Ever since Adam Wainwright froze Carlos Beltran on a curve ball right down Broadway in game seven of the 2006 NLCS, life has not been kind to New York's "other team". From 2007-2014, the Mets never played a postseason game and went from 2009-2014 without having a single winning season. Over this time, however, general manager Sandy Alderson recognized the need for a youth movement, steadily ridding the club of virtually any well-known veteran not named David Wright in favor of young, exciting prospects. Over time, Alderson built the team up by drafting players such as Lucas Duda, Matt Harvey, Michael Conforto and Jacob DeGrom. Alderson also built up the farm system by trading established veterans such as R.A. Dickey in order to acquire more up-and-comers, such as Travis d'Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard.
Curtis Granderson and Bartolo Colon were also added as free agents for some veteran presence, and by the end of the 2014 season, the Mets had a solid core to build on. Although the Mets had a lot of talent coming into spring, many fans were still skeptical of the club given their recent struggles and knack for blowing it in crunch time. Few expected New York to win the NL East, as Washington was the overwhelming favorites to take that division (we all know how that turned out). A division title seemed far-fetched, but many baseball experts, as well as myself, saw a possible wildcard berth in the Mets future, even with prized pitcher Zack Wheeler lost for the year with Tommy John Surgery.
Regular Season
April showers brought lots of wins for the Mets, as they went 15-8 over the first month of the season. New York cooled down in the month of May, however, as they finished the month an unimpressive 13-15. The Mets regressed even further with a June record of 12-15. So after 3 months of baseball, New York stood an unremarkable 40-38, 3.5 games behind the Nationals for first place in the NL East. July brought more mediocrity to Queens, as the Mets finished the month with a bland record of 13-12. Then came the trade deadline, and things were about to pick up.
After the infamous Carlos Gomez false alarm brought shortstop Wilmer Flores to tears, Alderson acquired talented outfielder Yoenis Cespedes from the Detroit Tigers. Cespedes made a huge impact, batting .287 with 14 homers and 54 RBI in 57 games with the Mets. With Cespedes in the fold, the Mets caught fire, going 37-19 the rest of the way and winning the NL East by a commanding 7 games over FLOPington. It was an incredible season that few saw coming, and the Mets were ready for October baseball in Queens.
Playoffs
The Mets first playoff hurdle would be the LA Dodgers in the NLDS. The great Clayton Kershaw awaited New York on the mound in game one, and Jacob DeGrom was up to the challenge, striking out 13 batters along the way to out dueling the 3-time Cy Young Award winner by a score of 3-1. In game two, the Mets were on the verge of slaying another giant in Zack Greinke until a questionable slide by Chase Utley broke the leg of Met shortstop Ruben Tejada and sparked a 4-run Dodger rally in the bottom of the 7th. LA would hold on to even up the series with a 5-2 win. The series would move the Queens for game three, and the Mets offense would explode for 13 runs in a route, moving them to within one game of the NLCS. Kershaw was on the mound again for game four, this time facing off against rookie phenom Steven Matz. Kershaw would get the better of Matz, and the Dodgers would force a deciding game five back in LA with a 3-1 victory.
It was up to DeGrom, who had been the anchor of the Met pitching staff all year long, to save their season. DeGrom delivered, allowing 2 first inning runs and nothing else, sparking the Mets to an exciting 3-2 victory over Zack Greinke and a trip to the NLCS. The Chicago Cubs were next.
The NLCS was a walk on the beach for the Mets, as they swept through Chicago in four games, spearheaded by Daniel Murphy hitting a home run in all 4 contests (he has now homered in a postseason record 6 consecutive games). Not even Jake Arietta, the best pitcher in the game today, could stop this train, as New York tagged him for four earned runs in a 4-1 game two win. The Cubs were vanquished, and the Mets are now center stage, flying the NL flag in the pinnacle of this great sport. Now, let's see how their opponents got here.
Preseason expectations
The Kansas City Royals captured the hearts of America last autumn, making their first postseason appearance since 1985 a memorable one, coming within one game of winning the whole thing. The off-season was not nearly as heartwarming for KC, however, as they traded James Shields to the Padres and Billy Butler to the A's, losing two key members of their pennant-winning team. Many of KC's key contributes of 2014 were expected to regress, including their historically good bullpen, and the team as a whole was expected by some to fall off. Preseason predictions for the Royals had them anywhere from first in the AL Central to fourth, as the division was expected to be one of the most open in all of baseball. Needless to say, KC surprised a lot of people.
