The Kansas City Royals will appear in the postseason for the first time since 1985 when they host the Oakland Athletics Tuesday night in the Wild Card game. If the Royals win, they will play the Los Angeles Angels, who won a major league-best 98 games. A loss sends them home before October begins.
The Royals will trot out their ace, James Shields, who has acquired the moniker “Big Game James.” Shields has put in another workhorse season, making 34 starts and pitching 227 innings. He’s authored a 3.21 ERA, which is marred slightly by 14 unearned runs.
While his strikeout rate has dipped for the second consecutive year to 19.2 percent, his 4.7 percent walk rate is his lowest since the 2008 season.
Though he hasn’t missed as many bats with the Royals, he’s benefited from an exceptional defense. The Royals outfield features Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain, Jarrod Dyson and Nori Aoki.
Shields’ changeup has long been his go-to pitch, but for the first time, he used his cutter more frequently than the change. Perhaps he’s lost something on the changeup, and its swinging strike rate his dipped again to 16.3 percent. More likely the decreased usage is a result of an emphasis on throwing strikes. His zone rate on the cutter is 55 percent, compared to 34 percent on the changeup. Essentially Shields has managed to compensate for some of the lost strikeouts by walking fewer hitters.
In any case, the cutter and changeup give Shields two weapons against left-handed batters. For his career, he’s allowed a .248/.301/.403 line against left-handed batters. Right-handed hitters have actually fared better, with a .260/.308/.422 slash line. Those numbers have held up in the 2014 season. That may present a challenge for the A’s, who depend heavily on gaining the platoon advantage with their versatile lineup.
While Shields has averaged nearly seven innings per start this year, manager Ned Yost shouldn’t be afraid to turn to the bullpen. With Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland, the Royals have the most formidable late-inning arms in baseball. In addition, left-handed reliever Brandon Finnegan, a 2014 draft pick who was added to the roster in September, has been dominant with the big league club.
This could be the last game Shields will pitch in a Royals uniform. He becomes a free agent after the season, and he’ll almost certainly command more money than Kansas City will be able to offer. Shields isn’t the prize that Max Scherzer or Jon Lester are, but he’s likely to get something in the arena of $100 million. The Royals are hoping that he has a few more games left with them before he leaves for more lucrative pastures.
