The Biggest Must-Follow Storylines of the Upcoming 2014 World Series
The 2014 World Series is yet to begin, but it's already rich with storylines.
On Tuesday night, the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants, the wild-card winners from each league, will take the field at Kauffman Stadium for Game 1 of the World Series.
The Kansas City Royals have already established a record with eight consecutive wins to begin the postseason, as they defeated the Oakland A's in the AL Wild Card Game, swept the Los Angeles Angels in three games in the ALDS and then knocked off the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS with a four-game sweep. Now, with four more wins, the team can capture its first World Series title since 1985.
Meanwhile, the Giants seek a third World Series title in the past five years under manager Bruce Bochy, as the team clinched a berth in the Fall Classic with Travis Ishikawa's dramatic, three-run walk-off home run against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the NLCS.
Here's a look at all the must-follow storylines of the upcoming 2014 World Series.
Bruce Bochy
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Manager Bruce Bochy has guided the Giants to three pennants and two World Series titles—a third is potentially in the works—in the last five years, while the team owns a 436-374 overall regular-season record during that time.
Say what you want about a manager's ability to influence his team’s success, but there's no denying that Bochy has played a part in the Giants' emergence as a perennial World Series contender in the past half-decade.
After Bochy picked up his 1,600th career managerial win in early September, B/R National MLB Columnist Scott Miller argued that the 20-year skipper deserves to be enshrined in Cooperstown.
Following Ishikawa's walk-off home run, veteran starter Jake Peavy shared a similar opinion on Bochy and his Hall of Fame-worthy career, via Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com:
"I know it sounds like a broken record, but the man's special. I said it in the middle of the season: You can write up his Hall of Fame plaque right now, believe me. This man is such a great leader. It spills over to everyone. His coaching staff is unbelievable. Their belief system, it spills over into here.
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Bochy always seems to get the most from his veterans by constructing lineups in ways that are conducive to their playing styles, therefore allowing for consistently strong contributions from those players. And unlike so many other managers across the game, Bochy rarely overthinks and overmanages within games, which also is why he always appears to have such a phenomenal feel for handling the bullpen.
Kansas City's Red-Hot Left-Handed Hitters
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The power surge by Kansas City's left-handed hitters this October is a major reason why the team has run right through the A's, Angels and Orioles en route to the World Series.
Specifically, the Royals' lefty hitters are collectively batting .280/.386/.508 with 26 runs, seven home runs, four doubles and 24 RBI through 118 at-bats over eight postseason games. They've also been successful in nine of 11 attempts on the basepaths.
- Eric Hosmer: 8 G, 1.314 OPS, 2 HR, 3B, 2B, 8 RBI, 7 BB, 8 K
- Mike Moustakas: 8 G, .922 OPS, 4 HR, 5 RBI, BB, 6 K
- Alex Gordon: 8 G, .844 OPS, HR, 3 2B, 9 RBI, 3 SB, 6 BB, 11 K
- Nori Aoki: 8 G, .603 OPS, 0 XBH, 2 RBI, SB, 3 BB, K
With Jeremy Affeldt and Javier Lopez once again putting up great numbers out of the bullpen, the Giants certainly aren't short on effective lefty relievers. However, that may not matter in the end, as the Royals’ left-handed hitters are batting a combined .289/.363/.400 with two home runs, four doubles and 15 RBI in 90 at-bats against same-sided pitching in the postseason.
Buster Posey
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Buster Posey, a two-time World Series champion and the 2012 NL MVP, ranked second among major league catchers with a 5.7 WAR this season, a product of a monster second half in which he hit .354/.403/.575 with 12 home runs, 13 doubles and 43 RBI in 62 games.
Giants bench coach Ron Wotus had the following to say about Posey, via Jayson Stark of ESPN.com:
"If you look at the things that he's accomplished and how he performs on the stage, that's who he is. He's always been in these situations as The Guy who has performed ... because he's not fazed by any of this. He's got a calm about him. He's got a quiet confidence, I guess I should say. And I bet you he's had it his whole life, because he's been that successful as a baseball player.
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That pretty much sums up the Posey we've seen this October.
Posey has been one of the Giants' hottest hitters in October, with a .302 batting average and 13 hits and five RBI over 10 games. He's yet to pick up an extra-base hit in the postseason, but that's bound to change sooner or later.
Plus, it's hard to ignore Posey's impressive track record in the postseason, as he's a .259/.331/.352 hitter with four home runs, three doubles and 19 RBI in 41 career games.
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Will "Big Game" James Shields Meet the Challenge?
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Kansas City's dominant bullpen has been the talk of the postseason, but the team's starters haven't been too shabby either. Surprisingly, the weakest link in the Royals rotation has been ace "Big Game" James Shields.
