The Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics will compete in Game 2 of the ALDS Saturday after the Tigers took Game 1, 3-2.
With the Tigers up in the series, the A’s have some work to do in Game 2. Any mistake could be the difference between being down 2-0 or tied 1-1 heading to Detroit.
So, what does each team need to do to ensure they come out on top Saturday?
Here’s a look at a few keys for each team to succeed in Game 2.
Note: All stats obtained from Baseball-Reference.com.
Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Johnny Cueto must’ve been thanking his lucky stars. He came close to finding himself watching the rest of the National League Wild Card Game from the bench in only the second inning Tuesday night.
Thanks to teammate Todd Frazier’s amazing catch, however, Cueto got out of the inning alive against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Having given up two solo home runs and two singles, Cueto was reeling when Neil Walker stepped to the plate with two outs. Walker fouled off a pitch, but Frazier wasn’t going to give him a second chance. He reached deep into the camera well to snag the foul ball and get the Reds out of the inning.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
If Frazier doesn’t make the catch, who knows what Walker would have done with the next pitch or two. As it stood, the Pirates had all of the momentum and were in the most dangerous part of their order.
These are the kinds of plays that make October so great. One pitch, one play or one hit can change the entire course of a game.
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The Detroit Tigers have set their playoff rotation, and according to Mike Axisa of CBS Sports, Max Scherzer is going to get the ball in Game 1.
After having gone 21-3 with a 2.90 ERA and 240 strikeouts, Scherzer showed he’s been the best pitcher on the Tigers in 2013 and one of the best pitchers in the American League.
The Tigers will host the Oakland Athletics, a team that has less than half the payroll the Tigers do. But it’s also a team that took four of seven games from the Tigers.
Many people in the media think giving the ball to Scherzer is the best thing for the Tigers:
But looking into the numbers, having Scherzer pitch in Game 1 is a bad decision on the part of manager Jim Leyland.
Against the A’s This Year
Here’s how each of Detroit’s top pitchers stack up against the A’s this year:
Despite Scherzer having a better season overall, Justin Verlander has clearly been the better pitcher against the A’s this year. Moreover, he has experience pitching in Game 1 of a playoff series, including two last year.
Anibal Sanchez has also had more success than Scherzer against the A’s this year.
Some will point to the fact that Verlander lost Game 1 of the World Series last year against the Giants, a game in which he gave up five runs in four innings. However, if you look to his Game 1 start in the ALDS against the A’s, he went seven innings, gave up one run and struck out 11.
In fact, he also picked up a win in Game 5 of that same series, pitching a complete-game shutout with 11 strikeouts.
Last year, Verlander shined in the postseason, going 3-1 with a 2.22 ERA and 29 strikeouts. He also only allowed opponents to hit .160 against him, the best of any starter with at least two postseason starts.
Since Aug. 1
To further the point, let’s look at how each starter has done since the beginning of August:
Going by these numbers, Sanchez and Scherzer are comparable. Scherzer has a smaller WHIP and BAA, while Sanchez’s ERA is lower. In reality, it’s a coin flip over who has been better since Aug. 1.
However, over the course of the year, Sanchez never saw his ERA go above 2.93. He gave up runs here and there, but only four or more four times this year. Compare that to Scherzer, who gave up four or more runs seven times.
The last start of the regular season is also a big one, as it’s sort of the dress rehearsal for the postseason. In Scherzer’s start, he went seven innings and gave up no runs, but walked six against the Twins on Sept. 25.
Compare that to Verlander, who gave up no runs and one walk on Sept. 29 against the Marlins. Sanchez was also good, giving up two hits and no walks in five innings against the Marlins the day before Verlander.
To put it into perspective, in the last two months Scherzer has walked at least three batters in five of the seven times he’s gotten at least six strikeouts. On the other hand, the other four times where he struck out less than six, he walked one or none.
Who Should Start
While Verlander does have the Game 1 experience, and Scherzer has been the Tigers’ best pitcher this year, there’s no question that Sanchez is the guy who should be starting Game 1.
