With the way this postseason unfolded, you almost knew a long-suffering organization would end up on top at the culmination of the 2015 World Series.
That’s guaranteed to be the case over the next several days, no matter who comes out on top between the New York Mets and Kansas City Royals. A club that hasn’t hoisted the Commissioner’s Trophy in 29 years (New York) or 30 years (Kansas City) will do just that in early November to cap off a magical playoff run.
If that doesn’t get your heart pounding for the World Series, I don’t know what will. Take a look below for more information.
2015 World Series Schedule
World Series Preview
The Mets and the Chicago Cubs were both expected to make strides in the National League this season, but seeing them play for a spot in the World Series had even the most optimistic fans of both franchises pinching themselves.
But as it turned out, the NLCS wasn’t even competitive. While the Cubs struggled to find their footing, New York strolled its way through the Windy City, sweeping a four-game series with a more than three-run average margin of victory.
It’s no secret that the Mets’ standout pitching has led the way to the club’s first World Series appearance since 2000, when they came up short against the Yankees in the Subway Series. Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard have been dealing fire throughout the playoffs, and Stephen Matz joins them in the World Series rotation, per the Mets:
New York will start out on the mound in Game 1 with Matt Harvey, who has won both of his starts so far in the postseason. Having not pitched since a 7.2-inning performance on October 17, he’ll be fresh and ready to go.
While the pitching has been there all season for the Mets, they’re getting incredible production from bats that had been inconsistent throughout the season. It’s mainly attributed to a balanced lineup, but the sudden outburst of Daniel Murphy has put them over the top.
Take a look at how well Murphy is raking against outside pitches, as he’s in the midst of a six-game postseason streak with home runs that broke an MLB record, per Mark Simon of ESPN:
Of course, the Royals aren’t to be outdone by the Mets’ suddenly reliable bats. Kansas City is in the middle of a scoring explosion as well, putting up 38 runs in its six-game series win over Toronto in the ALCS.
A scary Mets rotation might strike fear in Kansas City fans, but they should rest easy after seeing what the Royals were able to do to Blue Jays ace David Price in Game 6 despite a great performance from him, per Lee Judge of the Kansas City Star:
The Royals were not going to wait around; they’d go after the first good pitch they saw. The Royals wanted to get Price early in the count, before he got to those two-strike chase pitches.
They didn’t exactly kill him with that strategy — Price only gave up five hits total — but as far as the Royals were concerned, the strategy worked. Price was under 90 pitches after six innings, but gave up three earned runs in six and two-thirds and that was enough to put Kansas City in a position to win the game.
Doing that against a pitcher who is 0-7 all time in the postseason is one thing, but getting it done against a trio of red-hot pitchers who don’t seem at all fazed by the playoff spotlight will be another story entirely.
Simply put, the Royals have been getting it done, even when they face the other team’s top pitcher. But what will happen when the other team has three top pitchers?
Well, we should find out soon enough.
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