Nik’s Picks
By Nik Popli
ALDS:
Detroit vs. Oakland – Detroit in 5
Detroit clearly has the better team on paper in this game, but somehow had only 93 wins and Oakland 96. The pitching rotation in Oakland is above average, but not spectacular like Detroit’s. 40 year old Bartolo Colon and rookie sensation Sonny Gray will have to lead the A’s past the Detroit’s superior hitting. The Tigers had a league leading .283 team batting average with Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera, leader in batting average, RBI, and second in home runs respectively. In order for Oakland to win this critical matchup, star players like Coco Crisp and Yoenis Cespedes must give it their A game. But against Detroit’s pitching, they may go without scoring a run. Detroit has 2011 CY Young winner and 6 time all-star, Justin Verlander and if that’s not enough to convince you, they also have the 2013 All Star Game starter, Max Scherzer. I’m going to say Detroit will win threee out of the five game series.
Tampa Bay vs. Boston – Boston in 5
After beating the Cleveland Indians in the one game Wild Card, the Tampa Bay Rays have advanced to the postseason to play the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox were tied with St. Louis for the best record in all of baseball with 97 wins. Tampa Bay finished second place in the East Division with 92 wins, behind the Red Sox. The Red Sox finished the regular season with the second best team batting average. The Rays, on the other hand, ranked twelth in the league hitting. Despite having worse hitting, the Rays did have a slightly better pitching rotation ranked twelth in the league with many bright stars like David Price, but the Red Sox were just barely lower than that at fourteenth. These two teams are pretty evenly matched, but as the regular season standings show, Boston is the better team. If Evan Longaria of the Rays can connect with his teammates, they may be able to get passed Clay Buccholz and the rest of the Boston Red Sox pitching staff. It seems very unlikely, as Boston’s payroll is 2.8 times greater than the Rays. I say the Boston Red Sox in the maximum 5 games.
NLDS:
Pittsburgh vs. St. Louis – St. Louis in 5
This game can pretty much go either way. Pittsburgh and St. Louis both have great pitching. Pittsburgh had the third lowest team ERA in the league this year, but St. Louis followed closely at #5. Pitching wise, I think Pittsburgh wins here. But hitting wise it’s a no-brainer. St. Louis ranked fourth in the league hitting with a team batting average of .269. Now here comes the shocker: Pittsburgh ranked 22th in the league with a .245 batting average. There is a clear advantage in the hitting department. St. Louis’ hitters include All Stars Carlos Beltran, Yadier Molina, Matt Carpenter, and Matt Holliday. Let’s see how many Pirates stars I can list. They have Andrew McCutchen, one of the best players in all of baseball at the moment. He has the highest chance of becoming the National League MVP this year. But other than him, they don’t have many superstar hitters. Starling Marte, Pedro Alvarez, and Marlon Byrd are all above average players, but definitely do not compare to the stars of St. Louis. I think that, because of St. Louis’ hitting, they will win this series in five games. Being in the same division, they have faced each other many times, and Pittsburgh knows how to beat St. Louis, but don’t you think St. Louis knows how to beat Pittsburgh too?
Los Angeles vs. Atlanta – Los Angeles in 5
After a dismal start, the Dodgers finished the season with 92 wins. The Braves finished with 96 wins, consistently doing well in 1st place. The Braves hitting was pretty bad this year, ranking 20th in the league. So, how did they get 96 wins? I guess that means their pitching must have been really good. And oh boy, it was. Ranked first in the league with a 3.18 ERA, they were practically unhittable at times. But so were the Dodgers! They ranked #2 in pitching with a 3.25 ERA. Their star pitcher was former CY Young winner, Clayton Kershaw, posting the highest ERA in the league at 1.83. That’s incredible for a pitcher, which is why he is probably going to win CY Young again. They also have Zack Greinke, another superstar pitcher. Along with their incredible pitching, their hitting was also highly ranked. At sixth in hitting, the Dodgers had rookie Yasiel Puig and former all stars Matt Kemp, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Hanley Ramirez all producing in great amounts. The Dodgers have a way better hitting team than the Braves, and hitting is crucial, so I’ve got to say Dodgers in 5 five games. Even though the Braves have Justin Upton, Freddie Freeman, and Brian McCann, the Dodgers have a better overall team that thrives with Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke.
