2011 Playoff Prediction Thread

Wow, what an exciting night to be a baseball fan or a schadenfreude enthusiast. I was so caught up in the Sox/Rays/Braves games that I completely forgot that the Padres had a weird early-evening first pitch. So I fired up my MLB At Bat app to see what I had missed so far:

Ah, okay then.

The night continued to unfold in an amazing manner, so incredible that a.) you've probably already heard about it, and b.) it would take to long to summarize here.

I did, however, get this great text from my dad after the Rays won:

"Bad day tonne a red sox or one of their asshole fans. Patriots suck."

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Without further ado here are my 2011 playoff predictions. Please add yours in the comments below.

National League

Division Series - Milwaukee Brewers (96-66) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (94-68)

Prediction: Arizona in 5.

Reasoning: This is just one of those series that I could see going either way. For whatever reason, the Brewers have struggled on offense away from home. I also like the Diamondbacks' spirit, and see their pitching staff doing just enough to allow their offense some late inning dramatics.

Division Series - Philadelphia Phillies (102-60) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (90-72)

Prediction: Philadelphia in 4.

Reasoning: The Cards are playing great baseball right now, including recently winning 3 of 4 in Philly. But that was after Philly had started looking forward to the playoffs. No doubt about it, the Cards were the only team playing for something more in that series. This time around, I like Philly's rotation more–who doesn't?–and I'm really not too impressed with the St. Louis pitching staff––their starters are nothing to get excited about and I see at least one blown save from their bullpen in this series.

Championship Series - Philadelphia vs. Arizona

Prediction: Philadelphia in 5.

Reasoning: Again the Phillies pitching is so deep that it's hard not to envision them making it through to the World Series. The great story that was the revival of the Diamondbacks ends here, where Philly's postseason experience will win out.

American League

Division Series - Texas Rangers (96-66) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (91-71)

Prediction: Texas in 5.

Reasoning: The Rays made a historic comeback to win the wild card, but last night's incredible events aside, this is more about the collapse of the Red Sox than a hard charge by the Rays, who are just 6-4 in their last 10 and 13-9 in their last 22 games. The two teams recently split 6 games in late August and early September. I see the solid Rangers offense slowly chipping away at the Rays pitching staff until they ultimately crack. I would love to be wrong about this prediction, and wouldn't be surprised to see a pumped up Rays squad rolling through Texas.

Division Series - New York Yankees (97-65) vs. Detroit Tigers (95-67)

Prediction: New York in 4.

Reasoning: I love the Verlander. I've followed the Verlander closely for the past three years. I just don't think he is enough to pick the Tigers. I'm not too high on the rest of the rotation going against a deep and powerful Yankees lineup. The Tigers are another team that has been playing great ball lately, but they've mostly been getting fat on a diet of mediocre to poor AL Central teams. They haven't played a team that finished with a winning record since Aug. 22-25 when they won 3 of 4 in Tampa. The Yankees have atrocious starting pitching for the playoffs after C.C. Sabbathia, but their bullpen is rock solid and their bench is crazy deep. This series will be a slugfest after game 1. I'll take the better offense and the far better bullpen.

Championship Series - New York vs. Texas

Prediction: Texas in 7.

Reasoning: A rematch of the 2010 ALCS, and I see this one turning out in similar fashion. The Yankees offense may be great, but Texas is nearly as good and they don't need to send Freddie Garcia or Bartolo Colon out to the mound.

World Series

Philadelphia vs. Texas

Prediction: Texas in 7.

Reasoning: I'll admit this right now: picking the Phillies to win it all seems too easy, and perhaps too obvious. If we know anything about sports in the age of parity, it's that there is always a surprise lurking around the corner. As sharp as Philly's killer rotation of Halladay, Lee and Hamels looks, I wouldn't want to trust rookie Vance Worley with a starting assignment. Which means they pitch all three on short rest, which will catch up with them at some point. Philly's offense isn't as potent as it once was, so I see all of these games going down to the wire. Call it a hunch, but I'll take the Rangers.