Playoff Preview: Boston (91-71) vs Cleveland (95-67)

[Porter]

Season Series: Cleveland won series 5-1.

How They Got Here: General won his 7th AL East title in 10 years. Cleveland won its 3rd AL Central title in the last 4 years.

Probable Matchups (Like DET-ANA, Established)
Game 1: Josue Martin (13-12, 4.95) vs Amaury Suarez (10-11, 4.72)
Game 2: Jeffery McCarthy (15-11, 4.69) vs Wyatt Speth (16-6, 2.81)
Game 3: Alex Galaviz (13-10, 4.68) vs Donald Degroat (9-6, 3.49)
Game 4: Josue Martin vs Amaury Suarez
Game 5: Jeffery McCarthy vs Wyatt Speth

Position Matchups

Catcher: Anthony Bilger (BOS) vs Robert Guest/Eddie Rexford (CLE)
All three catchers are pretty crappy if you ask me but if I had to choose one of them. Edge: Boston, One shitty catcher is better than two shitty catchers.

1st Base: Russell Cockerham (BOS) vs Santo Caffey (CLE)
Both had solid years, hitting over .300 and creating runs all over the place. The difference lies in the fact that Caffey is the much smarter baserunner (85.7 vs 75.0 SB% for Cockerham) and has the higher OPS. Edge: Cleveland, Caffey is the clutch basestealer of the two.

2nd Base: Micheal Kelch (BOS) vs Lucas Brugal (CLE)
One thing we can count on is that Kelch will walk often (101 BB) but don't ask him to put a bat on the ball. Brugal stole 76 bases at a 84% clip but got on base 5 percent less than Kelch. Edge: Cleveland. When Brugal gets on base he's changes the dynamic of the game.

3rd Base: Royal Vandiver (BOS) vs David Klemm (CLE)
They are identical in OPS. Klemm steals bases and hits for decent power. Vandiver scored 115 runs for the Red Sox. Edge: Even. Vandiver is almost a guaranteed run. Klemm is a sure bet to get a stolen base (82% sucess rate)

Shortstop: Frank Walker (BOS) vs Cameron Thao/Jeffrey Mahle (CLE)
Like I said in the catcher matchup. One player is better than two average players. Edge: Boston. Walker can hold his own and more likely to have an impact.

Left Field: Benjamin Pritchett (BOS) vs Frank Bolen (CLE)
Benjamin Pritchett has been stellar for the Red Sox (.910 OPS, 29 HR, 116 RBIs, 112 R, 95 BB, 0 Errors in 152 games). Frank Bolen is average at best and he's five years Ben's junior. Edge: Boston, did you know that Pritchett has 48 RBIs in 68 career postseason games?

Center Field: Antonio Delmonte (BOS) vs John Manger (CLE)
Marquee Matchup. Both guys are big time MVP candidates and are the heart and souls of their respective teams. Why doesn't Manger play more at CF?
Edge: Cleveland. While Delmonte has better power numbers, Manger has the better all around game and will probably win the AL MVP.

Right Field: Vladmir Ulyanov (BOS) vs Michael Obanion (CLE)
You know even though Vladmir died off. He still had a more superior year than Obanion did. Its pretty damn amazing if you ask me. Edge: Boston. Vlad will get his last shot at being captain clutch.

Designated Hitter: Nick Dreyer (BOS) vs Roland Cannon/Frank Bolen (CLE)
Trying to sift thru Bipster's lineups is like trying to balance the national budget. Dreyer is cool as the brand of ice cream vs righties. Lefties can get to him pretty easily. Edge: Boston. Dreyer is going to be a stud for years to come.

Starting Pitching: Cleveland. Boston's rotation is pretty damn bad and relies on their offense to bail them out.

Middle Relief: They are both pretty bad. Even

Closer: As I said, they are both very bad. Even

Outlook: Cleveland's starting pitching is much better than Boston's staff as a whole. (24th in runs allowed, .291 OPP BA against). Cleveland in 4.

[bipster]

Thanks for the overview!! Unfortunately things have changed as Caffey is on the DL for 4 weeks and OBanion is on the DL for 2 weeks. Magner only played 96 games in CF, because he plays LF when Bolen DH's against Lefties (Magner actually fields in LF better than CF). At SS Thao will definitely be the starter, he just got off the DL, which is why Mahle got all of those starts in the last two months. Since Caffey is hurt, Cannon will be switching to the 1b role, but only against Righties as he doesn't hit lefties well at all. Thus we are going to have to stick Rhett Ward in there against lefties (may God help us all). Moving back to RF, since OBanion is out, necomer Hurtado will be seeing the bulk of the playing time.....had to add more speed to my lineup. In CF, when Magner is playing left on days that end in Y, Macias will be finding a spot in the lineup.....unless Hodo does......Crap, you are right, it is difficult to sift through my lineups.

Oh well, Boston in 5