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KC Royals: 4 factors to watch in 2015 World Series rematch series

By Trey Donovan |
/ Jamie Squire/GettyImages
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Editor's Note: After this KC Royals story published, several sources, including FanSided's Robert Murray, reported that the Mets have agreed to trade starter Justin Verlander to Houston.

The KC Royals are coming off a series sweep of the Minnesota Twins, winning both three games in a row and getting their first series sweep of the year. Better late than never. Anyway, the next series for the Royals is a rare rematch of the 2015 World Series against the New York Mets. The three-game Tuesday-through-Thursday set starts tonight at Kauffman Stadium.

The KC Royals and New York Mets look very different eight years later.

It has been a while since either team faced each other as the last matchup was in 2019 in Kauffman Stadium. The Royals lost that series and rolled out some Royals legends like Cheslor Cuthbert, Brett Phillips, Meibrys Viloria, and Nick Dini. The final game of that series was also started by Mike Montgomery, who got a quality start and a win.

The weird thing coming into this series is that both teams could look very different before first pitch as both teams are/have made trades to build their farm systems, some better than others. The Mets have traded Max Scherzer and Mark Canha, plus talk that Justin Verlander and Tommy Pham could be traded is permeating social media. Anyway, let's get into the four things to keep an eye on in this series.

The further breakout of Bobby Witt Jr. for the KC Royals could bring hope to the future.

If anyone thought Bobby Witt Jr. (BWJ) wouldn't be one of the focuses after the series he had against the Twins, then they might not know what he did to the Twins. He went 9 for 14 with 9 RBI's with 2 homeruns. Oh, and one of those bombs was a walk-off grand slam. It is safe to say that BWJ might be on a hot streak.

That series may have fully brought BWJ back into the national spotlight, even for a couple of days, but he has been the Royals' best player since the All-star break. His slash line during this period is .385/.400/.641 for an OPS of 1.041. Adding to this he isn't striking out a ton with a K% of 17.5 and has a wRC+ of 184 during this period of time. The biggest issue for him is still not walking enough, has only one walk since the break and overall a 4.8% walk rate.

Even with the paltry walk rate BWJ has eclipsed a 3 fWAR, 3.3 so far, with the bat being slightly better and his defense taking a huge leap. If Bobby can continue this for the rest of the year he could be the hope Royals fans have needed this season.

Speaking of breakouts the Royals have a surprising one who could usurp a longtime Royal.

Freddy Fermin looks to be the best catcher on the KC Royals this season.

Before the season it seemed that Salvador Perez would once again be the premier catcher for the Royals, but since Freddy Fermin got called up he has been a "dude" for the Royals both behind the plate and at the plate. His play, especially in July, should be rewarded with more starts in the second half of the year.

In July, Fermin has slashed .326/.354/.522 with an OPS of .876 and a wRC+ of 138. To add to this, Fermin has also been one of, if not the most, clutch hitters the Royals have this year. Per Fangraphs, Fermin has a batting average of .326 with RISP an OPS of .844, and a wRC+ 130. The bat has been a huge surprise, but Fermin has also provided solid defense behind the plate.

In two catching metrics, pop time and framing, Fermin is in the red per Baseball Savant. Fermin has a pop time average of 1.94 which is 21st in the league among catchers. For framing, Fermin is in the 70th percentile for the metric. Both metrics are better than Salvy's metrics and even if the bat cools off it may be time to get Fermin more starts.

Now on to a couple of things related to the Mets, starting with a couple important bats.

Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso might turn into the Bash Bros against the KC Royals.

If anyone was a poster child for being a "Royals Killer" then Francisco Lindor would be a likely option. Lindor has tormented Royals pitching since his rookie year and he has accumulated a slash line of .326./381/.626 for an OPS of 1.007. Even if he hasn't been exactly the same player with the Mets as his younger Guardians self he probably will have a good series against a ragtag rotation and bullpen.

Now you might ask why I added Pete Alonso if he has only 3 games against the Royals. Well, in that series he hit .500, had four RBIs, and an OPS of 1.488. Is that enough of a sample size? No, but since the All-star break Alonso seems to be regaining his form slashing .259/.333/.556 for an OPS of .889.

These two hitters may be having "down" years on a team that has underperformed so far, but facing a lowly team like the Royals could rite any ship and maybe even propel a team to fight for a wildcard spot.

While the rotation for the Mets isn't fully announced there is one starter to keep track of.

Kodai Senga will show out with a lot of plus stuff against the KC Royals.

Kodai Senga will start the second game of this series against Alec Marsh and will showcase a lot of elite stuff that the Royals haven't seen before. The Japanese rookie has been a staple for the Mets sporting an ERA of 3.17, and an 11.14 K/9. He was also an All-star and will more than likely be in the top three for NL Rookie of the Year.

While he is having a good season, he has some key issues in his game. One thing is that he walks a ton of batters, carrying a 4.54 BB/9 on the year, and due to that, his FIP is a little higher than expected at 3.79. While some metrics don't favor Senga, in July Senga put up "ace-like" numbers with an ERA of 1.93, a K/9 of 11.19, and limiting walks with a BB/9 of 2.70.

We haven't even gotten to his elite stuff yet, and Senga has three-plus pitches in his repertoire. The worst of his best is his 4-seam fastball which has some natural movement on it and sets up his two truly elite pitches. His cutter and forkball (yes, a forkball) are his bread and butter on the year as the combined run values for both are +18 (insanely good).

The Royals are looking to stay hot and continue their win streak, but the Mets are looking to make up ground in the NL Wildcard as they are 6.5 games back and facing the lowly Royals could help them out.

Next. KC Royals Trades: Club grabs new major league pitcher. KC Royals Trades: Club grabs new major league pitcher. dark

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