After one of the most wild (and possibly best) nights of regular season baseball ever, it's time for the playoffs to start. Though still feeling a high from the night that was Wednesday, teams will have to put all of that behind them and start fresh. The playoffs, in any sport, proves somewhat of a brand new season feeling. It doesn't matter if you were the best team in your division for the 162 game schedule, that is behind us. What matters now is that these teams are at the top of their game for what could potentially be their next 19 games.
A new world champion will be crowned this year, with last year's World Series winning Giants missing out on the playoffs. There are many interesting teams with different strengths and weakness'. You have the pitching strong teams, and the hitting strong teams. You also have the teams who are right in the middle, even when it comes to both offense and defense.
This blog will also be featuring @JReyzor who also contributed to our NHL Finals Preview.
Just for reference, here is the bracket for this years postseason:
| 1 | New York Yankees | |||||||||||
| 3 | Detroit Tigers | |||||||||||
| Detroit Tigers | ||||||||||||
| American League | ||||||||||||
| Texas Rangers | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Texas Rangers | |||||||||||
| 4 | Tampa Bay Rays | |||||||||||
| AL | Texas Rangers | |||||||||||
| NL | St. Louis Cardinals | |||||||||||
| 1 | Philadelphia Phillies | |||||||||||
| 4 | St. Louis Cardinals | |||||||||||
| St. Louis Cardinals | ||||||||||||
| National League | ||||||||||||
| Milwaukee Brewers | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Milwaukee Brewers | |||||||||||
| 3 | Arizona Diamondbacks | |||||||||||
Here We Go:
Chris:
We'll start off in the AL -
Yankees vs. Tigers:
This is undoubtedly going to be an amazing series. You'll have the Tigers pitching, lead by ace and soon to be Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, vs. a hard hitting Yankees squad, lead by MVP candidate Curtis Granderson. Both teams obviously have very good pitching and offense, but I think the biggest key to the series will be the Yankees pitching. Their pitching can be unpredictable at times, but if they can get their pitching working, along with their hitting, this should be their series to win or lose.
Prediction: Yankees in 5
Rays vs. Rangers:
The Rays are coming into this series at full steam after their win over the Yankees on Wednesday. After coming back from being down 7-0 in the 8th inning to eventually winning in extras, it's hard not to cheer for this team. On the other hand the Rangers are an extremely well-rounded baseball club. They have a lot of great hitting and pitching and played in the world series last year. The first match up of the series is a battle of the lefties. It will feature rookie Matt Moore, who absolutely dominated the Yankees in his first career start, vs. CJ Wilson, who is coming off of his second solid season in a row as a starter. In last years ALDS these teams had a hard fought 5 game series, and I expect no less this year.
Prediction: Rays in 5
On to the NL -
Phillies vs. Cardinals:
Just like the Rays vs. Rangers series, this series will feature a team who made an unbelievable run in the final month of the season to snatch up the wildcard. Obviously, the Phillies strength lies within their pitching, with some good hitting. Where as the Cardinals have good pitching, accompanied by very solid hitting. The first matchup of the series will feature Kyle Lohse vs. Roy Halladay. As much as I enjoy watching the Cardinals (especially Pujols play) I don't see them going very far. The fact they have to face Roy Halladay, followed by Cliff Lee the next day is just lethal.
Prediction: Phillies in 4
Brewers vs. Diamondbacks:
This is personally my favorite division series match up. You have two very even teams in terms of both pitching and offense. I think a key to the series will be how the Brewers play as a whole team, not just 2 or 3 individuals on offense. I honestly believe this is going to be a series for the ages, and I really don't care who wins. Being a Blue Jays fan they both feature former Blue Jays (mainly the Diamondbacks) so this is a win - win. The Brewers have more offensive power, but the Diamondbacks have the ability to get it done with small ball, which can have it's advantages and disadvantages. This is extremely tough to predict, as it really could go either way. We could see a 5 game series, or a straight sweep, but I don't believe we will see anything in between. Part of me is saying Diamondbacks, and part of me is saying Brewers.
