Since the ALCS and NLCS are starting to
wrap up, we here at the Weekly Lineup are going to give the first
in-depth look into the prospect of the World Series. The Royals have
already locked up the ALCS and are heading to the World Series after
a 29 year playoff drought. The Giants are now up 3 – 1 and are
only one win away from the World Series. Here's how the potential
matchup looks on paper:
Royals:
Hitting:
The Royals lineup is nothing to write
home about. As it turns out, the Royals may be benefiting from the
right people getting hot at the right time. During the regular
season, their team leader in average, Lorenzo Cain, hit .301. Norichika Aoki
was second in BA and hit .285. The Royals were 4th in
batting average but in the bottom half in every other offensive
category during the regular season. Alex Gordon lead the team in
Home Runs, RBI's and OBP (19/74/.351). Some of you baseball fans may
be saying “Dear Lord Baby Jesus, how did the Royals get this far,
let alone get into the post season???” Two words: Small. Ball.
The Royals offense is based solely on getting a guy on base any
way possible and then doing anything to move him into scoring
position. It is extremely effective if done correctly and that Royals
have been experts thus far. Turn to the postseason and the Royals
have been getting on base and hitting the ball well late in the game.
Eric Hosmer is batting .448 with two Home Runs and 8 RBI's. Lorenzo
Cain has continued his success batting .353 on his way to becoming
the ALCS MVP.
Pitching:
The regular season strength of the
Royals was their pitching. On a team that didn't score a bunch of
runs, having a solid rotation was key. James Shields and Yordano
Ventura tied with a team high 14 wins. Jeremy Guthrie was no slouch
with 13 wins and Jason Vargas chipped in 11 wins of his own. The
bullpen was a strength as well with closer Greg Holland who saved 46
games and was setup by Wade Davis would had 33 holds. Fast forward
to the postseason and the starting pitching was turned on its head as
Shields and Ventura have been rocked thus far and have combined for a
total of one win this postseason. The real key piece of this team is
their bullpen who a combined ERA below 2.00.
Giants:
Hitting:
The Giants' offense is lead by some
big name players like Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, and Pablo Sandoval.
They are seasoned veterans of the postseason having gone deep in the
playoffs much in the past 5 years including two World Series titles. Posey
lead the team in major offensive categories, posting a .311/22/89
slash line. Sandoval and Pence pitched in with high .270 batting
averages. The Giants offense was by no means a juggernaut though.
They were in the Top 10 of only one offensive category (batting
average) in which they ranked 10th. The name of the game
for the Giants is consistency. They aren't a streaky team, they get
the job done regularly. Looking into the postseason, the Giants are
an anomaly. They have only hit a total of 2 home runs but have
racked up a total of 31 RBIs. They have also been bone dry at the
plate with a team BA of .245. They have benefitted from getting runs
in heaps and never looking back.
Pitching:
The Giants' pitching was inconsistent
during the regular season except for Madison Bumgarner who racked up
20 wins. Big Time Timmy Jim Lincecum got 11 wins (second most on
team), Tim Hudson added 9 wins and Ryan Vogelsong managed only 8.
The Giants starting rotation was not getting many wins and was a
giant question mark going into the postseason. Closer Sergio Romo
was lifted from his role towards the end of the season because he was
blowing saves like it was going out of style. Santiago Casilla
stepped in seamlessly to close out 19 games. Giants pitching has
made a complete 180 since the start of the postseason, posting a
phenominal era of 2.10. Madison Bumgarner has lead the way with a
0.76 ERA and two wins.
Analysis
This has a chance to be one of the
lowest rated World Series ever. There is the “feel good” story
of the Royals not being in the postseason since 1985 and winning 8
straight games this postseason but I don't think this will be enough to draw the common fan. The downfall of the series will be a
lack of household names and two smaller market teams. Besides the
ratings, I'm picking the Royals to win in 6. The Royals will
probably score runs after they outlast the Giants' starters and score
some runs on the Giants' bullpen. Look for Lorenzo Cain to build off
of his postseason success and become the World Series MVP.
