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The next match-up is #6 Detroit Tigers vs #11 London Lions
London makes their first playoff appearance this year due in part to a late season streak of 25-8 since March 20. There reward is to take on the Detroit Tigers, who went 24-9 over the same time frame and did not play the 2 New York teams who combined to lose over 215 games this year. London is led offensively by their deep group of Outfielders. Biggerstaff (.337/.912) (16/85), Maru (.293/.906) (27/134) and Kimball (.282/.862) (25/103), but they also have no other player with an OPS of over .700, which does not bode well against this deep Tiger pitching staff. The Lions will miss their best infield bat and shortstop, Bishop who is out the entire post season with an injury. Not only do they lose his (.287/.813) bat, but they also lose his stellar defense, and now must rely on a journeyman. This does not bode well for a team who struggles with errors (88). London is led by their ace, SP Brady (21-8) (.097 WHIP and 9 CG's) who will need to win 2 games for London to have any shot of taking this series. They have a couple of other decent starters in Oakes (13-8) (1.33), Clevenger (7-8) (1.39) and Celli (10-11) (1.28). The bull-pen has been average compiling a 35-19 record with 31 saves and 15 blown saves while pitching over 1/3 of their total innings this year. Detroit counters with a team batting average of .256 and OPS of .775, which is on par with London, but they do have more extra base hits. Silver Slugger 2B Neumann (.332/1.055) (37/88), LF Arias (.287/.867) (22/78), 3B Boone (.292/.836) (13/68) and do everything OF Ohtani (.270/.787) (21/108) lead the offensive charge. You cant overlook their catcher Oden, who led the team in Home Runs and RBI (42/114), but is only hitting .226. The pitching staff has 3 starters who won over 18 game each, SP Bucannon (20-7) (.99 WHIP 4 CG's), SP Valerio (18-9) (1.09 and 16 CG's) and SP Kellogg (18-9) (1.17 2 CG's) and you also have SP Ohtani (13-14) (1.12 4 CG's) as a 4th option. The bullpen has 32 saves, only 10 blown saves and a 15-11 record). The deep pitching staff of the Tigers and the injury to SS Bishop will hinder the offensive output of London for this series. The only chance is for the Lions ace pitcher, SP Brady to win the 2 games he will pitch and hope they can find another win out there. Detroit Tigers to take this series in 4 games. Season Series: London won the series 4-2, all games were tight and low scoring with the exception of 1. The next series is #7 Oakland vs #10 Philadelphia This series features the best 2 defensive teams in terms of errors made (or lack thereof). You have the Oakland A's who are probably a couple of years ahead of where they should be in terms of winning. The strength is a young core group of starters and an experienced bullpen. Led by their ace, SP Folse (16-9) (0.94, 12 CG's), SP Carvalho (12-8) (1.5) and SP Tasis (10-11)(1.33), they want to get the ball to their bullpen with a lead. They have a quartet of relievers who have 35 saves and 34 wins. RP Edwards (12-2), 7 saves and a WHIP of .96 in 110 appearances and RP Rivero (7-0), 6 saves with a WHIP of .85 in 103 appearances are where it starts, and hopefully ends. Oakland only has 1 player with an OPS of over .800 and that is their star 2B Madden (.348/1.045) (24/126). But, they do have 6 hitters who hit +.250/.+720. RF Urquidies (.259/.755) (24/109) and 1B Pinger (.264/.798) (17/71) and OF Takeda (.272/.723) (13/67) are very consistent. They do hit in 165 double plays though, which is in the bottom 5 of the league. Philadelphia is also a team that relies on an outstanding bullpen, anchored by RP Osuna (19-2) (.92), 12 saves and RP Hader (16-9) (.94), 7 saves. Both pitchers have 100 appearances and average nearly 11k/9. Philadelphia only has 2 starters with 10+ wins. SP Hutchinson (14-9) (1.13) and SP Senzatela (12-7) (1.08) are the main pitchers and who would need to get 4 starts in this series. Philly also relies on their 4 big bats, 1B Barksdale (.319/.890) (12/59), OF Almora (.319/.883) (25/103), CF Wentz (.303/806) (7/70) and OF Margot (.320/.934) (25/95). Philadelphia has hit into 155 double plays also. This is a series that will come down to the bullpens and who can do the better job. I am picking the Phillies to win in 5 games based on their bats and experience.... Season Series - Split season series at 3 games apiece.. Both teams went 2-1 at home.... The next Series is #8 Los Angeles Angels vs #9 Chicago Cubs This is your classic who is the best at what they do and can they do it in this 5 game series. The Cubs outhit the Angels at almost every position and in everyday. (.261 vs .238) (.801 vs .695). The Angels pitchers are better than the Cubs pitchers, with the exception of Luis Severino. (3.35 ERA vs 4.48 ERA) (1.17 Whip vs 1.36 Whip). The Cubs top 4 pitchers all won 10+ games and have over a .500 record, but except for Severino and Godley (8.5), they give up over 10 hits/inning. RP Ken Giles is the best reliever for the Cubs (6-2) (.99 Whip). RP Musgrove eats innings and RP Vizcaino can be tough on occasion (4-0) and 7 saves. The Cubbies can hit though, they have 3 regulars hitting over .300/.900. 