Post by Commissioner Erick on Dec 11, 2019 8:26:18 GMT -5
Toronto Blue Jays @ Kansas City Royals
Coming into the season, both the Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays were expected to be right around .500. Kansas City didn't appear to have the talent base needed to contend for the playoffs, while Toronto had a slew of top prospects that hadn't shown they could produce in the majors. That each team has made the postseason and is a win away from the ALDS is a testament to each team's management and player development staff.
Kansas City appeared to be dead in the water as most of the team's draft picks didn't bear fruit, and decisions to accelerate the rebuild (Gio Gonzalez) or faulty player evaluations (Hayato Sakamoto) hamstrung their flexibility. However, Daniel Kent identified places they could acquire legitimate talent for this year, adding on Yoan Moncada, Joe McCarthy, Joshua Lowe, and Alex Colome to take the next step. They moved some draft picks and prospects to get off some salary too, which allowed them to take on the talent they did.
Toronto, on the other hand, needed patience instead of proactivity. Their rebuild, started in 2018, netted the team a number of superprospects that hadn't tasted much major league success. Instead of panicking, Brian Violette stayed the course, betting that with the prospects entering their primes, they would see their talent coalesce. That's exactly what happened. The pitching developed, the position players each took steps forward, and the team didn't skip on the fundamentals, playing excellent defense and being a strong base running team until Jahmai Jones went down. In some ways, these two teams are very similar to one another, making a playoff matchup, a very fun one to witness.
Royals Offense versus Blue Jays Pitching
Kansas City led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, and were second in stolen bases as they took advantage of spacious Kauffman Stadium. The team's extreme left-handed lineup allowed them to pulverize right-handed pitching, as their OPS against right-handed pitching was second in the league to Chicago's. Their OPs was only 10th against lefties, making them extremely vulnerable to lefties.
That's good news for Toronto as their best right-handed starters are exhausted and left-hander Thomas Szapucki is well-rested. Szapucki debuted in 2019 but struggled in 2020 and 2021 so he began this year in the minors. He was recalled in July, where he fired 7.1 scoreless innings against the Tigers in his debut, then went 8 innings allowing two runs to the White Sox in his second start. Those outings showed that Szapucki was ready for primetime and he delivered with a 7-2 record and 3.19 ERA in 16 starts.
Szapucki is a little bit prone to the walk as he doesn't have outstanding command of his changeup yet. This makes his sequencing and ability to retire right-handers a little bit touch and go. However, with a good fastball and devastating curveball, Szapucki devours same-side hitting. Lefties hit just .184 with a .275 on-base number and a .287 slugging mark. He'll still give up some homers if a lefty with a fast bat turns on a fastball, but if trying to damage within the ballpark, good luck. He'll be appropriately prepared to pitch to Kansas City's lineup in Kansas City.
This means that a lineup featuring nine left-handed hitters against right-handed pitching will need to turn to Plan B. Yoan Moncada's career splits from both sides of the plate are similar so that's not a huge problem, and Miguel Gomez hits better from the right side than the left. However, wholesale changes are needed for the rest of the roster. Christopher Torres often sits, meaning an inferior defender in Moncada has to play the field in his place. Allen Cordoba plays in left, but he's not as dangerous a hitter as Joe McCarthy. Marino Campana enters for Mallex Smith as a lefty-masher, so that's good, but it pushes Mallex Smith to the bench. On aggregate, these moves make Kansas City's defense worse, which is a subtle way left-handed starters have an advantage over the team.
The other disadvantage the Royals will find themselves in, is that their two star hitters are left-handed. Joe Rizzo hits .300 against righties, with a .405 OBP. He only has a .335 OBP against lefties. Obviously, with a .786 OPS against left-handers in a tough hitting environment, he's still a weapon. However, in the playoffs, the difference between being a strong hitter and being a special slugger becomes magnified.
More stark is what happens to Joshua Lowe. The Third Baseman hit .302 with 26 home runs against righties. However, he batted just .227 with three long balls against lefties.
With the slugging aspect of Kansas City neutralized, it will be up to Moncada and Rizzo to get on base, and Campana and Gomez to slug them in. The bottom of the lineup will likely be compromised, so the top will have to do a lot of the work.
Fortunately for Kansas City, Toronto's bullpen is entirely right-handed meaning the Royals will be able to do damage against the relievers. Kansas City was tied for the fifth most plate appearances by pinch hitters, but they may need to up that ratio today. Allen Cordoba in particular was not good against right-handers, and should not be allowed to face a right-hander out of the pen.