After the infamous Carlos Gomez false alarm brought shortstop Wilmer Flores to tears, Alderson acquired talented outfielder Yoenis Cespedes from the Detroit Tigers. Cespedes made a huge impact, batting .287 with 14 homers and 54 RBI in 57 games with the Mets. With Cespedes in the fold, the Mets caught fire, going 37-19 the rest of the way and winning the NL East by a commanding 7 games over FLOPington. It was an incredible season that few saw coming, and the Mets were ready for October baseball in Queens.
Playoffs
The Mets first playoff hurdle would be the LA Dodgers in the NLDS. The great Clayton Kershaw awaited New York on the mound in game one, and Jacob DeGrom was up to the challenge, striking out 13 batters along the way to out dueling the 3-time Cy Young Award winner by a score of 3-1. In game two, the Mets were on the verge of slaying another giant in Zack Greinke until a questionable slide by Chase Utley broke the leg of Met shortstop Ruben Tejada and sparked a 4-run Dodger rally in the bottom of the 7th. LA would hold on to even up the series with a 5-2 win. The series would move the Queens for game three, and the Mets offense would explode for 13 runs in a route, moving them to within one game of the NLCS. Kershaw was on the mound again for game four, this time facing off against rookie phenom Steven Matz. Kershaw would get the better of Matz, and the Dodgers would force a deciding game five back in LA with a 3-1 victory.
It was up to DeGrom, who had been the anchor of the Met pitching staff all year long, to save their season. DeGrom delivered, allowing 2 first inning runs and nothing else, sparking the Mets to an exciting 3-2 victory over Zack Greinke and a trip to the NLCS. The Chicago Cubs were next.
The NLCS was a walk on the beach for the Mets, as they swept through Chicago in four games, spearheaded by Daniel Murphy hitting a home run in all 4 contests (he has now homered in a postseason record 6 consecutive games). Not even Jake Arietta, the best pitcher in the game today, could stop this train, as New York tagged him for four earned runs in a 4-1 game two win. The Cubs were vanquished, and the Mets are now center stage, flying the NL flag in the pinnacle of this great sport. Now, let's see how their opponents got here.
Preseason expectations
The Kansas City Royals captured the hearts of America last autumn, making their first postseason appearance since 1985 a memorable one, coming within one game of winning the whole thing. The off-season was not nearly as heartwarming for KC, however, as they traded James Shields to the Padres and Billy Butler to the A's, losing two key members of their pennant-winning team. Many of KC's key contributes of 2014 were expected to regress, including their historically good bullpen, and the team as a whole was expected by some to fall off. Preseason predictions for the Royals had them anywhere from first in the AL Central to fourth, as the division was expected to be one of the most open in all of baseball. Needless to say, KC surprised a lot of people.
Regular Season
Kansas City's regular season was awesome from beginning to end. There really isn't a whole lot to say about the Royals first 162 games because, unlike the Mets, KC had little issue winning a division title, as they took the Central by an impressive 12 game margin over the Minnesota Twins, finishing with a record of 95-67 and earning themselves an ALDS date with the Houston Astros.
Postseason
After splitting the first two games of the series in Missouri, the Astros took control, winning game three and taking a 6-2 lead into the 8th inning of game four. It looked as if the Royals were dead and buried, but they erupted in the last 2 innings, scoring five times in the 8th and two more in the top of the 9th to pull out a stunning 9-6 win. The series was now going back to Kansas City for a do-or-die game five, and it was up to Johnny Cueto to bring it home. Cueto had struggled ever since being acquired from the Cincinnati Reds in late July, going 4-7 with an ERA of 4.76 during the final two months of the regular season. He would come up clutch in game five, however, pitching 8 innings and allowing 2 earned runs, sparking KC to a 7-2 victory and a berth in the ALCS against the Toronto Blue Jays.
After KC built a massive 3-1 series lead, The Jays made things a little interesting in games five and six. After winning game five in Canada, Jose Bautista blasted 2 Home-runs in game six, but KC showed the heart of a champion in taking every punch Toronto had to offer. In the 9th inning, the Blue Jays had runners on 1st and 3rd win 0 outs and KC clinging to a 4-3 lead. But Wade Davis got out of it, and KC was going to the dance.