NLCS:
Detroit vs. Boston: Detroit in 6
The winner of this game goes on to the greatly treasured World Series. Along with Detroit’s MLB leading hitting team with Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, and Torii Hunter, they have an above average pitching rotation featuring Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. Because of this, they have an advantage over Boston’s team. Although Boston has an equally good hitting team, if not better, their pitching was a lot worse. They have great starters in Clay Buccholz and Jon Lester, but they still do not compare with Detroit’s starters. Detroit will win this series in only 6 games advancing onto the World Series for the second year in a row.
St. Louis vs. Los Angeles: Los Angeles in 7
I’m sad this series will have to come to an end because both teams are so good. When comparing these teams, I came to find that the Dodgers and Cardinals had excellent hitting and it’s hard to pick the winner of the hitting battle. The Cardinals do have an advantage though statistically speaking as they posted the most RBI’s and runs in the National League. This means that the Dodgers are going to have to count on their pitchers in their rotation and bullpen to not give up runs. Clayton Kershaw of Los Angeles is better than Adam Wainwright of St. Louis, as goes the entire Dodgers rotation. Because the Dodgers have Clayton Kershaw, I think they will find away to escape the Cardinals hitting and win a tight seven game series advancing to the World Series.
2013 WORLD SERIES
Detroit vs. Los Angeles – Los Angeles in 7
Here it is. 32 teams. All playing for the same reason: The World Series. My prediction for the World Series is the Detroit Tigers vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers. Without looking at any stats or previous matchups, I say: Dodgers tops the Tigers. It will be a close matchup, probably the most evenly matched up teams in the entire MLB. Even better than Cardinals vs. Dodgers! I say the Dodgers will win because of their superb hitting and pitching. The Tigers have a better team batting average, but mostly because they have two stars, Miguel (Miggy) Cabrera and Prince Fielder. Those two hitters are probably the most powerful duo in hitting. But, the Dodgers also have a good, well-rounded hitting team. They also have a WAY better pitching team. Max Scherzer of Detroit is one of the best pitchers in the American League, but Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher in the National League. This series will be competitive, and extremely close all the way through. Still, there must be a winner, and the city that will bring home the pride of winning the title as “World Champs” will be the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Taylor’s Take
By Taylor Snyder
American League Division Series:
Detroit vs. Oakland
This year has been yet another successful year for the Detroit Tigers as they finished the regular season with a 93-69 record and an AL Central title. The Oakland Athletics finished the season with a 96-66 record, and statistically, had a better record than the Tigers. There is no doubt in my mind that Detroit takes this series in six games. The A’s might have the better record on paper, but Detroit’s offense lead by Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder seems unstoppable. Cabrera is 30 for 71 at bats all-time vs. Oakland’s pitching with 4 home runs and has a pretty decent batting average, not to mention the fact that Detroit’s pitching has been lights out this season. Six time All-star and 2011 CY Young winner Justin Verlander is lights out against Oakland batters this season and will continue to be in the postseason. If that isn’t good enough for you, you have to remember 2013 All Star and CY Young candidate Max Scherzer who has seemed almost unhittable this year. I think with the way the Tigers’ offense and defense is, they take this series 3-2, but don’t be surprised if Oakland recreats the movie Moneyball and beats the odds in this series.