Toronto had the fifth best bullpen in the majors, but much of that production was posed by Roberto Osuna and his 29 saves and 1.44 ERA. Osuna is out for the year, meaning Toronto's bullpen will need to rely on less-reliable sources.
Joe Biagini will take over the closer role. He had 10 wins and a 2.50 ERA, posting his best strikeout, walk, and home run rates since 2017. Biagini was downright bad in 2020 and 2021, but rebounded with a stellar campaign this year at age 32. He pitched to the lowest ground ball rate of his career, which may be a blessing with Kansas City's outfield being so expansive.
Alex Speas has had success in a setup role, but he's erratic with big stuff. Kansas City may be able to wait him out as the Royals strike out the third fewest times in the league, while walking the most. Danny Barnes is the other setup man, and he had a strong year with a 3.38 ERA in 74 games. Barnes may be a better option as he's curbed the home run tendencies he's had in the past, has a great changeup for lefties, and can strike out even the most contact-oriented hitters.
If Szapucki gets pulled early, Toronto's middle-inning options are less reliable. San Dyson and Eduardo Paredes are the middle-relief options. Sam Dyson doesn't strike anybody out, but he keeps the ball on the ground and in the park, which may not be a big deal against the Royals. Paredes has terrific strike zone control, but he gives up a ton of home runs. He's essentially the anti-Dyson, but when he gets hit, he gets hit hard. Kansas City has the third best BABIP in baseball, so a pitcher that gets killed by BABIP like Paredes, may not be a strong option for Toronto.
Alejandro Chacin is good at controlling BABIP, but allows almost 200 more points of OPS to lefties than righties. He's also walked 44 batters in 81 innings, giving Kansas City's patient hitters opportunities to get on base. Carson Smith has a 5.28 ERA, gave up six runs in 1 inning over the weekend, and has walked 48 in 73.1 innings. He's wholly untrustworthy and has been assigned to work only in blowouts or emergencies.
Michael Kopech or Clarke Schmidt may be able to work if the Blue Jays need a long man. Kopech has more upside, but is wilder. Schmidt is more consistent, with decent walk, strikeout, home run numbers, and BABIP. A solid back-end starter, he becomes a solid longman in the postseason.
Kansas City should be able to run against Reese McGuire, but mostly from the bench. Szapucki allowed only five stolen base attempts the whole year, though all were successful. Opponents stole five of six bases against Biagini, five of eight against Barnes, and one of three against Speas. Mallex Smith may Is a terrific base stealing and Christopher Torres is a strong stolen base threat off the bench.
Blue Jays Offense versus Royals Pitching
Toronto is a terrific team at controlling the strike zone, as the Blue Jays are second in walks and second in strikeouts. Wild pitchers who rely on overwhelming stuff won't work in shutting down the Toronto lineup. The Blue Jays don't hit for a ton of power, nor do they hit for a very high average. They're actually last in doubles. However, they give themselves extra chances with their patience, giving themselves the third best OBP in the league.
Their lineup shows their commitment to getting on base. Their batting order is stacked with high on-base guys at the top, and sluggers at the bottom. The team's highest home run hitter, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. bats seventh in most lineups, and Rowdy Tellez, who had at least 39 home runs and 112 RBIs the past three years, bats ninth.
Their power is balanced, but their on-base hitters are better against right-handers against left-handers. As a result, their team is better against righties than lefties. They went 25-22 against lefties, but 65-50 against righties. Jake Burger could help rectify that. He's had a disastrous season, but went 7-11 over his last three days to bring his average to .232. He can be another guy to get on base against lefties after suffering through a lost year.
Still, with Toronto being more dangerous against right-handed pitching, Kansas City will start Austin Gomber. Gomber excelled after coming over from an in-season trade with the Reds, with a 2.95 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Including his Reds stats, Gomber did an outstanding job limiting home runs and walks, though his strikeout numbers jumped as a member of Kansas City. He has really good control, and is willing to pitch backwards and use his changeup and curveball at any time in the count to keep hitters off balance. He's better against lefties than righties, but his ability to throw strikes will force Toronto's patient hitters to beat them with hits from the right side of the plate.
