Another day has come and gone, and still no baseball. We hear that there will be a National League Championship Series played soon, but we are beginning to have our doubts. The NLCS allegedly starts on Saturday. We’ll see.
In the meantime, as we continue to prepare to watch baseball, here are some more things to think about ahead of Game 1.
Acclaimed actor Sidney Poitier starred with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn in the hit movie Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.
Guess which team will show up hungrier in this year’s American League Championship Series?
The actors in this year’s Major League Baseball saga may not win any Oscars or Golden Globes, but they have a chance to have their names etched in eternity as stars and winners nonetheless.
Starring for the defending World Series champion New York Yankees will be Joe Girardi, with co-stars Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, C.C. Sabathia and Derek Jeter.
Statistics aside, the Yankees may have the best batting lineup since the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals—the Gas House Gang.
The Gang featured five .300 hitters, including mammoth slugger Ripper Collins.
Which hitter will rip the opposing pitching staff apart? I predict it will be Josh Hamilton.
Playing the lead role for the Texas Rangers will be their once-beleaguered manager Ron Washington. His supporting cast includes Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Michael Young, David Murphy, Ian Kinsler, Vladimir Guerrero and Cliff Lee.
The Rangers are no slobs themselves when it comes to hitting.
The first African-American manager in the 49-year history of the Texas Rangers, “Wash” is on the cusp of becoming the first black manager to hit the AL pennant lotto since 1993.
Clarence “Cito” Gaston was the last to do it.
Born in San Antonio and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, Gaston was also the first African-American to win the World Series (1992).
He was also once with the Atlanta Braves, and roommates with “Hammering” Hank Aaron.
Gaston has been quoted as saying that Mr. Aaron taught him “how to be a man, how to stand on my own.”
Wash stood on his own for a little while during the 2010 MLB preseason, when he admitted to cocaine use.
But team president Nolan Ryan provided his manager with some much needed company by predicting a 95-win season.
“We will win,” the former flame-throwing pitcher declared.
Now a part-owner of the Rangers, Ryan almost hit a bulls-eye with his bold prediction.
His team finished the regular season at 90-72, and won the AL West division by nine games.
This will be Wash’s first appearance as a manager in the ALCS, and Texas’ fourth postseason run ever. The franchise has only won four playoff games entering into this year’s pennant series.
Needless to say, this will be the first time the Rangers have played in baseball’s version of the Final Four.
Their lone playoff victory before beating Tampa Bay 3-2 in a five-game series came in Game 1 of the ALDS against the New York Yankees.
The Yankees have pummeled the Rangers in every one of their four postseason series.
Which team is hungrier? It seems to me that they both are ready to gorge on equal amounts of home runs and extra base hits.
What will separate these two offensive juggernauts is pitching.
Enter stage right Mr. Lee.
The Yankees wanted to acquire him from the Seattle Mariners, but Ryan was widely viewed as winning a victory over the vaunted Yankee front office in sealing the deal.
The Rangers have dealt with 23 different managers in their history, and the only other one to guide them to the playoffs was the late Johnny Oates.
As a result, he was named the 1996 Co-American League Manager of the Year.
Joe Torre of the Yankees shared the award with Oates.
Oates and current Baltimore Orioles manager, Buck Showalter, were very close friends. The Rangers retired Oates’ uniform number 26 in 2005.
Washington replaced Showalter as manager of the Rangers in 2007.
Showalter sported jersey number 26 as an Oriole this season in honor of Oates.
Washington had a mediocre career as a former shortstop and second baseman with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Minnesota Twins, the Baltimore Orioles, the Cleveland Indians, and the Houston Astros.
His main claim to fame was breaking up Odell Jones’ May 28, 1988 no-hitter with one out in the ninth inning.
Washington was sent in to pinch-hit for Jay Bell, batting ninth.
After he hung up his cleats for good in 1989, his former Astros manager, Art Howe hired him as the A’s first base coach in 1996.
He was then promoted to third base and infield coach, and he served in that role from 1997-2006.
His players adored him to the point of handing him some of their official MLB accolades.
Washington helped to develop six-time Gold Glove recipient Eric Chavez, and shortstop Miguel Tejada. Chavez gave Washington a Gold Glove trophy, signed “Wash, not without you.”
