MLB Playoff Preview

Playoffs! 162(3) games and an entire season can come down to a 3 game stretch. Baseball talk on ACSS! Amazing! I know it rarely happens, but the playoffs are upon so I’m going to give a quick breakdown of each series.



NL:

Talk about familiar faces. We have the last 3 NL pennant winners in the playoffs and the other team was last year’s NL runner up.


Cards vs Dodgers

LA has a lot of good bats and Manny always seems to play well in October. LA also has one of the best Bullpens which is key for playoffs, especially in the NL when pinch hitting for pitchers is more common. They also have home field advantage which is always helpful. Saying all that, Albert Pujols is one of the best players on the planet. Also Carpenter and Wainwright are a tough 1-2 punch (maybe best in the playoffs) that should pitch well in LA. If they can take 1 in Los Angeles, I don’t see the series going back there. Cardinals have made it to the NLCS 5 times so far this decade. I think it will be 6

Who I want to win: Dodgers (I would like to see them win it all for Jim Thome)

Who I think will win: Cards in 4

Rockies vs Phillies

Rocktober is back! Just like 2007 the Rockies closed liked a freight train, dug them self out of a hole and made the playoffs. The Rockies have a ton of talent with Helton, Tulowitzki Giambi and Co, but they might have one of the best pitchers in the league in Ubaldo Jimenez. He throws heat, and according to Baseball Info Solutions has the fastest heater in the game. Philadelphia's Cliff Lee has been outstanding since coming over from the Indians. Him going two games in a series is a scary. Hamels and Happ are two other good lefties and the Rockies don’t hit the lefties well. The Phillies infield is one of the best in the game with Howard, Rollins and Utley and in thier outfield they had one of the biggest signings of the off season Ibenez. My biggest concern with them is Brad Lidge; He has had a very shaky year. Also, don’t forget 07 when the Rockies came in down the stretch as hot as can be continued the hot streak and swept the Phillies.

Who I want to win: Rockies

Who I think will win: Phillies in 5



AL

Again want to talk about familiar faces, between these 4 teams they have made 11 appearances in the ALCS this decade. On top of that, these 4 teams have accounted for 19 Division titles and 7 Wild Cards in the 2000s. Here’s a breakdown

Angels 5 Division 1 WC
Red Sox 1 Division 5 WC
Twins 5 Division
Yankees 8 Division 1 WC


Yankees vs Twins

So after an amazing game last night, the Twins finally landed in New York are 3 AM. Winning today against CC sounds like a pretty tough task, saying that, I think the Twins, still riding high on emotion, come out and win tonight. The Twins just know how to win division titles, but they always seem to struggle in the playoffs. They have the M&M’s who are both outstanding and Joe Nathan is still one of the best closers in baseball. Saying all that, I think the Yankees are just too good. Their rotation is weak towards the backend but their hitting is fantastic, and Rivera is one of the most clutch closers ever (except in 2001 and 2004). A little wrinkle that I find interesting is that AJ Burnett and Jorge Pasada are not getting along and Psasada will not be catching AJ in the playoffs. They will be losing his bat for one of the Molina brothers.

The biggest thing that worries me, is that everyone is picking the Yankees. On top of that, I have not heard anybody saying the series will even go to 5 games, that worries me, so based on the fact that no one is picking the Twins, I’m going to.

Who I want to win: Twins

Who I think will win: Twins in 5

Red Sox vs Angels

The only game not being played today is the series we have seen a lot of over the past couple of years, the Angels vs the Red Sox. The Red Sox have had the Angels number over the past couple of seasons and it might even be a mental advantage at this point. The Red Sox starters are just ok, the hitting isn’t as good as is was on some World Series teams earlier this decade, but they still have one of the top closers in the game in Paplebon. The Angels hitting is suspect but always seems to have clutch hits when needed. The Angels solid pitching that will try to win low scoring games, but I am concerned about their bullpen.

Who I want to win: Angels

Who I think will win: Red Sox in 4