With Gomber throwing strikes, he'll be backed up by the second best defense in the AL. Kansas City, however, will have to tweak its lineup with a lefty on the mound for the Jays. Gavin Lux is a Gold Glove caliber Second Baseman, but is just okay at Shortstop. Khalil Lee is a huge downgrade from Mallix Smith in Center Field. Christopher Torres is a strong defensive shortstop who gets pushed to the bench. The Royals should still have a good defense, but he won't be world class. That's good for a Toronto team that isn't great with BABIP.
Kansas City has a small bullpen, with three arms that swallow lefties. Andrew Chafin held lefties to a .130 OBP this year and has the receipts from prior years to show that's no proof. Left-handers have a .220 career OBP off him and just 12 home runs in roughly a season's worth of plate appearances. He's good against righties too, which is how he has a 2.21 ERA, as he's exceptional at keeping the ball in the park.
Alex Colome is another top relief arm, who excels against hitters from both sides. He has excellent strikeout numbers, strong walk numbers, and held opposing hitters to a .271 on-base percentage. He's never allowed hitters even a .300 on-base percentage against, as he's always been stingy with baserunners.
Finally, Jared Lakind had a 2.00 ERA with the Royals after coming over from Baltimore mid-season. Lakind finally kept the walks in check after a history of spotty control. Righties hit just .212, though a fair number of base-on-balls allowed the OBP to elevate above .300. However, lefties slashed .183/.236/.287 off him. As his usage has shifted over his career to facing righties more often than lefties to facing them about evenly, his effectiveness has taken off.
Anthony Senzatela is the middle-reliever who is more effective against righties, though he'll face both a bunch. After all, he worked 124 innings in relief, a season after working 103.1. Senzatela allows a lot of fly balls that stay in the park, while being stingy with walks. His strikeout numbers have ticked up as this his first season in a strictly bullpen role since his rookie year in 2019.
Joan Gregorio is the long man, but he gets crushed by lefties. Expect a starter to be used as a long reliever in Gregorio's stead should Gomber get knocked out or hurt early. Carter Capps is also on the team, buthe too has been a disaster against lefties. He only faces right-handed batters in short stints now, as injuries have wrecked his command.
Toronto has a good bench should they need to use it. Jonathan Villar has struggled in a backup role, but has a good bat, especially against right-handed arms. Cavan Biggio's ability to get on base, particularly against righties, also is an option. With Kansas City's bullpen primarily good at getting lefties out, it's likely Toronto's starting nine play the whole game.
Season Series:
Kansas City went 6-1, sweeping a series in Toronto around the All-Star Break, ten taking three of four in early August. Kansas City allowed three or fewer runs in five of the seven games. A failed squeeze gave the Royals a win in the opener on July 15th, while Kansas City's bullpen worked 4 scoreless innings the next day to earn a 2-1 win. After Gabriel Ynoa went 7 strong innings in the series finale, Chafin and Colome shut the door on the sweep.
In Kansas City, Guerrero homered twice, doubled, and drove in five as the Royals won the opener of a four-game set in blowout fashion, 10-3. However, the Blue Jays blew a 6-1 lead after three innings the following day, when Joe McCarthy made contact on a tough pitch, squibbing a ball to third with a man on third, and having Kole Enright throw the ball into the stands to give Toronto the eventual winning run in the ninth in a 9-8 win. Thomas Szapucki gave up nine hits in 5 innings in the game.
Yoan Moncada hit a three-run home run off Joe Biagini in Saturday's game as Taijuan Walker's strong start allowed the Royals to win 5-2. In the finale, there was more strong pitching from Ynoa to starve the Blue Jays in a 4-2 win.
Alex Colome and Jared Lakind were strong in their appearances against Toronto, and Kansas City's better hitters, outside of Lee and Camapana, were able to get on base against Toronto's arms. The Blue Jays, however, saw their relief arms, outside of Paredes, struggle, while key players failed for the Blue Jays. Rowdy Tellez didn't reach base in 19 plate appearances, Luis Alexander Basabe had a .392 OPS, and Yusniel Diaz hit .192. The infield brigade got on base, but outside of Guerrero, the power hitters couldn't cash in.
Deciding Questions:
How will Toronto's relievers handle Kansas City's ability to hit right-handed pitching?
Will Kansas City's tradeoff come back to bite them with either a less potent offense against Szapucki or a worse defense?
Will Diaz or Basabe step up to provide another source of power for the Blue Jays?