That sentiment was shared by Ranger’s general manager Jon Daniels after the Game 5 win against Tampa Bay.
“Manager of the Year, right here boys,” Daniels proclaimed to reporters in the ALDS celebratory club house.
Hero Cliff Lee won’t pitch until Game 3 in the ALDS, and hopefully in Game 7 for the Rangers.
Ron Washington and current Yankee first baseman Mark Teixeira had a rift over their different approaches to batting.
Teixeira was traded three months later to the Atlanta Braves in July 2007, but he was reportedly being shopped before the rift.
I believe the Rangers pitchers will send a text message to their former star.
It could read something like: “Tex, without you.”
I predict the so-called “Evil Empire” will fall in seven games to the Rangers, and that Ron Washington will be named 2010 AL Manager of the Year.
His boldest move was perhaps slotting SS Elvis Andrus in the lead-off spot. Wash’s base-running aggression against the Rays helped to get his team to this point.
Considered plodders on the base paths, New York may play possum in the running department.
The Yankees may have played possum to finish second to the Rays, but possum is a delicacy in certain parts of Texas—so I hear.
The Rangers swept the Yankees in September.
Texas will clean the New York house with an ALDS triumph in seven games.
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When you go to the casino to play the slots, do you expect to win? Do you go to a casino expecting to win when you put all your money on double zero?
The odds aren’t terrible, but they aren’t in your favour either.
In professional sports, general managers constantly flirt with the odds when they decide to pick up rental players.
Rental players are generally players who are picked up by a team for the last portion of the season in hopes of helping the team win its respective league championship in exchange for that player’s market value. Obviously, the better the player, the steeper the price.
It’s a big risk to take for one shot at glory, if you ask me. The chances of a rental player being worth the value given up to get him are very low, and past situations have demonstrated this fact many times.
However, for the Texas Rangers, “renting” Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners has already proven to be worth it.
The Texas Rangers earned their shot at taking on the New York Yankees in the ALCS by knocking off the Tampa Bay Rays on the backs of another stellar Cliff Lee postseason performance. Lee went the distance, giving up six hits and an earned run while fanning 11 in the 5-1 victory.
Wait, so why does one playoff round make the Cliff Lee rental a worthwhile endeavour?
Under most circumstances I would say it doesn’t, but with the Texas Rangers you have to look at where they would be without their ace and where they are now.
In general, I am not an advocate for the acquisition of rental players. Teams are forced to give up their potential future—prospects and draft picks—for a player that can hardly guarantee even a real shot at a title. There are too many examples of teams falling short of the mark after acquiring a soon-to-be marquee free agent.
In the NHL, you look to an example like Nashville and Peter Forsberg, where the Predators gave up a first and third-round pick along with Scottie Upshall and Ryan Parent, only to be knocked out in the first round of the playoffs
How about just reminiscing about last year’s World Series, where the Phillies fell short of a title despite the acquisition of, wouldn’t ya know it, Cliff Lee?
The difference here is that the Texas Rangers franchise is currently navigating through uncharted waters all thanks to one Mr. Lee. The Texas Rangers had never won a playoff series prior this year’s ALDS victory, and for a franchise that had never reached the second round of the postseason it seems like it is already a success to have overcome a team that was considered by some to be Major League Baseball’s elite.
I don’t think that anyone can logically argue that without Cliff Lee the Rangers would have beaten the Rays.
There is almost no doubt that the Rangers would have still taken NFC West-like AL West, but they got Lee for one thing only, and that thing is the playoffs. Lee did not have the best win-loss record, nor did he pitch his best ball with the Rangers during the regular season. He went a mediocre 4-6 with a 3.98 ERA, but seriously, it didn’t matter.
Lee pitched two marvellous games against the Rays. As I mentioned earlier, he pitched a complete game tonight in the biggest game of the season and pitched seven great innings in Game 1. Oh yeah, in 16 playoff innings he didn’t walk a batter.
The Rangers did go on to win Game 2, but then at home they lost Games 3 and 4. Now imagine them having C.J. Wilson instead of Cliff Lee at the front end of their rotation. Everyone moves one spot up, and who knows what happens in the series? My best guess is that they lose, but that’s just me.
