Struggling Royals offer Reds starter Luke Weaver the perfect bounce-back opportunity

The Cincinnati Reds, coming off back-to-back series victories, will turn to their veteran starting pitcher against the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

But Luke Weaver did not look like himself during his previous start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In all fairness to Weaver, LA has a habit of making a lot of pitchers look worse than they really are.

But Weaver couldn't get past the fourth inning and was responsible for seven runs on six hits while also walking two batters and striking out just four

Struggling Royals offer Reds starter Luke Weaver bounce-back opportunity.

While some fans throughout Reds Country bemoaned the signing of Luke Weaver during the offseason, the 29-year-old has provided better results than most fans thought.

Weaver is 1-2 in nine starts and has kept the walks to a minimum. Weaver, according to FanGraphs, owns just a 5.3-percent walk-rate, which is the lowest of his career. His 22.3-percent strikeout-rate is right in line with his career-average (23.3-percent).

But it's the long ball that has given Weaver fits this season. Obviously, making half your starts at Great American Ball Park doesn't help, and eight of Weaver's 12 home runs surrendered have come in Cincinnati. But a 2.28 HR/9 and 19.4-percent HR/FB are not ideal.

But outside of the Oakland A's, there is no better medicine for a struggling pitcher than the Kansas City Royals. Kansas City ranks 24th in the league in home runs, 25th in batting average (.230), and 26th in slugging (.670).

Luke Weaver had two very nice outings prior to his early-exit against the Dodgers. In a combined 12 innings, Weaver allowed 10 hits and three runs while walking just one and striking out 11 batters in his previous two starts against the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox.

Weaver seems to post two solid outings and follows it up with a clunker. The right-hander had his clunker during his previous start, so he's due to have a good performance in KC tonight, right?