Prediction: Toronto hasn't proven they can score on the Royals so it's hard to expect them to put up more than three runs in circumstances that aren't ideal. Kansas City may not be able to pull away with Szapucki on the mound, but they have the bats to attack Toronto's bullpen late. Osuna's injury will be huge. Royals 4-2
Coming into the season, both the Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays were expected to be right around .500. Kansas City didn't appear to have the talent base needed to contend for the playoffs, while Toronto had a slew of top prospects that hadn't shown they could produce in the majors. That each team has made the postseason and is a win away from the ALDS is a testament to each team's management and player development staff.
Kansas City appeared to be dead in the water as most of the team's draft picks didn't bear fruit, and decisions to accelerate the rebuild (Gio Gonzalez) or faulty player evaluations (Hayato Sakamoto) hamstrung their flexibility. However, Daniel Kent identified places they could acquire legitimate talent for this year, adding on Yoan Moncada, Joe McCarthy, Joshua Lowe, and Alex Colome to take the next step. They moved some draft picks and prospects to get off some salary too, which allowed them to take on the talent they did.
Toronto, on the other hand, needed patience instead of proactivity. Their rebuild, started in 2018, netted the team a number of superprospects that hadn't tasted much major league success. Instead of panicking, Brian Violette stayed the course, betting that with the prospects entering their primes, they would see their talent coalesce. That's exactly what happened. The pitching developed, the position players each took steps forward, and the team didn't skip on the fundamentals, playing excellent defense and being a strong base running team until Jahmai Jones went down. In some ways, these two teams are very similar to one another, making a playoff matchup, a very fun one to witness.
Royals Offense versus Blue Jays Pitching
Kansas City led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, and were second in stolen bases as they took advantage of spacious Kauffman Stadium. The team's extreme left-handed lineup allowed them to pulverize right-handed pitching, as their OPS against right-handed pitching was second in the league to Chicago's. Their OPs was only 10th against lefties, making them extremely vulnerable to lefties.
That's good news for Toronto as their best right-handed starters are exhausted and left-hander Thomas Szapucki is well-rested. Szapucki debuted in 2019 but struggled in 2020 and 2021 so he began this year in the minors. He was recalled in July, where he fired 7.1 scoreless innings against the Tigers in his debut, then went 8 innings allowing two runs to the White Sox in his second start. Those outings showed that Szapucki was ready for primetime and he delivered with a 7-2 record and 3.19 ERA in 16 starts.
Szapucki is a little bit prone to the walk as he doesn't have outstanding command of his changeup yet. This makes his sequencing and ability to retire right-handers a little bit touch and go. However, with a good fastball and devastating curveball, Szapucki devours same-side hitting. Lefties hit just .184 with a .275 on-base number and a .287 slugging mark. He'll still give up some homers if a lefty with a fast bat turns on a fastball, but if trying to damage within the ballpark, good luck. He'll be appropriately prepared to pitch to Kansas City's lineup in Kansas City.
This means that a lineup featuring nine left-handed hitters against right-handed pitching will need to turn to Plan B. Yoan Moncada's career splits from both sides of the plate are similar so that's not a huge problem, and Miguel Gomez hits better from the right side than the left. However, wholesale changes are needed for the rest of the roster. Christopher Torres often sits, meaning an inferior defender in Moncada has to play the field in his place. Allen Cordoba plays in left, but he's not as dangerous a hitter as Joe McCarthy. Marino Campana enters for Mallex Smith as a lefty-masher, so that's good, but it pushes Mallex Smith to the bench. On aggregate, these moves make Kansas City's defense worse, which is a subtle way left-handed starters have an advantage over the team.
The other disadvantage the Royals will find themselves in, is that their two star hitters are left-handed. Joe Rizzo hits .300 against righties, with a .405 OBP. He only has a .335 OBP against lefties. Obviously, with a .786 OPS against left-handers in a tough hitting environment, he's still a weapon. However, in the playoffs, the difference between being a strong hitter and being a special slugger becomes magnified.
More stark is what happens to Joshua Lowe. The Third Baseman hit .302 with 26 home runs against righties. However, he batted just .227 with three long balls against lefties.
With the slugging aspect of Kansas City neutralized, it will be up to Moncada and Rizzo to get on base, and Campana and Gomez to slug them in. The bottom of the lineup will likely be compromised, so the top will have to do a lot of the work.
Fortunately for Kansas City, Toronto's bullpen is entirely right-handed meaning the Royals will be able to do damage against the relievers. Kansas City was tied for the fifth most plate appearances by pinch hitters, but they may need to up that ratio today. Allen Cordoba in particular was not good against right-handers, and should not be allowed to face a right-hander out of the pen.
