Blangraphs FutureCast: Opening Day 2015
KANSAS CITY - April 6, 2015
Yordano Ventura is tired. The young ace has thrown 161 pitches, preserving a scoreless game into the 10th inning. Unfortunately, his opponent, Chris Sale of the White Sox, has not allowed a run either. With two out in the top of the 10th inning, before a raucous sea of blue-bedecked fans, Ventura's worst pitch of the night heads towards the plate, where Jose Abreu stands waiting.
One meatball coming up, extra mustard. Sounds disgusting, but to Ventura, the food metaphor is even worse with a side of Tater.
One swing of the bat and the shutout is off.
Ventura shakes his head and sweat pours down his face. He sees manager Ned Yost slowly ambling towards the mound and knows that the rest of the night will be spent watching helplessly, hoping that his incredible pitching performance is not wasted. Who could relieve him at a time like this? What pitcher could come in and salvage the rest of this game, making a crucial final out and giving the Royals a fighting chance to tie the game in the bottom of the 10th?
Wade Davis, of course. That was a weird question to ask, since Davis had been the Royals' go-to reliever all of 2014, helping get them to the World Series with his incredible 0.847 WHIP.
Davis easily retires Emilio Bonifacio to bring the game to the bottom of the 10th, the Royals down 0-1.
Now on to the bottom of the 10th.
The mood in the stadium is tense as Omar Infante grounds out and Mike Moustakas is caught looking. Two quick outs and the Royals still need a run. Hope comes in the form of Lorenzo Cain's bloop single to left field. Due up next is Alex Gordon... or is it? Gordon is 0-5 in the game, with four strikeouts. A great player, and undoubtedly the best hitter on the team, he just can't seem to figure out Chris Sale's approach. Ned Yost makes a drastic decision- he removes Gordon from the game.
There is uproar in the stands, as the loud, angry fans who can't believe that the star of the offense could leave at a time like this greatly outnumber those who trust the coach's judgment.
They're even more outraged when they see how is walking into the batter's box. Could it be? No. It makes no sense. Nobody thought that this guy was going to make the roster, and those who did thought he would be a mop up innings eater pitching in games that were far out of reach. With one man on base, the unlikely batter goes up against Chris Sale. It is the unlikeliest of matchups, a fringe roster member hitting against "The Condor." Some fans shift in their seats and wonder if they should try to beat the crowds who will soon make the slow, sad walk to their cars. And then the pitch comes.