Think about it: What if the Mariners had decided to keep Cliff Lee? What if the Rangers decided they didn’t want to give away their future in first baseman Justin Smoak to seal the deal?
Well, that didn’t happen. The Mariners decided to get something back for their key offseason purchase, and the Rangers felt that Lee was worth Smoak, Blake Beavan, Josh Lueke and Matt Lawson.
It will be a few years before we can truly decide who got the better end of the deal, but right now it looks like a win-win situation with the only possible losers being the Seattle Mariners.
Justin Smoak, the key piece in the deal, disappointed in his time with the Mariners. He hit a brutal .209 with eight homers and 34 runs batted in. However, don’t be too quick to judge. Smoak isn’t even 24 years of age yet, so there is lots of time for him to develop.
In the end, what does it all mean?
The franchise’s first playoff series victory, a legitimate chance at playing for the World Series, and a team that might not be in the place where they are right now without a certain someone—I’d say that Cliff Lee is already well worth the price.
More from Chris can be found on Painting the Black, his personal multi-sport blog.
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We’re down to baseball’s final four as the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants are set to duke it out—beginning on Friday—to advance to the 2010 World Series.
There are multiple story lines to follow in both the ALCS and NLCS—for example, the filthy pitching matchups between the Giants and Phillies or the possibility of the Rangers making their first ever World Series—and we’ll get to each of those.
For now, let’s tackle some of the basic info for the two upcoming Championship Series.
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After storming out to a 2-0 lead in their ALDS clash with the Tampa Bay Rays, it quickly appeared as if the Texas Rangers had taken firm control of the series and were inevitably headed to their first American League Championship Series appearance in franchise history.
Tampa however, had their sights set on returning to the World Series, to erase the bitter disappointment of losing the 2008 Fall Classic to the Philadelphia Phillies. The Rays stormed back in Games 3 and 4 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, evening the series at two games apiece, and setting up the decisive Game 5 match-up between the teams’ aces, Cliff Lee and David Price.
The rematch of ALDS Game 1 starters pitted two of the game’ s premier left-handed pitchers against one another in what promised to be quite the pitchers’ duel. Game 5 didn’t disappoint, as the two lefties battled for six innings, with Price being eventually touched for three runs by some timely Rangers’ hitting and aggressive base-running. Lee hurled yet another complete game, limiting the potent Rays’ offense to only one run on six hits and no walks, while striking out 11. Texas would add two more in the ninth to seal their 5-1 victory which would send them to their first ever ALCS.
With the Division Series now concluded, the Rangers can now look ahead and begin planning for their ALCS match-up against another AL East powerhouse, this time, the New York Yankees. During the regular season, the Yankees claimed the Wild Card by finishing 95-67, one game behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the Eastern Division race. New York’s path to the ALCS began with a definitive three-game sweep of the AL Central champion Minnesota Twins, in which outscored the Twins 17-7. Displaying offensive strength, dominant pitching, and stingy defense, the Yankees easily dispatched the Twins, and their deeply experienced roster makes them a formidable foe for the Rangers in the ALCS.
Let’s take a look at how the two teams stack up against one another, in a position by position analysis of the primary figures at each spot around the diamond.
The 2010 NLCS begins this Saturday in Philadelphia between the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants. Both teams bring impressive pitching rotations into the series, highlighted by the Game 1 match-up between Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum.
Impressive hardly describes each of their first postseason starts during the NLDS.
Halladay, in the first postseason start of his career no less, no-hit the best hitting team in the National League, the Cincinnati Reds, and Lincecum threw a 2 hit, 14k, complete game against the Atlanta Braves. With Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt looking to take the ball for the Phillies and Jonathan Sanchez and Matt Cain behind Lincecum for the Giants, the match-up between these two teams is all about pitching.
That being said, neither team is without issue. Here are 5 questions heading into the National League Championship Series:
Things have gone exactly to plan for the Yankees so far this postseason.
New York tanked the American League East so it could face the whipping boy Twins instead of Cliff Lee and the Rangers, and what happened?
The Bombers once again easily dispatched of Minnesota in three games, while the AL East champion Rays were taken to the limit before being eliminated thanks to Lee’s second dominating performance in the AL Division Series.
