World Series Preview: Mets v. Royals



The time has come for the fall baseball classic. Tomorrow night the World Series will begin in Kansas City for the second year in a row. This time the Royals are hoping for a different outcome, instead of last years World Series loss to the S.F. Giants in a winner take all game 7. That game ended with the Royals coming within 90 feet of sending the game into potential extra innings.

The Mets on the other hand are just happy to still be playing baseball considering the fact that the last six years they had finished with a sub .500 record. Maybe the Mets are on an upswing in their franchise like K.C has been which, up until 2013 had 9 straight sub .500 seasons until reeling off three years of 86 plus wins and reaching the World Series in the past two. This is a matchup we could see a few more times over the next few years, so it will be exciting for those true MLB fans to watch.

I am an avid baseball fan and if you told me 5 years ago that the Mets and Royals were going to meet in the 2015 World Series, I would probably laugh. I mean the Mets have been a punchline for as long as I can remember and the Royals, well they were the Royals, usually finishing in last of the AL Central. These teams weren't able to draw the big free agents or develop the young talent in their farm systems, of course every time they did manage to get a big name or a top prospect we watched them flame out and be a shell of themselves. It never made sense, but to us that was just how life was for those franchises. Now after years of saying they will be competitive soon and those prospects will finally develop into MLB stars, they actually have and they are good. Let's preview these two and find out who I believe will win.

Lineups:

These two teams actually have similar lineups, guys that make at bats tough on the pitcher. Guys like David Wright and Alcides Escobar are going to raise pitch counts and give both sides issues. The Mets though have been a different offensive beast since the calendar turned to October with one man carrying a boom stick with him every at bat. That's right, I'm talking about Daniel Murphy who has had 6 home runs in six straight games. He is a machine and doing something we have never seen before in a postseason, five home runs in five games sure seen it before, but six in six is ridiculous. I expect he will cool off just a bit, especially with the layoff between the NLCS and game 1 of the World Series. 


Overall, I give the edge to the Royals surprisingly because they are a consistent hitting team that is known for contact instead of power. They have no issues playing small ball and can compete with high scoring offenses when needed (just look at the ALCS). The Mets on the other hand had a power surge from an unlikely source and with Yoenis Cespedes ailing shoulder who knows what to expect from him. They will put up runs, but I don't expect either team to have huge outings.  

Pitching:

Pitching is where the Mets will shine the most and how could they not with the rotation they are bringing into this series. I mean pick your poison with Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard leading the way and even Steven Matz is a solid No.3 starter in most rotations. The Mets key is their starting rotation because well if they shut the Royals down they win it all. No Royals starter is as good as the Mets game 1, 2, or 3 starter. Think about that, Johnny Cueto who is the Ace for the Royals would be fighting with Steven Matz for the 4th spot on the Mets roster. 


The only advantage the Royals have in pitching is their bullpen. It has been said time and time again if you can give the K.C. bullpen a lead  going into the 7th inning you have a chance to win the game. Wade Davis leads the charge and gives the late inning pitching edge to the Royals. That advantage won't probably be used much.

Mets get the advantage here easily. 

Prediction:

I don't need to get into the team's managers to figure out which team comes away with the title of the World Series Champions. I mean if you can't figure it out, Ned Yost is the better manager in my opinion, plus the fact that he was here only a year ago and has the experience.

As far as who wins though, I am going with my gut here and saying that the Mets will take the Series in 7 games with the Royals again losing a heartbreaker at home. This series should be tight, with both teams stealing a game or two on the road. I also have the odd feeling we will see some strange play decide the outcome of at least one game (we've already had a few this postseason whats a few more). The Mets will just have to much pitching though, and it will keep the Royals offense at bay with most games ending in a 3-1 or 5-2 type score.  

I just hope for the Royals sake they don't suffer a major mistake to help the Mets win the title. We all at least know of what happened in 1986 with Bill Buckner and the infamous ball through his legs. 

Best of luck to both teams and thats just my stance on the World Series. Let me know who you think will win in the comments.


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