A KC Royals Special: The Anti-Houston Breakdown

The KC Royals face a tall order against a team off to an historic start in the Houston Astros. Dallas Keuchel has been amazing, the offense is firing on all cylinders and the ‘Stros enter the series on a 10-game winning streak. But could the Royals have the cure that the rest of baseball seems to be missing?

Top Five Reasons to (Choose Your Own Adjective, it could be positive or negative, don’t let me influence you) Houston and the Astros

1. The Astrodome, the Eighth Wonder of the World. It used to be amazing that you could play baseball indoors. Times have changed.
2. The rainbow unis.
3. The silliness of Tal’s Hill. Lorenzo Cain approves of its departure.
4. Absolutely fleecing the Red Sox for Jeff Bagwell.
5. Giving the White Sox their first World Series in nearly 100 years.

Opponent Most Likely to start a Brawl

Brian McCann has long been a moral arbiter of our grand game, including the much-beloved video below of him jawing with Carlos Gomez after a homer. He’s a real delight.

Between McCann and one-time folk hero Evan Gattis, any right-thinking person would pick the Astros catching tandem in a skirmish between any two other teammates (non-Aaron Judge division) in baseball.

History of Bad Blood with the KC Royals?

The Astros just moved to the American League in 2013, so there really hasn’t been much time to establish much bad blood. Maybe this will be the series!

Houston Player of Whom Much Was Expected and Less Was Produced?

Coming from Cuba, people spoke of Yuli Gurriel in glowing terms. And he hasn’t been terrible. But the Astros probably hoped for better than slightly-above-replacement-level performance, which is what Gurriel has provided so far.

KC Royals Player Most Likely to Light Up the Astros?

For two teams with relatively little history together, the KC Royals have had a lot of individual success. Cain, Eric Hosmer, Alex Gordon and Whit Merrifield have each hit above .300 against the Astros in their respective careers. Game one starter Ian Kennedy is 4-0 with a 1.01 ERA (!!!!) in his career against Houston. Wouldn’t it be great if our KC Royals were the team that proved the infallible Astros can be toppled?

Will This Series be Fun?

It will be, but likely not for the KC Royals. Any other jokes aside, the Astros have spent the first two months of the regular season beating the crap out of basically everyone. The Royals have history on their side, not just from the individual standpoint but also with lots on the line (see 2015 ALDS).

Next: To Burn Out or Fade Away

But this isn’t 2015; these Astros are considerably better and these Royals are considerably older. Dayton Moore thinks this group may have another run in them; winning this series would go a long way toward validating that feeling.