It’s hard to know just how to feel about the 2018 playoffs.
First of all, it hasn’t been any fun turning on the TV the past two years and not seeing the Royals in the playoffs. Though it was only a two year run, watching the Royals in an unforgettable Wild Card game and 6 playoff series turned a ton of people into playoff baseball watchers.
That’s gone now. But you can’t turn on the TV and not see one of our boys on the screen. The number of former Royals littering playoff rosters is astounding.
2014 or 2015 Royals in the 2018 playoffs:
Brewers: Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Erik Kratz
Rockies: Wade Davis, Drew Butera
Cubs: Ben Zobrist, Terrance Gore
Dodgers: Scott Alexander, Ryan Madson
Braves: Lane Adams
Athletics: Liam Hendricks
Royals from other seasons in the 2018 playoffs:
Brewers: Joakim Soria, Jeremy Jeffress, Manny Pina
Cubs: Jesse Chavez
Athletics: Trevor Cahill, Ryan Buchter
Indians: Melky Cabrera
Braves: Lucas Duda, Peter Moylan
Did you think you were losing your mind when you saw Wade Davis throwing to Drew Butera? Last time you saw that in a playoff game, the Royals mobbed the field to celebrate winning it all.
No, you’re not having a flashback. You really are seeing 11 players you got used to in Royal blue during 2014 and 2015 playing in the playoffs this year…in different uniforms.
It will most certainly evoke some bittersweet sentiment. The good thing about this situation is that those Royals teams are being referenced plenty during this year’s broadcasts.
Eight more former Royals, most notably Joakim Soria, are going to be in the thick of things this year.
Two guys who won’t, however, are two of KC’s former top prospects. Mike Montgomery, who figured prominently in the Cubs’ 2016 series championship, didn’t get on the field before the Cubs were knocked out in the Wild Card round. And Sean Manaea, ace of the Oakland pitching staff, was felled by injury earlier in the year. Think the A’s didn’t miss Manaea when they had to start another former Royal Liam Hendricks in the most important game of the season?
Watching Cain bound out of the dugout to chase down Moustakas after his game-winning hit Thursday night certainly looked familiar.
You can either watch the 2018 playoffs and be constantly reminded of what recently was in KC. Or you can chose to not watch and avoid the rush of memories. But you can take it as a bit of confirmation just how good those Royals clubs were. Every other team currently in the playoffs seemed to notice.