World Series 2014: Updated Schedule, Predictions After Royals' ALCS Sweep
One half of the World Series puzzle is now solved after the Kansas City Royals dispatched the Baltimore Orioles in four games. Now the American League Champions can sit back and watch the National League Championship Series wind down.
We all know the story by now. Ranked last in home runs during the season, the Royals suddenly enjoy a power spike, along with four extra-winning victories, to sweep their way to the Fall Classic.
They now have a five-day waiting period before meeting the San Francisco Giants or St. Louis Cardinals, who will play Game 5 of the NLCS on Thursday. With one victory separating them from a World Series trip with Madison Bumgarner set to take the mound, the Giants are close to taking the trip to Kansas City.
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For now, let's focus on the team with a spot etched in stone. Can the Royals keep this incredible run going for four more victories?
| GM 5 | Thur., Oct. 16 | St. Louis Cardinals | San Francisco Giants | 8:00 p.m. | FOX Sports 1 | 5-2 SF |
| GM 6* | Sat., Oct. 18 | San Francisco Giants | St. Louis Cardinals | 8:00 p.m. | FOX | ----- |
| GM 7* | Sun., Oct. 19 | San Francisco Giants | St. Louis Cardinals | 7:30 p.m. | FOX Sports 1 | ----- |
| GM 1 | Tuesday, Oct. 21 | NL at Royals | TBD | FOX |
| GM 2 | Wednesday, Oct. 22 | NL at Royals | TBD | FOX |
| GM 3 | Friday, Oct. 24 | Royals at NL | TBD | FOX |
| GM 4 | Saturday, Oct. 25 | Royals at NL | TBD | FOX |
| GM 5 * | Sunday, Oct. 26 | Royals at NL | TBD | FOX |
| GM 6 * | Tuesday, Oct. 28 | NL at Royals | TBD | FOX |
| GM 7 * | Wednesday, Oct. 29 | NL at Royals | TBD | FOX |
Royals' World Series Outlook
"Is Ned Yost a good manager or the luckiest man alive?" has become the new hot debate for everyone unable to continue the Miguel Cabrera vs. Mike Trout argument. The Royals are 8-0 this postseason under his watch, but the criticism still has its validity.
Whether we like it or not, the Royals are going to keep bunting. Oh well. They're not my outs to not give away.
But in going with the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach, Yost continues to bat Alex Gordon, the team's leader in on-base percentage, in the sixth spot. Yes, they're doing fine with the current batting order, but maybe some tweaks would help the offense do better than fine so they didn't need to claw out tight wins every game.
Yost showed a sense of humor when addressing his doubters, per Newsday's David Lennon.
In all fairness, the skipper has turned somewhat of a corner in his bullpen usage. He nearly lost the play-in game by inserting Yordano Ventura into the game rather than any of his three incredible relief pitchers. In Game 4 of the ALCS, however, he tossed in Kelvin Herrera during a sixth-inning jam and let him record five outs.
Herrera and Wade Davis each threw two innings during a tone-setting Game 1 victory. The lesson here: Give the ball to Herrera, Davis and Greg Holland as often as possible. Kansas City's rotation is nothing special, but these three relief aces are an incredible asset.
| Kelvin Herrera | 8.1 | 1.08 | 10 | 1.41 | 7.6 |
| Wade Davis | 9.1 | 0.96 | 10 | 1.00 | 13.6 |
| Greg Holland | 8.0 | 1.13 | 10 | 1.44 | 13.0 |
Nobody is expecting Yost to lead us into a smarter world where managers don't restrict themselves to the closer delegation, but it'd behoove Kansas City for him to exhibit some more flexibility with Herrera and Davis, especially with the latter being a former starter who can handle a couple of two-inning outings.
Just remember, an ALCS sweep doesn't guarantee a World Series victory. Everything resets for the next round, and there's no evident advantage in dominating en route to the final round. ESPN Stats & Info delivered a sobering look at past precedents.
Their bats could perform closer to the season norm, and the starters can take enough games out of the bullpen's hands by digging a deep hole.
One thing for sure: They're not going to win alone on bunts and pixie dust. The Royals also have tallied 20 extra-base hits with eight home runs in as many games. And all the perceived small ball in the world wouldn't matter without baseball's best defense.
A Royals championship would not disprove sabermetric principles, but rather show there is more than one way to assemble a winning team. They don't have a rotation of aces and a lineup of traditional sluggers, but they wreak havoc on the basepaths, let nothing get past their gloves and lock down opposing bats in the late innings.
They're the opposite of the Moneyball-inspiration Oakland Athletics, but they're thriving off the same principle of chasing market inefficiencies, which no longer consists of low-average hitters with impeccable plate discipline.
Also, Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas started to hit. That really helped.
They'll lose Billy Butler's bat when playing on the road, but Yost will jump at the added opportunities to assign his pitchers to bunt. Knowing how this postseason has unfolded, one of those sacrifices will somehow win them the whole darn thing.
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