The Mets and Royals will match baseball skills and wits in the 2015 World Series. At stake? The belt and the title. So before the action gets started on Tuesday night in Kansas City (World Series schedule/TV listings), let's get you primed for high-stakes baseball with some things to know about this year's Fall Classic ... 

1. Long layoff won't be a big deal.

Thanks to their sweep of the Cubs in the NLCS, the Mets will have five days off before the start of the World Series. The Royals will have three days off after eliminating the Blue Jays last Friday.

The long layoff can be scary -- baseball is a game of rhythm and timing, and that much downtime can throw off that rhythm and timing -- but moreso for fans than players. The players actually look forward to the time off so they can rest and heal up whatever bumps and bruises they're nursing.

Besides, it's not like they're avoiding baseball all together. Both teams have held several workouts in recent days. Hitters taking batting practice, pitchers are throwing bullpens and simulated games. These guys are professionals, they know what they need to do to prepare during the downtime.

The Mets had four days off between the end of the regular season and the NLDS. The Royals had three days off between the regular season and ALDS. They've been through these long layoff periods before. Pretty recently too. This is nothing more than a second All-Star break to them.

Now, that said, someone will win this series and someone will lose. Chances are you'll hear the winning team won because they were fresh and rested, and/or the losing team lost because the downtime threw off their rhythm and timing. It's an easy narrative to build and fall for.

2. Game 1 takes place on a special date for both clubs.

Following their legendary comeback in Game 6, the Mets beat the Boston Red Sox 8-5 in Game 7 to win the World Series on Oct. 27, 1986. Exactly one year to the day earlier, the Royals drubbed the Cardinals 11-0 in Game 7 (umpire Don Denkinger's infamous call had happened in Game 6) to win the Series.

Here's Andy Van Slyke making the last out for the Cardinals in '85:

And after Marty Barrett strikes out, there's goes Jesse Orosco's glove, off into space, signifying the end of the 1986 Series.

3. There are plenty of new faces on the Royals.

The Royals are headed back to the World Series thanks in large part to their core of young players. But, believe it or not, only 12 players on the team's 2015 ALCS roster were part of their 2014 World Series roster. There are lots of new faces this year.

Here are the 12 holdovers from last year: Salvador Perez, Alcides Escobar, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Jarrod Dyson, Alex Gordon, Terrance Gore, Yordano Ventura, Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera and Danny Duffy. Now here are the 13 new faces with the players they are (approximately) replacing:

2014-15 Royals: Postseason Roster Turnover
Position2015 ALCS Roster2014 World Series Roster
Backup C Drew Butera Erik Kratz (lost on waivers)
2B Ben Zobrist Omar Infante (injured)
DH Kendrys Morales Billy Butler (left as free agent)
RF Alex Rios Nori Aoki (left as free agent)
Backup IF Christian Colon* Jayson Nix (released)
Backup OF Paulo Orlando Josh Willingham (retired)
SP Johnny Cueto James Shields (left as free agent)
SP Edinson Volquez Jason Vargas (injured)
SP Chris Young Jeremy Guthrie (left off postseason roster)
RP Luke Hochevar Greg Holland (injured)
RP Ryan Madson Jason Frasor (released)
RP Franklin Morales Tim Collins (injured)
RP Kris Medlen Brandon Finnegan (traded)

* Colon was on the team's 2014 Wild Card Game, ALDS and ALCS rosters before being dropped from the World Series roster in favor of Nix.

The Royals are expected to use the same roster in the World Series as they did in the ALCS, though there has been some chatter Gore will be dropped in favor of either Raul Mondesi Jr. or Cheslor Cuthbert. If that happens, it'll be only 11 holdovers from the 2014 World Series roster and 14 new faces.

So yes, the Royals are back in the World Series and they have more experience now. That said, there are a lot of new faces on the team, too. More than half of these players weren't here last October.

4. Mets home run hitters may not like Kauffman very much.

The Mets have power, especially now that Yoenis Cespedes and Travis d'Arnaud are lineup fixtures. During the regular season, the Mets ranked third in the NL with 177 homers, and an NL-leading 102 of those home runs came in the second half, when the Mets' lineup more closely resembled what they'll bring to the World Series.

In terms of ballpark effects, the Mets' home yard of Citi Field cuts down on right-handed home runs by 9.0 percent but inflates lefty homers by a rate of 12 percent. In contrast, Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City -- site of World Series Game 1, 2, 6, and 7 -- cuts down on right-handed home runs by 14.0 percent and left-handed home runs by 3.0 percent. 

