It’s finally here, baseball fans: The 2015 MLB World Series starts Tuesday night.
Over the following days, the New York Mets and Kansas City Royals will take part in the latest installment of the Fall Classic.” Before the first pitch of Game 1 is thrown, let’s dive into some head-to-head matchups that could decide which team raises the trophy.
Obviously, both the Mets and Royals have deep and talented rosters. New York’s run through October has been behind an elite starting rotation, while Kansas City has returned to the World Series behind a similar formula that gave it success last season.
Both teams will be aware of the other team’s strengths and will key on countering them down throughout the course of the series.
Will Travis d’Arnaud be able to shut down the Kansas City running game? Which matters more: Johnny Cueto’s recent struggles or his career success over a good chunk of the Mets order? Will an overly aggressive Royals lineup play right into the hands of a strikeout-heavy Mets rotation?
We’ll take a closer look at those questions and try to determine which team may have the upper hand. Let us know what you think in the comments section below. What’s the key matchup in this series? What are some weaknesses that each team can exploit?
Matchups matter in a seven-game series. Over the course of this slideshow, we’ll identify a handful of key aspects that will determine the World Series champion.