KC Royals: Five Reasons Royals Will Defeat Mets In 2015 World Series

October 20, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

2. DANIEL MURPHY HAS TO COOL OFF

Thirty-year-old Daniel Murphy has been one of the better-hitting second baseman in major league baseball for a number of years now.  He sports a career .288/.331/.424 triple slash, good for an adjusted on-base plus slugging of 110 (10% better than a league average hitter).

His solid career numbers, however, in no way hinted at what was coming this post-season.

Hitting .424/.436/1.025 in his last nine games would be outrageous for Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Barry Bonds. His home run streak over six consecutive post-season games is a major-league record.

I think it’s safe to say that Daniel Murphy is on the greatest power surge in playoff history. And, it’s coming from a guy that has never hit more than 14 home runs (2015) IN A SEASON.

I do not doubt that Murphy has made some kind of an adjustment that has enhanced his power, despite his protestations of ignorance. If you discovered an approach that allowed you to slam seven home runs in nine playoff games, would you tell anyone how you’re doing it?

I thought not.

Daniel Murphy isn’t that stupid.

Even so, barring some kind of Jose Bautista transformation, Murphy’s power surge HAS to cool off, right?

If not, he’s going to pretty much destroy every record book in existence, and he’ll displace every icon in the game’s history. If Daniel Murphy’s run continues for any significant length of time into the regular season, they’ll rename the sport after him.

I’m not holding my breath.

Even with super-Murphy, the Mets are hitting a fairly pedestrian .235/.300/.433 in the 2015 post-season, scoring 43 runs in nine games. Those figures work out to a good-but-not-great 4.77 runs per game.

Certainly, the Mets have hit well in the post-season. That 4.77 runs-per-game would have easily led the National League in 2015 over the 4.55 runs-per-game put up by the Colorado Rockies. The .733 OPS would have ranked 3rd in the N.L. behind Colorado (.748) and Arizona (.738).

But, you’d expect a bit more from a team with a guy on a historic run like Murphy.

Of course, that record is a bit more impressive when you consider that the Mets have faced starters like Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Jake Arrieta, and Jon Lester (among others) this post-season.

Yet the KC Royals, have outhit the Mets coming into the World Series. The Royals have slashed .271/.328/.449 in 11 games this post season, for a .777 OPS. Their runs per game sits at 5.72 during the 2015 post-season, and includes bombing the Blue Jays for 14 runs in Game 5 of the ALCS.

Certainly the KC Royals posted those numbers in a league that includes a DH. Yet Kansas City offense has been clearly more productive than the Mets in the 2015 playoffs.

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