Written by Joseph Coblitz at Bloguin
The Kansas City Royals continue to surprise people as they have for the past two seasons. No one thought they would win the Wild Card in 2014 or then make it to the World Series. No one thought they would return to the playoffs this year despite being the top AL team the year before and once they did, many thought they would quickly lose to the Astros and then the Blue Jays. Instead, they have consistently won against the predictions of the national media.
One reason for these low expectations is that the Royals aren’t the best at either hitting (seventh in the MLB in runs scored) or pitching (10th in MLB in ERA). Dividing the pitching staff up, their starting rotation came in 22nd in ERA and the offense was just the 11th-best in slugging percentage. Taking the most basic of glances, there is a reason many don’t consider the Royals to be the best in the American League despite their record.
The one aspect the Royals have dominated against the rest of the league, however, is defense. According to FanGraphs, they saved almost twice as many runs over league average than the second-best team, the Giants, and 33 more than the next best AL team. For a quick comparison, during the regular season, they saved 64 more runs than their first-round opponents, the Houston Astros, and 47 more than the Blue Jays.
| Royals | OPS | AL Rank | ERA | AL Rank | Def | AL Rank |
| 2012 | .716 | 8th | 4.30 | 10th | -3.6 | 8th |
| 2013 | .694 | 12th | 3.45 | 1st | 87.6 | 1st |
| 2014 | .690 | 10th | 3.51 | 4th | 74.8 | 1st |
| 2015 | .734 | 7th | 3.73 | 3rd | 56.9 | 1st |
The Royals’ improved defense was undoubtedly the biggest change between the 72-win 2012 Royals and the 86+ win teams during the next three years. While they have largely stayed towards the bottom of the league in offense and near the top in pitching, Kansas City has flipped from a below-league average defense in 2012 to the best in the league each of the past three seasons.
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