Lars the Greek - Cobb Times Herald
The playoff field has been narrowed to the final two teams, the defending champion Omaha Sluggers representing the National League, and the surprising wild card entry New York Titans from the American League. To see who has the advantage, Lars the Greek weighs in with a position by position analysis of the two teams.
Catcher: Tony Fernandez is the backstop for the NY Titans, and he is a slap hitter who is good vs. lefties at the plate, and is average with the glove and calls an ok but not exceptional game. Veteran Fausto Pena is an exceptional pitch caller for the Sluggers, but his aging body isn't the best defensively and he is easy to steal on. At the plate he hits for average but won't alter a game.
Advantage: Even
1B: Titan Stone Duran is a talented hitter with above average power and a good eye vs. right handed pitching, but hasn't been effective this post season, batting a measly .204. Josh Price of the Sluggers is a hitting machine when healthy, which he currently is. He has had a monster playoffs, batting .324 with an OPS of .999.
Advantage: Omaha
2B: Phil Coleman mans 2B for the Titans, and is a solid player who is above average at the plate and with the glove. He has hit safely in all 13 playoff games thus far, and is red hot heading into the series. Bill Norton has been a stalwart in the Sluggers lineup and although he has more raw talent than Coleman, he has been average this post season and has yet to really turn it on.
Advantage: New York
SS: Rico Estrada is the man in New York, and even if he isn't playing to his capabilities yet, he is still the lynch pin in the Titans offense, and he is outstanding with the glove. Ken Daniels is a very good player in his own right, and can more than handle his end for Omaha at the plate and in the field. But Estrada is one of the games greats, and has to get the edge.
Advantage: New York
3B: Russ Smith mans the hot corner for the Titans, and is a very good defensive 3B. But his skills at the plate aren't elite, as is evidenced by his .176 average in the playoffs. On the other hand Sammy Maduro has been killing the ball for the Sluggers, hitting nearly .400 in the playoffs. His glove work is pretty good too.
Advantage: Omaha
LF: Adrian Parker of the Titans has been having a phenomenal post season, hitting .352 and running the Titans offense. This is above and beyond what was expected of him, and it is a pleasant surprise for New York. Legendary Jose Barrios is the LF for Omaha, and it goes without saying that he is dangerous every time he is at the plate. Even with Parkers amazing playoffs, the edge has to go to Barrios.
Advantage: Omaha
CF: P.T. Turner has been outstanding in the playoffs, which is expected of a player of his quality. His .362 average is only just behind Coleman's this post season. Tomas Diaz celebrated his escape from the New York Brokers with an MVP quality regular season, but has followed that with a playoff dud, batting only .217 thus far.
Advantage: New York
RF: Tito Sisco is a promising young RF for New York, and has been solid this post season, batting .292 and playing well otherwise. For Omaha Albert Burnett is promising but is hitting as if his bat were made of lead, with an average of .200 with 13 strikeouts. Both players are equal in talent, but Sisco seems to be having the better playoffs.
Advantage: New York
Bench: Playing in a NL stadium allows NY to move Carlos Gomez to the bench from his DH position. But other than that no Titan backup has played at all in the playoffs. Omaha has given their backups plenty of at bats, to varying degrees of success. Still since Omaha actually used their bench, they get the edge.
Advantage: Omaha
Starting Pitching: It's hard to argue with Omaha's rotation, especially when Kazuhiro Ong can start nearly every other game if need be. Flip Heathcott, B.C. Steenstra, and Ivan Canseco have also seen action starting games, and all are very good, but Steenstra's lone outing was a bit of a disaster. Ong is rapidly securing his place as Philip Browns successor as the dominant playoff pitcher in the league. For New York veteran Rabbit Leyritz has been their rock this post season, as Cy Young candidate Matthew Pryce has less effective than expected. Jason Sheldon has been better than expected, but that is balanced unfortunately by the struggles of Benji Eckenstahler and Bud Howard.
Advantage: Omaha
Bullpen: Omaha was able to help their bullpen considerably by moving Clyde Ford from the rotation to long relief for the playoffs. Sean Hill still manages to close games out, defying the predictions of Lars at every step. And Bob Maduro has been unhittable in the playoffs. For New York Mark White has completely locked down the opposition at the end of games. The rest of the pen, including Al Ingram, Bobby Davidson, Alex Nunez, and Hayes Brinson, have been the reason New York has been able to make it to the world series, as they have also been nearly untouchable.
Advantage: Even
Mojo: New York has been red hot, and pulled off some big time upsets in the series wins over the #1 and #2 seeds in the AL in Anaheim and Pawtucket. Omaha beat some pretty tough teams as well in Fargo and St. Louis, and they are the defending champions. But new York has repeatedly counteracted the predictions of Lars the Greek.
Advantage: New York
Series Prediction: Although New York may have the mojo, and although their bullpen is red hot, Lars is going to pick the Omaha Sluggers to repeat and become the first two time champion in Cobb World. The bottom line is that the lineups are comparable, but Omaha's starting pitching, especially King Ong, will prove to be simply too much for New York. Until you have been on the receiving end of a CG 3 hit 10K shutout by Ong, you simply cannot be prepared for how dominating the Sluggers pitching is.
Outlook: Omaha in Six
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