Didn't mean to top page this...long look at the 2015 Royals. I regret nothing, other than writing this on a tablet.
The 2015 Royals are unquestionably better than last year's team on both sides of the ball. We're now a team that's batting Alex Gordon in the seventh our eighth slot. Think about that.
Moose, Cain, and Hosmer all progressed to be incredible hitters and remain gold glovers. Moose in particular went from being a one dimensional pull guy to slapping the ball all over the place. Hoz and Lo Cain are All Stars.
Kendrys Morales is the comeback player of the year, the most cerebral guy we've got, mashes the ball from both sides of the plate, and a big upgrade over Big Country Breakfast Butler.
I like Aoki but he was a black hole offensively in the Series, and I think Rios is a solid upgrade everywhere but defensively. Rios was hot early on, awful after his broken hand, and back on again when we need him most. I think he's making the most of his first playoff appearance.
Zobrist is a massive upgrade over Omar Infante. It's not even close. The infant is a defensive wizard, but he isn't worth a damn at the plate. Zobrist is super disciplined, hits for power and average, takes bad pitches for walks (Omar never walks), and really rounds out the lineup. I say Zobrist was the single biggest trade deadline pickup this season in terms of payoff. He carried the team in August.
Sal is Sal. My favorite player on the team. Amazing catcher who had progressed a ton at this plate this postseason. He actually takes pitches now! He doesn't saying for the fences every at bat!
Pitching staff, there's no question the team is better. This is a team that started garbage man Jeremy Guthrie in game seven of a World Series. Think about that. We played guys like Vargas and Danny Duffy in extended roles last postseason. Our ace was James Shields.
Now we have Volquez and Cueto to go with Ventura. None of them is as good as the Mets three best, but they're way better than what we fielded a year ago. Our bullpen remains the best. Davis has put up two seasons statistically better than anything we've ever seen, including from Mariano Rivera.
I like the Mets and do think they're superior in terms of pitching staff. But let's not be delusional, none of them are going to repeat what MadBum did last year. He won three freaking World Series games! DeGrom lives by the fastball, and we happen to be the best FB hitting team in the league. We're also at home and on a mission to finish what was started last year.
TL;DR - Royals close out the Series at home in game six.
