Team Rankings

Respective league ranks for both teams

It's pretty clear where the Tigers strengths lie. As long as Verlander, Fister, et. al continue to strike out a zillion batters, they won't have to worry too much about the shambolic defense behind them. And who would have thought that the Giants would make their way to the playoffs based on their offense, and not their pitching?

Semi-Regular lineups

wRC+ for each player listed

Both likely MVP winners face off in this series, which I'm sure tons of writers will point out as evidence that they should be MVPs, or something. The Tigers play a lot of mix and match with their corner OF spots, with Avisail Garcia and Brennan Boesch mixed in relatively regularly. Garcia is a rookie with only 51 PAs in the majors (not including playoffs).

Playoff rotations

Season FIP- listed for each pitcher

Tigers: Justin Verlander (70), Doug Fister (81), Anibal Sanchez (87), Max Scherzer (77)

Giants: Barry Zito (120), Madison Bumgarner (94), Derrek Lee (91), Ryan Vogelsong (99)

Storylines you may or may not care about

TRIPLE CROWN TRIPLE CROWN MVP TRIPLE CROWN CROWN MVP ERARAHGAHFKDHGKAHGKAHKDHFMNXMU

Did you know that Cabera won the Triple Crown this year? You will hear this approximately 10051 more times during this series.

Will the Fox cameras catch Jim Leyland smoking an entire pack of cigarettes between each inning?

In ~1 week, we won't have to hear Tim McCarver's voice for another 5 1/2 months.

In ~1 week, there won't be any more baseball for another 5 1/2 months. That is, unless you follow HP's updates of all the winter leagues down south.

Is there usually this much action before the official end of the season? I was really surprised to hear about that relatively big DBacks trade earlier this week, as well as the Red Sox hiring/trading for Farrell. There's usually a gentlemen's agreement to not conduct business during the postseason, except for maybe some PBTNL type announcements.

Did you know that Cabrera had the best AVG, RBI, and HR in the AL this year. Who knew?!

Prediction

Even if you leave out the difference in results from the previous round, it's hard not to pick the Tigers here. I'll go with Tigers in six.

The post World Series Preview: San Francisco Giants (94-68) vs Detroit Tigers (88-74) appeared first on Obstructed View.

The Giants got a dose of good luck in the NLDS when Reds ace Johnny Cueto exited game one with an oblique strain after throwing only six pitches. The Reds ended up having to turn to Mike Leake in game four when Cueto still wasn't ready, and the results weren't pretty for the Reds. Leake gave up five runs in four innings and change, and the Reds lost a game that was started by Barry Zito. I repeat, Barry Zito. It was a strange series in that the road team won every game. Maybe I should stop complaining so much about home field advantage (laughing).

The Cardinals played the role of Karma in the NLDS, biting the Nats in the ass for their terrible mismanagement of Strasburg. Though to be fair Strasburg's presence wouldn't have prevented the Nats from leaving approximately 101512 runners on base this series. Gonzalez had two decent starts,and Strasburg replacement Ross Detweiler also pitched well, but Jordan Zimmermann and Edwin Jackson shat the bed. Not to mention Drew Storen and the rest of the Nats pen, who blew a six run lead in the final innings. I can't wait until the Nats go 79-83 next year.

To the Cardinals credit, they lit up the aformentioned starters and their own pitchers did a great job shutting down one of the top offenses in the NL (even if they did get a little help from sequencing…). Chris Carpenter has seemingly been out since forever, but he showed that he didn't have any rust to knock off. They must have stolen whatever mojo was fueling the Orioles this year in their 9th inning comeback against Washington. You were knocked out of the playoffs by the bats of Pete Kozma and Daniel Descalso, Nats /facepalm.

Lineups

Projected Rotations

Cards: Lance Lynn, Chris Carpenter, Kyle Lohse, Adam Wainwright

Giants: Madison Bumgarner, Ryan Vogelsong, Matt Cain, Barry Zito/Tim Lincecum

I'm guessing that it will probably be another Zito/Big Time Timmy Tim combo start for game 4.

Storylines you may or may not care about

Giants 1B coach took a line drive to the head during BP yesterday on a Buster Posey liner that just cleared the pitcher's mound screen. I'm guessing those are going to be higher next year. He was able to walk of the field with assistance, and was released by the hospital later that day. After what happened to Brandon McCarthy earlier this year, you can't be too careful.

NLDS Game 2 starter Jaime Garcia was diagonsed with a rotator cuff strain after the game, and is probably headed to the surgeon's table.

Predictions

OV Playoff prognonsticator: Cardinals in 5

The post NLCS Series Preview: San Francisco Giants (94-68) vs St. Louis Cardinals (ugh) appeared first on Obstructed View.

The post ALCS Preview: Tigers vs. Yankees appeared first on Obstructed View.

Can they beat Yankees? You bet. These aren't the same Yankees we're used to seeing every season. In 2011 Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano and Brett Gardner each had more than 5 fWAR. CC Sabathia did too. Granderson and Sabathia each had 7.1 fWAR. Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez each chipped in 4.3 fWAR.

