The Royals postseason came to an end after a 3-1 series loss to the Yankees.
In 2015, the Kansas City Royals were crowned world series champs. The team hasn’t been back to the playoffs since. This year the Royals finally made it back into the postseason in a wild-card spot, besting the Orioles in two games. They then went on to play the New York Yankees in a best-of-five series for the ALDS where the Yankees defeated the Royals 3-1.
Postseason MVP
There were multiple great performers in this postseason for the Royals, but the one player that stood out was starting pitcher Cole Ragans. He finished the regular season with a 3.14 ERA, but stepped up in the playoffs with a 0.90 ERA.
In the first game against the Orioles, Ragans started the game and threw six innings of shutout ball, only allowing four hits in the process. The Royals went on to win this game 1-0 en route to a sweep of Baltimore in game two.
In his next outing, Ragans started in game two of the ALDS in New York where the Royals found themselves down 1-0 in the series. Ragans once again had a great performance, pitching four innings and only allowing one run before being replaced. The Royals won this game 4-2 in their only win in the series against the Yankees.
Other Standouts
Second baseman Michael Massey was very impactful in the batter’s box during the postseason, leading the team in both on-base percentage and total hits. He also had the team’s third-best batting average coming in at .304 in his 23 at-bats. During game three of the ALDS, the Royals found themselves trailing 2-1 with two outs when Massey drove a triple into left-center field. This scored the game-tying run in the game for the Royals.
Another player who made a significant impact for the Royals was relief pitcher Lucas Erceg. In his first career postseason, Erceg had an extremely consistent arm. He pitched at least one inning in five of the six games and had three saves to lead the team. He allowed two runs in five appearances while striking out six batters.
Room to Improve
Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. had the best year of his career, with MLB experts placing him second in the MVP race for the American League. Despite this, Witt had a very lackluster postseason, posting a .192 batting average while leading the team in at-bats.
Michael Wacha was a pleasant surprise for the Royals this season as he posted a 3.35 ERA in the regular season. Wacha struggled in the postseason, pitching a 5.19 ERA in 6 2/3 innings pitched. This included allowing three runs in only four innings during a game-one loss to New York.
With a long off-season full of decisions ahead of them, the Royals have a lot to look forward to. Witt Jr. is only 24 years old and they have plenty of youth on the roster. After such an exciting season that not many saw coming, it is expected that the Royals will be back to this stage in the coming years.
Edited by Dylan Heinrich | dheinrich@theamaneater.com
Edited by Amelia Schaefer and Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com
Edited by Emily Skidmore | eskidmore@themaneater.com