Where Legends are Born

This being a collaborative blog, I thought it best that you got the best of all viewpoints heading into baseball's postseason. So I will call onto my esteemed co-counsel for the most comprehensive batch of throwing shit up against a wall that you have seen. If October is "Where Legends Are Born" in baseball than Views from the Couch is where our bullshit can become your pearls of wisdom. Maybe we should get Jake Gyllenhall or Don Cheadle to give our mission statement as well.


St. Louis Cardinals (NL Wildcard Winner) vs Philadelphia Phillies (NL East Winner)

Pick: Phillies in 4

The Phillies have been a juggernaut for the better part of the year due to their heralded starting rotation and I don't see that changing much in the first round of the playoffs. The Phillies finished the season leading the league in ERA (3.02), quality starts (108), and WHIP (1.17). Not to mention they have two maybe three legitimate Cy Young contenders if you include Cole Hamels in with perennial contenders Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. Roy Oswalt in the 4 hole isn't too shabby either. The biggest question with the Phillies for most of the year was their offense but after an 8 game losing streak in September the Fightin' Phils swept the Braves to close out the regular season and seem poised to mash. Expect Chase Utley, Hunter Pence, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, and company to hit in the clutch in the postseason.

The Cardinals have been hot in September and surged past the choking and in need of the Heimlich maneuver Braves (who surprisingly choked a month earlier then the franchise usually does) to snag the NL Wild Card on the final day of the season. The problem with having to wait until the last day of the season is that ace Chris Carpenter had to pitch on Wednesday night (threw a gem: CG, 2 H, 1 BB, 11 K's) to ensure that the Cardinals even made it this far thus forcing him to be able to only throw one game in the 5 game set. I doubt the Cards can steal 2 games, I would've given 'em a shot at stealing 1 but not 2, against a Phillies team that is loaded on talent (only team to win over 100 games this year) on the mound and at the dish. The Cards have some offensive firepower in Albert Pujols, Matt Holiday, and Lance Berkman but none of the three has ever really stepped up and carried a team throughout the playoffs except maybe Pujols in 2006. The Cardinals will make the series interesting but I expect that they'll only win game 3 when Carpenter pitches otherwise the Phillies will sail to the NLCS.

Geoff

Staff (and we use this term loosely) Picks:

Norton- Phillies

ZHawk- Phillies

JLang- Phillies

Arizona Diamondbacks (NL West Winner) vs Milwaukee Brewers (NL Central Winner)

Pick: Brewers in 3

The Diamondbacks have been the feel-good story of the National League this year but that will end in the first round. I also don't think it's going to be much of a series. Ian Kennedy, Justin Upton and their bullpen have all had a phenomenal year for the Snakes, but they don't have the offensive firepower to match Milwaukee's bats or the quality starting pitching to go toe-to-toe with their staff. One of the best stats to quantify a team is their run differential and Milwaukee's run differential at +83 is better than Arizona's +69.

Milwaukee has a better team ERA 3.63 to 3.80. Better OBP against .304 to .316. Better OPS against .689 to .725. WHIP of 1.24 to 1.29. Lastly in terms of pitching they dominated in strikeouts, 1257 to 1058.

Milwaukee also has a daunting middle of the order with Ryan Braun and an about to be free agent, Prince Fielder. Their team batting average .261 is better than Arizona's .250. Team OPS is also better at .750 compared to .736.

The only thing that Arizona seems to be better at than Milwaukee on paper is, their defense. Only 90 errors on the season to 111, of course, if you take away Yuniesky Betancourt's butchery of the Shortstop position (21 errors) you are dead even.

Last, but certainly not least, if you have a baseball nickname like Hammerin' Hebrew, you can't lose. Milwaukee in a cakewalk.

Norton

Staff Picks:

Geoff- Brewers

JLang- Brewers

ZHawk- Brewers

Tampa Bay Rays (AL Wildcard Winner) vs Texas Rangers (AL West Winner)

Pick: Rangers in 4

Now I may come across as a bitter Red Sox fan by saying this, but I don't see the Rays beating the Rangers in their ALDS matchup.

Here is why...

The Rangers' team as a whole is much too strong for the Rays to overtake. In my humble opinion, this is the sleeper team to go to the World Series from the American League. Former MVP, and my personal favorite Major Leaguer, Josh Hamilton and former Sock prospect David Murphy, plus Nelson Cruz, form a formidable outfield combination that brings a combination of power, speed, and defense that is nearly incomparable to many other teams. The hitting prowess of another former Sock, Adrian Beltre (.296/.331/.561, plus 32 dong shots and 105 RBIs), second sacker Ian Kinsler with much less flashy numbers (.255/.355/.477, with 32 and 77) provide the pomp and circumstance to the outfield's hail to the chief. CJ Wilson, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison, and Colby Lewis form a solid, yet unspectacular, rotation, with Wilson leading the way at 16-7 with a 2.94 ERA.

