Stopping Nelson Cruz Crucial For Kansas City Royals In ALCS
The upcoming American League Championship Series between the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles appears on paper to be a novel and thoroughly likable matchup. We’re looking at the two best defensive outfields in today’s game, so both lineups need to avoid that outfield grass at all costs. They’ll do so in vastly different ways, seeing that (as you’ve probably heard before) Baltimore has the most home runs in baseball and Kansas City has the least, while the Orioles stole less bases than any team in baseball and the Royals stole the most.
It’s speed against power, David versus Goliath and all those cliches and more, and it’s going to be nuts. There’s another old adage that should work in favor of Kansas City during this series: speed doesn’t slump. Nothing the Baltimore pitching staff can do will make Terrance Gore or Jarrod Dyson any slower, but who would the Royals most like to see struggle among Orioles batters?
Their chief concern going into this series is clearly the veteran slugger Nelson Cruz.
It turns out that the Orioles made one of the most important moves of the year when they penned a one-year deal with Cruz, as he’s turned out to be an excellent and vital addition to a lineup suddenly lacking pop due to the absence of the suspended Chris Davis. Cruz led MLB with 40 home runs in the regular season, and he’s already gone deep twice more in the playoffs for his 15th and 16th career postseason bombs. He’s currently the only Baltimore batter with more than three hits in this year’s postseason.
Cruz already raised his going rate on the future free agency market by going 6-for-12 in this year’s playoffs so far, but he also struck out three times. Only 23 players struck out more than Cruz in the regular season this year, and Kansas City pitchers have struck out 40 batters in 43 innings of postseason ball this season — more than any other team in the American League.
Game 1’s starter for the Royals, James Shields, holds Cruz to a .190 average over their careers, and Shields has already struck him out six times in 21 at-bats. A few timely Ks on Cruz just might decide the winner of the American League pennant.
Doug LaCerte is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DLaC67, “like” him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google.
Top 5 Offseason Needs For The Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are slowly improving, but addressing these five needs will help them continue their organizational turnaround. Read More
Showalter Confident ALCS Game 1 Gets Played
A look at the latest weather forecast for Game 1 of the ALCS. Read More
Deciding Which Members of Mets' Bullpen Return
A breakdown of which members of the New York Mets' bullpen the team should bring back or cut ties with in 2015. Read More
2014 MLB Playoffs Is A Unique Tale of Four Cities
The race for the Commissioner's trophy is down to four unique selections. Read More
Orioles Will End Royals' Magical Playoff Run
The Kansas City Royals had a nice postseason run, but it will end against the mighty Baltimore Orioles. Read More
Don Mattingly Should Be Retained By Dodgers
Don Mattingly is not the problem in Los Angeles. Firing him would just create more problems for the Dodgers. Read More
Braves' Top 5 Offseason Needs
The Atlanta Braves have a lot of work to do after finishing a disappointing 2014 season. The new GM has quite a few holes to fill on this roster. Here are the top five needs entering 2015. Read More
ALCS Game 1 Expected To Be Rained Out
The Orioles and Royals may have to wait a bit longer to appear in the ALCS for the first time in decades due to a rain out in Game 1. Read More