Giants vs. Royals, projected World Series lineups

WORLD SERIES: GIANTS VS. ROYALS

PROJECTED LINEUPS

KANSAS CITY

POS; PLAYER; AVG.; HR; RBI; COMMENT

SS; Alcides Escobar; .285; 3; 50; .283 first half, .287 second half, .278 postseason.

RF; Nori Aoki; .285; 1; 43; Jarrod Dyson is designated runner for Aoki.

CF; Lorenzo Cain; .301; 5; 53; Hit .533 in American League Championship Series.

1B; Eric Hosmer; .270; 9; 58; Reached base in 20 of 36 postseason plate appearances.

DH; Billy Butler; .271; 9; 66; Last home run: Aug. 24.

LF; Alex Gordon; .266; 19; 74; five for 10 vs. Giants this season.

C; Salvador Perez; .260; 17; 70; Postseason slugging percentage: .118.

2B; Omar Infante; .252; 6; 66; Postseason: nine strikeouts in 29 at-bats.

3B; Mike Moustakas; .212; 15; 54; two home runs in August, zero in September, four in October.

POS; PLAYER; AVG.; HR; RBI; COMMENT

CF; Gregor Blanco; .260; 5; 38; on-base-plus-slugging in regular season: .707; postseason: .411

2B; Joe Panik; .305; 1; 18; Postseason: one strikeout in 46 at-bats.

C; Buster Posey; .311; 22; 89; Postseason: not an extra-base hit in 43 at-bats.

3B; Pablo Sandoval; .279; 16; 73; Last World Series Game 1: Home runs in first three at-bats.

RF; Hunter Pence; .277; 20; 74; Career vs. James Shields: 0 for 11.

1B; Brandon Belt; .243; 12; 27; Hit .192 with runners in scoring position.

DH; Michael Morse; .279; 16; 61; Has not started since Aug. 31 because of rib-cage injury.

LF; Travis Ishikawa; .274; 2; 15; Leads Giants with seven postseason runs batted in.

SS; Brandon Crawford; .246; 10; 69; Hit .294 in National League division series, .125 in Championship Series.

The Royals’ undefeated run through the AL playoffs suggests dominance. In reality, their 8-0 run includes four extra-inning victories, two 2-1 victories, a two-run victory and one rout of C.J. Wilson and the Angels. They ranked last in the AL in home runs during the regular season, but they have eight in eight postseason games. While the Royals run at will — and carry two pinch-runners on their roster — the Giants ranked last in the NL in stolen bases. Posey threw out 30% of runners trying to steal. No one on the Giants has hit more than one home run this postseason; Posey does not have an extra-base hit.

STARTING PITCHERS

KANSAS CITY; W-L; ERA; COMMENT

James Shields; 14-8; 3.21; “Big Game James?” His postseason ERA is 5.63.

Yordano Ventura; 14-10; 3.20; 97-mph average fastball velocity led MLB starters.

Jason Vargas; 11-10; 3.71; Postseason: 11 1/3 innings, five hits.

Jeremy Guthrie; 13-11; 4.13; 22nd pick in 2002 MLB draft, three ahead of Matt Cain.

SAN FRANCISCO; W-L; ERA; COMMENT

Madison Bumgarner; 18-10; 2.98; Postseason: 1.42 ERA, 31 2/3 innings, 5 walks, 28 strikeouts.

Jake Peavy; 6-4; 2.17; ERA in September was 1.44; in October, 1.86.

Tim Hudson; 9-13; 3.57; Postseason: Has faced 55 batters without a walk.

Ryan Vogelsong; 8-13; 4.00; Last victory was Aug. 29.

Bumgarner will be the only elite starter to appear in the World Series, so victories in his two starts would get the Giants halfway to the championship. He starts Game 1 on the road; his streak of 26 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in road postseason games is a major league record. Shields has given up 10 runs and 21 hits in 16 innings during these playoffs. The Giants have a lineup laden with left-handed hitters, and their record is 30-30 against left-handed pitching, which could make Vargas the starter most crucial to the Royals’ success.

BULLPEN

KANSAS CITY; W-L-S; ERA; COMMENT

Greg Holland; 1-3-46; 1.44; Last home run given up: June 23, to Adrian Gonzalez.

