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World Series

(8 posts)

DaBears
Member

Who will win this years world series???????? Tigers? Yankees? Dodgers? My prediction is Angels vs. Dodgers but Angels will win in 6 games. Anyone agree?

Posted 1 month ago #
Padman Jones
Member

I actually just wrote about the Angels today at my blog; in my research, I came to find that they're 20th in MLB in runs allowed per game. Put simply, their pitching can't sustain a run to the World Series unless Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders each pull a Jeff Suppan and have great Octobers despite bad regular seasons.
For my money, it's Yankees over Cardinals in 6. The Yankees, in my eyes, stand head and shoulders over the competition; no one can hit like them, and the pitching staff's got enough to support an offense like that as long as Sabathia and Burnett hold up their end of the bargain. The Cardinals have relied on Pujols and Holliday for offense - typically not a great strategy, as one slump can bring you down - but their pitching's good enough and deep enough to hold most teams to ~3 runs per game. Unfortunately for them, I don't think they can stand up to a Yankee-caliber offense.

Posted 1 month ago #
DaBears
Member

But you know in recent years the Yankees have had some bad luck against the angels......

Posted 1 month ago #
Daern
Member

The Yankees would be a good choice if not for their pitching. Sabathia I believe in--I've seen the big man pitch and he is definitely not the sort to continue with the postseason numbers he has. He'll be good for some nice games. Burnett...has been flaky, especially of late. 9 HRs in 12 games is not a good trend, and he just has not seemed to be as sharp in recent games. Don't quote me on it, but I do believe his velocity has dropped some. Not only that, but you may or may not be surprised(I was) to hear that he has not had a BB-less game all year, and has only thrown four with less than 2 BBs. I don't think he can be counted on. Pettitte...good numbers in the postseason, but he's a middle-of-the-road pitcher these days, and you can never know if he'll be in good form or positively mediocre. And Joba, who had some very nice outing in the first half, has been wild and ineffective after the Break. In addition to starter woes(and leaving aside such unsavory sorts as Gaudin, Wang, et al) the pen is a little iffy beyond wunderkind Hughes and ageless Mo.
Offense is nice, but in the postseason, I think the pitching will tell.

Posted 1 month ago #
Padman Jones
Member

I completely agree with you re all the potential issues there...I just believe in Burnett's power game playing well in October, and Joba...well...not blowing too many games? I don't know. He's a huge weakness in my mind. And the pen has actually been better than you give them credit for - Phil Coke and Alfredo Aceves have each posted 2+ WXRLs, and Albaladejo hasn't been bad either.
I don't think this is a team that's going to win it because of their pitching...their strength is obviously their potent lineup (collective .367 wOBA), and all they have to do is get average -> good pitching to complement it. So if no one implodes - and, yes, there's definitely a risk of that happening - I think they've got the horses to win it.
I just remembered - there's another A.J. Burnett stat that I find pretty surprising: he's never pitched in a postseason game.

Posted 1 month ago #
JoeR43
Member

I think the Yankees beat the Red Sox in 6 games in the ALCS (Red Sox will be better than recently vs. the Yankees, but too much offense). NL is the Cards to lose.
Then in a matchup of the historically top teams on each circuit, Yankees over Cards in 6.

Posted 1 month ago #
Padman Jones
Member

I know I've already weighed in here more than I should have, but...I was taking a closer look at the Rockies today and, well, they're really stacked. I actually think I'm going to go so far as to make them my choice to represent the NL - to me, they're part of the same mold as the Dodgers (i.e. good pitching depth, with Ubaldo Jimenez serving as their Clayton Kershaw), but with better hitting (Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton, Seth Smith, Carlos Gonzalez, Dexter Fowler, Ian Stewart, Chris Iannetta, and Clint Barmes does a great lineup make).
That said, the Yanks still look like the best overall team to me...but don't overlook the power of Roxtober.
Ok, just kidding, I hate that term. Point is, the Rockies could surprise some people this year.

Posted 1 month ago #
Zachary Klaas
Member

I agree that the Rockies are possibles to go to the Series again. They've had a spurt of serious momentum going towards the end of the season, and in the past they've been all about momentum in October...if 2007 was any indication. Perhaps this time they'll keep things going and not flag once actually in the World Series to drop the thing in four straight. They'd be my pick to make it to the Series again this year, but only on the basis of the momentum factor. They've lost to two of the three of the other playoff contenders fairly often this year (against the Phillies 2-4; Dodgers 4-12) but they've done well otherwise (against the Cardinals 6-1). The Phillies numbers almost give the Rockies an even shot against them, so it's really a matter of whether that momentum is going to carry them past the Dodgers. If momentum isn't a good enough reason to say Colorado's going to the Series, it will most likely be because the Dodgers beat them. I'll go out on a limb and say maybe the Rockies will strike it lucky. (One possible reason to think it could happen...the Cardinals team that the Rockies beat most of the time also is 5-2 against the Dodgers.)

I'd like to not say the Yankees, but they're just too good this year - it's hard for me to see anyone beating them. But if anyone can, the Angels and the Sox are good candidates...they've split things evenly with the Yankees (against the Angels 5-5; Red Sox 9-9). Personally, I'm hoping for the Sox to play the Yanks in another classic ALCS battle for the Northeast...and to see the Sox whomp the Yanks again like in '04. But realistically, I don't think that's going to happen. (Of course, that's what we all said in '04 as well.) If either the Tigers or the Twins make it, it hardly matters - I don't expect them to progress far in the playoffs.

Oh...and Yankees in six in the Series.

Posted 1 month ago #