Predicting the Baseball Playoffs- Round 1

October is upon us and for sports fans this is a great time of year as we get our weekly helping of football sprinkled in with post-season baseball throughout the week. I will take a look at each of the series in the division playoffs and try to predict the winners for you based on having watched a lot of baseball throughout the year.

Texas Rangers vs Tampa Bay Rays

This is probably the toughest of the opening round series for me to get a handle on. I like the Texas offense much better than Tampa’s but Texas struggles on the road and Tampa has home field advantage. Each team has an elite left-hander going in the first game with Cliff Lee from Texas opposing David Price from Tampa. Ultimately though, I think the Texas offense will put a little more pressure on Tampa than Tampa will put on Texas. I also like the Texas bullpen as they run power arm after power arm out of that pen. If Hamilton is close to healthy then Texas is a dangerous team. Rangers in 5 games.

New York Yankees vs Minnesota Twins

I believe this may be the best draw for the Yankees because the Twins have less starting pitching than the Yankees right now. Yes, CC Sabathia is a stud but who do you trust for the Yankees beyond Sabathia; young Phil Hughes? Petite is coming off an injury, Burnett and Vasquez are “rag” arms and Nova is a kid. Minnesota, beyond first game starter Liriano, is a train wreck. I mean do you really want your post-season hopes resting with Carl Pavano?

I am banking on the Yankee line-up and pedigree to carry the day in this series but I think it could go 5 games. Yankees in 4 games.

Cincinnati Reds vs Philadelphia Phillies

Right now it’s hard to go against the Phillies starting pitching with Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels but their bullpen remains a huge question mark. Of course, if the starters go deep into the games it mitigates the weakness in the bullpen. The Phillies line-up is a feast or feminine type of batting order in that when they are hot, they are all hot together and the team will score 8, 9 and 10 runs a game. However, when the Phillies go cold, they can go really cold.

The Reds are the feel good story of this season but don’t sleep on their line-up as Joey Votto should probably win the NL MVP, Scott Rolen is healthy and mashing again while Brandon Phillips is just a really good offensive player. However, I don’t like the Reds starting rotation with Volquez, Arroyo and Cueto. It’s not that these guys are bad pitchers; it’s just that they are not outstanding pitchers. Ultimately the Phillies have too much pitching for the Reds. Phillies in 4 games.

Atlanta Braves vs San Francisco Giants

Bobby Cox is managing his last post-season with the Braves as he is calling it quits after this season. Cox is a great manager but I don’t know if he can overcome the injuries that have befallen his Braves. Martin Prado is out for the season, Chipper Jones isn’t around; he has a real challenge on his hands.

Granted, Cox can rely on his pitching but the problem is that San Francisco’s pitching is better. The Giants run out Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito and Jonathon Sanchez- that is a deep rotation and it is coupled with an outstanding bullpen. However, the Giants are offensively challenged which will make this series competitive regardless of the Braves injuries. Ultimately I am going with the home field advantage in this series but in a very tight, low scoring series. Giants in 5 games.

Enjoy the post-season, we’ll see how these picks come out and cover the ALCS and NLCS when the time comes.