Royals Authority

In a game that threatened to burst into a raging inferno of #Yosted, the Royals hung on for a 3-2 win over the Giants in Game Three of the 2014 World Series. It was a well-pitched game that ventured into the theater of the absurd in the later innings.

1) Eric Hosmer has the plate appearance of the postseason. Maybe the plate appearance of his career. With the Royals up 2-0 in the top of the sixth with Alex Gordon on second, the Giants brought in left-hander Javier Lopez to face Hosmer. He took a fastball for strike one. Then, the fun started.

Foul.
Foul.
Foul.
Ball.
Foul.
Ball.
Foul.
Foul.
Ball.
In play, runs.

Lopez throws below three-quarters and his ball runs away from the left-handed batter. Very difficult. And Hosmer was up to the challenge. He looked extremely focused and battled all the way before lining an 86 mph fastball up the middle for the Royals third run. A run that was extremely huge.

You won’t see a better plate appearance.

2) Ned Yost’s bullpen management left everyone scratching their heads. A collective “WTF” moment. Knowing the Royals were scheduled to play three games in three days, I felt Yost turned to Herrera too early. The sixth should belong to Brandon Finnegan. Or Jason Frasor. Although, I understand Yost going to his Gas Man in that situation. One run in, a runner in second and no one out. Maybe the proper call was to pinch hit for Guthrie in the top of the sixth and play the platoon matchups for an inning.

Of course, it worked. This is the life of Ned Yost in October.

Then, Yost let Herrera bat in the top of the seventh with Jarrod Dyson on base. Seriously. He let his reliever hit with a runner on base. Perhaps the most Yosted move of all time. Herrera walks Hunter Pence and pitches to the left-handed hitting Brandon Belt with Brandon Finnegan warm in the bullpen. Huh? Herrera strikes out Belt and then Yost summons Finnegan to face the left-handed hitting Travis Ishikawa who you knew would be pulled for a pinch hitter. Again, huh? Finnegan retires the two batters he faces and the Royals exhale and move to the eighth.

Really, it was a mess to get the game to Wade Davis in the eighth. Yost made several missteps over the sixth and seventh. A fanbase was ready to launch itself into unbridled hysteria. Again, Yost’s blunders don’t come back to bite him in the ass and he survives. Amazing.

Something to watch going forward: Herrera threw 27 pitches. Finnegan needed eight, Davis threw 12, and Greg Holland used just eight to get through his ninth inning.

3) The lineup shift paid huge dividends. Alex Gordon moved up to second and came through with a massive, run-scoring double. Lorenzo Cain made a pair of nifty grabs in right field. It made a difference.

The Royals have a 2-1 lead in the Series. Ned Yost has a career 10-1 record in the postseason. The Royals are two wins from the World Championship.

The Royals really should be in the World Series more often, don’t you think?

Like hopefully many of you, i was able to attend both Games One and Two in Kansas City. A sold out Kaufmann Stadium with the crowd hanging on every pitch was simply out of this world.

The defining moment of Game One, to me, was the bottom of the third inning. Down 3-0, the Royals managed to put runners on second and third with no one out thanks to a Brandon Crawford error and a Moustakas double. The Royals then proceeded to swing at SEVEN straight pitches and eight of nine before Lorenzo Cain realized that you don’t have to swing at all the pitches and took four straight balls. Eric Hosmer, however, swung at the first pitch to end the scoring threat and, truthfully, any real hope that the Royals would make a comeback.

Madison Bumgarner is good, but the Royals helped him out with a swing at everything approach. In Game One, Lorenzo Cain was the only hitter who seemingly had an idea of what to do.

The defining moment of Game Two came early on as well.

After Gregor Blanco (freaking GREGOR BLANCO - you know, the guy who used to be a Royal when we could not beat anyone and we let him go because he wasn’t good enough? At least that’s what the 24 ounce Miller Lites told me) shocked the crowd with a lead-off home run off Yordano Ventura, the Royals got a lead-off single from Alcides Escobar. Sadly, after a two pitch Aoki at-bat, Escobar was caught stealing (by roughly one-half of a mile) leaving the Royals with two out and no one on. However, THAT MAN, Lorenzo Cain doubled on the seventh pitch of his at-bat. Let’s take a moment and note that Lorenzo Cain is seemingly getting better before our eyes as an all around ballplayer.

Then Eric Hosmer, deciding that swinging at everything is, after all, a bit silly, takes a four pitch walk, bringing Billy Butler to the plate. Now, Billy tried to hit a three run homer on Jake Peavy’s first offering (an 88 mph cutter), but recalibrated himself and singled sharply on the next offering, another cutter, to tie the game. I thought that hit was absolutely huge from a mental standpoint for the Royals. While a one run deficit after one inning is hardly reason to panic, it felt like there was just a bit of ‘here we go again’ rippling through the cosmic strands. Coming right back to tie the game immediately after two outs had to be a weight off the shoulders of most in the dugout.

