Royals seeking revenge against Mets for World Series purpose pitch?
The Kansas City Royals enter the 2016 season as reigning World Series champions after beating the New York Mets in five games, and even after an offseason of celebrating, the Royals might still be upset over a pitch Mets starter Noah Syndergaard threw in Game 3.
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That game was five months ago so here’s a reminder of what went down: New York was down 2-0 in the series and back home in desperate need of a win to keep their championship hopes alive. Syndergaard took the mound for the Mets and proclaimed he had a few tricks up his sleeve to slow down the Royals, specifically red hot leadoff hitter Alcides Escobar. It didn’t take long to see exactly what he meant. Syndergaard’s first pitch of the game was a 98 mph fastball that buzzed right past Escobar’s head and sent Escobar sprawling to the ground. It set the tone for the night and the Mets went on to win Game 3.
The Royals rebounded to win the next two games and claim the championship, but they have not forgotten about Syndergaard’s purpose pitch.
Marc Carig of Newsday writes that word out of Kansas City is that the Royals intend to get revenge for it when they meet the Mets in the first series of the regular season:
Perhaps it is nothing more than mind games, a ploy for intimidation. But multiple industry sources told Newsday that the Royals have been signaling their intent to seek retribution against the Mets on Opening Night.
In baseball terms, it means someone on New York is going to get hit with a pitch. Yoenis Cespedes and David Wright come to mind as the most likely candidates to get plunked.
The Mets haven’t announced how their rotation will stack up, but there’s a good chance Syndergaard is the starter for second game in Kansas City after Matt Harvey, who has recovered from a sudden blot clot scare, goes in the opener.
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As if the World Series rematch needed additional heat. This is our best indication yet that baseball is indeed back. Let the conversations about the place of beanball wars in the game begin, again.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