Now, not only do the Yanks avoid playing pesky Tampa Bay, which took 10 of 18 from New York this season, but they get to square off against the Rangers, whom they have beaten nine out of 10 times in their previous three playoff encounters in the 1990s. Not only that, but the Pinstripes won’t have to face Lee until Game 3.
The only negative is that New York doesn’t have home-field advantage and went 1-4 in Arlington this season, including an excruciating three-game sweep in September. Then again, Texas has never won a home playoff game.
So how do these two clubs match up? Let’s take a look at the pitchers for the AL Championship Series.
Game 1: Friday, Oct. 15: CC Sabathia (21-7, 3.18) vs. C.J. Wilson (15-8, 3.35)
Sabathia turned in the worst performance of the Yankees’ starters in the ALDS, but still earned the win, allowing four runs (three earned) over six innings in Game 1.
The defending ALCS MVP was 10-5 with a 3.34 ERA on the road in 2010, and he dominated the Rangers at home on April 16, yielding just one run on three hits and no walks with nine strikeouts through six frames to earn the 5-1 victory.
The big lefty is 8-3 with a 4.29 ERA in 14 career starts against Texas, including a 4-2 record and 4.71 mark over six outings in Arlington.
The current Rangers roster hits just .188 off Sabathia, with Michael Young (12-for-38, .316) sporting the only average above .261. Vladimir Guerrero is 3-for-17 (.176) and Bengie Molina is 1-for-19 (.053).
The southpaw is 4-1 with a 2.34 ERA in six playoff starts with the Yankees.
In his postseason debut, Wilson walked just two batters over 6.1 scoreless innings to beat the Rays, 6-0, in Game 2, but the left-hander led the league with 93 bases on balls this year, so he could run into some trouble against the patient New York lineup.
The 29 year old made three starts vs. the Bombers this season, going 0-1 with a 5.65 ERA and walking nine in 14.1 innings. The converted reliever is 0-3 with a 4.12 mark in 20 appearances against the Yanks.
Marcus Thames will certainly get the start at DH in Game 1 because he leads the club with a .455 average (5-for-11) vs. Wilson. Derek Jeter is 5-for-14 (.357) and Nick Swisher is 6-for-20 (.300) with three doubles and a homer.
Austin Kearns is 3-for-7 (.429) with a double and a walk against Wilson, but I don’t see him getting the nod over Curtis Granderson (0-for-6) or Brett Gardner (0-for-5).
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 16: Phil Hughes (18-8, 4.19) vs. Colby Lewis (12-13, 3.72)
Hughes pitched just one scoreless inning against the Rangers this season, but the decision to start him in Game 2 over Andy Pettitte was the correct one because the right-hander was 7-4 with a 3.47 ERA on the road in 2010, and he’s surrendered just three hits and four walks with 13 strikeouts over 15.1 scoreless frames in his career against Texas, with all of that work coming in Arlington.
The Rangers’ current roster hits a paltry .079 (3-for-38) vs. Hughes, who gave up only four hits and one walk to go along with six K’s over seven scoreless innings in a Game 3 win over the Twins.
Josh Hamilton doubled in three at-bats against the 24 year old, but Young, Jorge Cantu, Ian Kinsler, Jeff Francoeur, David Murphy and Elvis Andrus are a combined 0-for-25.
Hughes allowed one run on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts over 2.2 innings in three relief appearances during last year’s ALCS.
Lewis didn’t receive a great deal of run or bullpen support this season and that was once again the case when, in his postseason debut, he fired five scoreless innings in Game 3 against the Rays, but took a no-decision as the Rangers fell, 6-3.
The right-hander was 6-4 with a 3.41 ERA at home this year, but did not face the Yankees. He is 0-2 with a 6.89 ERA in three career starts vs. New York, but because Lewis was out of the majors from 2008-09, only three current Bombers have recorded official at-bats against him.
Jeter is 3-for-5 (.600) with two homers, but Jorge Posada is 0-for-6. Lance Berkman is 0-for-7 with four strikeouts, so I wouldn’t be shocked to see him sit against a righty.
