YGY Series Preview Show Rewind: Royals-Yankees (9/5-9/7)

On this episode of the Yanks Go Yard Series Preview Show, brought to you by Knoda.com, I started off the live episode by talking about the walk-off win by the Yankees on Thursday night that occurred minutes before the start of the show. On Thursday night, the Yankees snatched victory from the jaws of defeat when Mark Teixeira tied the game to four with a home run to right field off struggling closer Koji Uehara. Then, Chase Headley followed suit two batters later with his second walk-off hit as a Yankee, a home run to right field. The 5-4 win capped a day that began with a report from Jon Heyman of CBS Sports that the Yankees intend on bringing back Brian Cashman as the general manager next year.

For the New York Yankees (72-66), every win matters as the team snapped a streak of losing series at three by taking two of three from the Boston Red Sox. They are now four games behind the Detroit Tigers for the Wild Card with 26 games to go. New York continues their nine-game homestand this week against the AL-Central leading Kansas City Royals (77-61), a series that will include a Derek Jeter ceremony before Sunday afternoon’s game.

After a 48-46 record at the All-Star break, Ned Yost‘s Kansas City Royals have been one of the hotter team in baseball. Since July 1, the team is 34-23 and has now past the Tigers in the American League Central by one game. One of the reasons the Royals have been able to take the lead in the division is their pitching, which has a 3.04 ERA since the All-Star Break (5th in Major League Baseball). One of the strengths for the pitching is the bullpen. Closer Greg Holland has 42 saves in 44 chances this season, but don’t sleep on setup man Wade Davis and his 0.73 ERA as a setup man and Kelvin Herrera in the 7th inning.

The starting pitching is nothing to sneeze at considering their ERA of 3.56 is top ten in the league. While James Shields (Friday’s starter vs. Michael Pineda) leads the rotation, the Yankees will get their second look at Danny Duffy and his 2.42 ERA. Despite the low ERA, Duffy is 8-11 due in part to only getting 3.4 runs of support per game, tenth lowest in baseball. 23-year-old Yordano Ventura and his 100 mile-per-hour fastball will get the ball on Sunday against Shane Greene.

The Royals have also seen a surge in offense of late. While Billy Butler has picked up his game with six of his nine homers in the second half, the key player to watch is left fielder Alex Gordon. Gordon is hitting .279 with 19 home runs this season and is hitting .301 with ten homers since the break. While the Royals aren’t among the league leaders in runs, they do hit .263 as a team, which is third in all of baseball.

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For this episode, I spoke with David Hill from Kings of Kauffman about the Royals’ hot streak since the All-Star break, the dominance of Kansas City’s bullpen, and who could the X-Factors be for Kansas City as they try to make it to the postseason for the first time since 1985 as either the AL Central Champ or the Wild Card. Here are some of the other topics that were discussed by David and I during the show:

• My thoughts on the Yankees possibly bringing Brian Cashman back as general manager
• David’s thoughts on the difference in the Royals’ offense between June and right now
• The all-around great play from Alex Gordon
• Pitching Matchups Breakdown
• Any cause for concern with James Shields after giving up six runs vs. the Yankees on August 25?
• Michael Pineda with no walks in four of his last five starts – 6+ innings in his last three starts
• Danny Duffy with a 1.91 ERA since the All-Star Break in nine starts
• Brandon McCarthy giving up three home runs in his last start in Toronto (Saturday’s Yankees’ starter)
• Yordano Ventura with a great fastball, but still has his control issues (13 walks in his last 3 starts)
• What would Ventura’s role be in a hypothetical Royals’ postseason rotation?
• Has the league figured out Shane Greene or do the Red Sox have his number? (Sunday’s Yankees’ starter)
• Royals’ Players To Watch: David: Mike Moustakas, Me: Salvador Perez and Jarrod Dyson
• Yankees’ Players To Watch: Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran
• Do the Royals have the best bullpen in baseball? David has a eye-opening stat on Davis’ dominance!
• Dave and I discuss Derek Jeter‘s retirement tour and his recent struggles
• Difference between the Royals and Tigers in the AL Central
• Updates on Masahiro Tanaka and David Phelps

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