(Painful) Prediction: Brewers in 5
Skip ahead to the world series - here are my predictions. The Yankees will beat the Rays in 6 in the ALCS, the Phillies will beat the Brewers in 5 games in the NLCS. These are just my predictions, and to be completely honest, I really don't care who wins. I would rather see a team other than the Yankees or Phillies win, but really..I just want to see good baseball.
Final Prediction: Yankees win the World Series in 6 games over the Phillies.
@JReyzor
New York Yankees VS Detroit Tigers:
This series is going to be very interesting. A rematch from 2006 when the Yankees were eliminated in the ALCS 3-1 by the Tigers both division leaders are on a collision course. The Tigers come armed with their possible MVP and Cy Young candidate Justin Verlander who is looking to continue his dominating run into the playoffs and bring a World Series back to Detroit. Of course the Yankees have their own ace in CC Sabathia who is coming off another solid season and looks to continue his run into the playoffs. The key to this series is the closers as who will withstand the pressure better. Many would say Mariano Rivera due to his experience and success but Jose Valverde of the Tigers converted on all 49 of his save opportunities which gives him the confidence coming into the playoffs. You can pretty much do a coin flip between the two offenses of the teams so as for who goes through I’m going to have to say Tigers in 4.
Texas Rangers VS Tampa Bay Rays:
Fresh off their dramatic walk off home run thanks to Evan Longoria the Rays are seeking revenge on the team that eliminated them from last year’s playoffs. Texas comes in with the same offensive firepower that won them that almost brought them a World Series championship last year. From Michael Young, Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre the Rays pitching has quite a challenge ahead. But the pitching of the Rays mainly James Shields and David Price will prove to be a challenge one year later after their last playoff appearance. Not to mention they have quality batting from Ben Zobrist, solid rookie Desmond Jennings and the aforementioned Evan Longoria. This series could go back and forth and really both have a solid core of about everything so I will say Rays in 5.
Philadelphia Phillies VS St Louis Cardinals:
In a way the Cardinals making the playoffs was a blessing and a curse. The blessing was the Braves (who were fighting for the Wild Card spot) were eliminated by the Phillies (who is the curse because the Cards have to face them). 1 team is desperate the other is determined in this matchup. The Phillies (the determined team) loaded up prior to the start of the season with the acquiring of Cliff Lee and practically steam rolled their way to yet another division title. The Cardinals (the desperate team) needed the last day of the season to punch their ticket and are desperate for this title in order to possibly keep their prized possession Albert Pujols. The Cardinals though do have the firepower to fight back against the Phillies in the aforementioned Pujols, Matt Holliday and a reloaded Lance Berkman. However the Cards are without one of their best pitchers in Adam Wainwright who was lost before the season began (Tommy John Surgery) so the pitching with Chris Carpenter at the helm will have to hold the fort against the consistent and solid batting of the Phillies like Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and the newest addition Hunter Pence.
The key to this series is quite simple can the solid batting of the Cardinals deflect the buzzsaw that is the Phillies pitching of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt. In the end I feel as though the buzzsaw will cut through the desperate Cardinals. Phillies in 4.
Milwaukee Brewers VS Arizona Diamondbacks:
While one team is determined to win the other is pretty much looking the underdog team on the playoffs. Much like the Phillies the Brewers loaded up for this season in acquiring former Blue Jay Shaun Marcum and former Royals ace Zach Grienke giving up a lot of their future for immediate results. Those gambles paid off thus far in a division win and home field advantage. One can say Milwaukee might be the team to beat based on their whole team in general from their dangerous hitting of Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart to name a few and the aforementioned pitching and their lights out closer John Axford. As for the Diamondbacks they don`t have the marquee name on their team just solid players like Justin Upton and Cy Young candidate Ian Kennedy. But their team overall has been a thorn to many teams all year and will continue to do it in the playoffs. However for this matchup the Brewers are intent on making it all the way and will defeat the Diamondbacks in 5 games because I believe the Diamondbacks are so tenacious and will fight back.
As for who my World Series prediction is I have two scenarios either a Phillies and Rays rematch or a Brewers vs Tigers match. I cannot declare a winner because it`s hard to tell but we shall see!
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