5 Players That Are Key to the Royals Winning and Why They Are Fun To Watch This Postseason

Mike Moustakas
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On May 22nd, 3B Mike Moustakas was sent down to the Omaha Storm Chasers. The former top ten prospect and Joe Bauman Home Run Award winner had hit rock bottom in the majors. He was hitting .152, had a .223 on-base percentage, and a .320 slugging percentage in 40 games. However, Ned Yost expressed faith in him, saying, "He's a guy that is going to help us win a championship." Five months later, he has been one of the Royals best players so far in the playoffs. In Game 1 of the ALDS vs. the Angles, he hit a go-ahead homer run in the eleventh. Then, in Game 1 of the ALCS against Baltimore, he hit a two run homer in the tenth that gave the Royals, who were up one at that point, two much needed insurance runs. Finally, in last night's game, he not only hit a homer that put the Royals up 4-3 in the fourth, but laid down a sacrifice bunt in the ninth to advance the runner, Terrance Gore, who scored when the next hitter Alcides Escobar hit a double. Moustakas has turned his career around at the best possible moment. 

Brandon Finnegan
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When Moustakas was sent down to the minors, Brandon Finnegan was a junior and the ace for the TCU Horned Frogs. He went 9-3 with 2.04 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and 11.41 Strikeouts per 9. In his last college game against Virginia, Finnigan went eight innings, giving up only one earned runs. TCU lost game 3-2 in fifteen innings. Finnigan was drafted 17th overall by Kansas City in the 2014 Draft. He reported to Wilmington in July, where he was unhittable. In 15 innings, he had an 0.60 ERA and a 0.467 WHIP. He was not as good in Double-A Northwest Arkansas, but was good when he was called up to Kansas City. He pitched seven innings in the regular season, giving up only one runs and struck out ten batters. In the Wild Card Game, Finnigan pitched two and a third innings in relief, getting three strikeouts, but allowed an earned run (the runner scored when Jason Frasior was pitching). He got the win in Game 2 of the ALDS. However, he has struggled in both of the ALCS games so far. He has made a large impact out of the pen so far and will continue to. 

Lorenzo Cain
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Lorenzo Cain was a fringe outfielder for the last few years in Kansas City. That is, until he had a breakout year this year. He led the team in hitting (.301), was second in slugging (.751), OPS+ (108), rWAR (5.0), and fWAR (4.9). He also is having a fantastic year defensively, especially in the playoffs. Every game seems to have multiple fantastic plays by Cain. It does not matter if he is in center or in right field, Cain is making every play, no matter the difficulty. Cain, batting in the three hole, has also been hitting extremely well. He had two hits, two runs, and two ribbies in the Wild Card game. In Game 1 vs. Baltimore, Cain went two-for-three with two walks and two runs scored. He was even better in Game 2, going four-for-five with two runs scored and an RBI in the ninth that put the Royals up two. Cain has been a pleasant surprise and has been at his best this October.

Wade Davis
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The best set-up man, maybe even the best relief pitcher, in baseball this season is Wade Davis. His regular season numbers are off the charts. He made 71 appearances, all out of the pen, was 9-2, with 1.00 ERA, 0.847 WHIP, 3.9 Wins Probability Added, and an astonishing 399 ERA+. For comparison, Clayton Kershaw's ERA+ this year was 197, Mariano Rivera's highest ERA+ was 316, and Eric Gagne's Cy Young season's ERA+ was 337. Davis has appeared in every postseason game for the Royals so far. He has given up only one run so far, in the Royals 8-3 win over the Angels. In Game 1 of the ALCS, Davis went two innings, struck out four batters, and got the win. Davis has continued his successful regular season. For the Royals bullpen to be as effective as it has been so far, they need Davis to be the man. 

Terrance Gore
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Terrance Gore is the most unlikely member of the playoff roster of any player in the postseason. Gore spent most of the season in Adavcned-A Wilmington, until he was called up to Triple-A Omaha in August and was a September call up when major league rosters expanded. He hit .218 with a .284 on-base and a .258 slugging in Advanced-A, but he did have 36 steals and was only caught four times.Gore did a little better in Omaha, but that was in an extremely smaller sample size. In his one month in the majors, he had two plate appearances (he grounded out and was hit-by-pitch) and stole five bases. Yet, thanks to his incredible speed, he was put onto the postseason roster. He has played in four games, has had no at-bats, but does have three steals and scored the go-ahead run in yesterday's Game 2 win. It has been 40 years since Herb Washington was the pinch runner in Oakland and it has taken 40 years for another incarnation of pinch runner to come along.