Players who could make a difference in the World Series
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Baseball’s postseason has a way of raising the profile of players who previously had flown under the national radar, even when they had been steady contributors to their teams. Witness New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy, whose record six consecutive playoff games with a home run have elevated him into exalted company.
Now, as the first all-expansion-team World Series approaches – the Mets made their infamous debut in 1962; the Kansas City Royals were born seven years later – it might be instructive to take a look at some players who could gain prominence in the Fall Classic.
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Jeurys Familia: The hard-throwing right-hander from the Dominican Republic was supposed to be the setup man to his friend and countryman Jenrry Mejia, who was suspended for 80 games in April after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug, then failed another drug test in July.
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With minimal closing experience, Familia seized the job and probably won’t let it go for years. He tied the Mets franchise record with 43 saves while registering a 1.85 ERA, then was even better in the playoffs.
Familia, who features a 98 mph sinker and a slider that’s virtually unhittable, has appeared in eight of the Mets’ nine postseason games so far, allowing two hits and no runs while saving five. Manager Terry Collins has not hesitated to bring him in before the ninth. In the Division Series, Familia recorded the Mets’ first six-out save in the postseason since Jesse Orosco closed out the 1986 World Series.
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Alcides Escobar: A gifted defensive shortstop who made his first All-Star Game this season, Escobar is a polarizing offensive figure who drives sabermetricians insane. Perennially reluctant to walk, he managed only a .293 on-base percentage this past season, but manager Ned Yost continues to put him in the leadoff spot in the order for the simple reason that, “It works.’’
Yost has a point. With Escobar at the top of the lineup, the Royals went 82-49 this past season.
To make sure he stays aggressive, Escobar always swings at the first pitch he sees in a game. In Kansas City’s six-game victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS, that translated into four hits in his first at-bat – two of them on the first pitch – and a .478 series batting average that earned him MVP honors.
Escobar’s postseason exploits have also inspired the hashtag #Eskymagic.
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Lucas Duda: Before the 2014 season, the New York brass was in a quandary over whether to keep Duda or Ike Davis, who in 2012 had delivered 32 homers and 90 RBI and was also the superior fielder. The Mets chose Duda, and he rewarded them with a 30-homer, 92-RBI season. He wasn’t quite as productive this year, when he was limited to 135 games, but still led the club with 27 homers.
Duda struggles against lefties – he has a career .670 on-base-plus-slugging percentage when facing them, compared to his .842 mark vs. right-handers – but that shouldn’t be much of a factor in this series. All the Royals’ starters and their top relievers throw from the right side.
Duda has been known to drive in runs in bunches. He had one RBI for the entire postseason before Game 4 of the NLCS, when his three-run homer and two-run double guided the Mets to a series’ clinching 8-3 victory. In late September, Duda had 15 RBI in a four-game span.
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Kendrys Morales: Essentially given up for dead after a disastrous 2014 season, Morales emerged as the Royals’ top RBI man with 106 and a leading candidate for Comeback of the Year honors.
The switch-hitting DH rejected a qualifying offer after the 2013 season, signed in June and produced a meager .612 OPS combined for the Minnesota Twins and Seattle Mariners. He limited defensively as a first baseman, but the Royals scooped him up on a two-year, $17 million contract that has paid off handsomely.
Morales has improved his production from the right side in recent years and provides a professional at-bat with power potential in the middle of the lineup, splitting up lefty-swinging Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas.
However, Morales will be merely a pinch-hitter when the series switches to National League rules in New York.
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Travis d’Arnaud: When healthy, the Mets catcher is a presence at the plate and behind it. The trick is keeping him in one piece.
D’Arnaud spent almost two months on the disabled list with a fractured right pinkie early in the year, then was sidelined again for nearly all of July by a sprained left elbow. In 2014 he sustained a concussion, and the previous year he was out for most of the first half with a fractured foot.
But d’Arnaud produced an .825 OPS with 12 homers and 41 RBI in just 67 games this season, and he banged out another three homers in the first two rounds of the playoffs. In addition, he’s the guy who catches and guides all those flamethrowing starters.
Oh, and don’t let d’Arnaud’s last name fool you into thinking he’s French Canadian. He hails from Southern California.
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