World Series Thoughts…

Just a few random thoughts as I watch this years World Series…

1) Which is better, quality or quantity?

Five of the six WS games played so far have been won by five or more runs, killing quite a bit of the drama. In some cases, I kept watching, like last night, but that was because I enjoy watching Ventura pitch. I stopped watching after he left. Plus, I didn’t really watch the Royals bat after Posey hit into his bases loaded double play. I knew the Giants were going to lose after that. If Ventura wasn’t pitching, I’d have switched over to Netflix or something else. I would’ve much rather had a four game sweep where the score in each game was 1 to 0 as that would’ve kept me glued to my seat each game.

2) If he stays on his career path, the Royals should keep Yordano Ventura.

The Royals once had a young ace (Zack Greinke)  who they traded rather than eventually pay his eventual ginormous salary. They netted two key peices of this years team in that trade in Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar, so when Ventura gets near free agency, I’m afraid Dayton Moore will develop an itchy trigger finger. If Ventura stays on his current path, doesn’t need five million Tommy John Surgeries (the dude is 5 ft 10 and skinny as a pole, yet his reaches 100 MPH every start. that’s gotta create quite a bit of stress on that arm) and one of my revolutions listed below doesn’t come to pass and teams still use standard starting pitchers, Ventura will be an ace. KC fans already love this kid, and if Dayton is smart, he’ll talk the owner into signing him for life when the time comes. Ventura could be a franchise icon if things break right. He’s certainly off to a good start.

3) Let the Two Renaissances Begin!

This years’ WS may inspire two movements, both directly inspired by the Royals.

Renaissance Number One: Walks are overrated.

I personally disagree with this one, but KC’s contact heavy approach got them to the WS, and many executives. may point to the Royals when they’re asked why they signed a contact heavy hitter who swings at pitches within a foot of the strike zone (Hello Salvador Perez!). Walks *are* valuable, in my opinion, because good pitchers can often take advantage of hitters’ aggresiveness. The Royals just got lucky and only really faced two true aces this entire post-season. One was cruising until he got tired in the seventh (Jon Lester, who had also lost his catcher who was good against the run in Geovany Soto) and the other, Madison Bumgarner, has absolutely owned the Royals in the World Series.

Rennaisance Number Two: The Second Inning Closer.

The Royals basically have three closers, one for each of the last three innings. Well, all it takes is one GM to take that innovation one step further, sign a bunch of power arms or pitchers with one clear wipeout pitch, and assign each one to an inning. Basically your pitching staff would consist of 12 relievers. Not only could it work, it would save your team some money. No more Kershaw/Zito type contracts. Plus, if one of your relievers gets greedy, it’s easier to find a guy who can pitch one inning than a guy who can pitch five to nine. You may laugh, but I think this could actually work. There’s plenty of failed starters like Wade Davis out there who can crank things up kowing they only have to pitch an inning.

Just some food for thought. Al always, thanks for reading.