kauffman Stadium in front of family and friends, going 6.1 innings again and only allowing two hits and one run (a home run via Brendan Donovan).
Cameron’s command was sharper after he walked five batters in his MLB debut in Tampa. He didn’t allow a walk and did an excellent job of limiting hits and hard contact (except for Donovan’s home run), as evidenced by his .292 xwOBACON against St. Louis.
Against the Cardinals, Cameron also flooded the strike zone with a 55.6% zone rate and generated a decent amount of whiffs with a 25.7% mark. His best swing-and-miss offerings were his curveball and cutter, which generated 40% and 57.1% whiff rates, respectively. His slider also generated a 44.4% chase rate and xwOBACON of 0.091, which shows that Cardinals hitters couldn’t do much with it, even when they made contact.
In two starts and 12.2 IP, Cameron has a 0.71 ERA and 0.63 WHIP, which are eye-popping marks. Regarding his overall marks in different TJ Stats categories, he’s demonstrated a solid profile through two starts, though his four-seamer leaves a bit to be desired on a pitch grade end.
His overall TJ Stuff+ mark of 95 seems heavily weighed down by his four-seamer, which has an 84 TJ Stuff+ and 30 grade. He hasn’t generated a whiff with the four-seamer, and his 52.7% zone rate has also been subpar. However, his cutter and slider have 102 and 105 TJ Stuff+ marks, with the latter also sporting a 78.3% zone rate and 38.9% whiff rate.
As hitters get more film on Cameron, one has to wonder if the St. Joseph-raised product will utilize his cutter more and four-seamer less in coming starts (which should be at least one more with Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo on the IL).
Third Star: Dairon Blanco (1 H, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 SB)
Blanco came off the IL on Friday after a rehab stint in Omaha. The Statcast percentiles weren’t great in Omaha, but it seemed like he was getting into a groove in Triple-A after a slow start.
Blanco’s Statcast profile has always been a bit flawed. He doesn’t strike out too much, but doesn’t walk much either. He also doesn’t generate as much hard contact as one would like to see from an outfielder. However, he has the potential to have big games in the power department occasionally, like his two-homer, seven-RBI game against Cincinnati last August.
At least, Blanco gives the Royals a speed savant off the bench and one who can have an offensive outburst when he’s locked in (and in the right matchup).
Quatraro gave Blanco his first start of the year on Sunday, and the 32-year-old Cuban outfielder came up big. He had a stolen base and a key double down the right field line that tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning (plating Hunter Renfroe with two outs).
With Blanco 100 percent, the Royals have that weapon off the bench that they’ve been sorely missing since they optioned Tyler Tolbert back to Omaha for Luke Maile (who came in as an emergency catcher with Salvy dealing with hip issues). It was also encouraging to see Blanco in center field (he did well today), as they were hesitant to give him time there last year with Garrett Hampson on the roster.
Hopefully, Quatraro will make Blanco a regular at center field when the Royals face left-handed starting pitchers.
Graphic Credit: Kevin O’Brien and Jared Perkins/Crown Talk Podcast
[…] he was the first star in the last series, and I wanted to give credit to other Royals hitters who stood […]