After playing a critical role as a pinch-hitter in the National League Championship Series, Michael Morse’s job description is about to expand. Morse will serve as the Giants’ designated hitter in World Series Games 1 and 2, giving manager Bruce Bochy’s club some extra thump that it did not have in previous rounds.

Monday, Mark Appel, ranked No. 41 on MLBPipeline.com’s Top 100 Prospects list, threw five scoreless innings to earn his first victory in the AFL, as Salt River defeated Peoria, 4-2.

Raisel Iglesias, a highly touted Cuban right-hander signed by the Reds in June, made his first appearance stateside Monday when he pitched a scoreless inning in the Arizona Fall League.

Sitting in his criminal justice classes four months ago at Texas Christian University, Brandon Finnegan could not wait to be done with college so he could go play professional baseball.

Jeff Kellogg will serve as the crew chief for the 2014 World Series, Major League Baseball announced on Monday. Kellogg is one of three regular season crew chiefs who will have a role working the 110th Fall Classic.

The fruitlessness of speculation at this stage is well-established by these Royals and Giants. Not only have they beaten the odds by becoming the first two Wild Card teams of the Wild Card Game era to advance to the World Series, but they’ve done it in dominant fashion, with a combined postseason record of 16-2, the best ever for two World Series participants.

Is it possible to have a dynasty only in even-numbered years? In an era of baseball parity, the answer is yes. This is the most anyone could reasonably expect out of one team. That team in this case would be the San Francisco Giants.

The annual World Series Community Initiative program is an established tradition that gives two clubs and their fan bases even greater rewards for reaching the ultimate stage of international attention. The Royals and Giants will each have two dedicated game themes to raise awareness for important causes associated with charitable initiatives and MLB partners.

Royals backup catcher Erik Kratz has a hard time explaining what makes closer Greg Holland’s pitches so wickedly effective. Which probably helps explain why they’re so wickedly effective.

Prepare to be dazzled. That’s because the Kansas City Royals do one thing better than any other baseball team on the planet. This one thing isn’t something you see every day. And you’ve probably never seen it the way the Royals do it. The Royals play defense.

With the use of the designated hitter in the American League city, the Giants are going to have a shortened bench for Games 1 and 2 of the World Series on Tuesday and Wednesday in Kansas City.

The only truly unsettled spot as the Cardinals begin to project their eight starting position players for next spring is right field, though it is also a position that the organization believes can be filled internally. The Cardinals will consider Randal Grichuk, Oscar Taveras and Stephen Piscotty for that job.

As baseball has changed over the past half-decade or so, it seems that the formula for winning in October may have changed, as well. And if that is in fact the case, then the best example is the American League champion Royals.

Gear up in style with the exclusive official sweatshirts, T-shirts and caps that the Royals and Giants will be wearing to work out during the World Series.

Jon Jay will have his left wrist scoped on Wednesday in order to address an injury that occurred about three months ago. As for other injuries, the Cards expect Yadier Molina (left oblique strain, right thumb injury) and Adam Wainwright (right elbow discomfort) to return in spring at full strength.

Lorenzo Cain has shined on both sides of the ball this postseason, stroking hits with regularity and chasing down drives in the outfield gaps. Those feats would be impressive even without the knowledge that he didn’t play baseball at any level until his sophomore year of high school.

During those years the sports teams wandered aimlessly in the desert of mediocrity, the rest of the city was busy building a better Kansas City. And Kansas Citians know how to wait for the good times to come back around.