Staff Writer
We made it. October baseball is finally here and with
it comes the most dramatic plays and unbelievable storylines of the season. We
started with 30 teams back in April and we are now down to eight. Here is a
preview of each American and National Divisional Series.ALDS
Baltimore vs. Detroit: This will be a battle between a stellar rotation and an explosive offense. The Tigers have a great pitching rotation with Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and David Price; the 2011, 2012, and 2013 AL Cy Young award winners respectively. They also have Miguel Cabrera who was the best player in the league the last two seasons winning the MVP and the Triple Crown in 2012. They have the starting pitching and the offense but where they are susceptible to trouble is the bullpen. If there is ever a time in baseball when you need a good bullpen it’s the playoffs. The Orioles on the other hand might be the exact opposite of the Tigers. I challenge you to name one starting pitcher on the Orioles. The average fan probably can’t. Their ace is Chris Tillman who is getting the ball for game one. On the offensive side, they hit more home runs this year than any other team…56 more to be exact. But in the postseason, that could come back to haunt them considering they will be playing the best pitchers in the game including this Detroit rotation. If there is anything Baltimore can be sure of, however, it is their bullpen. When you do not have great starting pitching, you better have a great bullpen and that is exactly what the O’s have. Come Thursday it will be Scherzer vs. Tillman in Game one. The Orioles will win that one and go on to win the series which will be very close, in 5 games.
Los Angeles Angels vs. Kansas City: The Angels are in the postseason for the first time in five years. Kansas City is in the postseason for the first time in 29 years, so both have a lot to play for coming off of their respective droughts. In the past few years the Angels have had one of the best rosters on paper: Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, and Josh Hamilton all in the same lineup. Not up until this year, however, had they lived up to all the hype and they certainly did not perform the way most fans expected them to. But this year has been much different as they are the team everyone expected finishing the season with the best record in the entire MLB. On the other side the Royals are coming off a thrilling win at home over the A’s. They proved that they can win games by manufacturing runs as they stole a postseason record of seven bags. If these two teams were playing one game I would give the Royals a shot but in a five-game series the Angels are going to prevail in four games.
NLDS
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis: The Cardinals have made it to at least the NLCS the past three seasons, so experience is going to play a huge factor in this series. St. Louis still has a majority of their roster from their 2011 World Series win and experience in the postseason is much more important than pure talent. This is a rematch of the NLCS a year ago and you can bet the Dodgers have not forgotten losing to this very team in six games. But this year the Dodgers have looked way more impressive. Clayton Kershaw is levels above any other pitcher in the league. You can almost guarantee the Dodgers will win at least two games; the two games that Kershaw starts. This series will go to five games and the Dodgers will win it dramatically in game five.
Washington vs. San Francisco: The Giants won the World Series in 2010 and 2012 and are hoping that this is becoming an every other year type of pattern, which would mean this is their year. And after watching the NL Wild Card game in Pittsburgh, how can you argue against that. The Giants, led by Madison Bumgarner (complete game shutout) and Brandon Crawford (grand slam), easily beat the Pirates on the road. Like the Cardinals, the Giants have postseason experience which will carry them a long way especially if they can perform like they did on Wednesday night. However, they are up against arguably the best team in the league: the Washington Nationals. The Nats are the hottest team in the league holding the best record since the beginning of August and the best record in the National league. They are coming off a storybook way to end the regular season, a no-hitter by Jordan Zimmermann, and they are finally getting back a cornerstone in the lineup off the disabled list in Ryan Zimmerman. The Nationals have one of the best starting pitching rotations ever (Zimmermann, Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, and Doug Fister) and such depth in the bullpen that it is hard to bet against them. Not only do they play superb defense but also boast a stellar lineup that is able to put up runs in bunches. It is going to be hard for San Francisco to match the Nats game for game with the pitching lineups and offensively. The Nats will win this series in four games.
