This is the type of unlikely World Series matchup that inspires the other 28 big-league baseball clubs to believe that in 2015 they legitimately have a chance.
If the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants can slip into the playoffs, slay giants and get to the Fall Classic, the train of thought goes, than why not us?
Think about it, if we froze all the rosters as they were at September’s end and started the regular season anew, how many teams would you pick ahead of the Royals and Giants to clash for the championship?
In the American League the Los Angeles Angels and Detroit Tigers are easily stocked far more enviably than manager Ned Yost’s resilient underdogs. The Baltimore Orioles and Oakland Athletics feature more high-end pieces, while the Seattle Mariners, the Tampa Bay Rays when healthy, heck even the Toronto Blue Jays all stack up reasonably well.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch the World Series on Sportsnet Tuesday starting at 8 p.m. EST.
It’s a similar deal in the National League, where the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers bring far more to the table than manager Bruce Bochy’s even-year wonders. The St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates are very good teams with many coveted parts while the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves are all talented.
Yet it’s the Royals, who were two outs away from elimination by Oakland in the AL wild-card game, and the Giants, who led the NL West by 10 games on June 8 and were atop the division until July 27 before things slipped away, who are still standing.
In that sense, their matchup with all on the line is a fitting one.
“Off-hand I can’t think of a (NL) team that reminds me of the Royals,” Bochy told reporters on media day. “I think we’re similar in the way both teams keep fighting and play with a lot of heart. I mean, they’re so balanced, and they have the speed, but then they were hitting the long ball. They have great pitching, great bullpen. We have tremendous respect for them. We know how formidable they are, and it should be a great series. But I can’t think of a team that reminds me of them.
“I think the way all this has come down, they remind me of us a little bit, sure. A little different style of game, but how they’ve come together at the right time and how much they fight.”
Without doubt both teams are far more than the sum of their parts, particularly during the post-season, when the Royals have dispatched the Athletics, Angels and Orioles while the Giants have sent the Pirates, Nationals and Cardinals home.
True the Giants feature Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and the injured Matt Cain, while the Royals boast James Shields, Salvador Perez and Eric Hosmer, but they have few other names you’d put up on a marquee. Instead, their rosters are stocked with solid, fundamentally sound players adept at leveraging their skills, and both teams have performed at peak form during the post-season.
“A lot of guys stepped up,” Royals centre-fielder Lorenzo Cain said after taking AL Championship Series MVP honours, adding later: “We’re just clicking at the right moment now.”
That last part is key, as the playoffs have turned into a real crapshoot in which the depth of a roster isn’t tested the way it is over the 162-game grind of the regular season. An opportunistic team can turn a couple of good starters, a strong bullpen and a few hot hitters into a long October run – a formula both the Royals and Giants have employed this post-season.
Consider that Kansas City’s starters are a combined 2-0 with a 3.80 ERA in 45 innings over eight playoff games, an average of less than six frames per outing. San Francisco’s rotation has been better with a 3-1 mark and 2.40 ERA over 63.2 innings over 10 contests, but it’s the bullpens for both teams that’s made the difference.
Giants relievers are 5-1 with a 1.78 ERA in 35.1 innings over nine games, while the Royals ‘pen is 6-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 35 innings over eight games. They rank one and two on that front, and that’s allowed them to hold down the opposition while waiting for the offence to eke out runs as needed.
Neither lineup has been scorching the earth, but the Royals have used 13 stolen bases in 16 attempts to create all kinds of opportunities for themselves. Neither club is hitting very many homers either – eight for K.C., five for San Francisco – so production in high-leverage moments has been integral.
In close and late situations, the Royals have a .717 OPS while the Giants are at .655. Only the departed Cardinals at .947 have been better in the playoffs.
The question now is who will buckle first in the Fall Classic – the Giants who are playing for a third title in five years, or the Royals who seemingly can do no wrong this October?
“(The World Series) is no different,” said Yost. “They’re all big games. They’re all exciting games. You know you’re fighting to climb that ladder, boom, boom, boom, and this is no different. But this is final, you know? This is the last big series, and there are two teams left standing, which is special. I think it’s a great matchup between both clubs. I think that both teams are ready for this, and it’s very exciting.”
For them, the fans watching and the other teams thinking that next year this just as easily could be them.