Playoff Picture: Only One October Edition
- 09.29.09
- The Sports Chick, aj burnett, albert pujols, andy pettitte, baseball, boston red sox, cc sabathia, colorodo rockies, detroit tigers, joe torre, los angeles angels of anaheim, los angeles dodgers, manny ramirez, mark texeira, minnesota twins, mlb, new york yankees, st. louis cardinals, texas rangers, toronto blue jays
- 3 Comments
There is, as Dane Cook would have you know, only one October….and it’s pretty much upon us. Look for lots of baseball analysis and liveblogs.
For now, a bit of updated playoff analysis.
Clinched
The Yankees have clinched the division title, but playoff questions remain. Specifically, after you start C.C. Sabathia, then what happens? A.J. Burnett has been good at times, but terribly inconsistent. Pettite–despite the sore shoulder–is probably your best bet for a number two, because he at least eats some innings, even when he’s off. Because of the extra days off in the first series, this won’t be an issue right away.
The Angels have also clinched. But they always get swept in the first round. Will this year be different? Well, last year they needed a bat, and got swept despite the addition of Mark Texeira. This year they didn’t add that bat. So….you be the judge. (They have, however, added Scott Kazmir, late of Tampa Bay, so their pitching is solider than in past years.)
St. Louis….looks like St. Louis. They clinched their division behind Pujols, and they’ll play in the playoffs behind Pujols. They’re not especially exciting, but they’re getting the job done. Again.
Playoff Bound
The Dodgers have clinched their second playoff berth in a row under manager Joe Torre, and they look good going into the playoffs. With Manny Ramirez’s famously torrid postseason play on their side, they could go far.
Questionmarks
The Red Sox had a magic number of 1 to clinch a playoff berth …three days ago. They still have that 1. They’re imploding, and if Texas weren’t quite so far back…well, actually this might still be a race. The Sox just got swept by the Yankees and lost one to Toronto last night. Why? Who knows.
Texas is less than likely to make the playoffs–their collapse in the month of August was nothing short of spectacular. They control their own destiny only minimally, but hey, miracles happen.
The Rockies, the little team that could, could also still make the playoffs. We’ll see…
Detroit and Minnesota: playing a doubleheader today with the Twins two games back. Update on that one later.
Small error: Red Sox’s “magic number” to clinch the DIVISION (even before the start of the Yankees/Sox Series) was well above 3. Probably closer to 11. I don’t mean to sound demeaning but… you know how the magic number works right? Each win by the team or a loss by the opposite team decreases the number. If it was 3, winning 2 games against the Yankees would have clinched the division, but that can’t be since even if they swept the Yanks they would still have been (rough guess) 2-3 games back of the Yanks.
However, I’m assuming this is a small oversight and purely an error, in which case… keep up the good work, I’ve enjoyed reading this blog for awhile now.
You’re entirely right–I mistyped. I do know how it works, promise
Good, I didn’t expect any less, even if you are a girl
Goodluck in the playoffs, I’d rather have my Yankees face the Sox than the Angels at this point.