Did the Royals Offense Improve Enough?

The 2014 World Series was a classic. Most that go 7 games are. This one had the added touch of having the game tying run 90 feet away and the go-ahead run at the plate. 

Overall, the Royals have largely remained unchanged in their everyday lineup. There were three notable changes:

  1. DH: Billy Butler for Kendrys Morales
  2. 2B: Omar Infante* for Ben Zobrist
  3. RF: Nori Aoki for Alex Rios

Last year Butler hit .271/.323/.379 with 9 HR and 66 RBI. In the postseason, he hit .262/.327/.333 0 HR and 8 RBI. This year, Morales hit .290/.362/.485 with 22 HR and 106 RBI. This postseason, he is batting .268/.348/.780 with 4 HR and 10 RBI. This is a massive upgrade at the DH position. 

Last year, Infante hit .252/.295/.337 with 6 HR and 66 RBI. In the postseason, he hit .255/.321/.373 with 1 HR and six RBI. Since joining the Royals and taking over for Infante, Zobrist hit .284/.364/.453. In the postseason, he has hit .326/.340/.558. Again, it’s a massive upgrade. 

Last year, Aoki hit .285/.349/.360 with 1 HR and 43 RBI. In the postseason, he hit .195/.292/.487 with 0 HR and 3 RBI. In his place, Rios hit .255/.287/.353 with 4 HR and 32 RBI. In the postseason, he has hit .333/.389/.485 with 1 HR and 5 RBI. While Aoki was the better player in the regular season, Rios has been a much better postseason player. 

Overall, the Royals are a much more dangerous offensive team than the team that averaged 4.8 runs per game in the playoffs and 4 runs per game in the World Series last year. So far, the Royals are averaging 5.9 runs per game. They need to because:

What this shows us is that even though the Royals have a much better offense, their pitching is suffering. It’s why the Royals practically swept through the American League last year and went the distance in the ALDS and was almost pushed to the limit in the ALCS. 

The Royals will now face much better pitching and go to a pitcher’s park on the road (as opposed to Minute Maid and the Rogers Centre). It’s a dangerous offense, but the Mets pitching staff should be up for the challenge. 

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