American League
#5 Philadelphia Stomp (99-63)
vs
#1 Norfolk Whiskey Jacks (107-55)
As has been the norm in the last few seasons, the Whiskey Jacks finished at or near the top of the American League. And, like last season, after the trade of Hiplolito Matos and Phil Leonard, the Jacks lack what you call name recognition in the pitching staff. They've assembled a group of saavy veterns who put together a pretty solid season, with a team ERA of 4.17, good enough for 6th in the AL. This team though is really built around their offense, using it to simply run over the opposition. They led the AL in runs scored, OBP and SLG. The team also boasts very good speed (5th in the AL in steals) in addition to a deep and powerful lineup. The question now becomes, 'Can a team win a World Series by simply outscoring the opposition?' In the other dugout, will be fellow AL East powerhouse Philadelphia Stomp. While the Stomp have a very solid lineup, ranking 6th in the AL in runs scored and 3rd in home runs, its well known that this team is all about the starting pitching. The franchise's now world famous Latin American Pitching academy had turned out the team's best three starters in Cy Younger Quilvio Lee, Alving Aramboles and Al Francisco. The team was second in team ERA at 3.65. So this matchup is a clash of styles. A relentless offense with a pitching staff that is 'just good enough' versus the dominant pitching rotation backed up by a solid lineup. This is really a pick 'em series and nobody would be surprised to see either of these squads raising a Championship banner on Opening Day of next season. But the advantage may be Philly's with their stable of Dominican starters.
Philly wins a great series in 5 games.
#6 Baltimore Revolution (99-66)
vs
#2 Charlotte Dukies (93-69)
This series presents an interesting question to this league. Is this
the changing of the guard in Satchel?? On one hand you have Oat and his
Revolution squad with multiple world series wins and tons of playoff
experience. On the other hand you have the young and very talented
pitching staff of Charlotte with minimal post season fuzz. The saying
around baseball has always been that good pitching beats good hitting
when it matters. In this series I am bucking that age old adage. The
battle tested bats of Baltimore including the likes of Deivi Borges,
Aurelio Diaz, and Bruce Donovan who hit five home runs last series
against Anaheim combined, should handle the pressure. Charlotte's young
arms include the likes of Carlos Ordonez, Frank Huang, and Teddy
Valent. Charlotte finished the season ranked 1 and 2 in the AL in ERA
and WHIP. The difference in this series should come down to the fact
that Baltimore finished 1 in SB's and 2 in OBP this year, thus putting
a lot of pressure on catcher Osvaldo Carreras who has thrown out
runners only 22% of the time this year leading some to question his
throwing accuracy and arm strength. My prediction for this series comes
to multiple factors most noticeably the battle tested squad from a
tough division outlasts the young upstart division champs from the
rebuilding soft AL South.
Baltimore wins the series in four.
National League
#5 Atlanta Soda Poppers (94-68)
vs.
#1 Vancouver Tragedy Twins (109-53)
The Atlanta Soda Poppers have had a successful season 20 and have a deep minor league system that ensures that the future is indeed bright down South. However, heading into NLCS match up against the Season 18 WS Champs, and the team with SP's best regular season record in the Tragedy Twins, the Poppers are facing the daunting task of even winning a single game against Vancouver's budding dynasty. Atlanta knocked off NL East division winner Cleveland in the 1st round, winning three straight 4-3 games after dropping the opener. Catcher Roger Bigbie was the hero of the final 2 games, hitting HR's in both, including the game winner in bottom of the 8th inning of the series finale. What Bigbie and company can produce against Vancouver's insanely talented starting staff, led by Cy Young candidates Harold Paquette and Elijah Darling, remains to be seen. Atlanta's unfortunately named 1B Alex Rodriguez had a nice series in the first round, and is a clutch playoff performer with a .311/.367/.444 slash line in 11 career playoff games. It remains to be seen if he can achieve that level of production against this level of competition. Atlanta's pitching will encounter issues with Vancouver's potent lineup as well, which features a great combination of power and speed. The Twins boast 7 players who hit 20 or more HR's led by MVP candidate Karim Oliva's 43. They also have 8 players who stole double digit bases, with 2B Willie Rodriguez's 53 steals in 54 attempts, being the best of the thieves. Can the Soda Poppers' Thurman Olerud and company keep the games close? Can the eminently hittable JT Pisciotta hold the Twins down in the 9th? Atlanta showed the ability to grind out tough games and win in the late innings in the Cleveland series but Vancouver is too strong, too deep and too talented for them to handle. Tragedy Twins in four.
#6 San Diego Wiley Coyotes (88-74)
vs.
#2 Richmond Rebellion (101-61)
For the second season in a row, the San Diego Wiley Coyotes will face the Richmond Rebellion in the playoffs. Last season, in the League Championship series, the Rebellion came out victorious in 6 games, and went on to win it all against the Philadelphia Stomp. But that was last season. On paper the champs are still the better team. Richmond bats for a higher average, scores more runs and boasts the second best team ERA in the NL. All that said, the Wiley Coyotes are no slouches themselves, and looking back between the match-ups this season, it was those Wiley Coyotes who got the better of the champs. During the regular season, San Diego won 7 of the 10 games played between the two, and faced Richmond’s ace, veteran Gary Scott, 3 times. San Diego won all three of those games, and Scott came away with an abysmal 9.00 ERA. Rest could be another factor that will play into this series. The champs got the first round bye, and will start the series with 9 days rest. Due to good managing down the stretch, San Diego’s lineup will be close to fully rested and the bullpen will be ready for the series, but their ace, Pepe Sosa, won’t be starting game 1. While Sosa is used to pitching on short rest, he’s fresh off a 8 inning win-or-go-home outing in game 5 against the Badgers. Which is a problem because in this short 5 game series, San Diego will need to lean heavily on Sosa. For San Diego to win this series, they’ll need some big games from heavy hitters Tim Lowe and Jeremi Henry along with 'Mr Cy Young' Pepe Sosa and the bullpen. The key for San Diego will be getting a win on the road and finding a way to will Pepe into pitching two games. For the champs to move on, they’ll need to strike fast, which may not be difficult to do with Ted Westmoreland in the lineup. Game 1 will be important with it looking as though Pepe will get the nod in game 2. Losing the first game may spell disaster. They’ll also need more from their ace, Scott, than he gave during the regular season versus San Diego. As we’ve seen in the past, anything can happen in a short 5-game series. And while it will be a hotly contested series, the pitching tandem of Scott and Brian Sasaki look to be too much for San Diego.
Richmond wins it in four.
Special thanks to new blog contributors the_oat, turzich and simonracing. Not only did you guys save me a whole lot of time working this up, but you allowed me to enjoy each of your writeups and to be able to step back a bit and enjoy our wonderful blog instead of just working on it. Thanks again. It is very much appreciated.