After splitting the first two games of the series in Missouri, the Astros took control, winning game three and taking a 6-2 lead into the 8th inning of game four. It looked as if the Royals were dead and buried, but they erupted in the last 2 innings, scoring five times in the 8th and two more in the top of the 9th to pull out a stunning 9-6 win. The series was now going back to Kansas City for a do-or-die game five, and it was up to Johnny Cueto to bring it home. Cueto had struggled ever since being acquired from the Cincinnati Reds in late July, going 4-7 with an ERA of 4.76 during the final two months of the regular season. He would come up clutch in game five, however, pitching 8 innings and allowing 2 earned runs, sparking KC to a 7-2 victory and a berth in the ALCS against the Toronto Blue Jays.
After KC built a massive 3-1 series lead, The Jays made things a little interesting in games five and six. After winning game five in Canada, Jose Bautista blasted 2 Home-runs in game six, but KC showed the heart of a champion in taking every punch Toronto had to offer. In the 9th inning, the Blue Jays had runners on 1st and 3rd win 0 outs and KC clinging to a 4-3 lead. But Wade Davis got out of it, and KC was going to the dance.
Now that I have gone through the build up, let's see how these teams match up against each other and who I think will be hosting a ring ceremony next April.
Starting Pitching
New York has the edge here. The Mets starting rotation is without question the backbone of their team. Matt Harvey, Jacob DeGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz are all young, talented and exciting pitchers, and they will not make life easy for the Royals offense. The Royals rotation is nothing to sneeze at, but it is probably the team's weakest area. Edinson Volquez has been hit or miss this postseason, while Johnny Cueto and Yordano Ventura have struggled greatly at times, causing concern for more than a few Royals fans.
Edge: Mets
Edge: Mets
Hitting
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| DH Kendrys Morales hopes to provide some pop for the Fall Classic |
KC will even the score here. The Royals offense has been mashing all year long, and it will be interesting to see how they match-up against the impressive Mets pitching staff. The Royals offense is stacked from top to bottom with a nice combination of power and speed, and their attack was made even stronger this July with the acquisition of Ben Zobrist. The Mets offense was struggling until they acquired Cespedes, and now that Yoenis is not 100%, it will be interesting to see how they perform. I also do not expect Daniel Murphy to keep his hot streak going, as he has set an impossibly high standard for himself.
Edge: Royals
Edge: Royals
Defense
Both teams have been fairly average defensively this season, but I'm gonna give KC the edge simply because of how good their defense has been in the past few weeks. The Royals defensive form has been outstanding, as they rank second among all postseason teams in team fielding percentage with an excellent mark of .997, making just one error over 11 playoff games. The Mets rank just 8th in fielding percentage out of 10 postseason teams. If defense was to deciding factor in this series, I'd bet my money on KC
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| Ben Zobrist is one Royal who is slick with the glove |
Both teams have been fairly average defensively this season, but I'm gonna give KC the edge simply because of how good their defense has been in the past few weeks. The Royals defensive form has been outstanding, as they rank second among all postseason teams in team fielding percentage with an excellent mark of .997, making just one error over 11 playoff games. The Mets rank just 8th in fielding percentage out of 10 postseason teams. If defense was to deciding factor in this series, I'd bet my money on KC
Edge: Royals
Bullpen
Although it may not be quite as good as it was last season, they Royals bullpen is still a force to be reckoned with, and they have a clear edge over the Mets in this category. Just as starting pitching is the Royals biggest weakness, the bullpen has been the Achilles heal for New York, as the Mets ranked 13th in the league in Bullpen ERA this season while the Royals ranked 5th. Kevin Herrera, Ryan Madson, Franklin Morales, Danny Duffy and Jeremy Guthrie make up a deep and talented group of Royal relievers, and they all set the stage for lights out closer Wade Davis.
Edge: Royals
Edge: Royals
Final Prediction
This should be a fun series, but I can't see the Royals letting this one slip. They gained valuable experience from last year, and will be hell bent to get the ring that the Giants took from them. I think that the Mets have been playing over their heads this postseason, and Daniel Murphy will come back to earth. The Royals are the better team overall and that will show over the next two weeks.
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| KC's gonna party like its 1985 |
Royals in 6.
Enjoy this series, baseball fans. It only comes once a year and will always be a special event in the sporting world. May the best team win.
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