For instance, here, via ESPN Home Run Tracker, are Cespedes' 2015 regular season home runs against an overlay of Kauffman Stadium ... 

As you can see, he likely would've lost a handful of homers in KC. 

Now here's Lucas Duda from the left side ... 

On the other hand, Kauffman is a good park for doubles and triples, and the Mets led the NL in doubles in 2015. There's an opportunity for partial offset there. 

5. Mets hitters at Kauffman Stadium vs. Royals pitchers at Citi Field.

Not a whole lot on either side. The Mets and Royals have not played each other much in history, the previous time coming at Citi Field in 2013, with the Royals owning the historical season series by a whopping 5-4 margin. But a few individuals have been around long enough to put up a track record at each respective ballpark. Here's how some Mets batters have done in Kansas City:

Mets hitters: Career numbers at Kauffman Stadium
Player OPS HR Plate apps
Yoenis Cespedes .665 1 71
Curtis Granderson .911 10 230
Michael Cuddyer .902 13 259
Kelly Johnson .644 1 36
Baseball Reference.com

Cespedes compiled most of those numbers playing for the Tigers and Athletics, while Granderson built up his plate appearances playing for the Tigers and Yankees. Cuddyer was a long-time nemesis with the Twins, and Johnson, let's just say, he has been around. What about the Royals pitchers with a track record at Citi Field?

Royals pitchers: Career numbers at Citi Field
Player ERA OPS against Innings
Edinson Volquez 5.66 .725 20 2/3
Chris Young 3.61 .647 57 1/3
Ryan Madson 1.98 .657 13 2/3
Johnny Cueto 3.60 .647 30
Baseball Reference.com

It's unlikely that Cueto will pitch in New York, considering that he's starting in Game 2, but Chris Young is set to go in Game 4, and Madson could be used in any game in relief. In case the series is longer than a sweep, Edinson Volquez is likely to start Game 5 after he pitches the opener. Yordano Ventura, slated to start Game 3, has never faced the Mets.

Note that Madson's numbers came mostly pitching for the Phillies, and Young's came pitching for the Mets. 

6. The Mets won't face many left-handed pitchers. 

First, there are the KC starters that will likely run, in some order: Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto, Yordano Ventura and Chris Young -- right-handers, all. As well, Ned Yost's go-to relievers right now are Luke Hochevar, Ryan Madson, Kelvin Herrera, and Wade Davis. Sure, he can play matchups with Franklin Morales and Danny Duffy, but you should expect righties to log the healthy majority of the Royals' bullpen innings in the World Series. 

On that front, it's worth noting that the Mets' offense during the regular season fared a little worse against right-handers than they did against lefties ... 

Mets offense, vs. RHPs/LHPs in 2015
Split OPS (NL rank) K%, BB% Ground-ball/fly-ball Hard-hit %
vs. RHPs .709 (9th) 20.2 (10th), 7.9 (5th) 1.15 (15th) 31.2 (4th)
vs. LHPs .723 (5th) 23.6 (2nd), 8.2 (7th) 1.20 (14th) 32.5 (1st)

As you can see, these are pretty similar outcomes, while noting that the Mets have been better against lefties in terms of raw OPS. Mostly, that's because the Mets have hit for more power against lefties in 2015.

Against lefties, the Mets in 2015 put up an Isolated Power (ISO) of .168, which was easily the NL's highest mark, and put up a home run/fly ball percentage of 13.4 percent, good for second in the NL. Against right-handers, the Mets had an ISO of .152 (fourth in the NL) and a home run/fly ball percentage of 11.0 percent. The Mets' numbers against righties improve a bit with Michael Conforto in the lineup, but overall they're still somewhat better against left-handers. 

7. Mets' power pitchers vs. Royals' contact hitters will be fun.

The World Series features a matchup of extremes: power pitching against a lineup that rarely strikes out. As a staff, the Mets rotation has 69 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings this postseason, or 11.4 K/9. More precisely, they've struck out a staggering 30.8 percent of batters faced. The MLB average for starting pitchers during the regular season was 19.5 percent.

