Baseball playoffs are finally here…ok not really but I’m going to let you know slightly ahead of time what’s going down.
Finishing with the best record, the Boston Red Sox will go up against the LA Angels. This is a tough series to call. Assuming the Angles will have Lackey back but no Escobar, I’ll take the Sox. Beckett proved last year he’s a legitimate ace and has ice veins when it comes to playoff pitching. Anytime he can go twice in a series makes it tough for anyone to compete. That, plus Ortiz and Manny means the Angels go down in 5.
The Tigers will host the wildcard Yankees and this one hurts. I’ll have to pick the Tigers in this one – for now. I just don’t know how the Yankees’ rotation will shapeup at this point with the Big Three on innings limits. That being said, Joba won’t be in the bullpen and frankly, I’ll never trust Farnsworth and Hawkins has yet to show he can get it done in the American League. Speaking of bullpen, the Tigers’ will be nasty with Zumaya, Rodney and Jones closing out games. The lineups are close to being a tossup but I’ll go with the Yankees in this one. Top to bottom it’s just better. However, pitching wins these series and the Yankee pitching just isn’t there yet. Tigers in 4.
NL – Divisional Series
I’m going with the Arizona Diamondback to finish with the best record in the NL. That might be a little bold, but I just really like the makeup of this pitching staff and young kids who carried them to 90 wins last year. The addition of Dan Haren will add a few wins, possibly pushing them to the number to 100. They will host the wildcard winners, the Atlanta Braves. I’m actually going to pick the Braves in this one. I’d have to say the pitching is close to a tossup. Webb vs. Smoltz then
Next, the Mets will host the Cubs. Johan is better than Zambrano.
Tigers vs. Red Sox. I’m taking
NL – League Championship Series
It’s the big rivalry, Mets vs. Braves. What a series this will be. Playoff baseball is back in
World Series
October baseball, baby! I love it. The
ALDS – Tigers over Yankees, Red Sox over Angels
NLDS – Mets over Cubs, Braves over Diamondbacks
ALCS – Tigers over Red Sox
NLCS – Braves over Mets
WS – Tigers over Braves
So that’s it, your baseball season wrapped up. Sorry for spoiling the ending for everyone, but I suppose there is a slight chance I could be wrong. After all, that’s why they play the games.
Loading ...
Related Articles
8 users responded in this post
wow….
First off ill be one to say picking a world series winner after a week of baseball is absolutely crazy.We know nothing of any of these teams yet because it is such a long season.
The d-backs prediction is actually very agreeable.They have a deep rotation and some of the best young talents in the game in Chris Young and Conor Jackson.But putting the braves in the world series…..hmmmmm.I’m going to go with a sports comparison here…..(go with me here)
Memphis just lost the National Championship because of one thing…..free throws.When it comes time for the end of the baseball season, we will call the braves bullpen “Free Throw Shooting”.Although they have a very deep lineup and a good starting 2, they can not close out a game with a bullpen without a reliable pitcher.Nobody in the Braves pen has the ability to pitch 1-2-3 every time out.If the starters don’t get deep into a game, the braves bullpen is very vulnerbale.It doesnt matter how you start the game, just how you finish it(right Memphis?).Plus, has everyone forgotten about Philadelphia. They have a better lineup than the braves and have finished ahead of them 2 years in a row.How do you put the braves in the world series when they haven’t been top 2 in the division for the past 2 years.The Braves do not carry a player more dangerous then Ryan Howard, or as reliable as Jimmy Rollins.They have pitching question marks but so does every team.
Im not by any means saying the mets will represent the National League in the World Series, but I can GUARANDAMNTEE it will not be the Braves.
Let me point out two facts about the last few World Series. First, a wildcard team has represented one of the Leagues in the last six world series’ and the instability of the Yankees’ pitching leads me to count them out. Second, when was the last time the Rockies made the playoff before last season? 1995. so your last argument about the Braves not being there in a little while is irrelevant especially as they made moves to change their roster.
The rockies may have been a rare occurence but truthfully the Braves just will not make the playoffs.When you stack them against the top 4 teams in the west, I do not feel they are better than any of them(Arizona,LA,Colorado,San Diego).
Ohhhhh man
The Braves bullpen might not be a sure thing, but is anyone’s bullpen really a SURE thing? No. But, the Braves have a bullpen that can get them not only into the playoffs, but deep into the playoffs.
Let me take you back to 1995.
CL Mark Wohlers 65 2.09 7 3 25
RP Greg McMichael 67 2.79 7 2 2
RP Brad Clontz 59 3.65 8 1 4
RP *Pedro Borbon 41 3.09 2 2 2
(The stats go, appearances, ERA, Wins, Losses and Saves)
Those were the only 4 Braves relievers that would be considered “reliable” as our Mets fan puts it. Every other pitcher in the pen has an ERA over 4.00. And, well, that season the Braves won the Series in 6.
Now, I know what you’re going to come back with, that that is still better than what the Braves have in the Bullpen this year(Based on last year’s statistics). Let’s find out.
