Extreme makeover: Royals expect entirely new Blue Jays team
When the Kansas City Royals last visited Toronto, the Blue Jays quite literally changed before their very eyes.
The four-day weekend series spanning July 30 to Aug. 2 included the trade deadline, when Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos wrote the pilot script of Extreme Makeover: Ballclub Edition.
While shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and reliever LaTroy Hawkins had been acquired a few days prior, Toronto’s trades for starter David Price, left fielder Ben Revere and reliever Mark Lowe all happened on Friday, July 31, with Revere and Lowe making their Jays debuts on Aug. 1, with Price first appearing in their dugout that day, too.
In all, 20% of Toronto’s roster turned over, to remarkable results: the Jays were 50-51 at the time of the Tulowitzki deal and finished 43-18, an improvement from sub-.500 ball to better than .700 — propelling them to this evening, when the Royals host the Blue Jays in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
The Royals entered that series 10 games ahead of the Blue Jays in the standings but lost three of the four games and ultimately only clinched home field advantage over Toronto on the regular season’s final day.
“It was a hard-fought series,” K.C. manager Ned Yost said. “They had just gotten Price and Tulowitzki and they were just starting to make their move.”
Furthermore, in the Sunday finale, the benches cleared following a hit-by-pitch retaliation. Jays reliever Aaron Sanchez struck Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar in the leg following many inside pitches to Toronto third baseman Josh Donaldson earlier in the game, including one that hit him.
“We’ll pitch inside aggressively,” Yost said. “That’s a power-laden club over there. We’re going to formulate a really good game plan and try to go out and execute.”
The Royals’ starter that day, Edinson Volquez, told reporters about Donaldson, “He’s a little baby. He was crying like a baby.”
Volquez, who will start Friday’s Game 1, said he doesn’t expect any carryover. “No, it’s over with,” he said. “We’ve got to move forward.”
“It was two good teams really going at it,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “And there was a little bit of tension, especially that last game. I don’t know if that galvanized us, because we just really took off from there. But we’d been playing pretty good up until then, I think, too.”
From that point forward, Toronto markedly improved its defense with Revere in left and Tulowitzki at short joining incumbent elite defenders like center fielder Kevin Pillar, second baseman Ryan Goins and catcher Russell Martin. One advanced metric, Baseball Prospectus’ park-adjusted defensive efficiency, favors the Jays as baseball’s best defense; another, Fielding Bible’s defensive runs saved, puts the Royals atop the AL.
Other than the stout defenses, these are diametrically opposed clubs. The Jays led the majors with 891 runs and 232 homers — a quick-strike and righty-heavy lineup perfectly suited for play at Rogers Centre where the ball travels well to left field.
“They’ve got tremendous power, their offensive guys really study hitting,” Yost said. “They don’t miss mistakes. They can put runs on the board in a hurry.”
The Royals, meanwhile, employ a more piecemeal offensive approach, stringing together a series of base hits — and stealing bases whenever possible — a style well matched for the expansive outfield at Kauffman Stadium.
“They’re probably the best team in baseball — at least I’ve seen in the American League — manufacturing runs, because most of the guys can steal bases, and if they can’t, they’re very good baserunners,” Gibbons said, adding, “They like that speed, because you hit balls in the gaps, doubles and triples. They really get to taking the extra base.”
Their pitching staff have backwards compositions, too. Toronto’s strength is typically its rotation. Since acquiring Price at the deadline, the Jays shaved a run off their rotation ERA, dropping from 4.33 to 3.32. Price fared poorly last series but could win the Cy Young after a regular season in which he went 18-5 with a 2.45 ERA. Stroman, since returning from his ACL tear, has a 2.25 ERA in six combined regular- and postseason starts.
The bullpen, however, could be a weakness with the injury to Brett Cecil and the uncertainty surrounding Aaron Loup, who missed the final two ALDS games to tend to a family matter.
Kansas City, on the other hand, unquestionably has the league’s best bullpen with Wade Davis (0.94 ERA), Kelvin Herrera (2.71) and Ryan Madson (2.13) dominating the late innings. The rotation, however, has been combustible with top talents Johnny Cueto and Yordano Ventura as likely to give up five runs in as many innings as to hurl seven shutout innings. The Royals’ rotation had the worst ERA, 4.34, of any playoff team.
It’s largely a contrast in styles — except in emotions and talent