The Royals, on the other hand, have struck out 71 times in 408 plate appearances this postseason, or 17.4 percent. Their regular season strikeout rate (15.9 percent) was both the lowest in baseball and the lowest by any team since 2011, when both the Cardinals (15.7 percent) and Rangers (14.9 percent) had lower strikeout rates.

This is a matchup of an extreme strikeout pitching staff against an extreme non-strikeout offense. This to me is more interesting than, say, the Mets pitching against the power of the Blue Jays. Oh, and by the way, the Royals crush big velocity:

The Mets as a team are averaging 94.4 mph with their fastballs this postseason. A total of 297 of their 518 fastballs, or 57.3 percent, have been at 95 mph or above. They say good pitching beats good hitting. Well, these Royals have shown they can hit good pitching. A team of strikeout pitchers against a team of non-strikeout hitters should be a blast.

8. The Mets have good DH options for games at Kauffman Stadium.

The American League won the All-Star Game this year, giving the Royals home field advantage in the World Series*. Games 1 and 2 will be at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, as will Games 6 and 7, if necessary.

The Mets will have to come up with a DH for the games at Kauffman Stadium, and while that often presents a problem for most NL teams, the Mets are in decent shape. Here is the bench they carried in the NLDS and NLCS:

Backup catcher: Kevin Plawecki
Backup infielder: Matt Reynolds
Backup outfielder: Juan Lagares
Utility man: Kelly Johnson
Utility man: Michael Cuddyer

Manager Terry Collins announced Monday that Johnson will serve as the team's DH in Game 1. He could have gone in a number of different directions. In fact, Collins spoke specifically about the need to have good outfield defense in spacious Kauffman Stadium, leading to speculation Lagares would start in center field with Yoenis Cespedes in right and Michael Conforto at DH.

The team also has the option of playing Cuddyer at first base and using Lucas Duda at DH, though a) Duda is a solid defender, and b) Cuddyer shouldn't play against righties. He hit .254/.291/.407 (92 OPS+) against righties this year and has been used as a platoon bat against southpaws in the postseason.

Johnson is an interesting choice because he hit .264/.314/.444 (108 OPS+) against righties in 2015 and can play multiple positions. Collins will start Johnson at DH, or he could have easily started him at second with the defensively deficient Murphy at DH. He could have also played Johnson at third base and David Wright at DH if Collins wanted to give Wright some time off his feet after a season full of back problems.

Recker and Reynolds aren't DH candidates. In fact, Reynolds was only added to the team's postseason roster due to Tejada's broken leg, which he suffered on the take-out slide by Chase Utley in Game 2 of the NLDS. Reynolds has never played in an MLB game, regular season or postseason.

My guess was Collins would use Lagares in center field with Conforto serving as DH in Game, but instead it's Johnson. As far as I'm concerned, the only wrong answers at DH would be using Plawecki or Reynolds in some way. Lagares, Cuddyer and Johnson are all fine candidates for the extra lineup spot. They're much better options than what you'll find on most NL benches.

* Aside: If you're like me and would rather see the team with the better regular season record get home field advantage in the World Series, the All-Star Game changed nothing this year. The Royals still would have had home field advantage based on regular season record (95-67 vs. 90-72).

9. The Royals should be able to run on the Mets.

The Royals ranked second in the AL in stolen bases during regular season. Against the Blue Jays in the ALCS, Kansas City tamped down on the running game just a bit. In those six games, they stole just three bases to the Jays' five. Against the Mets, though, we may see a renaissance of the KC running game.

While the Mets in the regular season allowed fewer steals than the average team, they ranked 22nd in caught-stealing percentage, 26th in opponents' times caught stealing, and last in succesful pick-offs. Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud, who'll be the regular starter in the World Series, threw out 33 percent of would-be stealers in the regular season. That's compared to a league-average mark of 30 percent. Now let's take a look at how the Mets' (likely) starters in this series have fared when it comes to holding runners ... 

(SB = stolen bases allowed; CS = times opposing runner caught stealing; IP/SBA = Innings pitched per stolen base attempt)

And now for the Mets' high-leverage relievers ... 

As for the IP/SBA numbers, the league-average is one steal attempt every 17.3 innings pitched.

So you can see that the Royals will have their chances, especially against Harvey, Syndergaard, and Clippard. Matz might also prove to be vulnerable, although, in his instance, we're not dealing with a large sample of innings. Also, bear in mind that the Royals will have plenty of speed on the bench in Jarrod Dyson, Terrance Gore and Paulo Orlando, even though Dyson and Gore didn't see action in the NLCS. That's, of course, assuming the Royals don't make any changes to their playoff roster.

