KC Royals: Five Reasons They Return To The World Series
By Alec Tilson
Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
2. Better Offense
The Kansas City Royals offense hasn’t changed much since the 2014 season, and that’s a good thing. The 2015 offense is a more mature, refined version of last season’s. They’ve seen an uptick in almost every statistical category:
2014: .263/.314/.376; 95 home runs, 380 walks, 286 doubles, .690 OPS
2015: .269/.322/.412; 139 home runs, 383 walks, 300 doubles, .734 OPS
The Royals offense was solid last season, and this year it’s a more dynamic form of that same offense.
That’s partly due to add Zobrist, designated hitter Kendrys Morales and right fielder Alex Rios. But it’s also due to the young guns – Hosmer, Perez, Moustakas, Cain – becoming better hitters.
Moustakas broke out last postseason, and he carried it over. He hit for a .212 average last season and had just 97 hits in 140 games. This season: a .284 average and 156 hits in 147 games. It goes on from there with the emergence of outfielder Lorenzo Cain and the continued progress of Eric Hosmer.
The Royals offense was solid last season, and this year it’s a more dynamic form of that same offense. They can score in more ways and there’re fewer outs for opposing pitchers to find.
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