The players
Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. cemented his status as one of the game’s best players in his third season. He led MLB with a .322 batting average and 211 hits. He also hit 32 home runs and swiped 31 bases, but most importantly, he led the Royals to 86 wins — a 30-win improvement from 2023. Tuesday is his first experience in the MLB playoffs.
In the other dugout, the Orioles have enough young talent to supply an entire division. There are more established names such as catcher Adley Rutschman, still just 26 years old and already a two-time All-Star, but there are new faces on the scene. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson, 23, improved upon last season’s Rookie of the Year campaign with his first All-Star appearance.
A trio of other young stars —infielder Jackson Holliday (20), OF/1B Heston Kjerstad (25) and OF Colton Cowser (24) — dot Baltimore’s roster.
The moment
MLB is currently in an enviable position. Arguably the game’s two biggest stars in Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge play in Los Angeles and New York, respectively. The Yankees and Dodgers, along with fellow large-market teams Philadelphia and Houston, are favorites to win the World Series, according to FanDuel.
Rarely though is a collection this deep of young stars on display in a single series. Kansas City played just six games on national television this season, including three on Apple TV+. The Orioles, after a playoff appearance last season, were on national television dozens of times this season, but this series will still be the first look many casual fans have at the young stars.
Perhaps the series will go out with a whimper, a two-game sweep with blowout games that don’t register much excitement. But it can’t be understated how valuable these moments can be for the sport.
What if it’s the exact opposite? The series could be a three-game instant classic with multiple players having their finest moments to date. That’s a dream scenario for MLB. A strong series from the new kids on the block could do wonders for the teams and league.
Why it matters
Sports move quickly. Stardom can be a fickle thing. Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout is no longer the face of the league after injuries have claimed much of his past four seasons. Ohtani is a true global superstar and the new face of the league. Only 30, he’s in the prime of his career. Judge is only 32, but it’s a good bet his decline is coming in a few years.
Of the six young stars mentioned above in the Orioles-Royals series, Rutschman is the elder statesman at 26. These players will define the league over the next 10-15 years. Better yet, for now the stars are in small markets, giving the league a proper balance between large and small markets — something that’s been difficult to capture at times due to MLB’s lack of a salary cap.
As MLB looks to the future, look no further than the Royals-Orioles series, which starts in Baltimore on Tuesday.