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 18: Andy Pettitte (11-3, 3.28) vs. Cliff Lee (12-9, 3.18)
All of the questions surrounding Pettitte’s ability to pitch well in the postseason following his return from the disabled list were answered when the veteran held the Twins to just two runs on five hits and a walk over seven innings of Game 2.
The left-hander allowed just two runs on four hits in eight innings to beat the Rangers, 5-2, at home on April 18, but he is 11-9 with a 5.24 ERA in 23 career starts against Texas, including an 8.22 mark in Arlington, so it made sense to push Pettitte back to Game 3 in the Bronx.
The current Rangers roster hits .310 off the 38 year old. Francoeur is 5-for-8 (.625) with a double and a homer, Murphy is 4-for-11 (.364) and Vlad is 9-for-26 (.346).
Kinsler, however, has a rough time against Pettitte, going 3-for-14 (.214), as does Nelson Cruz, who is 1-for-11 (.091).
The southpaw is 19-9 with a 3.87 ERA in the playoffs, including a 7-1 mark in the ALCS, so despite his struggles vs. Texas and at Rangers Ballpark, most Yankees fans would be pleased to have him start a possible Game 7.
New York doesn’t want it to get that far, though, because the prospects of facing Lee in a decisive game are not favorable. Just ask the Rays.
The left-hander, who led the league with a 1.00 WHIP and seven complete games this season, held Tampa Bay to just one run over seven innings in Game 1 and one run through nine frames in Game 5. He struck out a total of 21 batters and didn’t issue a single walk in the two starts.
Lee was 2-0 with a 3.09 ERA in three outings against the Bombers in 2010, but is 6-4 with a 4.42 in 12 career regular season starts vs. New York, including a 2-0 record and 2.40 mark at the new Yankee Stadium.
The 32 year old went 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA in last year’s World Series, so the Bombers have to win one of the first two games in Arlington and definitely cannot allow this ALCS to go the distance.
Jeter should have a good series, as he is 15-for-36 (.417) with four doubles and a triple against Lee, and Mark Teixeira is 10-for-30 (.333) with five doubles and a homer.
Just like in Game 2, I’d throw the natural matchups out the window and start Berkman (3-for-8, .375, 2 2B) over Thames (7-for-36, .194, 15 K’s).
Game 4: A.J. Burnett (10-15, 5.26) vs. Tommy Hunter (13-4, 3.73)
I agree with starting Burnett in Game 4 because you can’t ask Sabathia to start on three days’ rest in back-to-back starts (assuming he’d also pitch Game 7) and then expect him to pitch two or three more times in the World Series. The only way I’d change my mind is if the Yankees were down 3-0 in the ALCS.
The right-hander went 1-7 with a 6.61 ERA over the final two months of the season, but he was 1-0 with a 2.50 ERA in three starts against the Rangers and sported a more reasonable 4.59 mark at home.
Burnett is 4-3 with a 3.66 ERA in his career vs. Texas, and the current roster hits just .207 off him, with no one other than Matt Treanor (1-for-1) batting over .300.
Guerrero is 12-for-50 (.240) with 12 strikeouts and Cruz is 2-for-14 (.143) with eight K’s, so this could just be the perfect matchup for Burnett, who made three great starts and two terrible ones in last year’s playoffs.
Hunter was pitching pretty well, allowing three runs (two earned) with seven strikeouts and no walks over four innings, before manager Ron Washington decided to pull him from Game 4 of the ALDS, which the Rangers eventually lost, 5-2.
The right-hander yielded two runs in five frames at home against the Yankees on Sept. 11, but he went 6-4 with a 4.48 ERA on the road this season. He is 0-1 with a 6.75 in two career starts vs. New York and has never pitched in the Bronx.
The Bombers’ roster hits .364 off Hunter. Granderson is 4-for-6 (.667) with a homer and Berkman is 2-for-4 (.500). However, Alex Rodriguez, Swisher and Gardner are a combined 0-for-9.
Starting Francisco Cervelli in Game 4 makes sense because he is 1-for-1 with an RBI and a walk against Hunter, and Burnett has a 4.66 ERA with Cervelli behind the plate as opposed to a 7.28 with Posada back there. In addition, Posada gets some rest with a Game 4 night affair being followed by a Game 5 afternoon start.