He’s kept his ERA low all year and had success against Oakland this year.
Verlander wouldn’t get the nod mainly because he has struggled at times this year, although not against the A’s.
When it comes down to it, in Game 1, I want a pitcher that I know won’t give up more than two runs. The offense is powerful with guys like Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, but a pitcher who can shut down the A’s will allow Detroit hitters to relax at the plate.
That pitcher is Anibal Sanchez.
Note: All stats taken from Baseball-Reference.com
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As the MLB season wraps up this weekend, the winners in a few stat categories are still to be decided.
So, how does each of the categories shape up for players in each league?
Here’s a down-to-the-wire tracker on all Triple Crown categories, for both pitching and hitting.
Note: All stats used are from Baseball-reference.com.
Chicks dig the long ball. But unless it’s a 500-foot bomb, it’s not going to make Sportscenter‘s top 10 plays.
Defensive gems are what generally get the glory for top plays, and here at Bleacher Report, it’s no different. We’ve written multiple stories highlighting a play that happened on a particular night that was beyond all measure.
While some plays are game-savers, others are just spectacular plays that came out of nowhere. Regardless, all of these plays deserve recognition.
Here’s a look at the top 10 defensive plays from this year.
The St. Louis Cardinals are considered by many to be favorites in the National League heading into the playoffs.
With a record of 92-65, the Cardinals have the fourth-best record in all of baseball and are showing they are contenders once again.
However, the news on Allen Craig isn’t so good. According to Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Craig is still in a walking boot and will get x-rays on Thursday during St. Louis’ day off.
Of course, the question is not when will Craig return, but if he’ll return. And for a team that is going to have to fight its way through the NL portion of the playoffs, that’s not good.
So, how would not getting Craig back impact the Cardinals’ postseason run?
Craig’s Impact and His Replacement
Before you can look at the rest of the lineup, you have to look at how Craig affects the lineup. When he starts, the Cardinals are 67-55 on the year. When he doesn’t, the Cardinals are 25-10. That’s a three-game difference.
This year, Craig is batting .315 with 13 home runs and 97 RBI. His numbers with runners in scoring position are even bigger, batting .454 with four home runs and 83 RBI. Simply put, the guy drives runners in.
But most of his numbers came in the first half of the season. In the season’s second half, Craig is batting .275 with three home runs and 23 RBI.
There’s no denying Craig’s ability to drive runners in, which is something underappreciated when it comes to the playoffs. But the numbers do show he was doing a better job of it in the first half.
Matt Adams is the one who has been filling in for Craig in his absence and he’s been doing a pretty good job of it. In 242 at-bats as a first baseman, Adams is batting .277 with 13 home runs and 41 RBI. Now, his power may not be what Craig’s is, but he’s still doing a decent job.
He’s hitting .350 with five home runs and 32 RBI with runners in scoring position, and is hitting .315 with seven home runs and 14 RBI in September. Adams is still trying to catch up to Craig’s number of RBI opportunities, but he’s just as capable.
While Craig not being in the lineup does hurt the Cardinals in a sense, Adams has shown that he can at least pick up some of the slack. But, he’s also been hitting against lower-tier MLB pitching, at least compared to the studs he would face in the playoffs.
*Note: No. 1/2-type starters include all starters who are No. 1 or 2 on their team’s depth chart or would be in one of those spots on any other team, i.e. Ryu (Dodgers) and Julio Teheran (Braves).
Adams has rarely faced the top pitchers in the league this year, which could hurt come playoff time. We won’t truly know what Adams is capable of doing against those type of pitchers until the playoffs.
Who Bats Cleanup?
With Craig out of the lineup, the Cardinals have used Carlos Beltran and Adams in the No. 4 spot lately. Once Matt Holliday returns to the lineup, anything can happen.
Beltran is batting .226 with two home runs and 13 RBI in the cleanup spot, showing signs of struggle all year. Where he’ll fit best is in the No. 2 hole where he’s batting .316 with 19 home runs and 52 RBI.
