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2013 MLB Postseason Preview

2013 MLB Postseason Preview

Oct 3, 2013

USA Today (AP Photo)

October is finally here which means that it is time for some Playoff Baseball. October is the time to forget about all of the PED madness and relax and watch the teams play that deserve to still be playing.

There are plenty of juicy storylines in this year’s postseason as well. The Pittsburgh Pirates are finally back to the postseason after missing out every year since 1993. In fact, this is their first winning season since 1993. The Pirates have been very bad for a very long time so it’s good to finally see them back playing in October.

The St. Louis Cardinals have also been very consistent and have found ways to stay very good during the post-Albert Pujols era behind a dominant pitching staff and a rejuvenated Carlos Beltran.

Then you have the Los Angeles Dodgers led by superstar rookie Yaisel Puig and arguably the best pitcher in Clayton Kershaw. This is also Manager Don Mattingly’s first postseason appearance as manager and second playoff appearance altogether. Mattingly was a great player throughout his career on some very bad Yankees teams.

The Boston Red Sox have also had a great turnaround this season going from last place in the AL East to having the best record in the American League. Manager John Farrell really changed the attitude there in his first season as manager and got them back to their winning ways that we have all grown accustomed to since the early 2000s.

The Tampa Bay Rays and Oakland Athletics are also great stories because these teams do not spend money and still remain competitive each and every year. These teams have great scouts and don’t mind trading away one good player for a bunch of good prospects that will help them in the long run. It is quite amazing how they do it.

NLDS

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals

These two teams have faced off 19 times this season and now will have to face each other at least another 3 times in what should be a very competitive series. During the regular season, the Pirates won the season series by one game 10-9.

Game 1 should be a great matchup between Cardinals ace, Adam Wainwright, and Pirates pitcher AJ “can’t pitch in the American League” Burnett.  Wainwright finished the year going 19-9 with a 2.94 ERA while Burnett was 10-11 with a 3.30 ERA. Although both pitchers had good seasons, Burnett did not finish the season well going 3-2 with a 4.35 ERA in September. Burnett also had a rocky outing the last time he faced the Cardinals going 3 innings and giving up 5 earned runs. If Burnett has another rocky outing in Game 1, then this series can be over very quickly for the Pirates. This series will ultimately be decided by pitching which is why the Cardinals will win this series since they have the edge in that department. STL wins in 4.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves

In the second half of the season, the Dodgers have been one of the hottest, if not the hottest, teams in baseball going 45-23 during that span. At one point, they had gone 25-3 in 28 games. On the other side, the Braves have had some important players go down for them such as Tim Hudson, who is gone for the year, and Jayson Heyward who they just got back. They are also so desperate for starting pitching that they have Freddy Garcia pitching in Game 4. ( If ATL is losing series 2-1 don’t be surprised to see Medlen pitch on short rest).

In my opinion, the players have a lot of good players and the Dodgers have a lot of great players. Clayton Kershaw, Zach Greinke, Hanley Ramirez, Yaisel Puig, and Adrian Gonzalez are great players. Kris Medlen, Freddie Freeman, Brian McCann, and Julio Teheran are very good players that one day may become great players. Craig Kimbrel is a great player already.

The Dodgers went 2-5 against the Braves this season but they haven’t faced off since the beginning of June which was before the Dodgers went on their great run. Right now, the Dodgers are playing the type of baseball that they were expected to be playing coming into this season after they spent so much money in the offseason and the Braves got off to a great start in what turned out to be a very weak NL East. With Kershaw taking the mound possibly twice in a short 5 game series, the Dodgers definitely have the advantage. LAD win in 4

ALDS

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox

This is another matchup between two teams in the same division who played each other 19 times this season. The Red sox won the season series 12-7 but the Rays are soaring right now behind timely hitting and excellent starting pitching. The Rays are coming off three straight elimination game victories on the road and will now go to Boston for 2 games before they can finally return home.

Game 1 is an interesting pitching matchup between Matt Moore of the Rays and Jon Lester of the Red Sox. Lester was 15-8 this season with a 3.75 ERA and Moore was 17-4 with a 3.29 ERA. Even though both pitchers had good seasons, it was Moore who went 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA against the Red Sox while Lester went 2-1 with a 4.32 ERA. In fact the only pitcher on the Red Sox who pitched well against the Rays this season was Clay Buchholz who went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA.

With the Rays as hot as they are, winning three straight elimination games on the road, and the Red Sox knowing where they were going to be a while ago, they seem more like the team more ready for the Playoffs. Who knows, I could be wrong. TB wins in 5 games.

Detroit Tigers vs. Oakland Athletics

This is a rematch of last year’s ALDS which had the Tigers win in 5 games over the Athletics. This year, the Athletics won the season series 4-3 over the Tigers and come in definitely looking for payback led by a great pitching staff featuring their ace Bartolo Colon. Colon had a great season going 18-6 with a 2.65 ERA and will start in Game 1 against 21 game winner, Max Scherzer.

The Tigers come into this series led by their ace, Max Scherzer, who went 21-3 with a 2.90 ERA. They are also led by former Cy Young and MVP Winner, Justin Verlander, who went 13-12 with a 3.46 ERA. Verlander did not have as good a year as he normally does but he finished strong going 1-2 with a 2.27 ERA in September. The Tigers also have last year’s Triple Crown winner and MVP Miguel Cabrera.

Both teams have great pitching but the Tigers definitely have a much more loaded lineup than the Athletics do. With Cabrera, Prince Fielder, and Torii Hunter hitting in the middle of that order, they will be very difficult to pitch to. DET wins in 4 games.

NLCS

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Dodgers have the pitching and the hitting to make it very difficult for the Dodgers, especially with Kershaw pitching at least twice in the series. LAD win in 6 games

ALCS

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Detroit Tigers

Both teams have great pitching but the offense of the Tigers will make it much too difficult for the Rays. DET wins in 6 games

World Series

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Detroit Tigers

This is a great matchup between two teams who have great starting pitching and great hitting. This series will come down to whose starting pitching is better. In my opinion, Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, and Nolasco is better than Scherzer, Verlander, Fister, and Sanchez. Who knows what’s going to happen. I could be completely wrong about everything but these are my picks. Have fun watching the games and stay tuned for my NFL week 5 picks.

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