So I think it’s only fair that I grade the
performance of all those people – players and non-players alike – who made any
sort of contribution to the 2014-2015 Royals. The players are listed in
descending order of their bWAR over the last two seasons combined. As always, these
grades are tough but fair.
Lorenzo Cain (12.3
bWAR): Cain
dedicated himself to getting into better physical shape after the 2013 season,
and found a way to eliminate the leg injuries that had plagued him in the past,
playing in 133 games in 2014 and 140 games in 2015. He legged out enough
infield singles to bat .300 for the first time in 2014, and this season he
started hitting for the power he had only flashed before, hitting 16 home runs.
He was 42 runs above average defensively over the past two years. This season
he finished 3rd in the AL MVP vote, becoming the first Royal since
1985 to finish in the top seven. (Think about that. From 1986 to 2014, 203
players finished in the top seven of the MVP vote. For most of that time, there
were only 14 AL teams. And yet not one Royal placed.) Cain was the best player
on a world championship team. That’s pretty sweet.
Also: in the Wild Card game last year, Cain batted
in the bottom of the eighth with the Royals down four runs, and hit a crucial
RBI single; he would eventually score himself. If Cain had not succeeded in
that moment, the Royals don’t win the Wild Card game. If they don’t win the
Wild Card game, they obviously do not go to the World Series in 2014. In
addition, without the experience garnered in the postseason last year, as well
as the disappointment-fueled focus to win it all this year after falling just
short, it is highly unlikely the Royals would have come back in Game 4 of the
ALDS against the Astros this year, meaning they would not have won a world
championship. Lorenzo Cain is responsible for the Royals winning a world
championship. Grade: A+
(To save time and space going forward, the previous
paragraph will be summed up as “Postulate #1”.)
Alex Gordon (9.4
bWAR): The
best defensive left fielder in the American League, Gordon led the team with
114 walks over the last two years while hitting .268/.362/.432. His
near-inside-the-park-home-run in Game 7 of last year’s World Series nearly changed
the course of history; his home run in Game 1 of the World Series this year did change the course of history.
Also, on August 26th, 2014, Gordon batted with the
Royals losing 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth and hit a walk-off, two-run homer
off Glen Perkins. If the Royals do not win this game, then they go into the
final game of the season 87-74 instead of 88-73. In that case, the Royals would
have been eliminated from winning the AL Central before Sunday’s games started;
however, they would not have clinched
home-field advantage for the Wild Card game.
In real life, once the Tigers won Game 162, the
Royals – whose game was in the fifth inning – had nothing to play for, as they
were guaranteed to host the Wild Card whether they won or lost. At that point
in the game, the Royals were down 4-2 in the fifth inning – but they then
pulled literally every starter from the game at that point. This is crucial,
because the Royals came back to win, 6-4, with a lineup entirely made up of backups.
Had the Royals still had something to play for, they would have stayed with
their starters, in which case they very well may have lost and finished 87-75.
The A’s won their final game to finish 88-74, in which case the Royals would
have had to travel to Oakland for the Wild Card game.
If that game had been played in Oakland, it’s
highly unlikely the Royals would have come back from a 7-3 deficit in the
eighth inning. If Alex Gordon had not won the August 26th game with a walk-off
home run, by Postulate #1, that means the Royals would not have won a world
championship. Alex Gordon is responsible for the Royals winning a world
championship. Grade: A+
(To save time and space going forward, the previous
three paragraphs will be summed up as “Postulate #2”.)
Salvador Perez
(5.7 bWAR):
Back-to-back Gold Gloves (Perez set the Royals’ all-time record for pickoffs
after he had played less 120 games in the majors) and lots of pop (he set the
Royals’ all-time record for home runs by a catcher with 21 this year.) Perez
passed Mike Macfarlane this season as the second-best catcher in Royals history
with 14.1 career bWAR; he’s got a good chance to pass Darrell Porter (16.7)
next season.
