| By Jason A. Churchill |  | By 09-30-2011 |
I originally chose Atlanta to drop the World Series to Boston -- that prediction was made way back in March when nobody knew what teams were going to look like -- but the postseason has begun, so let's start over.
American League
I like the Texas Rangers over the Tampa Bay Rays in five games, though it's obviously not going to surprise me if the Rays win the series. They have the decided starting pitching edge and play the best defense in the big leagues.
The winner of game 1 probably wins this series, in my opinion, and a key factor for Texas could be the MLB equivalent of a defense getting off the field on third down situations. No two-out rallies for the Rays or this may not get to five.
I like the Detroit Tigers over the New York Yankees in five games, with Verlander winning the deciding game at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees will score runs, but the Tigers' offense isn't chopped liver and the Bombers rotation is nothing to write home about after CC Sabathia, who could run into the Verlander buzz saw twice in the series.
Alex Rodriguez may be the key for the Yankees.
If I had to make an ALCS prediction now, I'd pick the Rangers over the Tigers, but that'd be a pick'em series for me and it could come down to which club, if any, gets to line of their rotation best.
National League
The two National League series could go quick, though I have the Milwaukee Brewers beating the Arizona Diamondbacks in four games. The D-backs have no impact advantage, and it would take the Brewers self-destructing for them to lose three of the next five games.
Chis Young is the key player in the entire series for me. If he gets hot and does some damage, it could even things out some.
The St. Louis Cardinals won the season series versus the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3, one of just two season series matchups the Phillies dropped all year, but things don't line up well for the Cardinals and I see Philly winning in four.
Chris Carpenter will go in game 2, but on short rest, something he has never done before in his career. The Cardinals need to get to the starters early and turn this into a game of bullpens, where they don't have an advantage, but have a chance.
In the NLCS, if things go as above, I like Philly in four.
If Philly and Texas meet in the playoff and Philly can start the series with one of their first three and use Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels in the first three games in some order, they aren't going to lose. The danger for Philly, if any, is in round 1, the short series.
predicting-the-postseason
Comments
The following 7 comment(s) for this article are shown below:
| 1. By: Slack on 09-30-2011 20:42:38 How about Matt Moore's performance against the Rangers today? Wow! |
| 2. By: nighthawk180 on 09-30-2011 23:28:18 I know this is way off topic here but when do you think we will find out who we will get for Wilson? Im not expecting anything great or whatever but the A's got there's for Ellis Mesa not that good a player from the numbers side but wondering if we could expect better? thx Nighthawk180 |
| 3. By: Jason A. Churchill on 10-01-2011 00:10:01 Same idea for Wilson. It won't be a future big league regular. |
| 4. By: maqman on 10-01-2011 13:00:57 Too bad Wilson didn't get a shot at the playoffs. I doubt if his PTBNL has much to offer. Good for the Rays, they are a well run organization and a great role model for us. With Reagins getting the axe we might have to start to worry about the Angels again, although he's left them with a few albatross contracts that will hamstring them for a few years anyway. |
| 5. By: rjfrik on 10-01-2011 17:01:29 Jason, Do you think Z and the front office has any interest in Francona? I think that would be a massive upgrade, having a Championship manager. |
| 6. By: maqman on 10-02-2011 13:06:04 Rumor has it more likely that Boston is interested in our manager. |
| 7. By: davelee99 on 10-02-2011 20:37:41 Apropos of absolutely nothing... While Wilson didn't make the playoffs, eight players who started their major league careers as a Mariner are on playoff rosters... |
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