This year, Robinson Cano's 7.9 fWAR makes him a stronger MVP candidate than Miguel Cabrera. He was also the only position player on the Yankees who had more than 4.0 fWAR. Sabthia led the pitchers with 4.8. In 2011 the Yankees had an impressive 4 players with more than 5 fWAR and 2 of them were over 7. Only Cano topped 7 this year and nobody else topped 5.

This year's team had only 5 players who had 3 or more fWAR. Future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter had a very solid season at this age as he added 3.2 and Nick Swisher had 4.0. Hiroki Kuroda had 3.9 and only he and Sabathia produced more than 1.9 fWAR.

So this isn't the same type of team we've seen the Yankees play in October with year after year. They're older and not as good as they once were. Still, they have some fantastic talent that I really enjoy watching. Robinson Cano is one of my favorite players in the game. Sabathia is a workhorse and he's a good one. Ichiro is now a Yankee so that makes it even better. I even like Jeter. I miss Mariano Rivera and while the Yankees didn't actually miss him that much this season thanks to Rafael Soriano, replacing his post-season success will be a very difficult task. 9th inning leads in the past weren't anything to fret over. That won't be the case this offseason.

For the Orioles, Adam Jones was worth a team best 4.6 fWAR. Jones is what Felix Pie could have been if things worked out for him. A low walk guy with some pop. This year though, Jones hit for a lot of power, still didn't walk much and even despite a below average UZR was damn productive. Matt Wieters was next with 4.1 fWAR though he only had a 106 wRC+. JJ Hardy's 77 wRC+ managed 2.8 fWAR thanks to more than 10 UZR. Chris Davis (2.1) was the only other position player with more than 2 fWAR. Only Jason Hammel (2.9 in 116 innings) and Wei-Yin Chen (2.2) had more than 2 fWAR among Orioles pitchers.

Storylines you may or may not care about

Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter.

The Orioles are actually in the playoffs. No joke.

Brad Pitt is not the GM of either of these teams.

Projected Lineups

Orioles

• Nate McLouth
• JJ Hardy
• Chris Davis
• Adam Jones
• Matt Wieters
• Jim Thome
• Mark Reynolds
• Ryan Flaherty
• Manny Machado

Yankees

• Derek Jeter
• Ichiro
• Alex Rodriguez
• Robinson Cano
• Mark Teixeira
• Curtis Granderson
• Nick Swisher
• Russell Martin
• Raul Ibanez

Rotations

Yankees: CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, Hiroki Kuroda, Phil Hughes

Orioles: Jason Hammel, Wei-Yin Chen, Miguel Gonzalez (nothing else announced)

Statistics

• wRC+: Yankees 113 (1st), Orioles 95 (11th)
• FIP- (SP): Yankees 98 (4th), Orioles 106 (7th)
• FIP- (RP): Yankees 85 (4th), Orioles 86 (5th)
• UZR: Yankees -10.8 (10th), Tigers -26.5 (12th)
• DRS: Orioles -13 (11th), Yankees -22 (12th)
• BsR: Yankees -0.3 (8th), Orioles -4.4 (11th)

Using Oliver, SG has calculates the Yankees have a 55-60% chance of winning the 5-game series. That's about what I'd think. I think the Yakees have the advantage in this series, but I just don't know how much of one.

The post ALDS series preview: Orioles vs. Yankees appeared first on Obstructed View.

The Giants basically had one opponent this year in their longtime rivals the Dodgers. The Dodgers got off to a strong start to the year, and the Giants were 7.5 games back in late May. Tim Lincecum lost whatever it was that made him Tim Lincecum, but Matt Cain threw a perfect game in mid-June in a run that led to the Giants tying for the divisional lead at the end of the month. For the next month and a half the Giants and Dodgers had eleven lead changes, and oddly enough the Giants only kept the lead after their center fielder and MVP candidate Melky Cabrera was busted for using testosterone. I'm disapponted in Cabrera, only becuase I was looking forward to the stupid contract that the Royals were inevitably going to offer to him next year.

Projected starting lineups:

It's not exactly clear what's going on with the back end of the Giants lineup. Joaquin Arias has picked up a lot of starts at SS lately, and Nady/Blanco seem to be in a platoon situation in LF. The Reds have chosen Zack Cozart and his .288 OBP to bat in front of perennial MVP candidate Joey Votto. I guess he must have plus speed, because stolen bases what you really need when you have a high slugging batter right behind you.

Rotations

Giants: Derrek Lee, Madison Bumgarner, Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito

Reds: Johnny Cueto, Bronson Arroyo, Mat Latos, Homer Bailey

Team Statistics (NL Ranks):

• wRC+: Giants 99 (4th), Reds 93 (9th)
• BSR: Reds 5.3 (4th), Giants 4.3 (5th)
• SP FIP- : Reds 98 (7th), Giants 102 (10th)
• RP FIP- : Reds 82 (1st), Giants 99 (10th)
• UZR: Reds 11.9 (4th), Giants 8.6 (7th)
• DRS: Reds 32 (2nd), Giants -7 (8th)

Maybe I should have picked the Giants as my most overrated team, huh.

