With the wildcard round officially over, the American League Divisional Series is now set. The New York Yankees will be squaring off versus the plucky Kansas City Royals. In the other series, the Cleveland Guardians will be taking on AL Central foe the Detroit Tigers.
This piece will break down the series with an eventual prediction being made as to which team will ultimately advance to the ALCS.
Kansas City Royals vs. New York Yankees
These two franchises have quite the postseason history with one another. Dating back to the ’70s, the Yankees and Royals have been involved in some rather dramatic series. There’s no love lost between both, and it adds an interesting wrinkle ahead of this series — where the Yankees are considered to be the prohibitive favorite.
There’s a contrast between these two clubs. The Yankees are fortified by pop and power throughout their lineup. Relying on the long ball in postseason play can be a dicey proposition as we’ve seen over the years. Of course, those teams didn’t have Aaron Judge and Juan Soto in the middle of their respective orders. When adding in trade deadline acquisition Jazz Chisholm, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gleyber Torres, there’s plenty of thump.
What Kansas City doesn’t have in pure power it makes up for in speed, athleticism, and defense. The Royals are superior in all of those facets. Most intriguing for the Royals is the fact that all of those traits are integral in winning during October. The headliner of the team is Bobby Witt Jr. He’s already established himself as one of the best players in the sport. He’s one of the few guys that can stand up to Judge as an elite talent. Offensively, the Royals will rely heavily on Witt Jr., Salvador Perez, and the team’s ability to manufacture runs creatively.
New York is in as good of a spot with its pitching as it’s been in a while. Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon are scheduled to start the first two games of this series. Kansas City is no slouch in that department, either. Michael Wacha will take the bump in Game 1 followed by electric lefty Cole Ragans. Depth-wise, one can argue Kansas City’s quartet of starters (Ragans, Wacha, Seth Lugo, Brady Singer) is just as good, if not better than the New York grouping (Cole, Rodon, Luis Gil, Marcus Stroman). The Royals also have an advantage bullpen-wise. There are a host of lefties (namely Angel Zerpa and Kris Bubic) in the pen ready for Soto, Chisholm, Anthony Rizzo, and Alex Verdugo.
Furthermore, all of the pressure is on the Yankees in this series. They’re playing what’s being billed as a massive underdog from a smaller market. While the power advantage resides with the Yankees, all of the intangibles seemingly are with the Royals. Should Kansas City split the first two games in the Bronx, the pressure on the Yankees and manager Aaron Boone will be ratcheted up even further. Call it a hunch, but Kansas City will shock the world and spoil a possible East Coast/West Coast World Series matchup between the Dodgers and the Yankees.
Prediction: Royals in 5