The Royals' pitching quartet is ready to attack the Yankees in ALDS

In a matchup that’s about as retro as the Major League Baseball playoffs, the Kansas City Royals will star.

On Saturday, they will take the field at Yankee Stadium against New York for Game 1 of the American League Division Series, rekindling an October rivalry that simmered four out of five years between 1977 and 1980. And in this first meeting in 44 years between the powder-blue upstarts of the Midwest and the pinstriped Bombers of the Bronx, the Royals will at least partially reject modern orthodoxy.

Oh, they have the most up-to-date scouting reports available, and have assembled this surprising 86-win team — built from the ashes of a 106-loss debacle in 2023 — with plenty of contemporary analysis.

But in an era when the starting pitcher in a playoff game is often just the hood ornament of the pitching staff, the Royals make no apologies for the fact that the backbone of their plucky, low-scoring team is keeping their four horses as long as possible to ride.

By and large, that trust has already paid off: young superstar Cole Ragans, rising talent Brady Singer and proven veterans Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha have all started between 29 and 33 games this season, their 126 starts most of any playoff quartet.

In the extremely scrutinized world of playoff baseball, it’s catapulted them to New York: Ragans and Lugo have combined to give up one earned run in their two starts in the wild-card series against Baltimore, with Ragans’ six stunning shutout innings Game 1 set the tone for a two-game sweep.

And maybe start them on a deeper run.

Wacha will get the ball Saturday night in the Bronx, a Game 1 against reigning Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole, 13 years after the two rookies announced their presence with bright starts for St. Louis and Pittsburgh, respectively, in a National League division Series.

Now 33, Wacha sports a long beard and enjoys the dynamism of a Kansas City team that harnesses the power of its youth and the wisdom of its elders.

“I’ve been in this league for 10, 11, 12 years now, so that comes with some experience,” Wacha said. “I have experienced some of the highest highs and some of the lowest lows. I can identify with many different players. I will always try to be available to the younger ones, the newcomers, ready to answer questions, help them in any situation and give them the belief that they can be successful at this level.

“But as much as I feel like they can learn from me, I can also learn from them.”

For now, they’re all following Ragans’ lead.

“We have something special”

The 26-year-old was an All-Star this season, and although his 186 ⅓ innings and 135 adjusted ERA couldn’t match Lugo’s 206 and 140, he batted .223 – second in the AL – and was an easy pick to win Game 1 .

His dominance with the Orioles — he struck out eight hits in six scoreless innings — was just the next step in a progression that began when the struggling Royals acquired him from Texas in June 2023 for reliever Aroldis Chapman.

“He became more than we thought,” said general manager JJ Picollo. “When we traded him, we definitely thought he would be part of the starting lineup.

“But when we finished the season last year, it was pretty obvious we had something really special.”

That’s a nice sample size: In 44 starts with Kansas City, Ragans has a 3.00 ERA and 312 strikeouts in 258 innings and is thriving with the run he’s been given.

Lugo can understand that.

In seven seasons in the big leagues with the New York Mets, he alternated between starter and reliever, closer and long man and swing guy. The talent was immense and obvious; The role was not consistent.

He finally broke through in 2023, signing a one-year deal with San Diego and posting a 3.57 ERA in 26 starts. And then Kansas City called.

After three 100-loss seasons since winning the 2015 World Series, but with superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., Ragans and other building blocks, Picollo sensed the time was right. He saw Lugo’s gap year in San Diego impressive and signed him to a three-year, $45 million contract.

Lugo only led the major leagues in innings pitched and will likely finish in the top five of AL Cy Young voting. But appreciation goes both ways.

“Thank you very much for the organization,” says Lugo. “I know that to throw as many innings as I did, you have to perform, but you also have to get the opportunity, and they did that for me.

“Extremely grateful.”

“One of the best minds I’ve ever seen”

After rotating through four teams in four seasons, Wacha perked up when he saw Lugo move to the Royals. The two were teammates with the Mets in the shortened 2020 season and again in San Diego in 2023.

The Texarkana native always meshed well with Lugo, a Louisiana native. Now another opportunity presented itself.

“JJ kind of described his plan and the team outlook,” Wacha said. “I saw that Lugo had signed there probably a week or two before me, and when I pitched with him, I knew what he had to offer.

“He really is one of the best minds I know when it comes to this sort of thing.”

Wacha agreed to a two-year, $32 million contract and started the most games (29) since 2017 and threw the most innings (166 ⅓) since 2015. Perhaps most notably, he completed a four-peat that was about as good Manager Matt Quatraro could have imagined it.

“Knowing Wacha where I knew him,” says Quatraro, the Tampa Bay bench coach during Wacha’s season there in 2021, “it doesn’t surprise me at all that he would help with being that glue and knowing That Ragans is a sponge for all things baseball. Brady, who we’ve been talking about for a few years now, is very ambitious and loves the environment, and he was committed to getting back to his usual level.

“I didn’t know Seth at all before this year, but when I saw him on the first day, approaching his bullpen and how much preparation he did, and then he stayed out to watch other guys throw to the bullpen, that’s when you started to see it “It was very organic from an early age and we just felt drawn to each other.”

Now they find themselves in a classic big-market versus small-market duel with the Yankees, whose $310 million payroll easily doubles Kansas City’s $122 million in spending. However, they are now on equal terms and thanks to the two games they won in Baltimore, the Royals will play their first playoff games in almost a decade at Kauffman Stadium.

“I expect it to be electrifying,” said Lugo, who will take his vaunted 10-pitch mix to the mound to start Game 3 on Wednesday in Kansas City. “I’m so happy for her.”

A day of rest after Game 1 would allow Ragans to start Game 2 at Yankee Stadium. He says the club knows its formula is “good enough” and it will now be put to the test.

But Ragans will bring to the mound not only his heavy 96 mph fastball and a devastating slider, but also the wisdom of those around him, from Lugo and Wacha to reliever Will Smith and the many seasoned veterans who fill the roles, who also remain as Ragans and Witt make headlines.

“When you bring guys who have been here before and played in the playoffs, they know what it takes all year to get to this point and go further,” Ragans said. “There is so much knowledge in the clubhouse. They’ve been around for a while. They are incredible people. It’s so easy to talk to them about certain things.

“You know, obviously they’re incredible baseball players. But they are even better people.”

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