10. Lorenzo Cain has been a different hitter this season.

Cain is of course a standout defensive center fielder and elite base-runner. In the past, though, his offensive outputs have ranged from solid (2012) to sub-optimal (2013) to good (2014).

In 2015, though, Cain has reached another level at the plate. This season, he set career-best marks in OPS, OPS+, ISO, home runs, doubles, and triples. In a related matter, Cain is hitting the ball harder than ever. Relative to 2014, he's increased his percentage of hard-hit balls from 21.6 to 31.9, and, per BaseballHeatMaps, he's added almost 23 feet to the average distance of his fly balls. Best of all, he's added all that pop while also running the highest opposite-field percentage of his career. In addition to all the other things Cain does so well, he's looking like a legit asset at the plate these days.

11. The Mets have gotten by without needing a strong lefty in the bullpen.

Eric Hosmer vs. lefties
Eric Hosmer slugged .398 vs. lefties and .501 vs. righties in 2015. (USATSI)

The Houston Astros fell in the ALDS, but it took five games for the Royals to beat them and one reason was the presence of left-hander Tony Sipp. Astros manager A.J. Hinch went to Sipp five times and 4 1/3 innings against Kansas City, and he allowed an unearned run, one hit and one walk with four strikeouts. Sipp took the loss in the Royals monstrous eighth-inning comeback of Game 4, but he owes that to a bad hop and an error by Carlos Correa as much as anything. Sipp spent most of the series keeping the Astros ahead while dueling against Eric Hosmer, Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas, and turning around switch-hitter Kendrys Morales.

The likely left-handed relievers for the Mets will be Jonathon Niese and Sean Gilmartin. After being used as a starter during the regular season, Niese has made two appearances in the postseason so far, getting a strikeout against each batter he faced. Gilmartin was activated for the NLCS but did not pitch.

It’s probable that manager Terry Collins is going to lean more on his lefties in the World Series, but several of the right-handers in the Mets bullpen have shown they can handle themselves against left-handed batters. Cumulatively, RHPs for the Mets have allowed a .249 batting average with a .301 on-base and a .402 slugging percentage against lefties in 2015. The numbers are dominant if Collins can maneuver Tyler Clippard (.588 OPS in 76 plate appearances) and Hansel Robles (.560 OPS in 84 PAs) against KC lefties, and for closing situations with Jeurys Familia (.616 OPS in 142 PAs).

The Royals have been better against lefties this year than in previous seasons, though Hosmer loses about 100 points on his slugging percentage and about 50 with his on-base percentage against left-handed pitching. The team finished 31-27 against left-handed pitchers in 2015, but was 24 games over .500 against right-handed ones.

12. Middle infield defense might be a problem for the Mets.

Remember during the ALCS, how Blue Jays second baseman Ryan Goins seemed to take a hit an inning away from the Royals with sliding or running plays? Goins is an excellent gloveman and his defensive skills were on full display in the ALCS. Here are some of the plays he made in Game 3:

Troy Tulowitzki on the other side of second base had a strong ALCS defensively, as well. Tulowitzki is not the defender he once was -- at one point he was arguably the best defensive shortstop in baseball -- but he remains comfortably above-average. He and Goins are a dynamite double play combination.

The Mets? They won't get middle infield defense like that from second baseman Daniel Murphy and shortstop Wilmer Flores. Both are average (at best) defenders and more likely below-average overall. They're in the lineup for their bats.

Again, the Royals are a speed and contact team, and during the regular season they had a 44.4 percent ground ball rate, which is about average. Also, 35.8 percent of their balls in play were hit to the middle of the field, which was the 11th highest rate in baseball.

The Royals put the ball in play and run like hell. That's what they do. They hit a healthy number of ground balls up the middle, so Murphy and Flores will have to be on their toes defensively. Tulowitzki and Goins turned a lot of those grounders into outs. Can the Mets?

13. The Mets and Royals will meet again to open the 2016 season.

Yep, the Mets will begin the 2016 season by visiting the Royals for a pair of interleague games on April 4 and then April 6. They'll play host to the Royals on June 21-22. First, though, the two teams will tend to other, more pressing matters.

Two teams left, one dog-pile still to go.
Two teams left, one dog-pile still to go. (USATSI)