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Monday, September 24, 2007

Baseball Playoff Preview

Let’s start in the American League where a new rule could change the playoffs this year. The team with the league’s best record will get to choose whether they want to start the postseason on October 3rd or October 4th because of a new TV schedule during the postseason. There’s an extra off day between games 4 and 5 of the Division Series this year, and the team that has that extra day off would be able to use their starters from games 1 and 2 on full rest for games 4 and 5. This may sound complicated, but it has major ramifications for the playoffs.
The Boston Red Sox are in the playoffs this year, and have gotten in with pitching and stellar bullpen play rather then from their usual offensive ways. Josh Beckett has emerged as the leading candidate for the AL Cy Young award, and is backed up by Curt Schilling and Japanese rookie Daisuke Matsuzaka. The bullpen has been great this season with Mike Timlin, trade acquisition Eric Gagne, and rookie Hideki Okajima to set up closer Jonathan Papelbon. But the bullpen has struggled as of late, and Matsuzaka and Okajima have been tired of late, and the team has fallen on hard times. Their pitching staff could have more questions then an SAT exam right now, and Manny Ramirez has been injured of late. Given their recent poor play, they’d probably take the extra day off to rest their players. David Ortiz still makes this lineup tick despite a sub par season, but this team seems to be fading.
One team I would not want to face in the playoffs are the Cleveland Indians. Sure they lack experience, but they possess the best 1-2 starting pitching combination in the game with C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona with solid starting possibilities in Paul Byrd and Jake Westbrook. The team also has a very good offense, with speedy Grady Sizemore setting the table for monster mashers Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner, and a team with five 20 home run players. The weak point of this team could be their closer Joe Borowski, who may lead the AL in saves, but has an E.R.A. of almost 5 with a lot of blown games. If Sabathia and Carmona get to start two games each on regular rest, they’ll be hard to beat in the ALDS and beyond.
If the Los Angeles Angels get home field throughout the playoffs, they may be the favorites to win their first World Series since 2002 because of their major league leading home record and a phenomenal bullpen to go along with an NL style lineup led by Vladamir Guerrero. Their team doesn’t supply a lot of power, but they steal bases, execute the hit & run, and scratch and claw their way to victory led by Chone Figgins, Orlando Cabrera, and Reggie Willits. John Lackey has been a valuable ace, and surprising Kelvim Escobar is the second starter, and the 8th and 9th are covered with Scott Shields setting up Francisco Rodriguez.
It’s been a wild ride for the Yankees, but another October appearance is on the horizon. You know about their potent offense led by Alex Rodriguez, but will this year be another disappointment for A-Rod? Derek Jeter is always clutch in the postseason, but he can’t start games at Pitcher. After Chien Ming Wang, nobody knows what Pettitte and Mussina will do in their old age. Even Mariano Rivera has looked shaky of late, but rookie sensation Joba Chamberlain looks like the setup bridge that the team has lacked since the championship days.
People may not be paying attention but with a week left in the regular season, Arizona owns the NL’s best record. Nobody stands out in that lineup, but 9 players have double figures in home runs led by rookie Chris Young who has 32. Orlando Hudson is the veteran leader, and Eric Byrnes is the vocal guy with almost 50 steals to back it up. They have a 32-18 mark in 1 run games, which usually bodes well for the postseason. Brandon Webb leads the starting staff, and Livan Hernandez and Doug Davis provide experience but not much else. The bullpen led by Jose Valverde has been excellent, and relief pitching has been their strength.
The Mets have been sliding over the last few weeks, but one never knows when that lineup led by Beltran, Reyes, and Wright could catch fire and start lighting it up. They now have Pedro Martinez to assist Tom Glavine and John Maine in the rotation, but their poor setup relief may be their eventual downfall. If they can get the ball to Billy Wagner with the lead, it could be smooth sailing in a weak NL. That’s easier said then done.
Somebody has to win the NL Central, so why not the lovable losers, the Cubs. They have a lot of power in their lineup led by Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez, but their pitching has been downright schizophrenic. Carlos Zambrano has been up and down this year, especially after he signed his new contract. The ace has actually been Ted Lilly, and Hill and Marquis make up the rest of the starters. The bullpen has been very shaky, and it doesn’t seem like Ryan Dempster, Bobby Howry, or Carlos Marmol want to close out games.
The Brewers have gone on a tailspin since June, but led by Prince Fielder and star rookie Ryan Braun, they remain in the NL Central race. The injury problems that Ben Sheets has had has been a huge blow to the Milwaukee staff, and they may not have enough left in the tank this year, but their future is quite bright.
San Diego could pose a huge scare to a lot of postseason teams if they can actually score. The lineup hasn’t been that great, but the triumvirate of Peavy, Young, and Maddux matches up with any team in baseball, and their bullpen of Heath Bell setting up Trevor Hoffman is tough to stop. If they can find a way to score, watch out.
The Phillies are almost the opposite of the Padres, with no pitching and a huge offense. Howard, Utley, Burrell, and co have almost gotten to the point where they know that the pitching will be bad and they have to come back and score a ton of runs to win. If they reach the playoffs, that could be a dangerous factor.The Colorado Rockies are in the discussion for a postseason berth, which would be great for longtime loser Todd Helton. Like every Colorado team, they can hit with the best of them led by Garrett Atkins and rookie Troy Tulowitzki, but after Jeff Francis their starting staff consists of Josh Fogg and Ubaldo Jimenez. Yikes. So enjoy the last week of the regular season as we gear up for October baseball. There’s really nothing like it.

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