
The Royals offseason acquisitions back up their talk about improving hitters swing decisions
I think about the Kansas City Royals’ ALDS series versus the New York Yankees quite frequently, about as much as I think about the Roman Empire. When I think about the Royals dropping that series, I often think about the Yankees hitters compared to the Royals hitters and how many more pitches the Bronx hitters saw at the plate. In Game 3, a 3-2 victory for New York at Kauffman Stadium, Royals pitchers had to throw 178 pitches while Yankees pitchers only tossed 120. It seemed like every hitter in the New York lineup was patient, refusing to chase even borderline pitches. It was an impressive display of patience, swing decision,s and not swinging at pitches outside the strike zone, and I wanted the Royals lineup to learn a few lessons from that series.

