Texas Rangers

So you might be thinking that the Ranger post over the weekend was spectacular if only it was there!
So now I must apologize for being so late on this but fear not because I plan on making up for it with a few blogs in the next few days including a silly-has-nothing-to-do-with-sports post!
Enough with the teasers and apologies and on to the yummy goodness of playoff previews:

The American League Champion Texas Rangers!
*WARNING**WARNING**WARNING*
I am a huge fan of the Rangers and could not even try to be unbiased towards them.
Having said that though lets get into the breakdown...
Hitting:
This is the most balanced offense in the league today. There is a combination of speed and power here that no else can come close to.
This team showed last year in the playoffs that they are not afraid to take chances and use their speed to score runs.
This lineup does not have that easy out that most lineups have. Heck what kind of lineup features Nelson Cruz, Adrian Beltre and Mike Napoli as their 5-6-7 hitters?!
The Rangers for the month of August had a team OPS of over .900 (that's better than Albert Pujols)!
This team will score plenty of runs this post-season

Bullpen:
The bullpen was a huge problem for the Rangers in the first half of the season. No one seemed to be getting it done. Even the closer Feliz was not pitching very well.
And then Jon Daniels made some trades...
Bringing in Koji and Mike Adams (along with Mike Gonzalez) has really solidified this bullpen.
Yes, Koji has had his struggles with getting his splitter back in form but he seems to have figured it out and has looked good.
Mike Adams has locked down the 8th for the Rangers and seems to have really helped Feliz.
since the Rangers made those trades Neftali Feliz has had an ERA under 2 (for June and July he has an ERA of almost 5.00)
The bullpen which let down the Rangers so many times against the Giants in the WS last year should not be an issue this year.

Starters:
I have to admit that when Cliff Lee left the Rangers in the offseason that I was truly terrified that we would go back to the late 90's style Rangers. Back then we would make the playoffs by simply outscoring everyone. We were all hitting and no pitching. It was fun to watch as a kid... until October came around and we suddenly had to face Roger Clemens, Pettite and Mussina (or whoever the Yankees had for that particular year). They would shut us down and we just didn't have the pitching needed to keep us in games.
I am happy to report though that this was not the case... the Rangers have found more starters to replace Cliff Lee.
Let me rephrase that... Cliff Lee is one of the top 5 starters in the game today so no we did not "replace" him but we did find someone else who could pitch.
If you ever want to see a really cool pitcher who is not only an awesome pitcher but also a great guy check out CJ Wilson (he races cars and hunts but does not do drugs or drink alcohol and is just a really good role model). With him as the ace of the staff the Rangers don't have to worry.
The biggest X factor for this team is Derek Holland!
Last post season did not end well for him... highlights of his inability to throw strikes against the Giants in game 2 were just haunting. But this year he has really matured into a great starting pitcher. since the All-star break Holland has a 3.06 ERA with 80 Ks in 88 innings.
That kind of power pitching is what really works well in October.
The Rangers will need Holland to step up in the playoffs because if he can win his games the Rangers could go all they way this year!

Prediction:
I think the Rangers have the hitting, pitching and bullpen needed to win the World Series this year!
(Big surprise... i know)

The Sequel

As promised yesterday, we will be previewing the other 2 division winners (yes, i know Texas has not technically wrapped it up yet but with a magic number of 2 i think I'm going to go ahead and say its over)

First up are those Mighty Mighty Tigers from Detroit
Lineup:
Before the season I did not think the Tigers were going to compete for the division mainly because I didn't think the offense was going to be very good. Oh sure Miguel Cabrera might be the best hitter in the AL and while Victor Martinez might not be able to throw out anyone from behind the plate with his noodle for an arm, he could hit. But beyond those two I didn't see anything.

Well Alex Avila and Johnny Peralta have stepped up to help out the V-Mart and Miggy in a big way.
Most people who have been following baseball probably think that Avila has been a pretty good hitter this season. What they probably don't realize is that he might be one of the best hitting catchers in the game this season. He has gotten on base nearly 40% of the time and has bopped almost 20 homers!
And Peralta after being left for dead the past two seasons has suddenly remembered where his bat is and is playing better then he did in Cleveland when we all got excited about his potential.
The biggest question with this offense is can those big 4 carry them in the playoffs?

The Bullpen:
Jose Valverde won't make the end of the game look easy but he'll get the job done.
The rest of the bullpen is filled with power arms that can get the big strikeout when needed.
The biggest question in this pen will be how Joaqin Benoit preforms. Since struggling in the beginning of the season he has really turned it on here as the playoffs get closer. He has not allowed a run since August 2nd! If he can shut down the 8th that will go a long way towards helping the Tigers win.

Starters:
This is why I really like the Tigers this year.
Everyone knows that Justin Verlander has been absolutely dominating this year.
He can beat anyone any day and he doesn't need the bullpen to finish games for him.
These are the kind of pitchers that really shine during October!

What most people don't realize is that since Doug Fister came over from Seattle he has been just as dominating! While he may not post the big strikeout numbers like Verlander, Fister has a 2.02 ERA! The man just does not walk anyone (he has walked only 5 batters in 10 games as a Tiger)!

The big X factor for the Tigers though is Max Scherzer... he has absolutely filthy stuff... when he can control it. If Max can give the Tigers consistent starts (not great but not where he blows up and gives up 5 runs in the 1st) this team could win the American League!