Adams has been decent in 30 at-bats in the cleanup spot, batting .333 with four home runs and eight RBI. But is he the solution there for the playoffs?
Matt Holliday could also be moved, but do the Cardinals really want to move him out of the No. 3 hole? While he is batting .449 in the cleanup spot, that’s only with 49 at-bats. Compare that to 445 at-bats batting third where he’s hitting .283 with 18 home runs and 79 RBI. It would be a big mistake for the Cardinals to move him from that spot.
When you look at the starting lineup, the only spots in the batting order you can write in pen are Matt Carpenter in the leadoff role, Holliday in the No. 3 hole and Yadier Molina in the No. 5 hole. All three have played in more than 100 games from that position in the batting order and succeeded.
If I were manager Mike Matheny, I might even consider batting David Freese in the cleanup role, hoping he can recapture the magic of the 2011 postseason. In his postseason career, he’s batting .345 with six home runs and 25 RBI.
Having a player who has succeeded in a big spot before is huge. Freese may only be batting .265 with eight home runs and 65 RBI this year, but his postseason success in the past is why I still like him.
How It Affects the Postseason
While we’re still unsure who the Cardinals would play in the first round (or if they’ll play in the Wild Card Game), my biggest concern would be if/when they meet the Dodgers.
When I look at a rotation consisting of Clayton Kershaw (15-9, 1.88 ERA), Zack Greinke (15-3, 2.67 ERA) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (13-7, 3.03 ERA), I think runs are going to come at a premium.
While the Cardinals have done good this year against Kershaw (six runs in 13 IP), they’ve gotten a little against Greinke (two runs in 6.1 IP) and nothing against Ryu in seven innings.
In no other round, except the World Series, would the Cardinals face great pitching across the board. So, having someone who is known to basically hit everything with runners in scoring position would be a good thing.
Adams hasn’t faced Kershaw, Greinke or Ryu this year. In fact, the only pitcher he has a good amount of experience against that he could face in the playoffs is Ricky Nolasco. And that’s only five at-bats, where he struck out three times.
He has done an admirable job at filling in for Craig, but in no way can he replace the injured first baseman. Everyone likes the numbers, but they forget that it’s not against guys like Kershaw, Greinke, Cliff Lee, Jose Fernandez or any other top starter in the league.
Craig had at least seen all of those pitchers on multiple occasions and knows what to expect when he gets to the plate. That doesn’t mean he’ll get a hit, but at least he would know what he’s getting in to.
In the end, it comes down to having a bench player fill into a key position in the postseason. First base and (possibly) the cleanup role are big areas for any ballclub and I don’t see Adams having as much success given his limited experience.
The postseason is all about players performing their roles in high-pressure situations. Adams hasn’t done that.
Craig’s injury hurts because he’s sustained results over a longer period of time. For Adams, we’ve seen results in a short amount of time. But will it last?
That’s the biggest question mark right now. And if I’m the Cardinals, the last thing I want entering the playoffs is question marks.
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With one week to go in the MLB season, the playoffs continue to take shape.
While things could still change, there are eight teams who are basically locks to make it. The only playoff spots left to be decided are in the AL Wild Card.
With that said, it’s time to predict how things will turn out.
This list will look at each team I think will make the playoffs, and what their final standing will be when all is said and done.
Here are the final predictions for all 10 playoff teams.
Note: Just so there are no surprises for readers, the 10 teams that will be in the playoffs will be the Red Sox, Tigers, Athletics, Indians, Rays, Braves, Cardinals, Pirates, Reds and Dodgers.
The future of the MLB lies with a group of young players who will eventually be the next faces of the game.
Some are well known and established, while others are still young and learning the game. However, one thing holds true for all: They have their fanbases excited about the future.
So, which are the top young players at each position?
Here’s a look at MLB’s all-under-25 team for the 2013 season.