Also: on July 9th, 2014, Salvy batted with the
Royals down, 4-2 in Tampa Bay, with two on and one out in the ninth. His fly
ball right down the line just cleared the fence, and the Royals won, 5-4. If
they had not won the game, then Postulate #2 declares that the Royals would not
have won a world championship. As if that’s not enough, he somehow pulled a
slider in the other batter’s box passed a diving Josh Donaldson, activating
Postulate #1. Salvador Perez is responsible for the Royals winning a world
championship. Grade: A+
Jarrod Dyson (5.1
bWAR): While
it’s a gamble, part of me would be really excited to see the Royals finally
commit to playing Dyson every day (well, at least every day against
right-handed pitching). He has 39 steals in 121 games started the last two
years, plus 23 steals coming off the bench. Playing the equivalent of 141
complete games in the outfield, he’s been worth 25 runs above average
defensively according to DRS. Put it this way: over the last two years, he has
more bWAR than Mike Moustakas or Eric Hosmer, despite playing less than half
the time.
Also: he stole the most important base in Royals
history. Aside from Dave Roberts’ steal for the 2004 Red Sox, it might be the
most important steal in baseball
history. That activates Postulate #1. Jarrod Dyson is responsible for the
Royals winning a world championship. Grade:
A+
Mike Moustakas
(4.8 bWAR):
Moose’s transformation into an all-fields spray hitter was one of the more
impressive and gratifying transformations I’ve ever seen from a Royals player.
By swallowing his pride and working his ass off, he turned himself from a
replacement-level player (0.3 bWAR between 2013 and 2014 combined) into a
deserving All-Star.
Also: on August 6th, 2014, Moustakas hit a two-run
homer in the second, an RBI single in the fourth, and drove in the Royals’
final run with a groundout in the ninth. He had all four RBIs in a game the
Royals won 4-3. That activates Postulate #2. Mike Moustakas is responsible for
the Royals winning a world championship. Grade:
A+
Eric Hosmer (4.4
bWAR): The
cleanup hitter on a world championship team, Hosmer has been an RBI machine in
the postseason, with 29 RBIs in 31 games despite a pedestrian .276/.333/.398
split. His audacious dash for home in Game 5 of the World Series is one of the
most iconic moments of the last two years.
Also: in the Wild Card game, with the Royals losing
by a run in the 12th inning, down to their final two outs with no one on base,
Hosmer saved the season by tripling high off the left-field wall, later scoring
the tying run. That activates Postulate #1. Eric Hosmer is responsible for the
Royals winning a world championship. Grade:
A+
Alcides Escobar
(3.1 bWAR):
Escobar won his first Gold Glove this year, a nifty recognition of his
excellent defense the last five years. (Also probably his last: Francisco
Lindor probably would have won this year if he had been called up earlier, and
Andrelton Simmons will probably win next year and for many years after that.) Escobar
hasn’t been a complete cipher offensively, hitting .270 with 48 steals over the
last two years.
Also: in the Wild Card game, leading off the bottom
of the eighth inning with the Royals losing by four runs, Escobar singled, and
then stole second base – a ridiculously low-percentage move which worked out
brilliantly when Nori Aoki followed with a one-hop bullet to the second baseman
which almost certainly would have been a double play had Escobar not stolen
second. This activates Postulate #1. Alcides Escobar is responsible for the
Royals winning a world championship. Grade:
A+
Kendrys Morales
(2.4 bWAR): In
his first year as a Royal, Morales hit .290/.362/.485 with 41 doubles, 22
homers, and 106 RBIs. He won the Silver Slugger award. He hit three home runs
and a triple in a game against the Tigers on September 20th, which is basically
the greatest offensive game in the history of the franchise.
Also: in Game 4 of this year’s ALDS in Houston,
with the Royals down 6-4 in the eighth inning, with none out in the bases
loaded, Morales hit a double play ball with enough speed and spin to elude both
pitcher Tony Sipp and shortstop Carlos Correa, turning what would have been a
6-5 deficit with two outs and a man on third into a tie game with the go-ahead
run on third and none out. Without that absurd rally, the Royals don’t come
back to win Game 4, are eliminated from the postseason, and do not win a world
championship. Kendrys Morales is responsible for the Royals winning a world
championship. Grade: A+
(To save time and space going forward, the previous
paragraph will be summed up as “Postulate #3”.)