RP Peter Moylan 80 1.80 5 3 1
RP Rafael Soriano 71 3.00 3 3 9
RP Manny Acosta 21 2.28 1 1 0
RP Mike Gonzalez 18 1.59 2 0 2
Of course, Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano are currently on the DL, but the point is that when healthy the Braves ‘pen has some good arms. Add flamethrower Chris Resop and left handed specialist Royce Ring to that, along with some other fillers, and I think the Braves have a very “reliable” bullpen.
Although, in the Playoffs the Bullpen doesn’t play as much of a role, especially when great pitchers are put in there. The Braves have 2 of the greatest playoff pitchers of all time on their roster. Smoltz and Glavine. Glavine has proven to be revitalized so far now that he’s back in his Atlanta uni, and Smoltz brings it every time. Put them with Hudson and that’s basically all you need in the playoffs pitching wise, plus 2-3 relievers that might get 5-6 inning in a series combined. I think the Braves will be able to find a couple of spare arms lying around somewhere come October…..
Maybe the Braves don’t have a player as dangerous as Howard, but they have a murderer’s row in the middle of the lineup that pitchers will have nightmares about. Yunel Escobar has already proven himself as a dangerous big-league hitter in the 2 spot. Plus, because of what is behind him he sees a ton of pitches to hit. Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira are the two most dangerous switch hitters in the league today. Plus, it’s not like managers can bring in specialists to deal with them because, well, they can always turn around and swing the other way. Follow them up with possibly the second best hitting catcher in the Majors, in Brian McCann and then a perennial 100 RBI man, Jeff Francouer, which he has proven he will continue to do, and the Braves have one of the most dangerous lineups in baseball. Maybe they aren’t as good as Philly, but they are pretty damn good.
In closing, maybe the Braves don’t have the best bullpen or the best lineup or the best bat-boys, which I’m sure is what you’ll be saying is the reason they won’t make the playoffs next time, but they are a very good team that should be seriously considered for October contention. Using the past is no way to verify the future, and if you’re going to do that then maybe the Mets aren’t going to make the playoffs. If you do that then you’d have the same teams in the playoffs every year and we all know that’s not really how it happens.
I thank you and good night.
Now im not saying that theres absolutely no way the braves will make the playoffs.They are definately a talented team with a deep lineup and a good start to the rotation.Im just saying before we go putting them in our World Series predictions lets look at some realistic things here.
The bullpen stats from 95 don’t matter because the reason the braves won that world series was because they had Maddux,Smoltz,and Glavine all in their prime.How could they not win at least 1 when those 3 were the aces?Now the team has a top 3 rotation of an injured but still great John Smoltz, a solid 2 in Hudson, but in that third spot you have good ol Tommy G.After the past 5 seasons with the mets I will be the first to tell you how happy i am for him to be back in Atlanta.He is very much past his prime and hitters these days do not have a problem hitting an 86 mph fastball over the wall in Turner.He doesn’t locate his pitches like he used to and although he usually starts well, fatigue constantly sets in after the All-star break for him.When the mets rotation comes back from the DL, they will have Johan, Pedro, El duque, Maine, and Oliver Perez.Johan is the best pitcher in the game, pedro is definately still a big ?, el duque is getting older but when hes throwing well I consider him the most untouchable pitcher on the team(nobody can hit the old eephus pitch at 58 mph), Maine is a good young righty who had 12 wins before the all-star break last year,and Oliver perez who is getting better every year.
Im not saying the braves cant make the playoffs.I’m saying if you realistically rank the teams in the NL, I wouldnt put them over the Mets,Phillies,Cubs,D-Backs,Rockies,Dodgers(maybe even San diego and Milwaukee could be thrown in there).I know half of you writers are from Atlanta but lets be a little realistic at this point of the season.At this early stage, and also after the results of the past 2 years, it is too early to put the braves in world series talk.Sure they beat the mets 2 out of 3 but they always have had their number.Its the other teams that the braves can’t beat.They havent won one since that mets series(because of that awesome bullpen). But we’ll see, if your so confident throw a money wager down and ill accept.
What kind of wager? You name the terms…
And this is a pointless argument right now, this early in the season. I will say that Hudson would be a #1 starter on almost all teams, so I’m going to give him a little more credit than being a solid #2.
The stats from 1995 are still somewhat relevant because Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux won 47 games between the 3 of them. That’s 12, 16 and 19 respectively. The total of Smoltz, Hudson and Glavine should be close to that. The other 2 starters won a combined 14 games, with Steve Avery going 7-13 and Kent Mercker going 7-8. I’d say that this years Braves rotation will be about like that, with Jair Jurrjens probably accounting for more than 7 wins and Chuck James/Mike Hampton getting more than 7 between the 2 of them. Yes, in ‘95 Maddux was the best pitcher in the league(as a sidenote his line that year, ridiculous, please go look at it), but when comparing the 2 rotations from 1995 and this year they will probably stack up pretty evenly. So, looking at that season does work when talking about bullpen effectiveness.
But, right now, neither the Braves or Mets would win the East, the Marlins would. So, who knows what will happen.
20 bucks
i wont forget this either ill collect my dough
i figured you’d want to go a little bigger….ok, if you wanna go with $20 fine.
Leave A Reply
Please Note: Comment moderation maybe active so there is no need to resubmit your comments