With the dust settled after a week of tiebreakers and Wild Cards, it is time for the big boys to wade into the ring and duke it out Thunderdome style in the Divisional Series. They waited long enough to take the stage. Let the battle begin.
Here is a breakdown of the American League Divisional Series:
Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox
Friday 3 pm EST on TBS
The Red Sox have been kind of boring lately. No big drama. No big injuries. No big excitement. After the disaster of the 2011 season and the ensuing housecleaning, I’m sure it is exactly how they want it to be. Instead of “beer and chicken” during games, they have a nap room. No joke – they installed an actual nap room.
Hopefully, the naps and the beards are not an indication they are about to pull a Rip Van Winkle and sleep through the playoffs. It would be easy to do as they face the Tampa Bay Rays for the 20th time this year.
The Rays have had nothing but drama lately coming off of two straight elimination games on top of a do-or-die final week. “This is a best of five-game series, but I’d love for us to play it like each is a one-game series, like we just came through,” Manager Joe Maddon tweated.
There is no question that their pitchers will keep them in games with a formidable rotation of Matt Moore, David Price, Alex Cobb and Chris Archer. But, can they stop the Red Sox enough? Doubtful, as Boston was first in runs scored, on-base percentage, slugging and second in batting average this year.
The only chance the Rays have is to get after the Red Sox starters (3rd in WAR) and into their vulnerable bullpen. Well, no… that’s not right either. Their relievers were ranked 4th in WAR this season. Good luck.
Advantage – Red Sox
As good as the Rays are, the Red Sox are better in every way. Sooner or later, Maddon is going to find the gas tank is empty. If they win, it will be because the Red Sox fell asleep.
Detroit Tigers at Oakland Athletics
Fridday 9:30 pm EST on TBS
Thanks to Moneyball, it is easy to think of the Yankees and Red Sox as the A’s rivals. However, it is the Tigers that have ended the A’s playoff runs the last two times they made an appearance (’06 & ’12). Is the third time the charm for Billy Beane’s boys?
The Tigers feature a virtual murderer’s row on both offense and defense. Their offense is ranked 1st or 2nd in batting average, runs scored, on-base percentage, and slugging. Reigning MVP and front-runner for the award this year, Miguel Cabrera, is the heart of the lineup. Prince Fielder took a step back this year but is still frightening. Austin Jackson (.417 slugging) and Torii Hunter (.465) would be clean-up hitters on most teams.
Facing them will be A’s rookies Sonny Gray and Dan Straily (replacing injured A.J. Griffin) in games two and four. Yes, half of the A’s pitching staff will be rookies. That is never a good sign. Their other two pitchers are Bartolo Colon, who has been great this year despite being 40, and Jarrod Parker, who has been brilliant since a horrible first month. We should note that A.J. Griffin would have started instead of Straily if it wasn’t for an injury, but they have to work with what they have.
The Tigers will respond with:
Game 1 – Max Scherzer – 21 W, 10.08 K/9, 0.91 WHIP, 2.90 ERA
Game 2 – Justin Verlander – 13 W, 8.95 K/9, 1.31 WHIP, 3.46 ERA
Game 3 – Anibal Sanchez – 14 W, 9.99 K/9, 1.15 WHIP, 2.57 ERA
Game 4 – Doug Fister – 14 W, 6.86 K/9, 1.31 WHIP, 3.67 ERA
The A’s do have bats of their own, however it is a lineup built heavily on platoon splits. This means less big names but helped the A’s to the second best record in the American League. Surprise guys Coco Crisp (yes, really), Josh Donaldson (best guy you never heard of) and Yoenis Cespedes (HR Derby champ) lead the offense.
The only area where the A’s are obviously better is the bullpen. The Tigers’ closer has been in flux all year. Manager Jim Leyland’s plan will generally be to run up the score and cross his fingers before calling the bullpen.
Advantage – Tigers
The Tigers will have history on their mind. However, it won’t be the no-hitter they suffered on the last day of the season. Instead, they will be remembering the beatdown sweep the San Francisco Giants gave them last World Series. Unless, Beane & Melvin have more magic up their sleeve, Tigers will move on.
Brian Reddoch is a CraveOnline reporter and rabid fan of all teams Seattle. You can follow him on Twitter @ReddReddoch or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook
Photo Credit: Getty
