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Kansas City Royals: Mets Starting Pitchers Could Be In Trouble

By Alec Tilson

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The focal point for the KC Royals versus the New York Mets in the World Series is still Kansas City’s bats versus New York’s arms.

The Kansas City Royals ran into a monster in the 2014 World Series, and this season’s National League opponent doesn’t appear to be any less threatening on the mound.

The Mets starting rotation is nasty. It’s championship stuff, and it’s capable of shutting down any offense going right now. The Royals lineup, however, might be exactly what gives the hard-throwing Mets trouble.

Matt Harvey‘s average fastball velocity this season was 95.2, according to FanGraphs.com. Jacob deGrom‘s average fastball this season was 94.9 MPH. Noah Syndergaard? 96.5 average velocity on his fastball. Even the Game 4 starter Steven Matz‘ average fastball sat at 92.1 MPH this season.

It’s a nightmare of a rotation to face, but if any team is cut out to defeat it, it’s the Kansas City Royals.

In an excellent piece from Grantland, Ben Lindbergh outlines five reasons the Royals will win, and it’s his first point that supports the Royals’ chances against the overpowering Mets starters. As Lindbergh put it, “the Royals hit heat.”

They hit pitches in the mid-to-upper 90’s as well as any team in the Majors:

"Against all fastballs, their wOBA was 29 points better than the league’s. And against fastballs 94 and above, the gap grew to 51 points. Even when the radar readings rose to 96 or higher, the Royals were still significantly better than they were against all pitches, even though the league was significantly worse."

Not only that, the Royals were far-and-away the hardest team to strike out this season with a 15.9 percent team strikeout-rate. No other team struck out less than 18 percent of the time. (via FanGraphs.com)

Not only that, the Royals were far-and-away the hardest team to strike out this season with a 15.9 percent team strikeout-rate. No other team struck out less than 18 percent of the time.

Compare that to the Chicago Cubs – the team the Mets just swept – who struck out a league-leading 24.5 percent of the time, and you’ll see why this is a whole different ballgame for New York pitchers.

The Royals offense attacks, it puts the ball in play, and when the pitch is coming in at 95, it’s more about contact than power.

Kansas City led the MLB in contact (tied with the Oakland Athletics), making contact on 81.9 percent of swings. Cubs were last in the MLB, making contact on just 74.8 percent of swings. (FanGraphs)

It should be quite the matchup.

The Mets struck out a lot of hitters (8.23 K/9) and finished second in the MLB with a 2.36 BB/9. On the other hand, the Royals offense struck out less than any team and tied for the lowest walk-rate in the Majors. The Mets are going to attack the strike-zone, the Royals are going to swing the bat, and the rest is up for debate.

How do you think the Royals offense will fare against the Mets starting rotation?

Next: Top 10 Moments in Royals' History

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