2015 ALCS Preview

We have arrived at the American League Championship Series. After 162 regular season games, a wild card playoff game and the American League Divisional Round, we have reached the Championship series. Winner of this series is going to represent the American League in the World Series. And no surprise here , its a battle of the two best teams in the American League during the Regular Season.

Yes its the American League Central Champions the Kansas City Royals taking on the American League East Champions the Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto won the division with a 93-69 record. After clinching the division, they had to come back from down 2-0 to beat the Texas Rangers in a huge five game series in the ALDS. The win marks the first playoff series victory for the Jays since winning the 1993 World Series (also the last time the Jays made the playoffs). Toronto is now 24-22 all time in the post season. As for the Royals, they come in after winning the Central with a 95-67 record. They bounced the Houston Astros in five games in the ALDS. Kansas City is looking to head back to the World Series for the 2nd year in a row, after losing to the Giants last season. The Royals are now 32-31 in the playoffs all time. These two teams have met once before in the playoffs, that being in the 1985 ALCS, a series the Royals won in seven games. During the regular season this year, Toronto won the series 4-3 (although that won't mean much come this time of the year).

So here are the dates and times for the games in this series:
October 16 Toronto Blue Jays @ Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium 7:30 PM
October 17 Toronto Blue Jays @ Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium 3:30 PM
October 19 Kansas City Royals @ Toronto Blue Jays Rogers Centre 7:00 PM
October 20 Kansas City Royals @ Toronto Blue Jays Rogers Centre
October 21† Kansas City Royals @ Toronto Blue Jays Rogers Centre
October 23† Toronto Blue Jays @ Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium
October 24† Toronto Blue Jays @ Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium

OK we know how they got here. We know when and were they are playing. So lets see how they stack up shall we. Pitching is going to be tight in this series. Marco Estrada, David Price, Marcus Stroman and R.A. Dickey had themselves an OK Divisional series. Estrada and Dickey both had decent series to start off, finishing with ERA's under 2. Price got roughed up in his first start in the series, but calmed down in the last start he made in the series. David Price is well David Price, so I don't see him being much a problem in this series (even though his ERA was over 7 in his two starts in the ALDS). Edinson Volquez, Yordano Ventura, Johnny Cueto and Kris Medlen are going to be getting the ball for the Royals in this series. Volquez and Ventura are the top guys in the rotation, but they didn't exactly look like it in the ALDS against the Astros. Sure Ventura had ten K's in his one start in the Division Series, but he gave up six runs in seven innings, which is something that leaves you a tad worried. Both teams had starting pitching that got roughed up a bit in the last round. And now they are facing another high powered offense. Pitching is going to be a big factor in this series. Toronto as a team has a lower ERA than KC, even with having to pitch six more innings. From that perspective I'll give the Jays a slight edge.

From an offensive perspective, this series is actually going to be pretty even. Each team hit eight home runs in their respective series and Toronto scored 24 runs, while the Royals managed to push 23 runs across the plate. Where Kansas City may have an edge in this series is they were harder to strike out during the divisional round. Both teams, for that matter had low strikeout numbers: Toronto struck out 35 times, while KC went down 36 times. Toronto may have a little trouble against KC in one regard. KC has an all right handed starting rotation. Only three Jays players: Ben Revere (.444), Chris Colabello (.429), and Edwin Encarnacion (.417) hit above 300 against a righty. One other thing from a Jays point of view to look at. Troy Tulowitzki has hit .095 in the series. Sure he did drive in four runs against Texas, but the batting average is low and might be a point of concern. With Kansas City, Eric Hosmer (.190) and Mike Moustakas (.111) are the only regulars hitting under .200 in the Division Round. Hosmer made up for it a little driving in five runs (2nd on the team to only Kendras Morales who had six in the last series).

Look, here's the way I see this thing finally going down. The two teams are pretty evenly matched. What I saw in the Divisional Round is going to play a factor. Both teams are coming in hot. KC looked flat in game one and three against Houston, but the last two games their offense exploded. Game three saw late inning magic that we saw a lot in last years playoffs. Which is why the Royals are back where they are. Houston clearly wasn't able to handle that at all, which is why they are watching the rest of the playoffs on TV like everybody else. Toronto too did the same thing. They went down 0-2 to Texas, only to storm back and sweep the rest of the series. Both teams are coming in red hot to this ALCS. I just think that Toronto has a better pitching staff and slightly better offense. Its going to be a high scoring series, for sure going the distance. Toronto has a little bit more going in its favor. They take the series.

Pick: Toronto Blue Jays in 7!