Prediction:
This is a team that no one wants to face in the 1st round and for good reason. I see them making it out of the 1st round but I don't think that they will make it to the World Series. The pitching is good and will get better next season but I think they need to add a top of the lineup on base machine to grow next year!

Due to time constraints I will have to finish the Ranger preview tonight.

The Intro

I thought about doing an introductory post here, a "get to know the writer" kind of thing but in the end I decided that I'll just put some of that in my profile and hop right into what I really want to talk about... Baseball.

Don't get me wrong this blog will not be just about baseball or sports in general, I do plan on putting some silliness and some personal stories, but the main topic will be sports and baseball is the king of sports in my heart. I want this to be interactive. I am writing these to foster a discussion so if you don't agree or even if you do post some comments. This is a new thing for me so I imagine that there will be some growing pains but hopefully once I get more comfortable with the site and get better about expressing my opinions this blog will shape up nicely.

There is just something magical about the sport that draws me in. I love going to the ballpark and watching from the stands or even sitting at home in front of the TV. Heck I can't even tear myself away from listening to the game on radio (thank you Eric Nadel for being such an awesome radio voice for the Rangers). Baseball is one of the things I remember most fondly about my childhood. I loved going into the yard to play catch with my dad. I loved heading to the ballpark on a Saturday night with my dad (i think i see why i loved baseball so much). Even now I see baseball gloves in the store and can't wait to buy one for my son.

But its more than just that... baseball is also a game of numbers. If you asked me as a kid what my two favorite things were it would have been math and sports and baseball is the ultimate combination of those two.

But on to the main topic of today's post... The American League playoff race/preview!
We will start first with the team that has pretty much wrapped up the top seed...

The New York Yankees:
It just would not be October baseball without the pinstripes. Don't get me wrong I HATE the Yankees but there is just something magical about baseball in Yankee Stadium (yes, even the new Yankee Stadium) in October. The Yankees and their fans expect to be there every October and it seems like they are. Watching the Rangers play there in the ALCS last year just gave me chills all over.
Heading into this postseason though the Yankees are looking good but definitely have some holes.

First That Lineup!
Yes Teix has not been as good this year (just look at that nasty .246 avg), Posada can't hit anymore and Jeter is just a shell of his former self. But that lineup is still scary.

Brett Gardener is just a ball of energy that can start a rally at anytime.
Curtis Granderson has just been scary good this year (40+ homers and 24 stolen bases!)
Robinson Cano is the best offensive 2nd baseman and when he gets hot he can carry the team.
When you throw in that A-Rod has only played 95 games this year (i think that helps keep him fresh) and has the potential along with Teix to turn it on at anytime this lineup is scary good.

The one thing I will say is that I don't think this lineup has much ability to manufacture runs. Don't get me wrong they can score runs in bunches but I worry about them relying too much on home runs. This team reminds me of the Ranger teams in the late 90's. They always scored tons of runs during the regular season through mashing home runs but when the post season rolled around and the pitching was better and the games were tighter they couldn't score. Can this team do the little things like take the extra base or move runners over that you need to do in tight games?

Next up the Bullpen:
Mariano Rivera.
I think that says enough. The man (or is he more a machine?) has just been nasty during October. He is just nasty during the regular season but when the playoffs start he takes it to another level. When Mo enters the game int he 9th, pack your bags and head to the parking lot because the game is over.

The question with the Yankees pen has always been the bridge to Mariano... who takes care of the 7th and 8th? David Robertson and Rafael Soriano have stepped up lately. It looks like Robertson will pitch the 8th and Soriano in the 7th. So if you plan on scoring on the Yankees you better do it in the first 6 innings.

The only weakness I can see is there aren't many lefty specialists in this pen so the Yanks better hope that Boone Logan can take care of the big lefties in the AL like Josh Hamilton, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz.

The biggest weakness for this team though has to be the starting pitching.
CC Sabathia is a beast!
The man is probably way under listed at 6'7" and 290 lbs (i don't think he has been 290lbs since he was in middle school). He can pitch every 4 days in the playoffs and can pitch the full game if need be. He can go toe to toe with any pitcher.
The problem for the Yankees is that he can't pitch every game for them.
That means they will have to rely on at least 3 other pitchers to at least keep them in games and I am not sure that they have them.
When your choices are between AJ Burnett, Ivan Nova, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and Phil Hughes choosing one would be hard let alone needing 3 of them!
Oh and by the way Phil Hughes might be out with a back injury!
Now, Ivan Nova has been better since the All-Star break (in fact he has an ERA lower than 3) but he is not a dominating strike out pitcher(he has less than 100 Ks for the season in over 159 innings). Don't get me wrong he would be a good #3 pitcher but he is not the #2 that the Yanks are asking him to be.

Bartolo Colon looked really good in the first half of the season but i think the long season has worn him down. And Freddy Garcia is not the answer to any kind of question you want to be asking in the post season (unless you are the opposing team's hitters).

I tried to find something nice to say about AJ Burnett and finally I just gave up. The man has a 7.43 ERA post All-Star break. 7.43! He won't be doing anything but collecting paychecks in October.

Prediction: Yankees won't get out of the first round.

I will try to get to the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers tomorrow and then preview the 3 possible wild card teams over the weekend.

Until then thanks for reading and let me know what you think about the preview, how I did and what I can do better next time.
Nate