Posted in Analysis

Royals Advance to ALDS for First Time In Nine Years

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by Jackson Ogden

The Kansas City Royals are headed to New York after completing their Wild Card upset over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday afternoon with a 2-1 series-clinching win. In a season where the Royals have crushed all expectations, they did it again this week thanks to fantastic starts from Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo combined with a masterful bullpen performance. Baltimore has now lost 10 consecutive playoff games, a streak that started against the Royals in 2014.

Updated AL Playoff Field

The Royals and Tigers advanced today, meaning the three-seed Houston Astros and four-seed Baltimore Orioles are out of the picture. The race to claim the pennant is down to four teams, and three of them are representing the AL Central. The Royals will head to take on the top-seeded New York Yankees in a best of five while the Tigers head to Cleveland to take on the Guardians. Should the Royals advance, it would set up the first matchup between two AL Central teams in the ALCS since the division was created back in 1994. Regardless of if that happens, somebody from the AL Central is now guaranteed to appear in the ALCS for the first time since 2016.

The current field consists of four teams that didn’t qualify for the postseason a year ago, with only the Yankees having a winning record in 2023. Below are the updated odds each team has to win the pennant via FanDuel.

  • Yankees: +100
  • Guardians: +360
  • Tigers: +370
  • Royals: +440

ALDS Schedule

While the times of each game scheduled between the Royals and Yankees are not yet available, here’s the rundown of dates and TV networks the games will be on.

  • Game 1 (ROAD): Saturday, Oct. 5, 5:38 PM Central Time, TBS
  • Game 2 (ROAD): Monday, Oct. 7, 6:38 PM Central Time, TBS/truTV
  • Game 3 (HOME): Wednesday, Oct. 9, TBD, TBS
  • Game 4 *if necessary (HOME): Thursday, Oct. 10, TBD, TBS
  • Game 5 *if necessary (ROAD): Saturday, Oct. 12, TBD, TBS

Matchup Preview

With the Royals sweeping the Orioles, it gives them an extra day before starting the series in the Bronx. While the Yankees have slotted Gerrit Cole in for game one and Carlos Rodon for game two, the Royals have yet to announce any plans for who they’ll be sending out to start the series. Cole Ragans started on Tuesday, so the Royals may send him out on four days’ rest. Regarding the matchup itself, the Yankees took five of seven meetings in the regular season against the Royals.

While the strength of the Royals may be the stellar pitching, the Yankees lineup has been a nightmare for opposing pitching all season long. While Aaron Judge justifiably gets all the attention, his teammate Juan Soto has caused opponents headaches all season long. The matchup between a staff in the Royals who don’t give up many deep balls against a Yankees lineup that takes everyone deep is what playoff baseball is all about.

Matchup History

The Yankees and Royals have met four times in the playoffs, with the Yankees winning three of those series. The most recent matchup between these two in October came in the 1980 ALCS when the Royals swept New York to advance to their first World Series in franchise history. Overall, the Royals are 8-9 against the Yankees in playoff games. The two franchises have met a combined 542 times between regular and postseason games, and the Yankees have won 60.5% of those matchups.

Jackson Ogden