Note: Only stats from the 2013 season were considered.
The Colorado Rockies are willing to listen on possible trades involving Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez.
According to John Harper of the New York Daily News, one executive close to the Rockies said the team will seriously consider offers for the pair in an effort to rebuild.
However, the Rockies would be looking for a package built around young position players, as opposed to pitching, making it unlikely the Mets would be a good match.
A source says the Rockies consider it too risky trading for young pitching, given the difficulties they’ve had developing pitching in the high-altitude, hitter-friendly conditions in Colorado.
If such a move were to happen, it could seriously shake up divisional and league races. But who would be able to provide a package that would suit Colorado’s needs?
Harper’s story goes on to say that outside of catcher Travis d’Arnaud, the Rockies have no real interest in any position prospects from the Mets. He did add that with a surplus of arms in the minor leagues, the Mets could get a third team involved if they wanted Tulowitzki and Gonzalez.
Three-team trades are a little complicated when it comes to projections, so for now I’ll stick with deals that would involve the Rockies and one other team. Keep in mind that Gonzalez is still owed $63.5 million over the next four years, while Tulowitzki is owed $130 million over the next seven years, with a $15 million option in the eighth year.
Here’s one thing to consider as well when it comes to Tulowitzki:
To be fair, Gonzalez missed time due to injury in 2011 and 2013. So, both have injury issues.
With that in mind, which teams could be potential suitors for the Rockies?
New York Yankees
The Yankees are the first team that popped into my head for a variety of reasons.
The first (and perhaps biggest) reason is the fact that Derek Jeter is nearing retirement and has shown he can’t stay on the field this year. That would be a perfect time for him to hand over the reins at shortstop to Tulowitzki. The one knock on this, however, is that Tulowitzki has had his own history of injuries.
So, that might be something that scares the Yankees away.
Or, what about moving Jeter to second base if Robinson Cano decides to sign with another team this offseason? Let Jeter have his curtain call—an $8 million player option—in 2014 and then look for a second baseman after the season.
Gonzalez would be a good fit as well, although Alfonso Soriano, Vernon Wells and Ichiro Suzuki are still under contract for one more year. If the Yankees can’t figure out something to do with at least two of them, then they would have a high-priced bench player.
Brett Gardner isn’t going anywhere after showing promise this year with a stat line of .273/.344/.416. He also had eight home runs, 52 RBI and 24 stolen bases. Plus, he has one more arbitration year and is still relatively cheap.
Secondly, the Yankees have a decent crop of prospects that could catch the Rockies interest. Mason Williams and Tyler Austin could fill two outfield spots in Colorado for many years to come. Add in the fact that the Yankees also have a second catching prospect in JR Murphy, which could allow them to part with Gary Sanchez.
Those three players together along with a few young pitchers could be just what it takes to get the Rockies interested. I’m not saying all three players would have to be involved, but you would have to think at least two of them would.
The last thing that makes this a good fit is the fact that the Yankees could indeed take on the contracts of Tulowitzki and Gonzalez. While they are trying to cut down their payroll, Yahoo! Sports Jeff Passan reports that’s unlikely to happen.
In recent months, the Yankees have become far less bullish on their publicly stated austerity plan, admitting to other executives and agents that staying beneath the $189 million threshold is unlikely and impractical.
“They’re going to be over 189,” one source familiar with the Yankees’ plans said. “They know it. Everyone knows it. You can’t run a $3 billion team with the intentions of saving a few million dollars.”
Knowing that, there should be no reason why the Yankees don’t go after the pair. If money is no object, then trading away your best prospect would be reverting to the Yankees of old when they had one of the weaker farm systems.
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are another team that could pull this off for some of the same reasons mentioned with the Yankees.
The biggest plus on the side of the Cubs is their farm system. The Cubs could center a package around shortstop Javier Baez and outfielders Albert Almora or Jorge Soler. Like the Yankees, the Cubs could sprinkle in a couple of lower-level pitching prospects.
