Underperforming World Series Stars Who Must Pick It Up Before It's Too Late
What has already been a postseason for the ages continues with Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night, and things are all knotted up as we shift to San Francisco.
The San Francisco Giants were winners in Game 1, as they struck for three runs in the top of the first and never looked back, cruising to a 7-1 victory behind another strong start from ace Madison Bumgarner.
However, the Kansas City Royals turned the tables in Game 2. Their bats came alive and they rode a five-run sixth inning to a 7-2 victory, turning the series into a best-of-five moving forward.
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It all comes down to this next week of baseball, and while there are a number of players performing at a high level on both sides right now, there are also some notable guys who need to improve their play before it's too late.
What follows is a look at two players from each team, one hitter and one pitcher, who are struggling heading into Game 3. These guys need to right the ship quickly in order to give their team its best chance of winning it all.
Kansas City Royals
Hitter: LF Alex Gordon
The Royals' regular-season team MVP and probably the closest thing the team has to a face of the franchise, Alex Gordon, is ice cold heading into Game 3.
After an 0-for-4 performance in Game 2 on Wednesday night, Gordon is now 0-for-15 with seven strikeouts in his last 18 plate appearances.
He has had his moments this postseason, hitting the go-ahead home run in the 10th inning of Game 1 of the ALCS and making a number of impressive defensive plays in left field.
There is some reason for optimism that he could finally break out in Game 3, as he had success against Giants starter Tim Hudson earlier this season, going 2-for-3 with a home run in their lone career matchup.
With guys like Salvador Perez and Omar Infante finally coming to life at the plate, the struggles of Gordon have been somewhat offset.
The Royals are a different team when Gordon is clicking at the plate, though, and a big Game 3 could be the start of a big rest of the series.
Pitcher: SP James Shields
When the Royals paid a steep price to acquire James Shields prior to last season, it was with the playoffs in mind, as there was a clear need for a bona fide ace to lead their rotation.
While he has remained one of the most consistent and most durable starters in the game during the regular season, he has been a complete flop so far this postseason.
Shields has thrown 200-plus innings in each of the past eight seasons, and in the regular season and postseason combined this year he is at 246 innings.
Could it be a case of his high workload over the course of his career finally catching up to him? Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wondered just that after Game 1 of the World Series.
"Have the innings, the starts, the postseason workload caught up to him?" Cafardo wrote. "It sure looked like it right off the bat Tuesday night."
| WC Game | ND | 5.0 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| ALDS Game 3 | W | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| ALCS Game 1 | ND | 5.0 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| WS Game 1 | L | 3.0 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
Despite those struggles, and a particularly terrible outing in Game 1, manager Ned Yost has not wavered in his support of Shields and has every intention of handing him the ball in Game 5.
According to Jon Heyman of CBSSports, Yost said:
"I've been in this game a long time and I've seen guys struggle two, and three and four times and all of a sudden come out and throw a fantastic game.
This is a funny game. You can go out one night and give up seven runs and come back the next, your next five days around and throw a great game. But you have to know James Shields. You have to know that he's a tremendous competitor. He has the ability to make adjustments. Right now he just hasn't been as sharp as he has been. But with the extra rest and then coming back five days from now, we think will benefit him.
"
His teammates picked him up with a big win in Game 2, but if the Royals are going to come out on top in the series, they will need a lot more out of Shields the next time he takes the ball.
San Francisco Giants
Hitter: 2B Joe Panik
The second base position has been a revolving door of sorts in San Francisco since the departure of Ray Durham, but it appears the team has finally found a long-term answer in 23-year-old Joe Panik.
The 2011 first-round pick made his big league debut May 22, and he hit .305/.343/.368 with 13 extra-base hits in 269 at-bats during the regular season.
Things really seemed to click for him after some early struggles, as he hit .327/.360/.396 in the second half, helping to shore up the No. 2 spot in the lineup in the process.
He kicked off his postseason career with a bang, going 3-for-5 in the Wild Card Game, but he has gone just 10-for-50 (.200 BA) since.
Granted, he did hit a big two-run homer in Game 5 of the NLCS, snapping the Giants' homerless streak stretching 242 plate appearances in the process.
However, he has struggled in the clutch for the most part, going 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and 1-for-8 in late/close situations.
With Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence all hitting the ball well right now, it's imperative that Panik do his job out of that No. 2 spot and get on base ahead of them.
Pitcher: SP Jake Peavy
For all the attention David Price and Jon Lester received at the trade deadline, you can make a strong case that Jake Peavy made the biggest impact of any pitcher who was on the move in July.
After a dismal start to the season in Boston, the 33-year-old was a different pitcher entirely in San Francisco, giving the Giants the reliable No. 2 starter they had been missing.
| Boston | 20 | 1-9 | 4.72 | 4.80 | 3.3 | 7.3 | 124.0 |
| San Francisco | 12 | 6-4 | 2.17 | 3.03 | 1.9 | 6.6 | 78.2 |
He started out the postseason with a bang, allowing just two hits in 5.2 scoreless innings in his Game 1 start against the Washington Nationals in the NLDS.
However, he ran up a high pitch count his next time out in Game 2 of the NLCS, allowing four hits and two runs in just four innings of work.
He followed that up with his worst start in a Giants uniform in Game 2 of the World Series, allowing six hits and four earned runs in five innings of work, walking two and striking out just one.
With the series now knotted up, and the Royals perhaps finding their footing in what is most of those guys' first trip to the World Series, we could be in for a back-and-forth matchup that goes the distance.
That would mean another start for Peavy in what would be a crucial Game 6, and the Giants need to see more of what they got from the fiery veteran in the regular season next time he takes the ball.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference, and accurate through Thursday, Oct. 23.
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