ALCS and NLCS: Roy Halladay Not the Only Giant Left

Well, I went 4-0 with my AL and NL Division Series picks. I was a little nervous about picking the Rangers over the Rays and the Giants over the Braves, but in the end, everything ended how I expected.

On my twitter account (@TheOLIB) I tweeted that I expected the Giants to take the World Series entering the first day of the postseason.

I made this decision based on the pitching of the Giants and while Roy Halladay is getting all the press after his no-hitter, with people going as far as ranking him among the best right-handers of all time (something I disagree with and will write about at a later date) I still feel as though the Giants one-two-three of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez is superior to the Phils one-two-three, not to mention I prefer the Giants bullpen.

Where the Phillies have some fortune is going up against a lot of right-handed pitchers, only four of the Giants active pitchers pitch from the wrong side with essentially nothing in the end game. That being said, I would anticipate seeing a lot of Jeremy Affeldt and Javier Lopez during this series and a little less Santiago “what’s my name” Casilla—even though Casilla has looked incredible this season.

I still have the Giants taking this series in what should go the distance. Hopefully, this series has Lincecum winning a couple of games head-to-head against Halladay which will remind people that while Doc has been a phenomenal pitcher for his career, his timing is what truly makes his career stand out (pre-Schilling, post-Hernandez/Lincecum dominance).

Over in the American League I’m going with the Yankees taking the Rangers. I’m taking this one based on strategy—not so much the strategy of having Cliff Lee heading to the bump for Game 3, but for sending C.J. Wilson out there for Game 1.

I would have conceded Game 1 and went for back-to-back wins without C.C. Sabathia on the hill. That is, Wilson is essentially going to have to out-pitch Sabathia to win Game 1, not an easy task facing any group of hitters, but against the Yanks, it is much more difficult.

Additionally, this is a possible seven-game series where a shaky bullpen is that much more vulnerable, especially against experienced hitters that are solid at putting the ball in play.

With all the Yankees hitters up to full speed, it’s doubtful the Rangers will have an easy inning towards the end of the game. That said, I see this one ending in five, maybe six with experts blaming it on Washington for the wrong reason (Lee) rather than the rotation configuration as a whole.

So again, Yankees over the Rangers in the ALCS and Giants over the Phillies in the NLCS with the Giants taking home the World Series.

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