Royals vs. Orioles: Looking ahead at the 2014 ALCS
The Royals and the Orioles will do battle for the American League pennant starting Friday. Here's a first look
As you're by now aware, the Royals and the Orioles each swept their way to the ALCS on Sunday (BAL 2, DET 1; KC 8, LAA 3), and those two will square off to determine who represents the American League in the 2014 World Series.
The Royals last trip to the Fall Classic? 1985. The Orioles? 1983. It's been a while, you see.
First, here's the schedule ...
Game 1 @BAL: Friday, Oct. 10
Game 2 @BAL: Saturday, Oct. 11
Game 3 @KC: Monday, Oct. 13
Game 4 @KC: Tuesday, Oct. 14
Game 5 @KC: Wednesday, Oct. 15 (if necessary)
Game 6 @BAL: Friday, Oct. 17 (if necessary)
Game 7 @BAL: Saturday, Oct. 18 (if necessary)
Now with that laid out, some (very) preliminary observations and considerations ...
•The schedule above in tandem with the fact that each team swept their ALDS opponent means that the O's and Royals will have plenty of rest and can line up their rotations however they choose. This means James Shields would be able to start Game 1 for the Royals on regular rest. The Orioles figure to counter with Chris Tillman, but nothing's been announced yet on either side.
•The four days of rest will presumably benefit Kelvin Herrera. The key member of the Royals' bullpen was able to work an inning against the Angels on Sunday, but the time off will be welcome considering he's been limited by a forearm strain recently.
•During the regular season, the Orioles and Royals met seven times, and the Royals took four of those contests, out-scoring Baltimore by a margin of 26-18 over the season series.
•The Orioles have a big roster decision to make. Suspended 1B/3B Chris Davis served 17 games of his 25-game sentence during the regular season and then another three games in the ALDS. That means he wouldn't be eligible to play until a possible Game 6 against the Royals. The problem for Baltimore is that he'd have to be added to the ALCS roster prior to Game 1. That, in turn, would mean that the O's would be playing Games 1 through 5 with a de-facto 24-man roster. Will Buck Showalter and Dan Duquette willingly take on such a disadvantage for just two potential games from a bat-first player who OPS'd .704 during the regular season? That doesn't seem likely.
•These two teams are pretty similar in terms of run prevention -- solid rotations paired with shutdown bullpens and stellar defenses. On offense, however, they couldn't be more different. The Orioles paced the majors in homers, while the Royals were the only MLB team to hit fewer than 100 home runs in the regular season. Meantime, the Royals led all of baseball with 153 stolen bases, while the Orioles were last with just 44 swipes.
We'll have a more exhaustive ALCS breakdown and preview in the coming days, but consider this an appetizer.