Toronto had the fifth best bullpen in the majors, but much of that production was posed by Roberto Osuna and his 29 saves and 1.44 ERA. Osuna is out for the year, meaning Toronto's bullpen will need to rely on less-reliable sources.
Joe Biagini will take over the closer role. He had 10 wins and a 2.50 ERA, posting his best strikeout, walk, and home run rates since 2017. Biagini was downright bad in 2020 and 2021, but rebounded with a stellar campaign this year at age 32. He pitched to the lowest ground ball rate of his career, which may be a blessing with Kansas City's outfield being so expansive.
Alex Speas has had success in a setup role, but he's erratic with big stuff. Kansas City may be able to wait him out as the Royals strike out the third fewest times in the league, while walking the most. Danny Barnes is the other setup man, and he had a strong year with a 3.38 ERA in 74 games. Barnes may be a better option as he's curbed the home run tendencies he's had in the past, has a great changeup for lefties, and can strike out even the most contact-oriented hitters.
If Szapucki gets pulled early, Toronto's middle-inning options are less reliable. San Dyson and Eduardo Paredes are the middle-relief options. Sam Dyson doesn't strike anybody out, but he keeps the ball on the ground and in the park, which may not be a big deal against the Royals. Paredes has terrific strike zone control, but he gives up a ton of home runs. He's essentially the anti-Dyson, but when he gets hit, he gets hit hard. Kansas City has the third best BABIP in baseball, so a pitcher that gets killed by BABIP like Paredes, may not be a strong option for Toronto.
Alejandro Chacin is good at controlling BABIP, but allows almost 200 more points of OPS to lefties than righties. He's also walked 44 batters in 81 innings, giving Kansas City's patient hitters opportunities to get on base. Carson Smith has a 5.28 ERA, gave up six runs in 1 inning over the weekend, and has walked 48 in 73.1 innings. He's wholly untrustworthy and has been assigned to work only in blowouts or emergencies.
Michael Kopech or Clarke Schmidt may be able to work if the Blue Jays need a long man. Kopech has more upside, but is wilder. Schmidt is more consistent, with decent walk, strikeout, home run numbers, and BABIP. A solid back-end starter, he becomes a solid longman in the postseason.
Kansas City should be able to run against Reese McGuire, but mostly from the bench. Szapucki allowed only five stolen base attempts the whole year, though all were successful. Opponents stole five of six bases against Biagini, five of eight against Barnes, and one of three against Speas. Mallex Smith may Is a terrific base stealing and Christopher Torres is a strong stolen base threat off the bench.
Blue Jays Offense versus Royals Pitching
Toronto is a terrific team at controlling the strike zone, as the Blue Jays are second in walks and second in strikeouts. Wild pitchers who rely on overwhelming stuff won't work in shutting down the Toronto lineup. The Blue Jays don't hit for a ton of power, nor do they hit for a very high average. They're actually last in doubles. However, they give themselves extra chances with their patience, giving themselves the third best OBP in the league.
Their lineup shows their commitment to getting on base. Their batting order is stacked with high on-base guys at the top, and sluggers at the bottom. The team's highest home run hitter, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. bats seventh in most lineups, and Rowdy Tellez, who had at least 39 home runs and 112 RBIs the past three years, bats ninth.
Their power is balanced, but their on-base hitters are better against right-handers against left-handers. As a result, their team is better against righties than lefties. They went 25-22 against lefties, but 65-50 against righties. Jake Burger could help rectify that. He's had a disastrous season, but went 7-11 over his last three days to bring his average to .232. He can be another guy to get on base against lefties after suffering through a lost year.
Still, with Toronto being more dangerous against right-handed pitching, Kansas City will start Austin Gomber. Gomber excelled after coming over from an in-season trade with the Reds, with a 2.95 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Including his Reds stats, Gomber did an outstanding job limiting home runs and walks, though his strikeout numbers jumped as a member of Kansas City. He has really good control, and is willing to pitch backwards and use his changeup and curveball at any time in the count to keep hitters off balance. He's better against lefties than righties, but his ability to throw strikes will force Toronto's patient hitters to beat them with hits from the right side of the plate.
With Gomber throwing strikes, he'll be backed up by the second best defense in the AL. Kansas City, however, will have to tweak its lineup with a lefty on the mound for the Jays. Gavin Lux is a Gold Glove caliber Second Baseman, but is just okay at Shortstop. Khalil Lee is a huge downgrade from Mallix Smith in Center Field. Christopher Torres is a strong defensive shortstop who gets pushed to the bench. The Royals should still have a good defense, but he won't be world class. That's good for a Toronto team that isn't great with BABIP.