Game schedule:

Game 1 (@SFO): Saturday, 8:37 PM CT

Game 2 (@SFO): Sunday, 8:37 PM CT

Game 3 (@CIN): Tuesday, 4:37 PM CT

Game 4 (@CIN): Wednesday, TBA

Game 5 (@CIN): Thursday, TBA

Storylines you may or may not care about:

I wonder which Cabrera will be mentioned more tomorrow: Miguel's Triple Crown or Melky's PED suspension.

Will Big Time Timmy Tim show up in the playoffs? The Giants are considering starting Zito over him in game three, which shows how much his star has fallen.

The Reds are starting Bronson Arroyo in a playoff game. It would be fitting if he faces off against Barry Zito. If they make it to the WS, I hope the Orioles do too so he can face off with Joe Saunders in the LOL-Bowl.

Speaking of futility, Ryan Theriot was the Giants starting 2B for half the year, and batted second for 64 games.

Reds manager Dusty Baker was hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat for four days during the Cubs series last month, and may even have had a mild stroke. He's lost 20+ pounds and is back with the Reds to face the last team that he took to the World Series.

Buster Posey is probably the NL MVP, and has had a relatively quiet MVP season. I haven't really heard any buzz for anyone in the NL other than Posey, and that's just been from Giants fans. Joey Votto probably would have been the MVP if he hadn't missed a nearly two months with a knee injury in the middle of the season. He led the NL with a .474 OBP. Those are Playstation numbers. He also had a .567 SLG, 6th in the NL, but somehow only 14 HRs. He came in second to Rodrgio's 50 doubles with 44 of his own.

Projection:

I can't seem to find the BPro odds either, but I think the Reds are the clear favorites in this series.

The post Series preview: San Francisco Giants (94-68) vs Cincinnati Reds (97-65) appeared first on Obstructed View.

The Tigers fell back in the AL Central early and worked their way back to the top, but White Sox probably don't know they're team was even in contention.

Entering the season I thought the Rangers were the best team in baseball followed closely by the Tigers and Yankees. The Rangers season ended in game 163 before the real playoffs begin, the Yankees tried to throw their huge division lead away to both the O's and the Rays and the Tigers didn't claim first place until late in the season. At one point it looked as though it was entirely possible none of the teams I thought were the 3 best in the AL (and probably all of baseball) would even win their division. As a result, at least one of them would miss the new 10-team playoffs. In the end, the Tigers beat out the White Sox and the Yankees outlasted the improbable O's, but the Rangers fell on the final day and the A's won their division.

The O's got off to a strong start and continued to win games all season though they were helped by the Yankees sucking for awhile, but that was not necessarily the case for the A's. At the end of June, the A's were 37-42 and trailed the MLB best Rangers by 13 games. They were an afterthought for the playoffs. They made it and it's our responsible at the highly regarded Obstructed View to preview this series as best as possible.

Storylines you may or may not care about

Did you hear Miguel Cabrera won the Triple Crown? I'm thinking you guys should have a drinking game and drink every time the announcers talk about his triple crown.

There are rookies in the A's rotation and lots of them. If the A's win it all, the 'Moneyball' philosophy will be a success, but if they lose it will be bullshit and an example of why Brad Pitt and like-minded GMs are ruining the game. Josh Donaldson was traded by the Cubs to the A's for Rich Harden, along with Eric Patterson.

Projected Starting Lineups

I'm thinking you guys should have a drinking game and drink every time the announcers talk about Cabrera's triple crown.

Rotations

Tigers: Justin Verlander, Doug Fister, Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer

A's: Jarrod Parker, Tommy Milone, Brett Anderson (not yet confirmed), AJ Griffin (not yet confirmed)

Statistics (AL rank)

• wRC+: Tigers 104 (3rd), A's 98 (6th)
• FIP- (SP): Tigers 85 (1st), A's 98 (6th)
• FIP- (RP): Tigers 90 (6th), A's 93 (8th)
• UZR: A's 24.3 (5th), Tigers -28.1 (13th)
• DRS: A's 14 (7th), Tigers -32 (13th)
• BsR: A's 7 (3), Tigers -5.9 (13th)

PECOTA: Not sure where I can find, or if even it exists anymore, but Baseball Prospectus used to give odds of winning a series. They do so for tonight's game in Detroit with one of the best pitchers of the last 25 years on the mound for Detroit. The Tigers have a 67.8% chance of winning tonight's game. Considering the odds would be similar in a Game 5, you've got to think the Tigers are heavy favorites to win this series.

I admit that I haven't paid a great deal of attention to these two teams this season. I thought the A's had little chance of a playoff spot so I never really bothered watching them. I also thought the Tigers were all but guaranteed a playoff spot and was looking forward to seeing them in the postseason. In a 5-game series with a pitcher like Justin Verlander I'm almost always going to pick that team to win the series and I do that here too.

Tigers in 4. Brad Pitt's 'Moneyball' approach is trashed for the next 12 months.

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