Royals Pitching Staff Could Lead Them To Title This Postseason
The Kansas City Royals have reached the postseason for the first time since they won the World Series in 2015. They secured the second American League Wild Card by finishing with a record of 86-76.
The Royals will certainly be considered heavy underdogs against the Baltimore Orioles, but they could be an interesting team to watch this October. There is a path to the World Series for this team.
Anne Rogers of MLB.com wrote that if the Royals are going to win the World Series, they will do so because of their starting rotation.
"The Royals are here because of their rotation," Rogers wrote. "Its 3.55 ERA was second best in the Majors. Cole Ragans struck out 223 batters this year while posting a 3.14 ERA, and a 1.08 ERA in September. Seth Lugo led the Majors in starts and finished sixth in the AL in ERA (3.00). A team that believes in itself more than anyone else can get dangerous, even more so if the pitching backs up that belief."
Kansas City's rotation is among the best in Major League Baseball and could certainly carry the Royals to the promised land. Even though MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr. is grabbing all the headlines, the Royals have been carried by their starting pitching.
In addition to Ragans and Lugo, Kansas City has Michael Wacha, who earned NLCS MVP honors in 2013 with the St. Louis Cardinals. His postseason resume speaks for itself.
It will be interesting to see how far the Royals can go this October with their pitching.
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Curt Bishop is a freelance sports writer who graduated from Maryville University of St. Louis with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the field of Communication and currently writes as a contributor for various platforms covering Major League Baseball. Curt’s work includes covering trade and free agency predictions, as well as rumors and news.