The Rays, coming on strong as of late (obviously), have, for the most part, ridden a rocky road this season. Evan Longoria has finally regained the form that has been absent from his game for a lot of the year, but where is the rest of the team? The super tandem of Jaso-Shoppach behind the dish isn't exactly the baseball equivalent to Shaq and Kobe. Desmond Jennings has fallen off a cliff lately. Sean Rodriguez, Reed Brignac, and Ben Zobrist aren't exactly Jason and the Argonauts at the plate. Casey Kotchman is the starting first basemen. BJ Upton's attitude has begun to rear its ugly head. Who is carrying this team against the Rangers? Joe Maddon's bleached-blonde flowing locks are going to need some 1999 Pedro performances from David Price (looked like shit in game 162), James Shields (a HORSE on the bump if there ever was one), Matt Moore's Eyebrow (quite the eyebrow, I must say) and Jeremy Hellickson (where the hell did he fall off to?). That rotation, plus a bullpen anchored by Joel Peralta and Kyle Farnsworth, makes me say just one thing...

Rangers in 4.

Staff Picks:

Geoff- Rangers

Norton- Rays

ZHawk-Rangers

Detroit Tigers (AL Central Winner) vs New York Yankees (AL East Winner)

Pick: Tigers in 5

A battle of arguably the hottest team in Major League Baseball over the final two months of the season (38-16, .702%), the Detroit Tigers, and one of the most consistent teams in the league the New York Yankees, will undoubtedly prove to be a great series. Both teams have good starting pitching, good lineups and great bullpens. A big plus for the Tigers is that Justin Verlander and Doug Fister will be pitching 3 times in this series. Verlander is a virtual lock for the Cy Young award this season. Tossing one of the best seasons in recent history, Verlander posted a 24-5 record with a 2.40 ERA, 240 Ks and a .92 WHIP. To put it simply, the man has been downright filthy. Doug Fister has been hot as a pistol recently. In his last 8 outings, Fister has been even better than the Cy favorite in Verlander, going 7-0 with a 0.65 ERA. Combined the two were 14-0 with a 1.61 ERA since August. Delmon Young, Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Alex Avila are a very solid 3 through 6 in their order as well. The Tigers can score runs with the best of them when things are clicking. A big X-factor in that lineup in my eyes is Ryan Raburn, when Raburn gets on a hot streak; he is a dynamic player for the Tigers offense. Say goodnight once you get to the eighth and ninth innings too because Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde are as good as it gets at shutting the door. Rookie reliever Al Alburqeurque is another name to watch out of the bullpen as he has been stellar all season.

The New York Yankees are the New York Yankees, as always, they are a force to be reckoned with. While in my eyes, they are weaker than in years past. They are still a great ball club. C.C Sabathia is the same horse of a pitcher as he has ever been. Ivan Nova has been a big surprise for them this year, having a great second half of the season. When the late innings roll around, don't bet on scoring any runs on this team either. David Robertson, Rafael Soriano and the greatest closer in major league baseball history A.K.A 'The Sandman' A.K.A Mariano Rivera form the pitching version of Murderer's Row in the seventh, eighth and ninth. They're lineup is better than any around as well. Two MVP candidates in Curtis Granderson ( .262 AVG 41 HR and 119 RBI), and newly minted number three hitter Robinson Cano (.302 AVG 28 HR and 118 RBI). They have past MVP candidates in Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. They also have a fantastic supporting cast, with guys like Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner. The Yankees lineup doesn't have a single easy out in it. If there is any team in Major League Baseball that is going to give the Tigers rotation of Verlander, Fister and Scherzer a run for its money it is this Yankees ball club.

When it is all said and done, I don't see the Yankees being able to bash their way through the very strong Tigers pitching staff. The tone of the series will be set in game 1, with Verlander going blow for blow with C.C and Verlander coming out the victor. Fister wins game 2. Yankees beat Scherzer game 3. Yankees beat Rick Porcello in game 4. Verlander shuts the door on the Yankees in game 5. There you have it folks. That's how it's going down. You heard it here first.

Detroit Verlafisters take the series in 5 games.

-ZHawk

Staff Picks:

Geoff- Yankees

Norton- Tigers

JLang- Tigers

Boom. There you have it. You just got "Couched".

Stay Tuned

Norton