Kansas City Royals now the Team to beat in Missouri?
By Josh Sippie
Ever since baseball was a thing, the state of Missouri has been owned by the St. Louis Cardinals. For all intents and purposes, as long as the Cardinals continue to have 11 World Series and the Royals just 1 (doesn’t matter who they beat), the state will remain red, despite the blue incursion that manages to assert itself every so often. But given the “what have you done for me lately” mindset that all the kids are in to these days, it may be that as it stands, the Royals are the team to beat in the Show-Me State.
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Take last year for instance. The St. Louis Cardinals were yet again undone by the even-numbered-year Champion San Francisco Giants. Despite winning the National League central – again – they couldn’t even get to the Series for an all-midwest showdown.
The Kansas City Royals, on the other hand, made one of the best runs since the play-in game was introduced. After an absolutely thrilling 12 inning affair against Oakland where they monopolized the word ‘grit,’ the Royals went on to eliminate the Angels and the Orioles – no easy task for sure. They quickly became the underdog heroes and the sweethearts of baseball fans everywhere.
Yes, they got beat by the Giants in the end, but if nothing else, that makes them hungrier this year. But does that hunger outweigh the inevitable appearance of the St. Louis Cardinal’s magic?
Probably.
Without Adam Wainwright, the Cardinals are still fairing pretty decently, if not too decently. They have a league-leading 2.72 ERA (via ESPN.com) which is borderline astounding and probably unsustainable, especially once the weight of not having Adam Wainwright sinks in, but we’ll just have to wait and see. John Lackey, Michael Wacha and Lance Lynn are all having career years in the midst of their ace’s absence.
Not too far down the ERA line, you’ll find the Kansas City Royals sitting pretty in third place with a 3.24 ERA. The Royals have quite the makeshift rotation without James Shields and this may become a concern in the long run. Danny Duffy is having a terrible year and makeshift ace Yordano Ventura is looking pretty average. Strangely enough, it’s the three and four guys in Edinson Volquez and Chris Young that are holding things together. But speaking of career years, how long can they keep it up?
Offensively, the Royals are third in the league in run production at 202. The Cardinals are weighing in at ninth on the list. However, while the Royals average of five runs per game is a steady flow of runs every game, the Cardinals 4.5 runs per game is an average only in number – their offense comes in bursts. In the Cardinals last ten games, they’ve scored between zero and two runs five times and scored eight or more three times. That’s not exactly consistent.
Using last year as a gauge for the skill the two teams have this year, the Royals have the upper hand as well. The Cardinals offense did not improve from their 2014 squad. The core of their lineup, Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina and Jhonny Peralta all moved another year closer to 40. On the other side of things, the Royals didn’t improve their offense squad much either. However, the core of their lineup, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain, all moved either a year closer or a year further into their prime.
Both of these teams are near the top of most people’s lists to make the playoffs. With the right starting pitching help, they could solidify themselves as the best two teams in their respective leagues. We’re going to see how they match up in a friendly Interstate 70 showdown, but no matter what the outcome, the Kansas City Royals are the all-around better team this year. They made a Cardinal-like run in the playoffs last year and it looks like they rode that momentum straight into the new season.
However, the Cardinals always produce magic, and seemingly right when they need it. No matter what any upstart Royals team can do or will do, history will always favor the Birds. While the Royals showed a lot by not only reaching the playoffs, but making an improbable run through the playoffs, there is nothing improbable about the Cardinals anymore, and there’s some value in that.
While that magic will inevitably show up, surging, momentous teams have a way of always taking the upper hand in sports.