World Series: Giants and Royals know the power of glove (w/video)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Nationals and Cardinals may have thrown the ball all over the yard in the 2014 postseason, but the Giants have been mostly stellar in the field.

After watching Hunter Pence’s leaping, reaching catch in right field in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, and Brandon Crawford’s pinball play at shortstop in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series, and Pablo Sandoval’s diving stop in the 10th inning of Game 3 of the NLCS, you may reasonably ask if there’s another team in baseball that looks better in leather than the Giants.

The answer is yes, and that team will be in the opposing dugout when the 2014 World Series begins at Kauffman Stadium today. The Royals’ playoff run has been a repetitive loop of defensive highlights.

“We definitely take pride in it,” left fielder Alex Gordon said. “ … I think everyone doesn’t want to be the guy to make a mistake.”

“And it ranged from so many things,” Kansas City pitcher Jeremy Guthrie said, “from the spectacular to the positioning to the picks to the guys that don’t advance the extra base because of running, and then you give up a single and it’s first and third instead of second to home - that gets overlooked by everybody, I think, except us pitchers.”

Guthrie said he has always called his college team at Stanford the best defensive collective he has ever pitched in front of. The Cardinal had Sam Fuld (now with the A’s) in center field, Carlos Quentin (now with the Padres) in right field, and four highly recruited shortstops spread around the infield.

“And for the first time since college I can say now I’ve pitched in front of a better defense than the one I had in college,” Guthrie said.

Three Royals players won Gold Gloves in 2013 - Gordon, catcher Salvador Perez and first baseman Eric Hosmer. And they are not alone in their defensive brilliance. Shortstop Alcides Escobar, second baseman Omar Infante, third baseman Mike Moustakas and right fielder Nori Aoki are all above-average fielders, and center fielder Lorenzo Cain has emerged as perhaps the next great MLB center fielder.

The Royals were revelatory in the American League playoffs, whether it was Gordon making a catch before slamming into the wall in Game 4 of the ALCS against the Orioles, or Moustakas hanging onto the ball while tumbling over the railing in Game 3 of that series, or Cain diving for a ball in the gap seemingly every other night.

More than most organizations, the Royals develop defense. It’s a strategy built largely on necessity, thanks to the expansive territory of Kauffman Stadium, which measures 410 feet to dead center and 387 to the alleys.

“You have to have guys that play solid defense in this outfield, because it’s so big,” Cain said. “I mean, most stadiums we go to, it’s kind of a relief to get out of Kauffman every now and then and play in a normal stadium.”

Hence, the Royals de-emphasize power - not many guys can hit it out of here on a regular basis anyway - and play up speed on offense and defense.

When things get really miserable for opposing line-drive hitters is when Kansas City makes its customary late-inning defensive switch and brings lightning-fast Jarrod Dyson into center field, shifting Cain over to right.

“It’s tough to drop a ball in between us or in front of us,” Cain said.

Raul Ibanez, who signed with the Royals in June, has played 19 MLB seasons, including five playoff runs and one previous World Series.

“This is the best outfield defense I think I’ve ever seen - all year. This isn’t just now,” Ibanez said. “That’s a huge outfield, and you have three guys, four guys, who cover it like it’s a small ballpark.”

The Giants are no slouches in the field, of course. Crawford and first baseman Brandon Belt look like potential Gold Glovers. Buster Posey is a fine defensive catcher, and Gregor Blanco has been a stabilizing force in center.

Putting solid defenders on the field does more than just reduce mistakes. It allows pitchers to play relaxed, and even alters their approach.

“A good defense is key for me, because I’m a sinkerball guy,” Giants right-hander Tim Hudson said.

“I’m hoping to keep the ball on the ground, and keep those guys in the game behind me. So the more Plays of the Week they can make behind me, the more it’s telling me that I’m doing my job by keeping the ball on the ground.”

Both teams will face a defensive challenge in the World Series, though.

For San Francisco, it’s the inexperience of Travis Ishikawa in left field. When starting center fielder Angel Pagan was laid low by a back injury in September, the Giants moved Blanco to center and trained Ishikawa - a first baseman for his entire pro career - for the outfield. Manager Bruce Bochy indicated Monday that Ishikawa will start in left in Game 1, with Michael Morse DH-ing.

Ishikawa has been uniformly praised for how well he has embraced the transition. But he botched a fly ball in Game 5 of the NLCS before redeeming himself with the game-winning home run in the ninth.

For the Royals, the hurdle will be adjusting to AT&T Park, with its quirkily angled wall in right field and right-center, and its unpredictable winds. The Royals have not played there since 2005, before any of their current outfielders were on the roster, though Cain played a few games by the bay when he was with the Brewers.

“Rusty (Kuntz, the Royals’ first base coach), I’m sure he’ll hit balls off the wall, see the way ball bounces or whatnot,” Cain said. “He’ll go over the entire outfield, I’m sure. … It’s a really nice field, but it’s definitely tough to play there.”

Considering how the Royals have been playing the field lately, you have to like their chances of adapting. These guys know how to track a fly ball, and they know how much that’s appreciated by both of these league-champion teams.

“I think the best thing is the tipping of the cap,” Gordon said. “Because it’s usually the pitchers that are tipping the cap, saying thank you. We just tip it back at ’em, and we know it means a lot to ’em and we’re happy to pick ’em up.”

You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at phil.barber@press?democrat.com.