It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for.
It’s been more than seven and a half years since one of the greatest sporting events of your life: the 2014 World Series, in which the San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals in seven games to win their third title in five seasons.
The Giants fell off shortly after that series, and are just now recovering and reestablishing themselves as one of baseball’s best teams. The Royal’s bounced back and won the World Series the next year, but haven’t had a winning season since.
They’ve faced each other since then, but because I have no other narratives for an interleague series against a bad and boring team, I’m just going to pretend that this is a highly-anticipated rematch.
But with that said, there are only three players still playing for the Giants and Royals who partook in that series: Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, and Salvador Pérez.
Series details
Who: San Francisco Giants vs. Kansas City Royals
Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California
When: Monday (6:45 p.m. PT), Tuesday (6:45 p.m. PT), and Wednesday (12:45 p.m. PT)
National broadcasts: None
Projected starters:
Monday: Alex Wood vs. Brady Singer
Tuesday: Logan Webb vs. Kris Bubic
Wednesday: TBD vs. Jonathan Heasley
Where they stand
Giants
Record: 33-26, 3rd in the NL West
Run differential: +35, 5th in the NL
Postseason standing: 2nd Wild Card, 3.5 games out of the Division
Momentum: 3-game winning streak, 6-4 in their last 10 games
Royals
Record: 20-39, 5th in the AL Central
Run differential: -88, 15th in the AL
Postseason standing: 11 games out of the Wild Card, 13.5 games out of the division
Momentum: 2-game losing streak, 4-6 in their last 10 games
Three Giants to watch
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Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
Brandon Crawford: After hitting .298/.373/.522 a year ago to earn a 4th-place finish in MVP voting, Crawford has taken a big step backwards offensively, hitting just .219/.311/.353. Some of that is just bad luck, as his BABIP has fallen dramatically, to the lowest mark since his rookie season. And he’s striking out and walking at nearly identical rates to 2021. So he’s due for a luck reversal, but also isn’t hitting the ball as hard as he did a year ago. Against two righties, Crawford will get his chance to get things on track.
Mike Yastrzemski: Speaking of getting things on track, Yaz continued his hot streak on Sunday when he homered off of lefty Julio Urías. He’s bounced back to his 2020 ways by hitting lefties at an above-average clip … but it’s still righties that he punishes the most, so this should be fun to watch.
Logan Webb: Webb has gotten roughed up a little bit in his last few outings, but now he faces a Royals team that is pretty miserable against righties — the Royals are hitting just .239/.302/.368. Time to feast, Webby.
Three Royals to watch
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Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images
Salvador Pérez: Like Crawford, Pérez had a resurgent season a year ago, finishing seventh in AL MVP voting. And, like Crawford, he’s struggled so far this season, as he’s hitting just .211/.250/.423. But he’s still a seven-time All-Star and the lone Royal remaining from that 2014 team, and so I’m still scared of him.
Brady Singer: 40-grade pitcher, 80-grade first name.
Kris Bubic: Bubic has a 9.13 ERA. I like when the Giants face dudes with a 9.13 ERA. He also has issued nearly as many walks as he has strikeouts. I like when the Giants face those guys, too.
Drop your predictions and keep the good times rolling.