2B Garza leads the way (.327/.917) (27/73), OF Happ (.300/1.068) (60/156) and OF Conforto (.307/.990) (43/136). But they also have SS Marte (.280/.843), 3B Bregman (.274/.809) and OF Skabla (.275/.725) who can hurt you. A very tough line-up in a couple of favorable parks for LHB. The big negative for Chicago is that SP Severino will only be able to throw 1 game. The Angels have only 3 players hitting over .250/.710, led by OF Trout (.287/.978) (39/109) and OF Pettis (.292/.859). But they have a very tough 3 headed monster on the mound in SP Snell (14-9) (1.34), SP Knudson (17-10) (1.05) and SP Mikolas (18-11) (1.09). They also have an outstanding reliever in RP Castro (8-2) and 20 saves (.0.69 Whip). You always hear that good pitching shuts down good hitting, and with Severino only getting 1 shot at the Angels, everything leads to LAA taking this series in 5 games. But, I am going against the grain and due to the low K rate for Angel pitching, I am going with the Cubs outscoring the Angels and taking the series in 5 games. Season Series - Cubs won series 2-1 (16-14, so an average of 10 runs scored per game in Chicago). #5 Miami Marlins vs #12 Washington Nationals We have another good pitching vs good hitting matchup with this series. The Marlins led the league in ERA (3.26 vs WAS 4.43), while the Nats ranked 5th in team avg (.262 vs MIA .242). You might look at the Miami rotation and wonder how in the world they led the league in ERA. Well, Miami traded their true ace Michael Fulmer to ARI midseason in hopes to bring in some offense. They have done a good job of patching up the rotation with midseason acquisitions of Banh (CHC) and Kanikula (NYY). Andrew Moore pitched great (3.35/1.19) in his first season after signing as a free agent, and Jose Urena rounds out the rotation (3.96) in his second stint in Miami. The Marlins dont have a single SP that you look at and are afraid of, but if they can get the game to the bullpen with a lead, it is game over. Miami is 81-3 when leading after 7 innings this season. The trio of Alvarado, Crick and Tuivailala each posted ERAs under 2 while eating up 2/3s of Miami's bullpen innings. Playing in a big disadvantage park helps that too. WAS cant be trailing from the 6th inning on if they want a chance. On the other side of the table, a big offseason by the Nationals has put them into the playoffs once again in a very tough division. The signings of SP Berrios and SP Blackburn have helped this rotation immensely, and the signing of RP Kela has given the bullpen their only lockdown reliever. On offense, Harper was his usual self (.325/.417)(40/113). Trea Turner re-signed and has put together another great season (.324/.370, 21HRs and 50SBs). Mookie Betts came over from Boston and put together a .791 OPS. Jasper Pitt is the best DH in the league and posted another great year (.867 OPS). These 7 players ive mentioned have carried the load for WAS. After Berrios and Blackburn, the rotation is very weak. Once you get past Kela in the bullpen, teams bring out their golf clubs as it is a driving range out there. For WAS to win this series, they are going to need their 4 best offensive players to carry the load and score off Miami's starters, before the Marlins can get their bullpen in the game. However with 3 of these 5 games being played in Miami's spacious ballpark, I see the Marlins winning some low scoring games and taking this series in 4. These two teams have matched up up before in the playoffs as Washington beat Miami in 4 games in the 2nd Round of the S-3 playoffs on route to their first and only championship. WAS hopes for the same result this time. The Nats took the season series 2-1. A total of 17 runs were scored in those games (an avg of 2.8 by each team in each game). I expect this series to be low scoring as well. 2nd Round <b>#1 Baltimore vs #12 Washington</b> Baltimore should dominate this series, would feel better about chances, if this was 7 games. Baltimore has 6 players with over 75 RBI and 10 players with over 10 HR's and two dominant pitchers in SP Weaver and SP Waller. Baltimore will take this in 4 games. Regular Season - Baltimore took series 9-5 #2 Colorado vs #9 Chicago Cubs If you like offense, this is the series for you!! These 2 are in the Top 4 of the majority of offensive categories. The 2 game battle of SP Severino (CHC) and SP Castillo (COL) should be fun to watch. Colorado has the better overall pitching staff, so think they will take the series in 5 games. Regular Season - Colorado took the series 4-2 #3 Boston vs #7 Oakland I really did not see Oakland advancing to this round, but they stepped up. But, Boston is a different beast. Their offense is better and right now, they have the better staff. I see Boston taking this series in 4 games. Regular Season - Oakland won the season series 2-1 #4 Cleveland vs #6 Detroit This should be a low scoring series with both staffs being able to send out 3 top notch starters and a very effective 4th starter. I actually think that Detroit has the better staff slightly, but with SP Buchanon only being able to go one game this hurts their chances. Cleveland does have the better offense, and this should help them move on. This should be the closest of the 4 series and I expect it to go the full 5 games. In an extra-inning game Cleveland will advance to the next round. Regular Season - Detroit took the season series 4-2
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