The playoffs are finally here! Leading it off Friday night is the Rangers at Rays at 4 PM CT, followed by the Tigers at Yankees at 7. Just like I did last year, I'm kicking off the postseason season with my comprehensive report and predictions on all four series. Without further delay, here are my picks.
Rangers-Rays: Rays in five
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| The Rays-Rangers series last year was a five-game thriller. |
Game 2: TB (Shields) at TEX (Holland) -> TB
Game 3: TEX (?) at TB (?) -> TB
Game 4: TEX (?) at TB (?) -> TEX
Game 5: TB (?) at TEX (?) -> TB
In somewhat of a surprise, I have Tampa over Texas because of their dynamite top of the rotation. Matt Moore earns in the ball in Game 1 for his second career start, but I actually think he won't do too bad. C.J. Wilson was terrific in his ALDS start against Tampa last season, so Game 1 should be a pitchers' duel. Game 2 could also be a pitchers' duel just as quickly with James Shields and his 11 complete games on the season going for the Rays. No other starters have been announced yet for this series, but I don't think any starter on the Rangers matches up well against Shields. Presuming Shields starts a potential Game 5, it's the Rays going to the ALCS. Remember that last season's Rangers-Rays matchup went five games; all five were won by the road team. I think the road team will again win three of the five games.
Yankees-Tigers: Tigers in four
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| Curtis Granderson faces his former team in the Tigers. |
Game 2: DET (Fister) at NYY (Nova) -> NYY
Game 3: NYY (Garcia) at DET (Scherzer) -> DET
Game 4: NYY (Sabathia?) at DET (Verlander) -> DET
This is not a formula that I recommend very often, but it seems to almost make more sense for the Yankees to not start C.C. Sabathia in Game 1 to ensure wins against the other parts of the Detroit rotation. A 19-game winner, Joe Girardi and Yankees would tell you that they're perfectly confident that C.C. can beat the mighty Verlander. I don't buy it. After Sabathia, Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia are both on the weaker end of their respective pitching matchups and a problem that was somewhat hidden in the regular season will be magnified on a huge scale here in the postseason. Essentially, after Sabathia, there is no rotation depth on the Yankees. This has been a problem for them for many, many years now. Sabathia was signed as a stopgap, and imagine if they hadn't signed him! Would Nova be the ace of the Yankees? Any way I look at this series, I don't see anyone who can beat Verlander unless he chokes under the postseason pressure. That leaves the Yanks two or three games in the series in which they can try to run up the score on Doug Fister and Max Scherzer. I just don't see it happening. For how great of an offensive team the Yankees are, it's stunning that they have such issues that will prevent them from reaching the ALCS.
Brewers-Diamondbacks: Brewers in five
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| Seems like Ryan Braun has looked like this a whole lot this season. |
Game 2: ARI (Hudson) at MIL (Marcum?) -> MIL
Game 3: MIL (Greinke?) at ARI (?) -> ARI
Game 4: MIL (Gallardo?) at ARI (Kennedy?) -> ARI
Game 5: ARI (Hudson) at MIL (Marcum?) -> MIL
There's so much talk about pitching and playoffs in recent years, and I'm sick of it. I can't wait for Brewers-Diamondbacks because it should be a high scoring, intense series. The Brewers were the best team in MLB at home, so I have them winning all three home games. They were also the only postseason team with a losing record on the road, so they'll lose both in Arizona. Although the starters for Game 3 aren't finalized, I've heard that Zack Greinke will be starting that game. Greinke pitches significantly better at home (11-0) than on the road (5-6) and the D-Backs will take full advantage of these road struggles in a homer hitter's park in Chase Field. Led by MVP candidate Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, the Brewers offense will put up some major runs in the series. Unfortunately, Justin Upton and the young D-Backs will have to wait another year.
Phillies-Cardinals: Phillies in four
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| When the Phils and Cards played in mid-September, few could have imagined it would preview a playoff series. |
Game 2: STL (Jackson) at PHI (Lee) -> PHI
Game 3: PHI (Hamels) at STL (Carpenter) -> STL
Game 4: PHI (Halladay?) at STL (Lohse?) -> PHI
Because Chris Carpenter pitched the Cardinals a great clincher in Houston on Wednesday, he can't start Game 1 on Saturday. Instead, they'll turn to Kyle Lohse to face the tenacious ace Roy Halladay in a move that actually works out nicely for the Cardinals. If Carpenter starts Game 1 versus Halladay, I think Halladay wins. If Lohse starts, Halladay still probably wins, but Carpenter will have an easier (but still hard) job beating Cole Hamels, whose great season has gone totally unnoticed. The Cardinals did lead the NL in runs this season, but runs will be at a premium for them against MLB's best starters and staff. Carpenter will have to pitch extremely well at Game 3, or it could be a quick three-and-out for the first of the two wild cards. If I had to choose which series to watch least this postseason, it would be this one. I don't know about you, but I'd rather watch Braun and Upton fill up the scoreboard all night long than more blather about how awesome the Phillies rotation is and how Tony La Russa has done a great job with these latest Cardinals.
These series of matchups are the most intriguing I can remember. We have all different types of matchups in each league. In the AL (Yankees-Tigers) and NL (Phillies-Cardinals) we have one series each between ancient teams who, in the case of the Yankees and Phillies, are no stranger to the playoffs in recent years or, in the case of the Tigers and Cardinals, ancient teams which have been extremely successful the past five or so years. In the AL (Rangers-Rays) and NL (Brewers-Diamondbacks) we also have one series each between less experienced teams. The Rays and Diamondbacks were both founded in 1998. The Brewers and Rangers moved to their current cities in 1970 and 1972, respectively, and have just seven playoff appearances combined since. The Yankees and Phillies also have combined for seven playoff appearances. In the last four years. In total, the Yankees and Phillies have combined for 62 playoff appearances.
My point in all this is that this season, there is a unique commonality interest with the series that we have this year. And thanks to that, either Texas or Tampa Bay will be in the ALCS this year and either Milwaukee or Arizona will be in the NLCS. The best-of-five series format produces some of the most exciting games imaginable right off the bat to kick off the postseason. And as we learned on Wild Card Wednesday, to use a bad cliché, anything is possible!
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