World Series MLB Betting – Can Royals Prolific Lineup Overcome Mets’ Stellar Staff?
Posted by Alex Murphy on Tuesday,October 27, 2015 4:16, EDT in
The 2015 MLB World Series is a classic case of good hitting versus good pitching. The AL-champion Kansas City Royals will look to use their collection of prolific hitters in order to overcome the New York Mets’ stable staff of stellar pitchers.
With this season’s championship series starting later today, let’s find out if the Royals can overcome the age-old adage that says ‘good pitching beats good hitting’ almost every time.
The first thing you need to know about the 2015 World Series is that oddsmakers everywhere have basically made this year’s matchup a virtual Pick ‘Em and we here at MyBookie.ag agree with both teams coming into the series with identical -110 MLB betting odds.
World Series MLB Betting – Can Royals Prolific Lineup Overcome Mets’ Stellar Staff?
Game 1: New York Mets (97-74) at Kansas City Royals (102-71)
Date: Tuesday, October 27
Time 8:00 PM ET
WHERE: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
New York Mets (90-80 RL, 87-77 O/U)
The New York Mets have used their incredible pitching staff – and some timely hitting – to reach the 2015 World Series.
Starting with the foursome of Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz, the Mets have gotten some absolutely fantastic pitching this postseason.
The Mets rank first in team ERA in the payoffs (2.81) and are the top money team as a result (7-2, +$635). New York also ranks fifth in bullpen ERA (3.16)
Harvey is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA n 12.2 innings pitched this postseason. DeGrom is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 20 innings this postseason while Syndergaard has gone 1-1 with a 2.77 ERA in 13 innings and Matz, 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA in 9.2 innings. Closer Jeurys Familia has not allowed a single run in eight postseason appearances spanning 9.2 innings.
De Grom will start Game 2 for the Mets, followed by Syndergaard and left-hander Steven Matz, with manager Terry Collins opting to go with a four-man rotation. Syndergaard will take the mound for New York if the series goes to seven games.
“(Harvey) said, ‘I’ll be ready,'” Collins said of his Game 1 starter. “We like going into Kansas City with our Nos. 1 and 2 guys. Noah has pitched great at home. We thought that’s a good mix. And obviously we think Steven Matz showed us, even though it hasn’t been the depth into the games like he’s going to do in the future, for four or five innings he’s been pretty good.”
Hitting-wise, the Mets have watched in awe as second baseman David Murphy has gone completely bonkers at the plate. Murphy is the only player in MLB postseason history to hit a home run in six consecutive games and has hit them off of some of baseball’s best pitcher in taking Clayton Kershaw deep twice, Zach Greinke and Jake Arrieta.
Murphy leads all hitters with seven postseason home runs while also ranking first in runs scored (11). Murphy (.421), Juan Lagares (.385) and Curtis Granderson (.303) are all hitting at least .300 with shortstop Wilmer Flores just off the mark at .292.
“He’s absolutely locked in, not only at the plate,” Cubs staff ace Jake Arrieta said of Murphy. “He also made a couple (great) plays. He’s playing the game as good as you could possibly play it.”
Mets Key Trends
Mets are 5-0 in their last 5 overall.
Mets are 7-1 in their last 8 road games vs. a team with a winning record.
Mets are 4-1 in their last 5 playoff road games.
Kansas City Royals (95-78RL, 79-80 O/U)
The Kansas City Royals have reached the World Series by mostly overpowering opposing pitchers no matter who they’ve faced. The Royals are the No. 1 long ball team (15) and top hitting team in the postseason (.271). Kansas City has two of the top five RBI producers in Eric Hosmer (11) and Kendrys Morales (10), who also ranks fourth in home runs with four.
Kansas City also ranks fifth in team OPS (.680) while Ben Zobrist ranks second in playoff runs scored (10) and Lorenzo Cain, fifth with eight runs scored.
“This group, ever since that pop up was caught by Pablo (Sandoval) over there, this has been on our minds,” said first baseman Eric Hosmer of getting back to the World Series.
Veteran hurlers Wade Davis and Luke Hochevar have identical 0.00 ERA’s and one victory in one postseason appearance apiece while Kelvin Herrera sports a 1-0 mark with a 1.04 ERA in one appearance covering 8.2 innings, helping Kansas to the fourth-best bullpen ERA this postseason (2.85).
Kansas City has one of baseball’s most complete batting orders from top to bottom and is hitting .271 this postseason compared to the Mets’ .235 team batting average.
“The ultimate goal is to win a world championship,” Hosmer said. “Obviously, we had to go through this first. We knew that was going to be a tough team over there, against Toronto, but we gave it our all as a team. Everyone was all in. We picked each other up. We got timely hitting. We got timely pitching. We just played great team baseball.”
Royals Key Trends
Royals are 5-0 in their last 5 home games.
Royals are 12-4 in their last 16 overall.
Royals are 6-2 in their last 8 playoff games.
Royals are 9-3 in their last 12 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
Series Analysis
The Kansas City Royals were my preseason pick to win it all and I see no reason to believe they won’t win the 2015 World Series despite the dominant pitching that New York’s pitching staff has shown this postseason.
A whopping eight players have at least five RBI for Kansas Coty this postseason and I believe that no matter what kind of pitching the Mets get from their stable of gifted hurlers, that the Royals will pounce on every mistake pitch the Mets make while not giving up nearly as many runs as some people think they will.
In addition to their offensive prowess, Kansas City is also one of baseball’s best defensive teams and has committed just one error through 11 postseason games.
After losing Game 1 of the ALCS, Kansas City has since then won all five of its playoff games at home and I believe they’re going to kick off the 2015 World Series with a win before going on to win it all and bring home the bacon for baseball bettors across the globe.
As Royals manager Ned Yost said recently, “From the first day of spring training, we expected to be here”.
The Mets are just 2-5 in their last 7 Interleague games, 1-4 in their last five Interleague road games against a team with a winning record and a discouraging 1-5 in their last six games versus AL Central ballclubs.
Conversely, the Royals are 8-2 in their last 10 Interleague home games, a consistent 19-7 in their last 26 home games against a team with a winning record and 8-3 in their last 11 Interleague games.
These teams last met back in 2013 with the Royals winning two of three. The Mets haven’t played in Kauffman Stadium since 2004.
My Pick: Kansas City Royals 4-2 World Series Win