For the Rockies to even consider this trade, Baez would have to be on the table. If he’s not, the Rockies may not be inclined to make a move.
Some might say the Cubs already have Starlin Castro at shortstop, but is he really the long-term answer there? He’s had multiple gaffes in the field and at the plate that have caused benchings in the past.
The Cubs could move Castro to second base and finally give up on Darwin Barney, who is batting an unimpressive .211 with seven home runs and 41 RBI in 132 games. That way there’s a spot for Tulowitzki and Castro, and you have two good bats in the lineup.
Money is something else the Cubs will have no problem handling as owner Tom Ricketts has had no problem opening up his checkbook before with guys like Soriano. So, what would be the harm in doing it with Gonzalez and Tulowitzki?
Plus, those two would give the Cubs a lot of power to pair with Anthony Rizzo.
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals would be the biggest long-shots of the three teams mainly because they’re not big spenders like the Cubs and Yankees usually are.
However, when you look at the prospects in their system, they definitely have the players the Rockies would be interested in.
The first, and probably the toughest sell, would be Oscar Taveras. He has a ton of bat speed and speed on the base paths, and has hit at every level. The Cardinals may not be inclined to trade him, which if they aren’t, would kill any deal with the Rockies.
St. Louis also has second baseman Kolten Wong and outfielder Stephen Piscotty if Taveras is on the table. All three players could contribute in 2014 and wouldn’t cost nearly as much as Tulowitzki and Gonzalez. Those three players together would be enough to sway the Rockies to trade their big two.
Tulowitzki would be a huge upgrade over Pete Kozma at shortstop. And Carlos Beltran is a free agent after this season, so that would open up a spot for Gonzalez.
The pieces to this trade puzzle are there, but it’s all going to hinge on if St. Louis will move Taveras. Colorado is going to want a big piece in return, and while Wong and Piscotty would be nice, nothing would get them to the table quite like Taveras.
Prediction
If I were to pick one team to pull off the trade for both players, I would say the Cubs.
Team president Theo Epstein has never been shy about making big moves in the past, and I see no reason why he wouldn’t do the same if the opportunity became available.
There are obvious issues concerning Castro’s play at shortstop and Barney’s offensive skills—or lack thereof. Moving Castro to second and moving on without Barney would be in the best interest of the club.
Add in the fact that you would still have Mike Olt to man third base until Kris Bryant is ready, and you have a very powerful infield.
In the outfield you would lose Almora and/or Soler in the future, but adding a proven veteran like Gonzalez would make the loss worth it.
If the Cubs could do that and then go after a James Shields or Ervin Santana in free agency, they would become immediate contenders in 2014. Money is no object for Ricketts.
For a city that has been clamoring for its first World Series since 1908, it’s a move that has to be made. Management has to take a chance. If they don’t, they’re still at least a few years away from competing for a division title, much less a world title.
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The Los Angeles Angels have sent scouts to see Japanese phenom Masahiro Tanaka, according to ESPN. A great talent, it would be dumb if the Angels didn’t try to sign Tanaka.
Tanaka is currently 20-0 with a 1.24 ERA and 155 strikeouts. In fact, the last time he took a loss was on Aug. 19, 2012, making it 25 straight wins.
While there is some risk with pitchers coming over from Japan (see Hideki Irabu and Kenshin Kawakami), others like Yu Darvish and Hiroki Kuroda have had success in Major League Baseball. Because of that, it’s worth the risk for the Angels to bid on Tanaka.
This Season
The 2013 season has been one of the worst for Angels starters in recent memory. They have combined for a 4.37 ERA, which ranks 23rd in baseball and is their worst since 2009, when they had a 4.44 starters’ ERA.
Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson have been pretty good for the Angels, with each having an ERA of 3.36. But the team needs more than just two starters. Jason Vargas, Joe Blanton, Tommy Hanson and Jerome Williams have all been unimpressive this year; especially Blanton, who is 2-14 with a 6.04 ERA.
