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)
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