Bottom line takeaway from Games One and Two: anytime you high five and hug strangers at a sporting event, it is a helluva time.

The lineup for tonight is out and Craig’s suggestion of earlier today was not off by much:

Escobar SS

Gordon LF

Cain CF

Hosmer 1B

Moustakas 3B

Infante 2B

Perez C

Dyson CF

Guthrie P

Just when you think Ned Yost was on auto-pilot, something like this happens. I don’t hate it, not at all, but it is a pretty bold shake up for a manager who is consistently worried about his players’ collective domes. Alex Gordon has not had great at-bats as of late, so it will be interesting if the move up gives him a little boost. Moustakas? Hey, why not go with the hot hand at this point and ditto for Infante.

Let’s face it, with the Royals putting Moustakas, Infante and Perez in a row, that could be a black hole of suck and free swings at balls that bounce first. However, that might well be the three players with the biggest hits as of late. A big hit from just one of those three might be enough for the win.

I expect a quick hook for Guthrie if he struggles, but also have this feeling that Jeremy might well put up some zeroes this evening. I could see Brandon Finnegan and Jason Frasor each getting work to bridge the gap from Guthrie to HDH. With three games in three days, I have to imagine Yost would prefer to keep from using Herrera and Davis for multiple innings.

Game Three. Game On.

Ned Yost has run the exact same batting order out for 18 consecutive games. Eighteen games! The last eight of the regular season, the Wild Card game, the three in the ALDS, the four in the ALCS, and the first two of the World Series. Now, with the Series shifting to the National League park where the Royals will lose the designated hitter, Yost will have to ponder some changes.

I have joked that Yost will just throw the pitcher in the fifth spot in the order in place of Billy Butler. Pretty automatic, right? Of course, Yost isn’t going to do that.

What will probably happen is Yost will keep his top four, remove Butler and then push his usual bottom four one higher. There are rumblings Yost will actually make a change, removing Nori Aoki and replacing him with Jarrod Dyson. That’s a really good idea.

How about this for a lineup?

Gordon - LF
Escobar - SS
Cain - RF
Hosmer - 1B
Infante - 2B
Moustakas - 3B
Perez - C
Dyson - CF

I know what you’re going to say. Madness. But think about it. Alex Gordon is having a miserable October, hitting .176/.333/.353, yet I bump him to the top of the order. It’s going with my gut, because he’s done it before and he’s done it successfully. Also, because I believe the Royals really need to get Gordon going. Imagine the next three to five games if he gets hot. So much better. Maybe it’s a touch of insanity, but I prefer to think of it as a move to get an important bat going again. Moving his away from Perez has to help, right? I know we’re not supposed to talk about “protection” in the lineup, but I believe it makes a difference in small sample sizes. They’re not giving Gordon anything to hit because they know Perez isn’t going to follow with anything of substance. Moving Gordon ahead of Cain and Hosmer has to make a difference in the quality of pitches Gordon will see. At least I believe that.

Alcides Escobar bumps down to second. He’s taken just one walk and has a .311 OPB in the postseason. Not leadoff material. However, he’s handled the bat well enough that I’m fine with him staying toward the top of the order.

Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer at three and four are automatic.

Omar Infante is heating up when it matters most. The double and home run in Game Two were spectacular, but he also had a .433 OBP in the ALCS to go along with four hits. Mike Moustakas has hit some big home runs, but mostly has been a steady presence. Which is to say he’s an improvement over regular season Moustakas. He still doesn’t belong higher in the order. Bump them up a couple of spots.

Salvador Perez has continued his offensive struggles this month. Even when he’s gotten a big hit - like in the Wild Card game or the double in Game Two - he’s been lost nearly every other time at the plate. been hitting well at the top of the order, relatively speaking. He needs to be buried at the bottom of the lineup while hoping he can collect a big hit or two.

Jarrod Dyson is the biggest change in my lineup. With triples alley in right-center, and with a tremendous defensive potential outfield, I think Ned Yost has to put his best glovemen in the outfield. That means Dyson in center, Cain in right and Nori Aoki to the bench. Plus, you have Jeremy Guthrie and Jason Vargas, who are the two fly ball pitchers in this postseason rotation. Aoki has been a… let’s just say an adventure in the outfield. Plus, his bat on the bench gives Yost an attractive pinch hit option along with Billy Butler. And don’t forget Josh Willingham. That trio could come in handy in the National League park.

This lineup largely goes left-right-left-right. Since we saw how Bruce Bochy is going to manage his bullpen in the middle innings, that seems important. The exception is at two and three with Escobar and Cain from the right side. Since that’s the case, I would entertain flip-flopping Gordon and Escobar at the top. I’m not thrilled with Escobar leading off, but he’s been doing it since mid-September and well… You can’t argue with the results since then.

Yost has to move out of his lineup comfort zone. Why not shift things around to get what could be an optimal lineup when all you need is three wins?