Prediction
The Yankees have favorable pitching matchups in the first two games, and while I don’t expect them to beat Lee, they even have a good matchup with Burnett against Hunter in Game 4. I’ll take the Yanks in 6 and Derek Jeter to go 10-for-24 (.417) en route to MVP honors.
Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison. Jordan Schwartz is one of Bleacher Report’s New York Yankees and College Basketball Featured Columnists. His book Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com. Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003@yahoo.com
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After dismissing the Cincinnati Reds in the NLDS, the Phillies will face off against the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS.
Will the Giants be a minor speed bump on the road to another National League pennant, or do they have a legitimate shot at sending the Phillies home early?
Here are some arguments for both cases:
Fear the Giants
In theory, the teams in the NLCS are the two best the league has to offer. Not only does a team have to survive the regular-season gauntlet to earn a playoff berth, but they must also defeat another playoff worthy team just to advance.
The Giants won a competitive NL West division, and then dismissed the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS. That alone marks them as a good team. And the main reason for their success is their pitching staff.
The staff is led by Tim Lincecum, who is one of the best starters in the majors, having won the 2008 and 2009 Cy Young Awards. By his standards, 2010 was a slightly off year, as he struggled in August leading to some “What’s wrong with Lincecum? Is he injured?” talk.
He quickly dismissed that speculation with an outstanding stretch run, and a sterling effort in his start in the NLDS. If he is on his game, he can be near unhittable.
The rest of the staff is impressive as well: Jonathan Sanchez is a tough left-hander, who has given the Phillies trouble in the past. Matt Cain had an excellent year and features a good fastball. It isn’t clear if the Giants will use a fourth starter, but if they do, it will be rookie left-hander Madison Bumgarner. (Now that’s a great name!) Bumgarner had a strong rookie season and excelled in his NLDS start, so he is far from a weak link.
The Giants bullpen has also performed well this year, led by closer Brian Wilson, who led the NL in saves.
Considering that the Phillies had trouble scoring runs (or at least earned runs) off of the Reds’ good but not great pitchers, what kind of success can they expect to have against the Giants pitchers? They can’t depend on a complete breakdown by the Giants’ fielders similar to what happened to the Reds.
The long layoff between playoff series isn’t going to help the Phillies’ chances either. Ryan Howard (one of the few Phillies who has had past success against Lincecum) didn’t have a strong NLDS, and tends to suffer after extended time off. They’ll need him to start hitting like he did in last year’s NLCS in which he was named MVP. The extra rest probably won’t help guys like Jimmy Rollins, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez find their stroke either.
There’s a good chance that these games are going to be low-scoring affairs. Games will likely come down to one or two plays, and in that type of situation, one fluke play can make a huge difference. The Phillies are the better team on paper, but in close games, that doesn’t mean anything.
Start Planning for the World Series
While the Giants’ spot in the final four may prove that they are a good team, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are a great team. They won a West division in which their two closest competitors (Padres and Rockies) both collapsed badly down the stretch. In the NLDS, they were matched against a beaten up Braves team that seemed to find ways to lose.
So while it is nice that they have gotten this far, at some point they’ll have to prove themselves to be more than just opportunistic.
They’ll also have to find a way to hit better than they have. If the Reds—the highest scoring team in the NL—couldn’t hit against the Phillies’ starters, what chance do the weak-hitting Giants have?
While the Giants were the only team in the majors to have beaten the Phillies starting trio of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels this season, there’s no indication that they’ll be able to do so again. Even they don’t seem to like their chances, as I’ve heard quotes from Giants players about “needing to scrape out some runs,” and “wanting to keep things low scoring.”
If we give the Giants the edge in the potential Game 4 matchup of Fat Joe Blanton vs. Bumgarner (By the way, people need to give Blanton more credit. He didn’t have the the greatest year, but he was solid down the stretch, and has had postseason success in the past), will the Giants be able to score enough runs in three out of six starts by Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels?
I can’t see the Giants scoring enough runs to win the series. Who in the Giants lineup seems like a real threat? Buster Posey had a great rookie season, but is he capable of carrying their entire offense? Aubrey Huff and Andres Torres are solid hitters, but once again, not exactly the type to make a pitcher worry too much.