Granted, Shields is one of two pitchers to make three starts this October—the other being Madison Bumgarner—but he's been average at best in each outing, which is reflected by his 5.63 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and .309 opponents' batting average in 16 innings.
The right-hander logged at least seven innings in 18 of his 34 regular-season starts, but he's failed to reach the seventh inning in all three postseason starts. He lasted exactly five innings in his Wild Card and ALCS starts and completed six frames in the ALDS.
The Royals rotation is deep, and the bullpen can offset short outings, but Shields is the ace of that staff. If they're going to take down San Francisco in the World Series, the Royals will need him to work deeper into games.
Shields will immediately get the chance to shine on baseball's biggest stage, as Royals manager Ned Yost has tabbed the veteran as his Game 1 starter Tuesday. The right-hander will have his work cut out for him, however, as he'll oppose Giants ace Madison Bumgarner, who's coming off an MVP performance against the Cardinals in the NLCS.
Tim Hudson's First World Series
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Tim Hudson is set to appear in his first Fall Classic after 16 seasons in the major leagues, during which he's compiled a 214-124 record in 457 starts to go along with a 3.45 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 2,016 strikeouts.
But just because the 39-year-old right-hander is new to the World Series doesn't mean he's short on postseason experience. Including this year, Hudson now has pitched in October on seven different occasions, posting a 12-11 record and 3.42 ERA in 11 career postseason starts (12 appearances).
Hudson pitched well against the Nationals in Game 2 of the NLDS (otherwise known as the longest game in playoff history), as he allowed one run on seven hits and struck out eight batters over 7.1 impressive innings. He didn't fare as well in his first career LCS outing, though, with the Cardinals tagging Hudson for four runs on seven hits in Game 3 of the NLCS. He failed to record a decision in either start.
Now, at long last, Hudson is headed to the World Series. The veteran spoke about what reaching the Fall Classic means at this juncture in his career.
"It's...it's hard to put into words," Hudson said, via Ryan Hood of MLB.com. "It almost feels surreal, like I'm in a dream. Very rarely are you able to have those kinds of emotions with anything in life. It's an amazing thing to be able to experience it. I can't believe it, and I'm so glad it happened."
A Battle of Bullpens
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It wasn't surprising to see the teams with the two best bullpens emerge victorious in the League Championship Series. Now, they're set to go head to head in the World Series.
The Giants bullpen was one of the best in the NL this season, ranking first in opponents batting average (.217), WHIP (1.07) and walks allowed (131) and third in ERA (3.01).
The Giants relief corps has continued to dominate in the postseason, with five wins, five saves, a 1.78 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and .164 opponents' batting average in 35.1 innings of work.
Meanwhile, the Royals bullpen ranked fifth in the AL in ERA (3.30 ERA) and eighth in opponents' batting average (.235) and WHIP (1.24) while allowing fewer home runs (32) than any other team.
Much like San Francisco's relievers, Kansas City's have shut down opposing hitters in the playoffs, with six wins, six saves, a 1.80 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, .179 opponents' batting average and 36 strikeouts in 35 innings.
The biggest question is whether Giants hitters have an answer for Kansas City's late-inning trio of Kelvin Herrera (7 G, 1.08 ERA, 10 K), Wade Davis (8 G, 0.96 ERA, 10 K) and Greg Holland (8 G, 6 SV, 1.13 ERA). The right-handers have combined to allow three runs (1.05 ERA) on 14 hits with 30 strikeouts in 25.2 postseason innings.
Madison Bumgarner
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Madison Bumgarner, 25, wrapped up the regular season with an 18-10 record, 2.98 ERA and career-high 219 strikeouts in 217.1 innings, making him an easy choice to take the ball for the team's Wild Card Game.
After throwing a complete-game shutout with 10 strikeouts in the Wild Card Game, Bumgarner took the loss in Game 3 of the NLDS when a throwing error cost him the game. The left-hander rebounded with a gem in Game 1 of the NLCS, though, running his postseason scoreless streak on the road to a record 26.2 innings.
Bumgarner went punch-for-punch against fellow ace Adam Wainwright in Game 5 of the NLCS, allowing three earned runs over eight innings of work to set up the late-game heroics. Unsurprisingly, the southpaw was named MVP of the series after posting a 1.72 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 15.2 innings.
Bumgarner now will go up against James Shields in Game 1 of the World Series, and he'll likely take the mound in Game 5 too if the series goes that long.
And I don't know about you guys, but MadBum's beer-chugging celebrations (he slammed six after the NLCS and is expected to attempt at least seven should the Giants win the World Series) could be considered a storyline in and of itself...no?
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