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KANSAS CITY -- When the Kansas City Royals defied the odds (and preseason projections) to make an inspired run to their first World Series title in thirty years this past November, the baseball world took notice. Here was a club without an exorbitant payroll, an excess of star power, or a storied pedigree. The Royals relied on the fundamentals -- and resilience, teamwork and an irrefutable relentlessness -- to bring a championship to their city. This felt like a special team, one that had grown up together and plugged away while bucking convention -- a sort of throwback amidst the current landscape of bloated contracts and ever-changing personnel. Naturally, when any team has success, it makes other clubs take inventory— of their own farm systems, their own organizational philosophies and their own blueprints for the future.  Is it possible that other teams, including the Detroit Tigers, have taken into account what the Royals did to achieve their goal in 2015, only to incorporate that into their own plans? Is there anything to learn from how they won?
One area is already having a clear impact on the rest of the league, as evidenced by the spending this offseason. Whereas many teams previously chose to plunk down cash in starting pitching as a priority, the Royals are a team that is built from the bullpen out. The Royals' bullpen had the best ERA in the AL at 2.72 (second-best in the majors) last season and allowed the lowest opponents’ batting average and OPS in baseball. Wade Davis has been the backbone of that group. The 30-year-old has been arguably the most reliable closer in baseball the past two seasons and, according to ESPN Stats and Info, Davis’ 0.97 ERA is nearly a half run lower than the next-best reliever (Dellin Betances, 1.45) of the 101 relievers to throw 100 innings over that span. What was perhaps the most robust market in free agency this winter? The market for relievers, and the Tigers were major players to that end. General Manager Al Avila promised to get serious about bolstering the Tigers' bullpen and he did just that – trading for closer Francisco Rodriguez and Justin Wilson, and adding fellow set-up man Mark Lowe in free agency. Previously, the Tigers’ bullpen has been a source of great anxiety, but especially now – with both Blaine Hardy and Alex Wilson back – there is a new sense of depth of competition within its ranks. What else stands out most about the Royals as they attempt to become the first team to repeat since the New York Yankees won three straight from 1998-2000? “They obviously have the ability to run,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “They have a good defensive team, but there’s not much we can do about that.” The Royals, managed by Ned Yost, finished fifth in the majors last season with 112 stolen bases and finished first among all teams in the postseason with 14 . That element of speed will provide an interesting litmus test for the Tigers, considering the club has shown an early aptitude for throwing out runners, but it’s also a reminder of the areas in which the Tigers are striving to improve. Detroit brought in Kirk Gibson as a special baserunning instructor in spring training and made the area a point of emphasis in camp, though the early results have been mixed. Offensively, it’s essentially the same lineup as last year for Kansas City, with a collection of talented hitters who have extra-base power, but don’t necessarily swing from their heels. Indeed, one of the Royals’ key strengths last season was their collective approach to hitting, a team-first, small-ball philosophy that ultimately made them world champions. They may not have the same slugging potential as the Tigers – with former Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, rising star J.D. Martinez and outfielder Justin Upton amidst their ranks – but the Royals' aggressiveness at the plate makes them exceptionally difficult to face. “A lineup is a lineup. You’re always going to have a few key players that you can’t mess with,” reliever Kyle Ryan said. “The Royals have a few players more than most, in my opinion, that if you miss, because they are so aggressive, they’re going to hit your mistake.” Ryan’s fellow reliever Hardy learned that the hard way in Tuesday’s 8-6 loss. The Royals are such an aggressive team, one that loves to swing at first pitches, that it can make a pitcher alter his game plan. After entering the game in the fifth inning, Hardy struck out Alex Gordon with a curveball. He figured catcher Salvador Perez wouldn’t be sitting on a curveball, but he was proven wrong. Perez took him deep for a three-run shot. “Our book said [he] kind of struggles with curveballs. Obviously, he didn’t struggle with the one I threw him,” Hardy said following his otherwise encouraging 2016 debut. In Tuesday’s game, the Royals scored seven of their eight runs with two outs – another testament to their doggedness at the plate. Early this season, the Tigers seem to be trying to adopt a similar hitting philosophy, not “trying to get too big” or swing for the fences with each at-bat, but rather to really dig in and trust the player in front of you, fight for each at-bat and not give up. Is there a copycat element to that, not just in Detroit, but elsewhere throughout the league as a result of the Royals’ surprising success? “Possibly,” Ausmus said. “They do -- I think -- seem to have that mentality, that keep the line moving, everyone does their part. But I also see them do some things, and I don’t know if it’s team philosophy, or individuals doing it, but they have some guys that are shifted on quite a bit, a guy like [Eric] Hosmer, [Mike] Moustakas, and [Alex] Gordon. And those guys have done an excellent job making adjustments,” Ausmus said. “Especially Moustakas, going the other way. Hosmer, using the bat to his advantage.” Moustakas improved from a batting average of .253 in 290 plate appearances against the shift in 2014 to batting .319 in 323 plate appearances against the shift last season, according to ESPN Stats and Info. Moustakas was 13th among AL left-handed hitters that went to the other field in 2015 with a 29.3 opposite-field percentage, 12th among AL left-handed hitters with a .360 batting average hitting to the opposite field when he got the ball in play (league average was .325), and sixth among AL left-handed hitters with 70 total bases to the opposite field. As such, the Tigers don’t even shift on those three players anymore; they’ve proven its futility. “As much as guys like Hosmer and Moustakas have the ability to drive the ball to the yard they also understand they can have an impact, just being on first base and allowing the next guy to do his job,” Ausmus said. “So I give them credit because they’ve done that very well, probably better than any team in the game.” There’s no doubt that the Royals are the team to everyone is chasing in 2016. Surely, the Royals will play with the proverbial target on their back. Furthermore, they have been studied and scouted and, in some ways, emulated. “Teams are definitely more aware of you, “ Ausmus said. “28 teams are sitting at home at home watching you and other team play on TV in October.” And those teams have been thinking about knocking them off the throne ever since. Including the Tigers.
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