Get Pumped...
Call Your Boys...
And Your Gals...
It's World Series Time!
Kansas City enters the World Series with a postseason best .271 team average, having scored 5.7 runs per game. Their .328 OBP also leads the 2015 Postseason, along with their .777 team OPS.
While Mets hitters have only managed a .235 BA thus far, their .733 OPS is second to only the Royals during the 2015 Postseason, while their 14 HR's are only 1 less than the Royals 15-- even with the Mets having played 2 fewer games.
Kansas City pitchers come into the World Series with a team ERA of 4.41 having allowed teams to bat .233 against them so far in the 2015 playoffs.
KC pitchers are striking out 10.4 batters per game while NY pitchers are striking out 10.1 batters per game this postseason.
Series
Game 1- Royals win 5-4 in 14 innings (Winner- Young, Loser- Colon)
Game 2- Royals win 7-1 (Winner- Cueto, Loser- deGrom)
Game 1
SP ProbablesMatt Harvey (Mets)
Edinson Volquez (Royals)
Harvey
Pitched 7.2 inning in 1 NLCS start against the Cubs recording 9 K's and allowing 2 ER's. Cubs were able to record 4 hits and 2 walks against Harvey. Harvey allowed 2 ER's in 5 innings against the Dodgers in his lone NLDS start--giving up 7 hits and allowing 2 walks.
2015 postseason ERA currently sits at 2.84 having given up 4 ER's in 12.2 IP. Harvey has only allowed 1 HR so far this postseason.
Harvey has only faced 1 KC batter in his career--having given up 1 hit in 3 ABs to Alex Rios (0 HR's).
Mets are currently 2-0 in games started by Harvey this postseason.
Volquez
Has pitched 16.2 innings this postseason-- giving up 8 ER's for a 4.32 ERA. Volquez gave up 3 ER's in 5.2 IP in a loss to the Astros in the NLDS. He split two starts against the Blue Jays in the ALCS going 6 innings of shutout ball in the Royals Game 1 win; while giving up 5 ER's in 5 IP in a Game 5 loss.
Current Mets hitters are 17-67 (.254) against Volquez in his career. Murphy has had the most success against Volquez hitting .417 in 12 AB's against the right hander. Wright has 2 hits in 10 AB's against Volquez in his career. Mets hitters do not have a single HR against Volquez in their 67 AB's.
Royals are currently 1-2 in games started by Volquez this post season.
What To Watch For (Game 1)
Royals pitching numbers have been inflated as they've now faced MLB's 1st (Toronto) and 7th (Houston) ranked offenses so far in the 2015 Postseason.
Mets pitching has been dominant thus far, they have however only faced MLB's 19th (Dodgers) and 17th (Cubs) ranked offenses so far this postseason--KC enters with MLB's 6th. (The starters are pretty darn good; regardless of who they've faced to this point)
Mets have a dominant closer in Familia but can the rest of their bullpen hold up against this Royals offense?
Will Daniel Murphy suffer a power outage after so many days off? (Not likely, he may homer every game for the rest of his career at this point)
Can the Mets continue to cash in on opportunities? (only hitting .235 with a .300 OBP but are averaging 4.8 runs per game this postseason. (Maybe?)
Will Lucas Duda remain hot after his Game 4 NLCS performance? (Probably, it'd be nice to see him with a big World Series performance.)
(Quickie) Recap Game 1 (I Got 5 On It)
1. The Inside The Parker That Wasn't
Escobar would drive the first pitch he saw off of Mets starter Matt Harvey to the left center gap, resulting in what would be ruled as an inside the park home run. Ignoring the fact that Cespedes got a bad jump on the play, or that Conforto pulled up believing Cespedes had called him off, at best this should have been ruled a double with a two base error.
Not only did the ball hit Cespedes in the arm on the way down, but he then continued to kick the ball away from both him and Conforto allowing Escobar to round the bases.
My two theories on why it was ruled an inside the parker rather than including an error:
- The game was in KC and the official scorer wanted to beef up Escobar's stats while bumping Harvey's ERA
- The storyline it creates since a leadoff HR in the World Series is quite rare.
2. Don't Leave Me...
Both KC and NY would strand runners early as the Royals left 2 runners on in the bottom of the 2nd and the Mets would leave 2 runners on in the top of the 3rd. The Mets would get Escobar to end the bottom of the 2nd while the Royals would get Wright to put an end to the top of the 3rd.