Kansas City has a small bullpen, with three arms that swallow lefties. Andrew Chafin held lefties to a .130 OBP this year and has the receipts from prior years to show that's no proof. Left-handers have a .220 career OBP off him and just 12 home runs in roughly a season's worth of plate appearances. He's good against righties too, which is how he has a 2.21 ERA, as he's exceptional at keeping the ball in the park.
Alex Colome is another top relief arm, who excels against hitters from both sides. He has excellent strikeout numbers, strong walk numbers, and held opposing hitters to a .271 on-base percentage. He's never allowed hitters even a .300 on-base percentage against, as he's always been stingy with baserunners.
Finally, Jared Lakind had a 2.00 ERA with the Royals after coming over from Baltimore mid-season. Lakind finally kept the walks in check after a history of spotty control. Righties hit just .212, though a fair number of base-on-balls allowed the OBP to elevate above .300. However, lefties slashed .183/.236/.287 off him. As his usage has shifted over his career to facing righties more often than lefties to facing them about evenly, his effectiveness has taken off.
Anthony Senzatela is the middle-reliever who is more effective against righties, though he'll face both a bunch. After all, he worked 124 innings in relief, a season after working 103.1. Senzatela allows a lot of fly balls that stay in the park, while being stingy with walks. His strikeout numbers have ticked up as this his first season in a strictly bullpen role since his rookie year in 2019.
Joan Gregorio is the long man, but he gets crushed by lefties. Expect a starter to be used as a long reliever in Gregorio's stead should Gomber get knocked out or hurt early. Carter Capps is also on the team, buthe too has been a disaster against lefties. He only faces right-handed batters in short stints now, as injuries have wrecked his command.
Toronto has a good bench should they need to use it. Jonathan Villar has struggled in a backup role, but has a good bat, especially against right-handed arms. Cavan Biggio's ability to get on base, particularly against righties, also is an option. With Kansas City's bullpen primarily good at getting lefties out, it's likely Toronto's starting nine play the whole game.
Season Series:
Kansas City went 6-1, sweeping a series in Toronto around the All-Star Break, ten taking three of four in early August. Kansas City allowed three or fewer runs in five of the seven games. A failed squeeze gave the Royals a win in the opener on July 15th, while Kansas City's bullpen worked 4 scoreless innings the next day to earn a 2-1 win. After Gabriel Ynoa went 7 strong innings in the series finale, Chafin and Colome shut the door on the sweep.
In Kansas City, Guerrero homered twice, doubled, and drove in five as the Royals won the opener of a four-game set in blowout fashion, 10-3. However, the Blue Jays blew a 6-1 lead after three innings the following day, when Joe McCarthy made contact on a tough pitch, squibbing a ball to third with a man on third, and having Kole Enright throw the ball into the stands to give Toronto the eventual winning run in the ninth in a 9-8 win. Thomas Szapucki gave up nine hits in 5 innings in the game.
Yoan Moncada hit a three-run home run off Joe Biagini in Saturday's game as Taijuan Walker's strong start allowed the Royals to win 5-2. In the finale, there was more strong pitching from Ynoa to starve the Blue Jays in a 4-2 win.
Alex Colome and Jared Lakind were strong in their appearances against Toronto, and Kansas City's better hitters, outside of Lee and Camapana, were able to get on base against Toronto's arms. The Blue Jays, however, saw their relief arms, outside of Paredes, struggle, while key players failed for the Blue Jays. Rowdy Tellez didn't reach base in 19 plate appearances, Luis Alexander Basabe had a .392 OPS, and Yusniel Diaz hit .192. The infield brigade got on base, but outside of Guerrero, the power hitters couldn't cash in.
Deciding Questions:
How will Toronto's relievers handle Kansas City's ability to hit right-handed pitching?
Will Kansas City's tradeoff come back to bite them with either a less potent offense against Szapucki or a worse defense?
Will Diaz or Basabe step up to provide another source of power for the Blue Jays?
Prediction: Toronto hasn't proven they can score on the Royals so it's hard to expect them to put up more than three runs in circumstances that aren't ideal. Kansas City may not be able to pull away with Szapucki on the mound, but they have the bats to attack Toronto's bullpen late. Osuna's injury will be huge. Royals 4-2