The Royals Postseason Reign Continues in Sweeping Fashion

It’s hard to believe that less than two weeks ago the Kansas City Royals dropped their seventh-straight game and sat just a single game up on the Minnesota Twins for the final AL Wild Card spot.

And the last five games of that losing skid saw the Royals get shutout twice and only manage five runs in that entire span. It wasn’t far-fetched to think the Royals were playing their way out of postseason contention.

But not only did they manage to rebound and make their way into October, they have now just swept a young, star-studded Baltimore Orioles team on the road in the AL Wild Card round.

In their first taste of postseason baseball in nearly a decade, they find themselves dancing their way to the Bronx, as they now get set for a best-of-five series against the 94-win New York Yankees in the ALDS.

And Kansas City took this series the same way they’ve found success all season, with timely hitting, stellar starting pitching and a bullpen that can get out of the toughest of jams and shut the door.

Kansas City’s Elite 2024 Rotation Was on Full Display

Game 1

It was the Cole Ragans show in the opening game of this wild card series, as the Royals’ ace put on a masterclass in his first career postseason start.

He spun six innings of shutout ball while surrendering just four hits, walking none and striking out eight.

What seemed to be a turning point in the game was a key strikeout with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, as he caught Gunnar Henderson swinging at slider below the zone to end the inning, leaving runners stranded on the corners.

Game 2

In the second game it was time for Seth Lugo to put his 16-9 record and 3.00 ERA to the test against an Orioles squad with their backs against the wall.

It went all but swimmingly for the 2024 all-star through the first four innings, as he surrendered just three hits and one HBP while striking out six.

Then things looked as shaky as they had in the in the series for Royals starters.

In the fifth, Cedric Mullins led off the inning with a solo home run, the first run of the O’s postseason.

Then a single, a walk and an error loaded the bases, and after getting Anthony Santander to pop up to first, that was the end of line for Lugo and it was up to the recently hot Royals bullpen to see out the sweep.

The Royals Bullpen Was Key to Seeing the Series Through

Even when the Royals were struggling mightily during their seven-game losing streak, their bullpen continued to put up strong numbers. They held MLB’s third best fWAR at 0.7, the sixth best ERA at 2.45, the second best WHIP at 0.94, the fourth best AVG against at .174 and a league best FIP at 1.84 across 25.2 innings of work, according to FanGraphs.

This was all part of a great final month stretch for Kansas City’s ‘pen, as in the month of September they sported the fourth highest league totals fWAR at 1.8, ERA at 2.77, WHIP at 1.02 and AVG against at .196 along with the second best FIP posting at 2.73.

The Royals relievers carried that momentum in October as it was on full display against Baltimore.

Game 1

Game 1 was a straightforward kind of day for the bullpen after Ragans went six.

Sam Long came in for the seventh and sat down the side in order.

Then it was time for Kris Bubic who sat down Mullins and Emmanuel Rivera before walking Henderson and allowing a base hit to Jordan Westburg.

But Matt Quatraro didn’t fret knowing his prized closer in Lucas Erceg was there to shut the door. And shut the door he did, as he got the switch hitting power threat in Santander to ground out to end the eighth, and then after surrendering a walk to start the ninth he secured the next three outs in order to end things.

Game 2

It was a different look for the Royals relievers in Game 2, as after Lugo surrendered lead and then loaded the bases with one out in the fifth in a tie ball game, it was time for clean up duty.

Ángel Zerpa was the first man out and avoided the HBP by awkwardly striking out Colton Cowser before getting Adley Rutschman to ground out to end the inning.

The things moved like clockwork, as Zerpa stayed in to get the first out of sixth before handing off to John Schreiber to finish off the inning.

Then Schreiber followed suit, gaining the first out of the seventh before Long took over to get the final two outs.

Then it was time for Bubic to enter in the eighth to set up Erceg, who closed it out again.

When all was said and done the Royals ‘pen pitched 7.2 innings of shutout ball, surrendered just two hits and three walks and struck out eight.

And all of this was needed as the Royals offense did enough to win but didn’t offer an abundance of run support for their pitchers to work with in either game.

It Wasn’t Convincing But The Royals Offense Got the Job Done

Low scoring games have seemed to become a habit of late for the Royals, as 12 of their 25 games in September saw them put up two runs or fewer.

And in two Wild Card games they didn’t buck that trend, as they only managed to muster three runs the entire series.

What was encouraging though was how the runs were scored. It was their stars that came through when it mattered most.

Bobby Witt Jr. broke the stalemate in the sixth inning in Game 1 to score the games only run.

Then in Game 2 he cashed in the winning run in the sixth inning again, this time on an infield single.

And how big has the return of Vinnie Pasquantino been for this lineup!

Despite having a hand held together by plates and screws, the star first baseman went 2-for-4 with a walk and drove in the opening run in the first inning of what turned out to be the series clinching game.

His return has seen more indirect positives on this lineup as well. In an attempt to space out the power in his lineup, Quatraro has mixed up the order since Pasquantino’s return. One of these key changes was moving Michael Massey to hit leadoff, where he managed to open each game of the series with a base hit, and scored off his leadoff double in Game 2.

What’s Next For This Royal October?

Kansas City stays on the east coast, as they gear up for a best-of-five ALDS series against the AL’s number one seed: the New York Yankees.

This will certainly be a different look for the Royals, as their immaculate pitching will be put to the test against an offense lead by Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, that holds the third best wRC+ and RBI total since the all-star break.

And while they’ll have a similar Game 1 opposing pitcher to Corbin Burnes against New York when Gerrit Cole takes the mound, they’ll have to face a proven veteran in Game 2 in Carlos Rodon and then likely one of their other hot trending arms in Luis Gil or Clarke Schmidt afterwards.

With such a high powered offense on the other side, it’s hard to think the Yankees will only muster one run in a series like their AL East counterparts in the Orioles just did. And with such strong starting pitching to pair with that Yankee offense, it means Kansas City will need to take advantage of chances when runners are in scoring position whenever they can, like in the sixth inning of Game 2 when Salvador Perez stepped up to the plate with bases loaded and struck out swinging to end the frame.

But this Royals team lives by the word “today”, which is meant to have the focus only on the game in front of them.

And it’s gotten them here so far, so maybe focusing on “today” might just have this team continue their push towards postseason glory “tomorrow”.