Tampa Bay vs. Boston-
Standing in one corner we have the Boston Red Sox. This season really has been something else for this team. The motto this year for the Red Sox and entire the city of Boston has been “Boston Strong”, and the team has been just that. The offense has been unbelievable and the their pitching has improved drastically. The Red Sox finished the season with a 97-65 record and is tied for the best in the Major Leagues with one of the best home records in the league. Standing in the other corner we have the Tampa Bay Rays, who snuck their way into the playoffs with an impressive Wild Card win over the Clevland Indians. The Boston defense is what the Rays will have to take advantage of if they are to take the series outright. Clay Bucholtz will most likely be the Rays’ biggest concern and could cause them many problems if they can not find a way around him. Keep in mind, the Red Sox offense had the second best batting average in baseball this year while the rays offense had the fourteenth best batting average in the league. I think the Rays will struggle at Fenway and have a rough time with the Sox electric offense. In the end, I have the Red Sox in five games.
National League Division Series
Pirates vs. Cardinals-
This matchup has the chance to be one of the best division series. Both of these teams had pretty even years along with their great pitching. The St. Louis Cardinals took the National League Central and the Pittsburgh Pirates won the wild Card spot in the National League with an impressive win over the Cinncinati Reds. To get down to business, it has been proven that the Cardinals struggle consistantly with the Pirates pitching this year with Francisco Liriano and AJ Burnett shutting them down this year. Also St Louis has not been the same team since the All Star break and has collapsed in many ways. Their pitching was some of the worst in the majors in the second half of the season, and to be honest with you, I don’t even see how they won the Division. I know most will count the Pirates out due to their tendency to choke but I think this year is different. They have a lot of momentum going into this series and if players like Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez start to turn on the bats, then the pirates will take this series. I have the pirates taking this one in an upset in six games.
Los Angeles vs. Atlanta
This is a matchup of two very good national league teams that will bring a lot to the table. The Los Angelos Dodgers seemed absolutely unbeatable in the second half of the season, and the Atlanta Braves ran away with the National League East title and cruised their way into the playoffs. The Braves finished with the best pitching in baseball this year, but do not take that as any sort of advantage as the Dodgers finished right behind them. I think the sole reason the Dodgers win this series is going to be because of their offense. If you just look at their roster with Kemp, star rookie Yasiel Puig, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Hanley Ramirez, they have some of the best hiters in the league. The Dodgers pitching and offense will be too much in the end for the Braves to handle and I think that they take this series in seven games.
Championship Series
Boston vs. Detroit
This matchup will be the better one out of the 2 championship series matchups. Both of these teams have been electric this year with their bats and have put up hitting numbers like no other. Going into this game Detroit does have a huge advantage over Boston in their pitching rotation and that is why I have them winning this series in 6 games. I am a diehard Red Sox fan and I love them till I die but I can’t lie, when it comes to defense they just can’t get it done. Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer out-dual Jon Lester and Clay Bucholtz. I think this is Detroit’s chance to get back to the World Series and have another shot at it. I have Detroit winning in six games.
Los Angeles vs. Pittsburgh
This matchup is very uneven in my opinion. This year has truly been a different year for the Pirates as they made the playoffs for the first time in over 20 years. The Dodgers’ bats are some of the best in baseball and so is their pitching. I have no doubt that the Dodgers will destroy the Pirates pitching. The Pirates will also struggle with Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke as they had very little success hitting off of them this season. I think no doubt the Dodgers win this in 5 games. The only reason I say Pittsburgh will win a game is because the Pirates have an advantage at their home stadium when the Dodgers’ best pitchers will not be available.
2013 World Series: Dodgers vs. Tigers
I think that there is no doubt that this will be one of the toughest world series to predict. It will definitely be one of the most evenly matched World Series in a very long time. The overall stats might say that the Dodgers are a better team, but championships are not played on paper. I think the Tigers take this one in a thrilling series solely because they have much more experience given their heartbreaking loss in the World Series last year. We have seen a team in their position before come back the next year and win it all and I think this is just the case for the Tigers. In my opinion Miguel Cabrera is one of the best hitters I’ve ever seen and Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander have been superb this year. Going into this World Series I think the Dodgers will have a little too much on their mind and will find a way to choke. In the end of it all, the series will be an offensive and defense battle and I truly can’t wait to watch. Detroit’s unmatched experience will hurtle them past the Dodgers. The Detroit Tigers are your 2013 World Series Champions.