AL First Round Preview

And here we go, the first round is upon us, and the AL has two interesting match-ups to kick things off.

First, the Major Duckies play host to former WS Champ Philadelphia. Offensively, Atlanta is among the top 5 in virtually every batting category in the AL this season. Led by catcher Albert Candelaria and 3B Von Roberts, the Ducks hit nearly 300 HR's this season, while batting .282 as a team. In contrast, Philly was just a hair above the league average in batting, while sitting a little ways below average for HR's, with only 245 dingers. Philly makes up for that, with a ton of stolen bases (three times as many as Atlanta), which helped them score just as many runs as Atlanta this season.

Pitching, Philly's ERA was a half run better than Atlanta's on the season. But then the two teams were virtually identical in every other statistical category. Winston Taft may have been the LVP for the entire world this season, but he still demands attention when he takes the mound, and he will be Atlanta's Game 1 starter. On the other side, Philly will trot out Adrian Simpson, a two-time Cy Young winner, who is in the hunt again this year. Behind him, they have Dann Jacome who won 6 games in 11 starts for Philly, after being traded at the deadline from Buffalo. Their third starter is no slouch either, as Dorian Baker won 17 games this season. (side note, both Baker and Jacome used to pitch for Norfolk/Durham. crap.) The Philly rotation is perfect for a short series, and that's exactly what this might be. Unless the Atlanta bats can get to the starting pitchers early, and force them out of the game and the bullpen into it, the Duckies might be calling Augusta to see about tee times.

NJ Prediction: Philly in 4.

The other side of the bracket pits the AL West winner Colorado against the second wild card, Pawtucket from the AL East. Another case of the lower seed having more wins than the higher seed, but we all know you can throw away the records when playoff time starts. And in that same vein, it's nearly impossible to compare stats from team to team when you're dealing with the inflated numbers of a Colorado team. Was Pawtucket's ERA nearly 2 runs better than that of Colorado? Yes. But what happened to Pawtucket's pitching staff when they had a three-game series in Colorado earlier this season? They gave up 11, 17, and 15 runs in those three games, while Colorado's pitchers gave up 7, 8, and 5 runs. In a four-game series at Pawtucket, the Socks held the Colorado offense in check, taking three of the four games. A few days later, they were in Colorado for another three-game series, where the Socks took two of those games, including a 26-8 blowout of the Knockers. So Pawtucket leads the series on the season, 6-4, and has shown an ability to become an offensive powerhouse when in the friendly confines of Colorado, while also shutting down that potent Colorado offense.

These words usually aren't said when you're talking about a series involving Colorado, but "it's going to come down to the pitching." Cookie Cradle is a Cy Young possibility, posting a 16-6 record with a measly 3.62 ERA in that horrible park. After going 12-12 with a 4.33 ERA this season, Oswaldo Chavez will be the Socks starter for game 1. Advantage, Colorado. The Knockers have not announced who their game 2 starter will be yet, but it looks like Pawtucket will go with Hal Harper, who was 13-9 with a 3.67 ERA this year.

NJ Prediction: Colorado in 5.