Former Phillie Pat Burrell has played well for them, and could provide some power, but as any Phillies fan can tell you, Burrell can be pitched to.
Maybe in a close game the Giants will be able to score some runs against the Phillies relievers. But the way that the Phillies starters have pitched, their relief pitching doesn’t often even come into play. And unlike the Braves, the Phillies late-game relief combo of Ryan Madson (MADSON!!!!) and Brad Lidge are healthy, and have been extremely effective in the second half of the season.
The Giants are also far weaker than the Phillies defensively. Sure, their numbers might look OK because they don’t commit a lot of errors. But that is partially due to the horrendous fielding range showed by many of their fielders. Are the Giants capable of making the game saving defensive plays that would be necessary to win a close game? It seems doubtful.
As for the Phillies hitters, I think they’ll do just enough damage to get the job done. Unlike most lineups that the Giants face, the Phillies have strength all the way through. Which means that even if Rollins and Howard are slumping, Chase Utley and Jayson Werth are capable of carrying the team. And while the layoff might hurt the Phillies’ hitting timing, it can only help with Rollins’ sore hamstring. If he can run at near full speed, that adds yet another element that the Giants will have to deal with.
My Prediction
The Giants seem like a tougher opponent than the Dodgers of 2008 and 2009. And I don’t think that the Giants will play scared like the Reds seemed to.
But in the end, the result will be the same. The Giants’ starters are too good for them not to win a couple games, but in the end, the Phillies will capture their third consecutive pennant.
Phillies in six.
Originally published on my blog: Stranger in a Strange Land
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After a brilliant performance in Game 3 from Phil Hughes, Joe Girardi has decided to switch him and Pettitte in the playoff rotation. And not only that, A.J. Burnett is getting the nod in Game 4.
This may come as a surprise to a lot of people after Pettitte’s good outing against the Twins in Game 2, and A.J. Burnett’s horrendous regular season. But you have to trust the decisions your manager makes and I’m sure Joe Girardi knows what he’s doing.
Phil Hughes pitched seven shutout innings against the Twins in the first round the MLB Playoffs, striking out six batters in the process. He looked to be in command the entire game with very few places for concern.
Pettitte pitched very well also, letting up two earned runs in seven innings, while striking out four batters. He got out of a couple of jams and showed why he has more postseason victories for starters than anybody in the history of baseball.
This is where you ask, did Hughes really do well enough where you needed to switch him and Pettitte in the rotation? Perhaps Girardi sees Game 3 as a must win and he trusts the veteran to be on the mound in that situation. Who knows what Girardi was thinking for sure?
The real question here is, did A.J. Burnett deserve to even crack the Yankees postseason rotation at all? Burnett rarely showed command during the regular season. Inconsistency plagued both him and the Yankees the whole year. Burnett went 10-15 this season with a 5.26 ERA. Are these numbers you can rely on when you’re just four wins away from making it back to the World Series.
Hopefully these changes payoff for the Yankees, otherwise Girardi may go running to that Cubs job.
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As a Giants fan and writer, I just can’t get over what Buster Olney said on Bill Simmons’ MLB Playoff Podcast, which I listened to yesterday.
Basically, I came away with four things:
1.) The Tampa Bay Rays have the best GM in baseball (probably true).
2.) The Red Sox are hurting in terms of the money they owe to contracts next year (true, but unnecessary considering the Red Sox aren’t in the playoffs).
3.) The Mariners made a mistake by taking Justin Smoak from the Rangers instead of Jesus Montero in the Cliff Lee trade (very, very true when you consider Montero’s a catcher).
4.) The Giants have no chance against the Phillies because of their offense (true) and defense.
(You can find the BS Report Podcast between Simmons and Olney here.)
The defense part kills me. Olney remarked to Simmons that the Giants had “one of the worst defenses in baseball.”
For a baseball writer, and one who likes to follow modern trends (e.g. some sabermetrics), I can’t believe Olney would put his foot in his mouth like this.
So, to prove my point over Olney’s, let’s look and compare the Giants position by position (on UZR and UZR/150 basis) to the Phillies, who apparently are “better” defensively than the Giants.