Christian Colon
(1.3 bWAR): Long
derided as another failed top-five pick, Colon finally debuted last season and
has hit .303/.361/.382 in 64 major league games. He may have a future after
all.
Also: in the Wild Card game, Colon batted with the
tying run on third base and one out in the 12th inning, and chopped an infield
single that tied the game. He stole second base and then scored the walk-off
run. This activates Postulate #1, which gave Colon the opportunity to drive in
the winning run in the final game of the following year. This year. Christian
Colon is responsible for the Royals winning a world championship. Grade: A+
Ben Zobrist (1.2
bWAR): My
favorite trade deadline pickup of all time. Zobrist hit .284/.364/.453 in two
months as a Royal, seamlessly moving from left field to second base when asked,
and then was the Royals’ best hitter in the postseason. Thanks, Ben. Give
Blaise Royal a kiss from all of us.
Also: in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the ALDS in
Houston, Zobrist lined a single to load the bases and keep the line moving in
the five-run rally. That activates Postulate #3. Ben Zobrist is responsible for
the Royals winning a world championship. Grade:
A+
Paulo Orlando (1.0
bWAR): The
first Brazilian to ever appear in a World Series, Orlando was a highly useful
fourth outfielder this season, hitting .249/.269/.444 with very good defense,
despite not reaching the majors until he was 29 years old. (Only three other
hitters have made their major league debut with the Royals at an older age:
Chris Hatcher, Aaron Guiel, and Edgar Caceres.)
Also: on July 12th, 2015, Orlando led off the
bottom of the eighth with a home run to break a 10-10 deadlock against the
Toronto Blue Jays. (The Royals had scored six runs in the first and led 7-0
after five innings before giving up eight runs in the sixth.) The Royals won
the game, 11-10. If they had lost the game, the Toronto Blue Jays would have
held home-field advantage when the two teams squared off in the ALCS.
Had Toronto been the home team, it’s unlikely that
Ryan Goins would have pulled off of Ben Zobrist’s pop-up that ignited the
five-run rally against David Price in the seventh inning of Game 2. In
addition, given the evidence that umpires are subconsciously influenced by the
home crowd to make borderline calls that favor the home-team, it’s likely the
2-1 pitches to Ben Revere and Dioner Navarro in the ninth inning of Game 6
would have been called balls, not strikes, dramatically changing the dynamics
of the inning, possibly allowing the Blue Jays to come back and win. (Admittedly,
a very shaky proposition, given that Wade Davis was on the mound and Wade Davis
does not give up runs.)
If the outcome of both games changes, then the Blue
Jays win the ALCS in six games; if the outcome of either game changes, then
Johnny Cueto has to start Game 7 of the ALCS on the road. If Paulo Orlando
doesn’t hit that home run, the Royals probably lose to the Blue Jays in the
ALCS, and do not win a world championship. Paulo Orlando is responsible for the
Royals winning a world championship. Grade:
A+
(To save time and space going forward, the previous
three paragraphs will be summed up as “Postulate #4”.)
Nori Aoki (1.0
bWAR): In
his one season with the Royals, Aoki gave them exactly what they wanted when
they traded Will Smith for him: a leadoff type hitter who could get on base
(.349 OBP) with speed (17 steals in 25 attempts) to play right field (which,
strictly speaking, he did).
Also: in the bottom of the ninth inning of the Wild
Card game, with Jarrod Dyson on second base and one out, Aoki waited out Sean
Doolittle for four pitches – giving Dyson enough time to figure out Doolittle’s
move and steal third – and then hit a deep fly ball to right field, allowing
Dyson to trot home with the tying run. This activates Postulate #1. Nori Aoki
is responsible for the Royals winning a world championship. Grade: A+
Johnny Giavotella
(0.1 bWAR): The
sight of Giavotella playing cheerleader throughout the 2014 playoffs like it
was the role of a lifetime never failed to amuse me. I can’t say that the
Royals miss him – his defensive weakness makes him a poor fit for what they’re
trying to do – but I am so happy for him that he won the starting job in
Anaheim this season and hit a highly respectable .272/.318/.375. I always
believed in him, and I’m glad that he finally showed what he was capable of this
year.
