The main thing an American League manager does, besides leaning on a dugout railing looking thoughtful, is handling the pitching staff.
If the Kansas City Royals had a lead after six innings two years ago, manager Ned Yost had some very easy decisions to make: throw Kelvin Herrera in the seventh inning, Wade Davis in the eighth and Greg Holland in the ninth. In 2014, you could have pulled an overserved patron out of a sports bar and he or she probably could have managed the Royals bullpen with a lead after six innings.
But in 2017, managing the Royals bullpen might get a whole lot trickier.