Another baseball season is coming to an end. Here is my
breakdown of this year’s World Series between the New York Mets and the Kansas
City Royals.
Hitting: Kansas
City was unquestionably the stronger offensive team in the regular season. The Royals had the third
highest team batting average in the majors at .269. The Mets were 28th
in batting in the regular season. Kansas
City finished seventh in runs scored while the Mets were 17th. But
none of that really matters right now. In the playoffs, it’s all about timely
hitting and the Mets have been getting plenty of that particularly from second
baseman Daniel Murphy and the acquisition of Yoenis Cespedes at the trade
deadline gave the Mets lineup some much needed pop in the lineup. However, the Royals have been equally as
capapable offensively in the postseason as they were in the regular season
having scored 63 runs in 11 postseason games and hitting .271 collecitvely in
the playoffs. With Kansas City, there
may not be that one imposing bat, but if you include last postseason, whether it’s
Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, or really anyone in
the lineup, many players are capable of getting a clutch hit.
Advantage: Royals
Pitching: This
might seem obvious. But it’s not. Yes, Jacob DeGrom, Matt Harvey and Noah
Syndergaard have been terrific for New York. Steven Matz has been more than
adequate as a four man in the postseason.
Jeurys Familia is perfect on five save opportunities thus far in October.
The one weakness for the Mets when it comes to pitching is their middle relief
but with the starters going at least six innings seemingly every night, they’ve
been able to get away with it, and I wouldn’t expect that to change now. But,
the Roylas pitchers are capable of matching the Mets starters pitch for
pitch. Edinson Volquez proved his worth
in the opening game of the ALCS against a lethal Toronto lineup. Johnny Cueto
has won two of his three postseason starts and was the Royals primary target at
the trade deadline for this very reason.
Yordano Ventura has won all three of his postseason starts and has not
allowed more than three runs in the process. Wade Davis has filled in admirably
as the closer since Greg Holland was lost
for the season. This is closer than you think.
Advantage: Mets
Intagibles: The
Mets have been playing with house money this offseason and we’ve seen where
that’s gotten them. In a sense, New York’s
run to the Fall Classic is similar to Kansas City’s last year. The Royals weren’t
expected to contend for a championship last season, much less a playoff spot,
won a crazy wild card game against Oakland and took off them there all the way
to game seven of the World Series where they ran into Madison Bumgarner. Most
experts took the Washington Nationals in the NL East this year and many believed
the Nationals could be the team representating the National League in the World
Series. Yet, here are the Mets, four wins away from their third World Series
title in franchise history and first in
29 years. For once, there are
expectations for Kansas City. The Royals nearly bowed out in the ALDS as
Houston blew a four-run lead in the eighth inning up two games to one on the
defending American League champions. Can
the Royals prove to just be the better team the way they did in the ALCS
against Toronto or will the Mets run of destiny continue? The ladder seems more
likely.
Advantage: Mets
Prediction: Mets in 6
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