Thursday, March 20, 2008

NL Division Championship Series

After correctly picking all 4 winners and going 50% on the length of each series, this writer feels less confident about the DCS round.

New York v. Little Rock
Season series: Little Rock 6-4
Regular season Team BA: New York - .263 Little Rock - .275
Regular season Team ERA: New York - 3.78 Little Rock - 4.02

In a tense, five-game battle with Dover, Little Rock after using Corey Mantei three times. We'll see if the amount of work he put in will affect him or not. Meanwhile, the Hokies come in, tied for the best record in the National League. A 3.78 ERA helps alongside Denny Young's 16-7 2.52 ERA 1.04 WHIP and Brian Malone's 107 steals. Not necessarily a power-hitting team, the Highlanders like to play it small. Tomas Camacho has also been solid with 23 saves, a 2.23 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Considering that the Snappers batted .224 on the road with Dover, New York could be looking at a nice weekend, resting their bullpen and enjoying their trip to the postseason with some refreshing iced tea. That is, unless the James' have anything to say about the matter.

Prediction: It's tough to lose such a great pitcher as Whitehead. He could've balanced out Mantei's work in the Play-in series and could've shortened the series altogether. The Snappers will have to look for others to step up but New York is too rested and too motivated to let the series get out of hand. If Mantei shows up in Game One and Little Rock loses, there'll be a tough decision over whether or not he plays in Game Three. My thinking is that it will have to be a "yes." New York in 4 games.

San Francisco v. St. Louis
Season series: San Francisco 8-2
Regular season Team BA: San Francisco - 2.70 St. Louis - .278
Regular season Team ERA: San Francisco - 3.45 St. Louis - 4.27

For over half a season, no one could figure out how to hit off Donaldo Lunar(26-4, 1.36 ERA 0.89 WHIP). They still can't but Lunar did manage to get 4 losses. Which is pretty much ridiculous that 4 losses might be seen as a disappointment. With such a low ERA, about even BA, and a commanding season record, the Gothams look like they could put this series behind them with no problem. However, that problem has recently reemerged - Jeremy Anderson. Losing him for over 60 days and still winning 97 times is scary. It'll be interesting to see how the pitching matchups end up going and whether or not Vega and Lunar will battle. However, what may be even more intriguing is the Gothams' lineup. There are some solid players in Foster(.303 41HR-126RBI) and Rodriguez(.275 35HR-139RBI-29SB) and if they can get hot, they could negate St. Louis' lineup.

Prediction: How many times is Lunar going to be used? The Gothams have a great rotation and a solid lineup. St. Louis is probably going to pitch Vega around Lunar. Yet, at the cavernous SBC Park, San Francisco's pitching is unstoppable(3.23 ERA at home) up and down the rotation and out of the bullpen. St. Louis is going to have to overcome that and win one at San Francisco before the series changes sites. But Lunar is too good and will win two if needed. San Francisco in 4

1 comment:

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