October in NY? Daunting, but KC Royals ‘have confidence in ourselves’ vs. Yankees
The Kansas City Royals will face their next postseason challenge on a most national stage.
All eyes will be on Yankee Stadium as the Royals open an American League Division Series on Saturday against the New York Yankees.
Game 1 is scheduled for 5:38 p.m. Central Time on TBS and MAX. The series continues in New York on Monday before shifting to Kansas City for Game 3 on Wednesday.
“We approach it as any other series,” Witt said Friday afternoon. “We come in here playing our game. Worry about one day at a time, focus one step at a time and not really focused on any outside noise.
“And I know, yeah, we could be the underdogs, whatever, but we have confidence in ourselves that we can just go out there and do our thing.”
As Witt notes, this season’s Royals have thrived in the role of the underdog: They made an improbable run to the 2024 postseason after losing a franchise record-tying 106 games in 2023. This week, the Royals swept the Baltimore Orioles in an AL Wild Card series that marked the organization’s first playoff appearance since winning the 2015 World Series.
KC is primed to write the latest chapter in its postseason story this weekend. In recent weeks, the Royals even adopted a new motto — “Now, we go” — in place of “Today,” the slogan that had been their calling card for most of the season.
The Royals have already gone farther than most anyone expected, united behind a common goal of bringing playoff baseball back to Kansas City. Now they’re eyeing a new goal: beating one of the best teams in the majors.
Team captain and lifetime Royal Salvador Perez was measured in his praise of the pinstripes Friday.
“The Yankees are a pretty good team,” he said. “They have a good team and everything is going to matter, from the first pitch to the last pitch.
“Both teams are going to have to play smart and do the little things. We will see what’s going to happen.”
About these Bronx Bombers
The Yankees are rested after capturing the top seed in the American League. New York went 94-68 this season and has a wealth of talent.
Superstar Aaron Judge will likely win the AL MVP. He hit .322 with 58 home runs and 144 RBIs, not to mention an incredible 1.159 OPS (on-base plus slugging).
Judge is joined in the stout Yankees lineup by Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton. Together, the trio combined for 126 homers and 325 RBIs this season. As a team, the Yankees led the majors with 237 home runs.
All of that offensive firepower stands in stark contrast to the stellar season put together by the Royals’ stellar pitching staff.
Each team will play to its strengths in the ALDS. The Yankees will rely on their high-powered offense against Royals starting pitcher Michael Wacha in Game 1.
The right-handed veteran who has appeared in numerous postseason games during his career is looking forward to this particular playoff test at Yankee Stadium.
“I’ve had some postseason experience,” he said, “and each time you are in the postseason, it gets more and more comfortable (in the sense of) what to expect when you are out there, and how to handle certain situations. So I’m definitely going to draw on past experience in this postseason.”
Wacha will attempt to emulate the success of teammates Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo in the wild-card series win at Baltimore. The duo allowed just one run combined in 10 1/3 innings against the Orioles.
Wacha is equipped to do so. He has a lifetime 5.21 postseason ERA but has allowed four or fewer runs in five of his six playoff starts, most of which came with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Wacha has thrived in his career at Yankee Stadium, posting a 3.38 ERA in 34 2/3 innings at New York’s home venue.
The Royals plan to start Ragans in Game 2 on Monday night. A decision about the Royals’ starter for Wednesday’s Game 3 at Kauffman Stadium is yet to be announced.
Yankees not overlooking Royals
The Yankees are determined to win their first World Series since 2009.
They created a prime opportunity after acquiring Soto this past offseason. He has elevated his game ahead of impending free agency.
That’s just one example of the urgency being felt in New York.
“I think we have a chance to win it all,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “But I think everyone that is still (playing, in the postseason) probably feels that same way — rightfully so. ...
“I’m excited to see us take our shot and I know our guys are all ready to roll.”
Boone’s not underestimating Witt or the Royals, however. He praised Witt as a complete player with the ability to influence games with his offense, defense and superior speed on the base paths.
“He’s one of the game’s best players, and he is a handful,” Boone said. “He’s certainly a guy that has our attention.”
The Yankees will start ace right-hander Gerrit Cole in Game 1. The 2023 Cy Young Award winner posted an 8-5 record with a 3.41 ERA this season.
Cole missed time with right-elbow inflammation earlier this year. However, he has pitched well since returning to the Yankees’ rotation. He recorded a 2.53 ERA in his last five starts and allowed one run or fewer in four of those outings.
Royals outfielder Tommy Pham has good career numbers against Cole: .379 (11-for-29) with two homers and six RBIs. And Perez has homered off Cole before.
Cole said Friday that he is excited to face the Royals’ lineup. He knows it will be a challenge with Perez and Witt leading the way.
“Just a lot of quality hitters,” Cole said. “Good team speed, good power and led obviously by a world-champion MVP-type Hall of Famer in Salvador (Perez), along with one of the most dynamic talents in the game, Bobby Witt.
“They have some veteran guys with playoff experience and good savvy towards the bottom of their lineup and on their bench.”
The Yankees were still deciding on their ALDS roster as of early Friday eveing. The club could mirror the Royals, with 11 or 12 pitchers. That would allow for more bench options for late-game situations.
Royals-Yankees could be close series
So, which team has the advantage in this Royals-Yankees ALDS?
The best-of-five series could be determined in several different ways.
The Royals need to generate more offense in this series. They scored a total of three runs against the Orioles and relied heavily on their pitching staff in order to advance.
The Yankees play a different style of ball and will be aggressive in ways that include swinging earlier in counts.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to do it,” Royals designated hitter Vinnie Pasquantino said. “At the end of the day, we won the last series. However that happened, we still did it, and we have to do it again.
“However we do it, that’s great. We just have to find a way to keep the line moving and have opportunities to cash in. That’s what we’ve got to do.”
Like the Royals, the Yankees are looking for consistent starting pitching. Cole is one of the best in the majors, but fellow starters Carlos Rodon and Luis Gil will be relied upon to help win their matchups, too.
Lest anyone forget, the Yankees beat the Royals in five of seven games this season. But that’s old news now, even in the home of the vaunted Yankees.
“When you think of postseason baseball, you kind of think it’s going to be in New York somehow, some shape, some fashion,” Witt said. “So being able to come out here and kind of bring the Royals out here and doing this is going to be a lot of fun.”