Also: on May 11th, 2014, with the Royals losing 7-6
in the top of the seventh, with men on first and third and two outs, Giavotella
hit a three-run homer of Danny Farquhar to give the Royals a 9-7 lead they would
not relinquish. This activates Postulate #2. Johnny Giavotella is responsible
for the Royals winning a world championship. Grade: A+
Josh Willingham
(0.1 bWAR): The
Royals traded for Willingham on August 11th, 2014, to be an insurance policy in
the outfield and DH and as a right-handed hitter off the bench, and he
performed that job reasonably well, hitting .233/.349/.384 in 86 plate
appearances down the stretch.
Also: the last hit of his major league career was a
pinch-hit single to lead off the bottom of the ninth of the Wild Card game
against left-hander Sean Doolittle. Dyson would pinch-run for him and you know
the rest. This activates Postulate #1. Josh Willingham is responsible for the
Royals winning a world championship. Grade:
A+
Terrance Gore (0.0
bWAR): Gore
is, quite simply, the fastest basestealer I (and pretty much anyone else) have
ever seen. His future as a perennial September call-up is assured – the major
league minimum is worth $80,000-$90,000 a month, and that doesn’t include his
postseason shares, so it’s a good job if you can get it. But after hitting
.284/.367/.311 in Double-A this year, the possibility is there for him to carve
out a Dyson-like career.
Also: on September 15th, 2014 – popularly known as
the “That’s What Speed Deux” game – Gore pinch-ran for Aoki after Aoki had just
doubled with two outs in the bottom of the ninth (this after Dyson, himself in
the game as a pinch-runner, had stolen third base with two outs – and then just
kept running when the ball got away from the catcher, scoring the tying run.)
Cain then hit a slow infield single to shortstop, and Gore just turned the
corner at third base and didn’t slow down until he had scored the walk-off run.
This activates Postulate #2. Terrance Gore is responsible for the Royals
winning a world championship. Grade: A+
Omar Infante (0.0
bWAR):
Infante plays second base pretty well.
Also: on June 29th, 2014, Infante hit a walk-off
single with one out in the ninth inning to beat the Angels. This activates
Postulate #2. Omar Infante is responsible for the Royals winning a world
championship. Grade: A+
Erik Kratz (0.0
bWAR): Kratz
performed the magical feat of being on a postseason roster all the way to Game
7 of the World Series without ever appearing in a game.
Also: on August 18th, 2014, Kratz pinch-hit for an
ailing Salvador Perez in the top of the seventh inning, with the Royals
leading, 3-0, and homered. He batted again in the ninth with the Royals
leading, 5-1, and homered again. The Twins then scored three runs in the bottom
of the ninth, meaning Kratz’s two home runs were the margin of victory in a 6-4
final score. That activates Postulate #2. Erik Kratz is responsible for the
Royals winning a world championship. Grade:
A+
Danny Valencia
(0.0 bWAR): Valencia
came to the Royals in December 2013 in exchange for David Lough, and then was
traded in July 2014 for Liam Hendriks and Erik Kratz, both of whom had their
own role to play in the drama of the last two years.
Also: on April 16th, 2014, Valencia started at third base against an up-and-coming left-hander named Dallas Keuchel, and homered in the second inning. The Royals would need 11 innings to defeat the Astros that day, 6-4. This activates Postulate #2. Danny Valencia is responsible for the Royals winning a world championship. Grade: A+
Pedro Ciriaco (-0.2
bWAR): Yeah,
apparently Pedro Ciriaco played for the 2014 Royals.