Hanson is 4-3 with a 5.59 ERA, while Vargas is 8-7 with a 4.20 ERA. Both have also missed significant time due to injury this year, which hasn’t helped their case.
Vargas is scheduled to be a free agent after this year, while Hanson and Williams are still in arbitration years. But will the Angels even offer them a contract?
Frankly, Vargas is the only one of the bunch I’d want to keep with a 3.98 ERA over the last two years. Then again, he’s only gotten more than 10 wins once in his career. He’s also dealt with various injuries, including a torn labrum in his left hip (2008) and a blood clot in his armpit (2013).
While he did have 30-start season from 2009-11, there are still injury concerns nonetheless.
Starting pitching needs a serious makeover in Los Angeles, and this season proved that.
What Tanaka Brings
According to Baseball America’s Ben Badler, Tanaka has cemented himself as the best pitcher in Japan.
At 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, Tanaka throws a low-90s fastball that can touch 96 mph. Even though Tanaka can reach the mid-90s, his fastball is the pitch that gives some scouts pause because it comes in on a flat plane, making it more hittable than the velocity might suggest. Tanaka has two secondary pitches that have earned grades of 60 or better on the 20-80 scouting scale, including a 70 splitter with late downward action to keep hitters off his fastball. His low- to mid-80s slider is another plus weapon, while he’ll mix in a curveball as well.
While Tanaka’s stats haven’t been as consistent as Darvish’s were in his last seasons in Japan, he’s still yet to have an ERA higher than 2.50 since 2009. In fact, his ERAs in the last three years have been 1.27, 1.87 and 1.24.
Compare that to Kawakami’s last three seasons in Japan, where he had ERAs of 3.55, 2.30 and 3.86. While not bad marks, it shows Tanaka has had better success in Japan than Kawakami did, and I believe that success would translate better into MLB as well.
When you make him the No. 3 starter behind Wilson and Weaver, the Angels would have something to work with. Right now, there won’t be much until free agency works itself out.
The Money
The Angels have had no problem showing the money over the last few years. They gave Albert Pujols a 10-year, $242 million deal, Josh Hamilton a five-year, $133 million deal, C.J. Wilson a five-year, $77.5 million deal and Jered Weaver a five-year, $85 million deal.
While the team felt $20 million a year for Zack Greinke was too much this past offseason, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times, this season’s struggles likely made them rethink that strategy.
While Tanaka won’t command $20 million a year, the Angels will still have to put up a posting bid, which could cost them close to $25 million, according to DiGiovanna in another story.
Tanaka, 24, could be worth it. Two scouts who have seen Tanaka pitch but are not authorized to speak publicly about him said that although Tanaka might not be in Texas ace Yu Darvish‘s class, he could be as good as or better than Hiroki Kuroda, who is 68-68 with a 3.37 earned-run average in six big league seasons.
With that said, the money would be well spent for the Angels, especially if they want to consider the signings of the previous four to be money well spent as well. There’s no point in spending the money if you’re not making the playoffs.
Why is it a Brilliant Move?
Plain and simply, if the Angels don’t improve their rotation, there will be no playoffs for them next year.
Of course they can go out on the free-agent market to try and sign guys like Ervin Santana, James Shields or Matt Garza. But will their cost and production be more than Tanaka’s?
Look at it this way, outside of the posting fee the Rangers placed on Darvish, they’re paying him $10 million a year over the next three years. In the last two years, they’ve paid him a total of $15 million.
Now, figuring that Tanaka will get paid less than that, wouldn’t it be a better investment to go with Tanaka over the other three? You will have to add in the posting fee, but despite that, Tanaka will come in at a cheaper rate than other top pitchers on the market.
Some will say the other three are proven in MLB, but those are the ones that said the same thing about Darvish and Kuroda. Texas is reaping the benefits of taking a chance on Darvish and the Angels could do the same with Tanaka.
They’ll spend less money on Tanaka than they would on the other three, and they would be in just as good of position for the playoffs.
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