The New York Yankees are likely the most well-known team in Major League Baseball today with their 27 World Series Championships.
After beating the Baltimore Orioles in the wild-card series, the Kansas City Royals will face off against the Yankees in the American League Division Series.
The Royals only have 2 World Series Championships under their belt, but they do have the most recent World Series title between these 2 teams as they won it all in 2015.
On paper, the Royals appear to be major underdogs in this series, but in baseball, anything can happen.
According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, Royals manager Matt Quatraro reveals his thoughts on facing the Yankees in the ALDS.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro on facing the heavily-favored Yankees:
"Well, thankfully we're not playing against their tradition, right? We're playing against the team that we're facing off against this week. That's going to be plenty of a challenge. We understand how talented…— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 4, 2024
Quatraro is not intimidated by the Yankees reputation, and he believes his team is talented enough to put up a fight in this series.
The Royals were underdogs to most in their first series against the Orioles, and this didn’t phase them as they cruised to a 2-0 series sweep.
Game 1 will begin on Saturday, and the Royals already have 2 games under their belt while the Yankees will make their postseason debut.
Quatraro and most others are aware of how talented this Yankees roster is, but he points out that any team that makes it this far in the playoffs has a talented roster.
3 of the 4 wild-card series thus far have seen the underdog prevail and move on to the Divisional Series.
The Royals will look to continue this trend against the Bronx Bombers and try to make their first American League Championship Series appearance since 2015.
NEXT: Royals Announce Rotation For Start Of ALDS