When Royals face Orioles, 'battle of the bullpens' is apropos
The term "battle of the bullpens" gets thrown around a lot these days, but it certainly applies this weekend when the Kansas City Royals visit the Baltimore Orioles.
Kansas City's Greg Holland has 30 saves. Baltimore's Zach Britton has 32. And both are supported by strong groups of relievers who combine to form two of the top four bullpens in baseball.
LOWEST BULLPEN ERA IN 2015
| Team | Bullpen ERA | Notes |
| Kansas City Royals | 2.44 | Lowest in Royals history |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 2.54 | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates |
2.72 | |
| Baltimore Orioles | 2.93 | Lowest by Orioles since 1979 |
| Houston Astros | 2.95 |
A prime example of that point from the Royals' perspective is designated hitter Kendrys Morales, who has crossed the century mark in RBIs despite hitting only 17 home runs. The difference between his RBIs and homers -- or his number of "teammates driven in" -- leads the majors this season.
PERCENT OF TOTAL RUNS SCORED VIA HOME RUNS IN 2015
| Team | Percentage | MLB rank |
| Baltimore Orioles | 46.5 | 3rd |
| Kansas City Royals | 29.2 | 29th |
MOST TEAMMATES DRIVEN IN (RBIS MINUS HOMERS) in 2015
| Player | Team | Teammates driven in |
| Kendrys Morales | Kansas City Royals | 84 |
| Josh Donaldson | Toronto Blue Jays | 78 |
| Matt Kemp | San Diego Padres | 73 |
| Nolan Arenado | Colorado Rockies | 70 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | Arizona Diamondbacks | 70 |
LOWEST GROUNDBALL PERCENTAGE BY LEFT-HANDED PITCHER IN MLB IN 2015
| Pitcher | Team | Percentage* |
| Hector Santiago | Los Angeles Angels | 30.8 |
| Danny Duffy | Kansas City Royals | 38.9 |
| John Danks | Chicago White Sox | 39.5 |
| Wei-Yin Chen | Baltimore Orioles | 40.5 |
| David Price | Detroit Tigers-Toronto Blue Jays | 41.3 |
| * Minimum 120 innings pitched |
