These teams have never met in the postseason… We’re in for yet another exciting round of October baseball here in Kansas City.
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The Royals triumphed despite the fact that many in the national media predicted the club would lose more games than it won this season. Houston pounds home runs at the expense of strikeouts, while the Royals play to contact and grind out runs. Awesome things happen when you have a plan and work the plan.
Carrying over most of last year’s lineup, the Royals were once again among the AL’s leaders in stolen bases and near the bottom in home runs. Due to a sluggish month of September, the Astros lost their division lead to the Texas Rangers, who ended up winning the division during the last weekend of the regular season. The 2014 team suffered through the growing pains of uncertainty, requiring a pick-me-up lecture from mid-season acquisition Raúl Ibañez before gaining the confidence to reel off a 43-21 second-half run that earned them the American League’s top wild card. It’s a lineup that could be coming together at the right time, too: Alex Rios-who after 1,691 career games is finally getting a taste of the postseason-is healthy and has hit well down the stretch.
June 29: Astros 6, Royals 1. The Astros stockpiled young talent with little regard for how bad they would be while they developed it. They embraced data-driven strategies-putting defenders in unusual positions based on hitters’ tendencies, for instance-with little deference to orthodoxy.
Dallas Keuchel allowed three hits in six stellar innings on Tuesday as the Houston Astros ousted the New York Yankees from the playoffs with a 3-0 win in the American League wild card game.
It’s fitting, then, that Ventura will be on the mound for Game 1 of the ALDS on Thursday. The Astros would seem likely to start the 19-game victor Collin McHugh in the opener, with Keuchel on track for Game 3 in Houston, where he was 15-0 this season. But considering where the Astros were just two years ago, it is virtually unprecedented. This might be the most underrated rotation in the playoff field. Johnny Cueto will pitch the second game and Edinson Volquez will start Game 3, with the rest of the rotation to be announced only if Games 4 and 5 are necessary. Cueto posted a 4.76 ERA in 13 starts with the Royals after beginning strong in late July right after the deal with the Reds. Minnesota Twins OF Shane Robinson started the game in left field and batted second.
While the Royals offense wasn’t anything special in last year’s postseason, they sure did come through with a few clutch hits that helped the team win games.
For the Astros, the bullpen is the big question mark heading into October.
The Royals will wait to find out who they will play against in the ALDS, with the Astros and Yankees set to face off in a Wild Card matchup Tuesday. The unit should at least be fresh, as Houston’s relievers ranked 28th in the majors in innings pitched.
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Madson has moved into the seventh-inning role, while Herrera has been handling the eighth and Davis the ninth.
