You can’t really use the David versus Goliath narrative to describe the Kansas City Royals anymore. They shed that after swiftly dispatching the Baltimore Orioles in the wild-card series.
Yes, a meeting with the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series looks even more daunting, but if we’ve learned anything the last week, it’s that the upstart Royals mean business. The baseball world has moved past the fact that they lost 106 games last year.
The stakes are higher for the Yankees in this series. The club possesses three of the premier players in the sport and needs to capitalize on that. Aaron Judge is enjoying the best campaign of his career and he’s flanked by Juan Soto, who’s a pending free agent, while ace Gerrit Cole turns 35 next season.
If the Yanks are bounced early, it’ll represent a massive disappointment and could potentially spell the end for manager Aaron Boone, who’s led the team to the playoffs in six out of his seven years at the helm but has never reached the World Series.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS (86-76) vs. NEW YORK YANKEES (94-68)
Yankees won the season series, 5-2. (Total score of 42-24).
What’s working for the Royals:
Kansas City scored just three runs against the Orioles in the wild-card series but it was enough to earn a two-game sweep. That perfectly encapsulates the club’s recipe for winning. Outside of Bobby Witt Jr. — who drove in two of those runs — and, to a lesser extent, Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez, the lineup is thin. Run prevention will be key and it appears that top pitchers Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo will start three of the five possible DS games. Ragans, who dazzled with six scoreless innings in his playoff debut this week, held the Yankees to two runs on three hits over six frames in his only start against them this year. The Royals’ bullpen, a strength down the stretch, didn’t allow a run over 7.2 innings in the wild-card series and will play a role in how this series unfolds.
What’s working for the Yankees:
Judge (58 home runs, 223 OPS-plus) and Soto (41 HR, 178 OPS-plus) are a dynamic duo that has drawn comparisons to Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. That’s truly special company and the superstar pairing has been the dominant storyline surrounding this organization since spring training. Cole began the season in June due to an elbow issue but has quickly rounded into form. The right-hander posted a 2.25 ERA over his last 10 starts while limiting hitters to a .182 batting average. He’s followed by No. 2 starter Carlos Rodon, who rebounded nicely from a dismal first season in the Bronx and will likely be thrust into crucial starts in the DS and, potentially, beyond.
Potential Achilles heel for the Royals:
Home run power. Witt Jr. led the club with 32 homers and Perez added 27, but overall, the Royals ranked 10th in the AL with 170 bombs. The Yankees, meanwhile, led MLB with 237. The ability to put runs on the board in a quick-strike fashion becomes even more important in the post-season, when pitching is much better. You can’t exactly hope to string together a bunch of singles or doubles for a big inning against the likes of a Cole or shutdown reliever Luke Weaver, for instance. The long ball can flip a game on its head and the Royals could certainly use that.
Potential Achilles heel for the Yankees:
This edition of the Bronx Bombers is not without flaws. The offence is vaunted and finished third in MLB in runs scored but is incredibly top-heavy. Consider this: Outside of Judge and Soto, the combined OPS of Yankees hitters was an unimpressive .676. The bullpen is not what we’ve come to expect from the Yankees in recent years and, with Holmes losing the closer’s job in September, it doesn’t exactly feature relievers with defined roles. Navigating the later innings will require a deft touch by Boone.
It’ll all come down to…
Judge is the obvious answer here. You already know he’s a game-breaker, but that doesn’t always translate into October. The Yankees captain is batting just .143 (10-for-70) in 17 post-season games since 2020, so he’s definitely got something to prove this month.