VERDUCCI: How three unheralded contributors helped Royals repeat as AL champs

[tk13]

Originally Posted by Why Not?

Exactly. It's as if the whole organization stepped up this year. If this story gets to the Mets and their pitchers even think about for a second, that could be huge. I fully trust that if those pitchers of theirs have any weaknesses, we will know how to expose it(exposing it is another thing, but we will know how!)

When people think "analytics," they think the early 2000 A's... walks, homers, strikeouts don't matter. Offense is much more important than defense.

But I don't think it's a coincidence the Royals have had the fewest strikeouts by a mile the last 2-3 years. I think there's some organizational philosophy behind it that's rooted in analytics. We just don't know what it is, because they'll never tell. The book Moneyball is specifically about taking advantage of what other teams aren't valuing. They've built a team around speed, contact, great defense and a bullpen... pretty much the opposite those A's teams.