3. You Want A Problem? Start It Up
After giving up the single (unearned) run to Escobar in the bottom of the first Matt Harvey would shut down the Royals in innings 2-5, not allowing another run to cross the plate until the bottom of the 6th. Harvey's final stat line: 6 IP, 5 hits, 2 BB, 2 SO, 3 ER.
Volquez would put up a similar stat line with 6 IP, 6 hits, 1 BB, 3 SO, 3 ER. Advantage Royals in Game 1, if their starters can match the stat line of the Mets starters throughout; the series is theirs for the taking.
4. Baby Come Back, Any Kind Of Fool Could See
The Fox blackout caused slight panic on social media as their feed of the game went down due to an issue with one of their trucks. Eventually the home audience would be redirected to the MLB International video feed as the game was delayed for a bit.
We've seen a stoppage in play due to a power issue at the Super Bowl, but this may be the first time a game was delayed due to issues with the television broadcast. While I like the idea that MLB was looking out for their fans by delaying the game, it still poses an issue when you stop the players mid game.
I've heard that the game may have been stopped due to replay/challenge issues caused when the television feed went down. While it's possible, it seems unlikely to me as the MLB video feed itself was still up and running-- this game was stopped for the television audience.
Fans who complain about Joe Buck got their reprieve for a moment, even as they clamored for Fox to get back on the air.
5. An Un-Familia Feeling
The Alex Gordon game tying HR off of Jeurys Familia would be his first run surrendered of the 2015 postseason--impressive considering this was Familia's 9th appearance.
Heading into Game 1 Familia had only given up 2 hits and 2 walks in 9.2 Innings.
While Familia's stuff has been pretty dominant his SO rate isn't one would expect of an elite closer. Now in 11 innings of work he has only struck out 6 batters; as he didn't record a SO in 1.1 innings of work in Game 1 against the Royals.
Expect Familia to bounce back during his next appearance; however his inability to strike out batters thus far, combined with the Royals ability to put the ball in play could prove troublesome for the Mets.
Game 2
SP Probables
Jacob deGrom (Mets)
Johnny Cueto (Royals)
deGrom
Currently has a 1.80 ERA in the 2015 postseason having given up 4 ER in 20 IP. deGrom has struck out an average of 9 batters in his 3 starts--averaging 1.4 per IP.
deGrom's best start came in the NLDS against the Dodgers where he threw 7 innings of shutout ball, striking out 13 while only walking 1 batter. His second NLDS was his worst so far of the postseason--deGrom gave up 2 runs in 6 innings against Dodgers hitters, striking out 7 while walking 3.
deGrom has been the Mets stopper so far this postseason and if they expect to steal Game 2 in Kansas City they'll need his best.
Mets are currently 3-0 in the 2015 playoffs when deGrom starts.
Cueto
Cueto blew up in his lone ALCS start against the Blue Jays surrendering 8 ER's in 2 IP while giving up 6 hits and walking 4.
In the ALDS against the Astros Cueto surrendered 6 runs in 14 innings of work; allowing 9 hits and 3 walks. His best start was his second against Houston; a game in which he went 8 IP, allowing 2 ER's on 2 hits with 0 walks.
The only question for Game 2 is if Kansas City will get the AL Cueto or the NL Cueto. His 19 NL starts saw him pitch to the tune of a 2.62 ERA with 120 SO's in 130 IP...in the AL Cueto had a 4.76 ERA in 13 starts, striking out 56 in 81.1 IP.
What To Watch For (Game 2)
Mets have decided to move Conforto to the DH spot, shifting Cespedes over to left while inserting their top defensive outfielder in Lagares to center. Most are convinced Lagares would have been camped under the Escobar inside the park home run in Game 1... (Should've been their Game 1 lineup)
As previously mentioned, will the Mets face the NL Cueto or AL Cueto this evening? There may be an injury involved with his late season ineffectiveness, or it could be mental along with the normal ERA increase when a pitcher switches from the NL to the AL. (My guess is somewhere in-between)
GIVE ME A DANIEL MURPHY HOME RUN!
How will both bullpens respond after last night's game went 14 innings? Can Familia bounce back from having given up his first run of the postseason? (Familia will be fine, not sure about anyone else in the NY pen)
Once again..which Cueto are we getting? If KC can match NY's starting pitching the series is theirs for the taking.
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