Also: on May 29th, 2014, Ciriaco started at third
base in Toronto, and with the Royals losing 4-2 in the fifth inning, he doubled
in a run and then scored the tying run in what turned into a three-run rally.
The Royals would fall behind 6-5 before tying it in the ninth when, with two
outs and Dyson on second base, Perez hit a routine ground ball to shortstop
Jose Reyes, only Reyes’ throw to first bounced out of Edwin Encarnacion’s
glove, and Dyson came all the way around to score. The Royals would win in 11
innings. This activates Postulate #2. Pedro Ciriaco is responsible for the
Royals winning a world championship. Grade:
A+
Drew Butera (-0.2
bWAR): The
best hair of any backup catcher in the business.
Also: in Game 4 of the ALDS in Houston, playing in
favor of an ailing Perez, Butera batted with two on and one out in the top of
the eighth inning in a tie game, and against Luke Gregerson’s filthy slider,
somehow worked a ten-pitch walk, keeping the line moving for Gordon to drive in
the go-ahead run with a groundout to second base. This activates Postulate #3.
His reward: catching the final out of the World Series. Drew Butera is
responsible for the Royals winning a world championship. Grade: A+
Billy Butler (-0.3
bWAR): We’re
not making fun of Billy Butler here. From 2009 to 2013 he was one of the best
DHs in baseball. Unfortunately this run began in 2014.
Also: in the Wild Card game, facing Luke Gregerson in
the eighth inning while representing the tying run with one out, Butler didn’t
hit into the inning-ending double play we all feared – he punched a single to
right-center field, making the score 7-5 and bringing Gore out of the dugout to
pinch-run as the potential tying run. Gore wouldn’t score, but Hosmer – who had
moved to third on Butler’s single – would, and the Royals would tie the game an
inning later. This activates Postulate #1. Billy Butler is responsible for the
Royals winning a world championship. Grade:
A+
Jonny Gomes (-0.4
bWAR): As a
hitter, Gomes is pretty much washed up. As a clubhouse guy, Gomes is still at
the peak of his powers.
Also: On October 1st, 2015, Gomes drove in three
runs for the Royals – a two-run single in the second and a sacrifice fly in the
fifth – in a game they won, 6-4. If they don’t win that game, perhaps the Blue
Jays take Game 162 more seriously and don’t start Mark Buehrle…okay, you’re not
buying that one? How about this: if Gomes played better defense, he wouldn’t
have collided with Sam Fuld in the 12th inning of the Wild Card game, and maybe
Hosmer would have held at second base, in which case he would not have scored
on Colon’s infield single, and then who knows if the Royals tie the game, let
alone win it.
So Postulate #4 is partially activated, and
Postulate #1 is partially activated, and then Gomes activated both of them by
coaching and counseling Colon all October to be ready if and when his
opportunity presented itself, which it did in Game 5 of the World Series. If
you have any doubt left, he gave a speech during the parade. If you have a
problem with that, you hate America. Jonny Gomes is responsible for the Royals
winning a world championship. Grade: A+
Raul Ibanez (-0.8
bWAR): He
may well have given the most important clubhouse speech in a players-only
meeting in the history of baseball.
Also: on August 1st, 2014, Ibanez hit a home run
off Sonny Gray in Oakland. It was the only run in a 1-0 game, the only time
since 1993 the Royals have won a game 1-0 on a home run. Coming against the A’s,
this definitively activates Postulate #2. Raul Ibanez is responsible for the
Royals winning a world championship. Grade:
A+
Alex Rios (-1.1
bWAR): He
was signed by the Royals to be a productive right fielder, and it only took him
six months to do it.
Also: in Game 4 of the ALDS, he led off the eighth
inning rally with the Royals losing, 6-2, and singled to left field on the
first pitch. This alone activates Postulate #3. He also drove in the tying and
go-ahead runs in the fifth inning of Game 5, the only other elimination game
the Royals played all season. Alex Rios is responsible for the Royals winning a
world championship. Grade: A+
I hope you agree that these grades accurately
reflect how each player performed over the last two years. Pitchers and others
still to come.
