Playoff Preview: Detroit (90-72) vs Anaheim (95-67)

[Porter]

Season Series: Anaheim blasted Detroit 6-1

How They Got Here: Detroit won the wild card running away for their 1st playoff appearance in the brewerball13 era. Anaheim won its 8th AL West title in 10 years.

Probable Matchups: (These are established)
Game 1: John McKee (15-18, 3.91) vs Roman Alvarez (13-12, 3.99)
Game 2: Maels Rivas (15-11, 4.11) vs Michael Countryman (19-12, 3.02)
Game 3: Gleen Baldwin (12-12, 4.69) vs William Moye (20-8, 4.31)
Game 4: John McKee vs George Bejarano (13-14, 5.09)
Game 5: Maels Rivas vs Michael Countryman

Position Matchup

Catcher: Hugh Como (DET) vs Willie Jones (ANA)
Willie Jones has a OPS of .632, thats probably lower than Barobosa's SLG. Edge: Detroit, just on that fact alone.

1st Base: Elvis Delbosque (DET) vs Rolland Michel (ANA)
Elvis had a very solid season for the Tigers. He hit .302 with 17 HRs and 102 RBIs to go with 93 runs scored. Those numbers are seriously dwarfed by Michel's .310 batting average, 46 HRs and 129 RBIs, and 57 SBs. Edge: Anaheim, Michel has a good shot of winning MVP.

2nd Base: Jordan Estevez (DET) vs Curtis Roche (ANA)
Neither of these two guys bring a lot to the table on offense. Roche is a superb defender. Jordan couldn't field better than Emlio Estevez at 2B. Edge: Anaheim, This has the impact of a Brian Bosworth for Seattle. oops.

3rd Base: Sinatarou Natsume (DET) vs Lane Reardon (ANA)
You ever get the feeling that Anaheim is very strong at the corner positions. Natsume should probably go back to his natural Shortstop position. Readron is the 3rd member of the "S-Class" on this team. Edge: Anaheim. Natsume shows some promise but he's not going to be a great as a 3B.

Shortstop: Nick Coyle (DET) vs Monty Jackson (ANA)
If this was the Nick Coyle in Toronto this might be a better matchup. Coyle has lost some talent the past couple of seasons. Jackson was a 20-20 player and is a good contributor to the Angels offense. Edge: Anaheim. Looks like a mismatch of epic proportions.

Leftfield: Alfonso Cuevas (DET) vs Eddie Burpee (ANA)
Burpee had a great year for his role (.339 BA, 35 SBs). But where in the hell did Cuevas fall off to? (1.048 OPS in 2024, sub .800 the last 2 years). Edge: Anaheim, I'm trying to find some more detail but its not looking good.

Centerfield: TBA (DET) vs Jason Lock (ANA)
Jason Lock is average at best, even then hes better than any one that can replace Case for the Tigers. Edge: Anaheim

Right Field: Roberto Fernandez (DET) vs TBA (ANA)
Roberto Fernandez is their best player on the Tigers staff. Does anyone know who's starting in RF for Anaheim. Edge: Detroit.

Designated Hitter: William Lamphere (DET) vs Dexter Schank (ANA)
This is a very interesting matchup here. Lamphere has the better power numbers while Schank scores more runs and steals bases. Then again so does the whole Angel team. Edge: Even. Both contribute in many ways.

Starting Pitching: Anaheim, they have Countryman.

Middle Relief: Even. Nothing special about any of them.

Closer: Anaheim. Jeffery Tackitt has a career 1.55 postseason ERA.

Outlook: I just can't see how this series gets to game 4. Anaheim is too strong on offense. Angels in 3.

[BrewerBall13]

Just for the record...Case isn't starting for me since he died 2 sims ago...not like his replacement(s) are any better, but just clarifying...

[Saber]

Case is out for the year. Also, I just PM'ed mission about my missing RF that I apparently didn't have all year.

[jpants10]

i got the halos in 5. i see alvarez and bejerano posting losses.

[Porter]

Just for the record...Case isn't starting for me since he died 2 sims ago...not like his replacement(s) are any better, but just clarifying...

I wasn't sure who was starting Ill just change it to TBA.

[Kingdom]

If you say please, I'll turn Como on for the Boston series.

[BrewerBall13]

Outlook: I just can't see how this series gets to game 4. Anaheim is too strong on offense. Angels in 3.

In all seriousness...3 games went extra innings and all 4 games were decided by a total of 5 runs. This was just one hell of a series. It was both an honor and a privilege to match-up with the legend that is Saber in the playoffs and I look forward to many healthy ass-kickings at the hands of Michael Countryman next year...