After all, the 2015 Royals were sort of seen nationally as an amazing underdog story, even though KC was the defending AL Champs and took home the best record in the AL with 95 wins (five better than their Pythagorean W-L). Managed by Ned Yost, the Royals flipped the script on the high on-base, power hitting, great starting pitching formula of most contenders, emphasizing putting the ball into play, speedy small ball, and great defense. Unfortunately, that does not translate extremely well to Showdown thanks to the extreme emphasis on On-Base and the shorter bullpens, but the Royals are definitely still good. The rotation is led by a stellar Johnny Cueto, the offense has five OB 9 hitters plus an OB 8, and the bullpen is LOADED (again). This will definitely be a fun squad to use if (a) you're a Royals fan and/or (b) if you love having to play a hands on, steal-heavy, pull the starter quick managerial style in Showdown!
Without further ado, your 2015 World Series champion Kansas City Royals!
Lineup: Yost loved to bat Escobar leadoff, which is practically unheard of in Showdown. Frankly, I'd bat Cain in the lead and move Escobar back... but with A speed and that coveted +5 fielding, Escobar is a great punt pickup for 60 points. Next comes a run of good OB hitters: Zobrist, Cain, Hosmer, Morales, and Moustakas. While no one hits a ton of homers, there's a lot of speed mixed with extra base charts. All five should consistently be in scoring position/be knocking guys in from scoring position. Really, this whole stretch is a nightmare for low control pitchers, as the extra bases start at 15, 14, 15, 15, and 14 through that run. While it doesn't have the intimidation factor of the powerful 2015 Blue Jays, it's definitely nothing to scoff at! Hitting seventh is Salvi Perez, who's got a low OB that hampers his value, but it's hard not to love that +10 arm! With Perez, the Royals can limit steals and guys coming to the plate, probably warding off many managers from even attempting to run, granting their average starters a couple more chances to get outs before runs. Meanwhile, in a real display of depth, Alex Gordon is hitting in the eighth hole. I really like Alex, with good defense and OB mixed with a solid chart. Honestly, I would hit him second behind Cain, with Zobrist-Hosmer-Morales-Moustakas going 3-6 for me. Rounding out the lineup is the speedy outfielder Alex Rios, who really doesn't add much except being a danger on the basepaths if he finds his way on.
Rotation: When looking at World Series champion's Showdown teams, the rotation is usually the team's bedrock and features a Tier 2 or two and a bunch of Tier 3 guys. However, the Royals buck the trend and the rotation is the weaker element of the squad. Cueto is the ace and is a dang good first option. Honestly, this was a tricky card to make because he had such a rollercoaster season -- absolute ace in Cincinnati with a mid-2 ERA and below 1 WHIP, then came to KC and had an ERA approaching 5 with a WHIP in the 1.4s. In the ALCS, he got bounced after 2 innings, but came back and pitched a super memorable complete game victory vs the Mets in the World Series... So he ended up a Tier 3 (reflecting his season mid-3 ERA and 1.132 WHIP) with good control and IP. He's backed up with essentially equally as good Edinson Volquez (whose name I've misspelled too many times lately), a stellar Control 4, on at 17 pitcher. Next is Yordano Ventura, who has a large K range and can definitely dominate low on-base lineups. However, be wary of that Tier 4, Control 3 card against better lineups. Finally, there's Danny Duffy, who bounced between the bullpen and rotation, bringing a Tier 4 card that doesn't let up a homer (looking at you Jeremy Guthrie) to the final rotation slot. Overall, I think most managers will be looking to eek out 4 innings or so with the bottom half of the rotation to turn things over to the team's real strength: the bullpen.
Bullpen: Here's the Royals forte, which had such great effectiveness that it revolutionized the way bullpens (and guys like Andrew Miller or Josh Hader) are used. I attribute a lot of that to Wade Davis, who followed up his Tier 1 card in 2014 with a *TIER 0* card in 2015! That's right, with his sub-1 ERA and 0.787 WHIP, Davis picks up the elusive Control 5, on at 19 card! That card is a weapon and can easily be used for two innings (maybe three against low on-base teams). Meanwhile, the technical closer is Greg Holland, who slipped a little in 2015 due to injury and brings in a solid yet unspectacular Tier 3 card with a good K range. Herrera brings a very good Tier 2 card into 2015, giving up no doubles on a Control 4 card. Finally, they've got Madson rounding out the bullpen with a Tier 1, Control 4 on at 19 card. While in 2014 the Royals had three Tier 1 pitchers, they also had Tier 4 (with a HR) Aaron Crow. This season's pitchers tiers add up to a total of 6, one less than 2014 -- and no homers in sight! Thus, the 2015 Royals somehow got a deeper, better bullpen than their "best in baseball" bullpen of 2014. If you can smallball your way into an early lead, close the door on opponents over four or five innings comfortably with this 'pen!
Overall: The Royals come in at only 4480 total points, significantly below the point values of other World Series teams we have presented. They just have more weak links in the lineup and holes in the rotation than other squads. However, as they showed in real life, there's no reason that good limiting of the rotation with small ball-style hitting and early/elite bullpen use cannot win a series against big bopping, big rotation teams! Sure, there's going to be more strategic sac bunts, risky steals and "sending him"s -- along with risking it with lower Tier starters early in games... but that adds an extra dimension to the game! And on a strategic note, you can simply take this team and add a couple bench guys as is and easily be under the normal 5000 points!
But it's really fun to see a team that's so different from the normal Showdown champion team, and I'm excited to match them up against other World Series winners!
Your Alexis Rios card has a picture of Mike Avilas
ReplyDeleteOh crap, thank you! I'll make sure that gets fixed!
DeleteCorrected! Must've gotten my cut out insertion mixed up in the card making frenzy!
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