Wade Davis; 9-2-3; 1.00; Batters faced, including postseason: 313. Home runs given up: 0.

Kelvin Herrera; 4-3-0; 1.41; Batters faced, including postseason: 318. Home runs given up: 0.

Jason Frasor; 4-1-0; 2.66; Dodgers once got him for Hiram Bocachica.

Brandon Finnegan; 0-1-1; 1.29; Compare ERA this season to 2.04 mark at Texas Christian.

Tim Collins; 0-3-0; 3.86; Walked 11 in 21 innings during regular season.

Danny Duffy; 9-12-0; 2.53; Was arguably Royals’ best starter this season.

SAN FRANCISCO; W-L-S; ERA; COMMENT

Santiago Casilla; 3-3-19; 1.70; Lost closer job to Romo in 2012.

Sergio Romo; 6-4-23; 3.72; Lost closer job to Casilla in 2014.

Jeremy Affeldt; 4-2-0; 2.28; Has given up two hits in 6 1/3 postseason innings.

Jean Machi; 7-1-2; 2.58; Opponents batted .201 this season.

Javier Lopez; 1-1-0; 3.11; Opponent on-base percentage: .248 vs. left-handers, .429 vs. right-handers.

Yusmiero Petit; 5-5-0; 3.69; Postseason: Two hits and 11 strikeouts in nine innings.

Hunter Strickland; 1-0-1; 0.00; Rookie in postseason: 18 batters faced, four home runs.

Tim Lincecum; 12-9-0; 4.74; Has not pitched since Sept. 28.

The Royals’ hard-throwing bullpen gets all the attention, deservedly, thanks to the late-game trio of Herrera (seventh inning, 1.08 postseason ERA), Davis (eighth inning, 0.96) and Holland (ninth inning, 1.13). The Royals also have a shiny new toy, Finnegan, who went from the College World Series in June to the World Series in October. But the postseason ERA for the Royals’ bullpen (1.80) is a tad higher than for the Giants’ bullpen (1.78), where Petit and Affeldt have combined for 15 1/3 scoreless innings during the playoffs.

RESERVES

KANSAS CITY

POS; PLAYER; AVG.; HR; RBI; COMMENT

C; Erik Kratz; .218; 2; 3; Last at-bat: Sept. 28. Last hit: Aug. 31.

IF; Christian Colon; .333; 0; 6; Royals drafted him instead of Chris Sale.

OF; Josh Willingham; .215; 14; 40; He’s 35 and reportedly retiring after World Series.

OF; Jarrod Dyson; .269; 1; 24; 50th-round draft pick turned designated runner No. 1.

OF; Terrance Gore; .000; 0; 0; In minors: no home runs in 1,048 at-bats. Designated runner No. 2.

SAN FRANCISCO

POS; PLAYER; AVG.; HR; RBI; COMMENT

C; Andrew Susac; .273; 3; 19; Giants’ 2011 draft: Panik first round, Susac second round.

IF; Joaquin Arias; .254; 0; 15; Career .400 postseason hitter — in 10 at-bats.

IF; Matt Duffy; .267; 0; 8; Scored from second base on a wild pitch during NLCS.

OF; Juan Perez; .170; 1; 3; Has finished eight of Giants’ 10 postseason games in LF.

Dyson’s role: run for Aoki, steal a base, then finish the game in center field, with Cain moving to right field to form what is by far baseball’s best defensive outfield. Gore’s role: run, steal a base. Gore’s major league career, including postseason: 16 games, eight stolen bases, one at-bat. The benches will be strengthened when the World Series moves to San Francisco, with pitchers batting and Morse and Butler reduced to pinch-hitters.

BILL SHAIKIN’S PREDICTION

Logic says this should be a World Series that delights baseball purists — pitching, defense and timely hitting, a low-scoring Series in which suspense will be at a maximum and the winner will need six or seven games to prevail. But there is nothing logical about this postseason — just ask Clayton Kershaw — and neither team in this World Series won 90 games, a first for an uninterrupted season. We know a good story when we see it, even if we can’t really explain it. Royals in four.