We know this much about the 2014 World Series even before it begins: The eventual winner will be a wild card team that finished the regular season with fewer than 90 wins. It’s not quite the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals, who won it all after winning just 83 regular season games, but it’s most definitely an unexpected matchup.
Still, the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants both played great baseball leading up to the Fall Classic. Here’s a look ahead at what’s next…
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch the World Series on Sportsnet Tuesday starting at 8 p.m. EST.
San Francisco dynasty?
Let’s get this out of the way, since the topic of a San Francisco dynasty will surely surface in the next week or two.
Half of the eight everyday position players San Francisco used on the way to the 2010 World Series didn’t play a single MLB game this past season (Aubrey Huff, Freddy Sanchez, Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand) and just two of the Giants’ 2014 starters were also everyday players back in 2010 (Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval).
With that much turnover, can we seriously call this a dynasty? Not really, even if they share common denominators including Posey, Sandoval, Madison Bumgarner, manager Bruce Bochy and GM Brian Sabean. We’ve simply seen three distinct but excellent teams.
Bullpen dominance
Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland stole the show throughout the American League playoffs by dominating out of the Royals’ bullpen.
The Giants have a relief weapon of their own in Yusmeiro Petit, a 29-year-old who broke out this year with a 3.69 ERA and 133 strikeouts in 117 regular season innings. He has been even better in the post-season, with 11 strikeouts in nine scoreless innings.
But neither team’s bullpen could truly be replicated in the regular season, because the regular off-days on the post-season schedule play a major role in making these performances possible. Herrera, Davis and Holland are available just about every game thanks to those off-days, which pushed Petit from the rotation to the bullpen.
How the Royals can win: If the Royals can keep games close through six innings, they’ll be well-positioned to win their first World Series since 1985. Not only do they have the dominant late-game trio of Herrera, Davis and Holland, bench weapons such as Jarrod Dyson and Terrance Gore provide manager Ned Yost with exceptional late-game speed.
Posey’s production
Posey has been the most productive catcher in baseball since 2010, his first full season as a big-leaguer (Yadier Molina is a close second). While most catchers offer limited offence, Posey mashes. As a group MLB catchers batted .245/.309/.378 in 2014, a line that pales in comparison to Posey’s .311/.364/.490. In other words, the 27-year-old hits like an all-star first baseman while playing the sport’s most demanding defensive position. The Giants wouldn’t be here without him.
Homegrown talent
There’s no singular way to build a winner, as this year’s playoffs teams showed. The Athletics and Tigers were built largely on trades, while the Dodgers relied heavily on their ability to absorb money.
Both World Series teams relied heavily on the draft as the Royals (Eric Hosmer, Billy Butler, Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas, Jarrod Dyson, Terrance Gore, Danny Duffy, Greg Holland, Brandon Finnegan) and Giants (Joe Panik, Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Andrew Susac, Madison Bumgarner, Tim Lincecum, Sergio Romo) showed the patience necessary to stand by homegrown talent as it developed — sometimes more slowly than anticipated.
How the Giants can win: The Royals have a great defence, but there’s no way to field a ball that’s headed for the bleachers. If the likes of Posey, Sandoval and Hunter Pence provide San Francisco with home run power, it’d go a long way toward leading the Giants to their third World Series in five years.
Underrated outfielders
Mike Trout, who’s widely recognized as the best player in baseball, leads all outfielders in wins above replacement over the course of the last two seasons. Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Gomez, Ben Zobrist and Jose Bautista are next.
After that? You get Pence and Alex Gordon at sixth and seventh with a little more than 10 WAR each. Pence, San Francisco’s quirky, vocal leader, isn’t about to fly under the radar. But his contributions on the field shouldn’t be overshadowed by his speeches and his scooter. Like Gordon, he has a lengthy track record as an exceptional outfielder despite playing in a park that suppresses home runs.