2024 ALDS Preview: Kansas City Royals v. New York Yankees

2024 ALDS Preview: Kansas City Royals v. New York Yankees

The Wild Card Series is officially behind us, which means it’s time for some Division Series baseball. It’ll be an AL East v. AL Central matchup for this one, as the No. 1 seed Yankees will face the No. 5 seed Royals.

Game 1 will start in the Bronx on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 3:38 p.m. PST.

Kansas City Royals Overview:

The Royals went into a hostile Baltimore environment in the Wild Card and made quick work of the 91-win Orioles. The pitching is the biggest reason why the Royals swept the O’s, only allowing one run in those two games.

Cole Ragans threw a calm six shutout innings with eight strikeouts in Game 1 of the Wild Card. Seth Lugo got the ball for Game 2, going 4.1 innings with five hits, one run, one walk and six strikeouts. Both starters were All-Stars this year, and shutting down that young, talented Orioles team is insane.

The bullpen was just as good, firing a combined 7.2 scoreless innings against the Orioles. Players such as Sam Long , Kris Bubic and Lucas Erceg have been a staple for the Royals bullpen.

The Royals’ pitching staff finished eighth in the league in terms of ERA in the regular season with a 3.76. They also finished 1.24 WHIP (tenth) and 146 home runs allowed (fewest in the league.)

Of course, the offense can’t be ignored, and if it wasn’t for Aaron Judge , Bobby Witt Jr. would be winning AL MVP. The 24-year-old led MLB in average (.332) and hits (211) with 88 extra-base hits, 32 homers and 31 steals.

Witt Jr. went 3-9 with two RBIs in the wild card series. We’ve also been seeing vintage Salvador Perez , who slashed .271/.330./.456 with 37 home runs, 104 RBIs, and a 2.6 WAR.

The rest of the offense has still been up and down. In the regular season, the Royals batted 9-for-58 (.155) with runners in scoring position. Despite sweeping the Wild Card, only three total runs were scored, two of them coming from Witt Jr.

New York Yankees Overview:

You couldn’t have asked for much more out of Judge and Juan Soto this year. Judge led MLB with 58 homers, 144 RBI and a 1.159 OPS; Soto, on the other hand, hit 41 homers and 109 RBIs with a .988 OPS.

The Yankees’ offense averaged 5.3 runs per game, which was the best in the AL and one of three teams to average over five runs a game (Diamondbacks & Dodgers were the other two.) They led MLB with 237 homers and walked 672 times.

Although Gerrit Cole wasn’t around for most of the season, he ended the regular season on a strong note and should be ready for October baseball. Cole’s final ten starts of the season produced a 2.25 ERA and held hitters to a .182 average.

Behind Cole, the Yankees may actually have a rotation that’s deep enough to last five games. Carlos Rodon’s season was a rollercoaster, but it was nothing like 2023. Luis Gil produced a potential AL ROY campaign and should be the potential Game 3 starter.

Despite Clay Holmes losing the exclusive closing role, the Yankees bullpen still finished sixth in relief ERA. The pitching staff in general has produced a 9.3 K/9, sixth-best in MLB as well.

Biggest Key to Winning:

Royals: Start scoring runs

The Royals aren’t going to win 1-0 or 2-1 games against the Yankees. The pitching might hold it long enough, but the offense will have to wake up outside of Witt Jr. and Perez.

Yankees: Get length and postseason-quality performances from the starters

While Cole has been dominant in the postseason in the past, he still didn’t have a full season. When he returned from the IL, it took Cole some time to find his groove. Rodon has been shaky, and outside of that you never know what you’ll get.

The Yankees may have to participate in some pitching duels, so lengthy starts will be a key.

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