Los Angeles Angels Probable Pitchers & Starting Lineup vs. Kansas City Royals, April 22

Probable starting pitchers
Los Angeles Angels starting lineup
Kansas City Royals starting lineup
Which LA Angels player needs to bounce back today?
Which LA Angels player will be the X-factor in today's game?

Probable starting pitchers

Tyler Anderson has had two rough starts in a row following a really good first start as a Los Angeles Angel. He's pitched well against the Royals posting a 3.32 ERA in three starts against them in his career. For the Angels to be the playoff team they're striving to be, Anderson is going to have to be better. A good performance tonight would be a nice start.

Kansas City is countering with Zack Greinke. The right-hander is back in Kansas City for another year. He's a guy I thought might've fit in well at the back of the Angels rotation, and he's posted a 4.03 ERA in his first four starts of the season. He looked good against the Angels last season, delivering five scoreless innings in his lone appearance against them.

Los Angeles Angels starting lineup

1. Luis Rengifo - LF
2. Mike Trout - CF
3. Shohei Ohtani - DH
4. Anthony Rendon - 3B
5. Hunter Renfroe - RF
6. Gio Urshela - 1B
7. Brandon Drury - 2B
8. Matt Thaiss - C
9. Zach Neto - SS

Taylor Ward gets the night off as he tries to snap out of a prolonged slump. Luis Rengifo replaces him, and interestingly enough will lead off in left field. Mike Trout re-enters the lineup after the night off last night and swaps spots with Ohtani as he bats second with Shohei hitting third. Matt Thaiss gets the nod behind the plate, an interesting decision following Chad Wallach's home run last night.

Kansas City Royals starting lineup

1. Bobby Witt Jr. - SS
2. Edward Olivares - DH
3. Vinnie Pasquantino - 1B
4. Salvador Perez - C
5. Matt Duffy - 2B
6. M.J. Melendez - RF
7. Hunter Dozier - 3B
8. Nate Eaton - LF
9. Kyle Isbel - CF

Which LA Angels player needs to bounce back today?

The Angels won last night, but Shohei Ohtani was all over that. The team managed just two runs on six hits against a putrid Royals staff. One player I'm going to look at to bounce back is Anthony Rendon. The Angels third baseman is hitless in his last nine at-bats after coming up empty in three trips last night and has seen his average dip to .238 on the season.

Which LA Angels player will be the X-factor in today's game?

GIo Urshela has eight hits in 17 career at-bats against Zack Greinke (.471 BA). Gio is the team leader in batting at .299, but has two hits in his last 15 at-bats. This could be a game for him to record a couple of hits and maybe come up big in the clutch.