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The two best teams are meeting in the World Series, teams that earned their way in every way. In mid-July, one looked like it had no shot, while the other was running away with its division. One arrived on the wings of dominant starting pitching the likes of which we haven't seen in a long time. The other compensated for its spotty starting pitching by doing everything else in the game so well. They both wear blue, they both are rolling, neither has won it all since the mid-1980s. It's the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals in a series that promises to be a great World Series of contrasting styles. Here are five questions. 1. When was the last time we saw a four-man rotation like the Mets' in a postseason? We haven't seen anything quite like these four when it comes to age, velocity and stuff. And now they are all rested and will line up the following way: Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz. They all throw 95 mph and above, all with really good secondary stuff, and all make every at-bat a fistfight even for the best hitters. With help from the bullpen, the Mets held the Cubs to a .164 average in the National League Championship Series, the lowest average by any team in any NLCS.
DeGrom has been the best pitcher in this postseason, one that has included Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Jake Arrieta. DeGrom has won without his best stuff not once but twice. But with his best stuff, he struck out 13 in Game 1 of the National League Division Series. The Dodgers had no chance. Syndergaard throws even harder. Harvey's use of his off-speed stuff in his start against the Cubs was beyond impressive. Matz is a power lefty among three power right-handers. The bridge from the starters to closer Jeurys Familia was sturdy in the LCS against the Cubs, and Familia has been ridiculously good this October: 9⅔ innings, two hits, no runs. 2. Is Kansas City's style of hitting best suited to deal with such a rotation? Yes. In this era of a stunning number of strikeouts, the Royals struck out 146 fewer times this year than any team in the American League, and 545 fewer times than the Cubs. The Royals swing the bat more often than any team, they put the ball in play more often than any team, and they take really tough at-bats, especially in the postseason. The numbers also show that they are as good as any team in the league at hitting 95-plus mph fastballs. And this is a better offensive team than it was at this time last year, mainly because of designated hitter Kendrys Morales. In the postseason, the Royals have scored 63 runs and hit 15 homers in 11 games. They have done this with a leadoff man (Alcides Escobar, the ALCS MVP) who swings all the time and rarely walks, but his speed pressures the defense from the first pitch.
3. What about the Royals' rotation? It starts with Game 1 starter Johnny Cueto. The last we saw of him, he was walking off the mound with an odd smile on his face after getting pounded in Game 4 of the ALCS against the Blue Jays. He became the first pitcher in postseason history to allow eight runs and 11 baserunners in a start of two innings or less. And yet in his previous start, Cueto locked up the ALDS against Houston with a terrific eight innings, and became the only starting pitcher in history to retire the final 19 hitters of a winner-take-all game. He needs to be at his best if the Royals are going to win this series.
Yordano Ventura will pitch Game 2. He proved again in Game 6 of the ALCS against Toronto that he is at his best in the biggest games. Edinson Volquez will pitch Game 3; he has been up and down this October, but when he's up, Volquez throws 98 with a changeup and has been very hard to hit. So, too, has been the great Kansas City bullpen: 5-0 with a 2.85 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 41 innings this postseason. Leading the way is closer Wade Davis, who hasn't allowed a run and has 10 strikeouts in 6⅔ innings. His escape from the ninth inning in Game 6 of the LCS is why the Royals feel so good about their chances in late innings. 4. What are we to make of Daniel Murphy? This is unprecedented. He is the only player ever to hit a home run in six straight postseason games; in his regular-season career, he has hit home runs in consecutive games only once. He has seven home runs in October; he has never hit more than four in any calendar month. He and Lou Gehrig are the only players in history to get a hit, drive in a run and score a run in seven straight postseason games. He has 16 hits and 12 swing-and-misses this postseason. He homered off Clayton Kershaw (twice), Zack Greinke and Jake Arrieta; the only other active players to homer off those three guys in their careers are Carlos Gonzalez and Giancarlo Stanton. Murphy hit one home run off a left-handed pitcher during the regular season, but he hit two off Kershaw and one off Jon Lester in October. This guy has always been a good hitter, but what he has done in October in preposterous.
5. How good is the Royals' defense? It is the best in baseball, as it was last year. In 11 postseason games, the Royals have made one error. But it's more than that; they complete the tough double play, their catcher (Salvador Perez) blocks everything in the dirt ("He's like a huge pillow," said Orioles manager Buck Showalter) and they have a first baseman (Eric Hosmer) who can really throw. It is virtually impossible to win a World Series with a bad defense. A great one helps a team's chances immeasurably. But it's more than just defense that wins for the Royals; it's the efficient way they play the game, including the way they run the bases. Lorenzo Cain's game-deciding dash from first to home on a single in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the ALCS is a snapshot of who the Royals are and how they play. No team plays the game better than they do.
Prediction: Royals in seven
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