It's going to be a CRAZY final week of baseball...

by TheSportsFanatic

The Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Angels have already won their divisions, the Boston Red Sox have clinched a playoff spot, and the (DAMN!) New York Yankees are just about to make the playoffs.  So the AL is pretty much set for their playoffs.

As for the NL.... well... let's just say they'll make exciting finishes.  Out west, we have the D'backs and Padres duking it out, with the Rockies hanging in there.  The top 2 are identical, great pitching, bad hitting.  The only difference is experience, which the Padres do have.  Still, I see the Diamondbacks pulling out this one because of the matchups.  In the East, we have the inconsistent Mets vs. the suddenly hot Phillies.  If the Mets can get a little streak going down the stretch (shouldn't be that hard vs. the marlins) then they will win.  The Mets should have already clinched the division and be on top of the NL, but they're the streaky guys.  Smack dab in the middle, it's the Cubs and Brewers.  The Brewers have made a collapse while the Cubs have been hot.  The Brewers are unfortunately done, they gave it up.  But there can still be a feel good story here, as the Cubs haven't won anything in about 100 years... this can be their year.  As for the Wild Card, anything can happen.  I think the Phillies can catch up to the Pads if they continue their hot streak.  Otherwise, it's the Padres taking this one out.

I seriously don't think the champions will come out of the NL.  At least on paper it doesn't look like it.  But they have one thing in common, which is they can go on a tear.  If they do like what the Cardinals did last year, we can see another NL team miraculously winning the World Series.  But I think this year's AL teams are too tough to be beat in four out of seven games.

Well, I hope everyone enjoys the last week of reg. season baseball.  Go ahead and chime in on what you think the NL will be like when it's all said and done!!

RomiezzoLegend

836 days ago

Score 1

Regardless of who makes the playoffs, it's going to be great. The AL is pretty much set, like you said, but there are still about 6 teams that are legit for making the playoffs in the NL: SD, NY, Philly, ARI, Chi-Town, and Colorado. I think Atlanta is probably gonna be out in a couple of days.

It'll be really interesting to see who makes the playoffs. Look at the matchups we could have.

the 1986 matchup: Red Sox/Mets, Cubs vs. Yankees (that'd be interesting), 2000 matchup: NYY vs. NYM.

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RomiezzoLegend

836 days ago

Score 2

Also, it'll be interesting to see who wins it after one team from each division has won the World Series in the last 6 years:

2001: Diamondbacks (NL West)

2002: Angels (AL West)

2003: Marlins (NL East)

2004: Red Sox (AL East)

2005: White Sox (AL Central)

2006: Cardinals (NL Central)

Who will be on top this time?

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SashaDiv-I Stud

836 days ago

Score 2

Hopefully it will just start over again with the D-Backs taking it all.

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RomiezzoLegend

836 days ago

Score 1

Ha! I could just imagine. The DBax are probably the underdog right here. They still have more runs allowed than runs scored. 671-692. WOW!

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Falcon02520Legend

836 days ago

Score 1

never thought about that Romi. good stats

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Silencer76AAA-er

836 days ago

Score 1

The DBacks are going to have things start to catch up with them, especially in a short series if they make the playoffs. They strike out quite a bit (Young, the leadoff man, 133 K, Reynolds 120, Drew 97, Byrnes 94, Hudson 87 before he got hurt.)

Young is hitting just .239 and has an abysmal .298 OBP as a leadoff guy, Drew .229, and they are very thin on the bench.

Pitching wise outside of Webb, the rest of the rotation is not to be feared. Hernandez is 11-10 with an ERA over 4.8, has given up 237 hits in 200 innings and has a BB:K ratio of 76:87 and has given up 33 gopher balls.

Doug Davis is 13-12 with a 4.27 ERA, has given up 206 hits and walked 95 more guys. When you allow that many baserunners, especially in the playoffs, teams are going to capitalize.

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Niteowl049AAA-er

836 days ago

Score 0

Romiezzo thanks for the awesome stats..especially the fact that six different divisons have won World Series in the last six years...have not heard that mentioned anywhere else but don't always catch ESPN who may have mentioned it somewhere along the line. To be in first place and be outscored was another great stat about the D-Backs.

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Niteowl049AAA-er

836 days ago

Score 0

Silencer, great stats about the D-Backs strikeouts....If Hudson hadn't got hurt they would have had a chance of having five players with over 100 strikeouts.

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