It’s that time of the year – October baseball (well actually, late September initially). Now that the playoffs are set and the regular season has come to a close, let’s take a look at the match-ups.
ALDS
New York Yankees vs Detroit Tigers
My initial reaction was the Tigers win this series in 5 games because of pitching. Justin Verlander and Doug Fister have been pitching out of this world lately and Jose Valverde was a perfect 49 for 49 closing out games this season. But, after looking at it further – the match-up is actually stacked in the Yankees favor. Over the season, the Yankees pitching staff has been surprisingly good (4th best in the AL). It is in fact better overall than the Tigers. The key is going to come down to scoring runs, something the Yankees are known for doing. The Yankees will out slug the Tigers and when it comes down to it, the Yankees can manufacture runs. The Tigers on the other hand cannot manufacture runs – they had the least stolen bases in the entire MLB. When you consider that the Yankees have home field advantage – I’m taking the Yankees in 4 games.
Texas Rangers vs Tampa Bay Rays
Great hitting (Rangers) vs great pitching. It’s very cliche, but pitching and defense wins championships and that will be to the Rays advantage in this series. The Rangers will surely miss having the dominating Cliff Lee in their rotation this postseason. It’s not only pitching, the Rays also had the fewest errors in the AL, while the Rangers had the 3rd most. I’ll take the Rays in 5 games.
NLDS
Philadelphia Phillies vs St. Louis Cardinals
The Phillies are looking like the team to beat this postseason. They can score runs, but more importantly they can pitch. They easily have the best rotation of all the remaining teams, and that should be able to power them through the Cards in this series. But, don’t write the Cards off so quickly – if any team can dethrone the Phillies it is the Cards. The Cards were the best hitting team in the NL and they scored the most runs. They have the offensive firepower to potentially upset the Phillies rotation, but a lingering injury to Matt Holiday will be crucial to the Cards success/failure in this series. I’ll take the Phillies in a close 5 game series.
Milwaukee Brewers vs Arizona Diamondbacks
The Brewers and Diamondbacks are two very similar teams in terms of make-up. They both have strong offenses and slightly above average pitching staffs. The Diamondbacks may have a slight edge in the bullpen, to offset the slight hitting edge that the Brewers have. This should be a fun series to watch. The Brewers had the best home record in the MLB and that should prove to be the difference in this one. I’ll take the Brewers stealing a game in Arizona and winning the series in 4 games.
Thoughts? Comment below!
[Photo Credit: halloffamememorabilia.com]
