2009 NLCS Preview : Washington vs Milwaukee

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How They Got Here

The Washington Nationals were perhaps the surprise story of the year. Despite a payroll of just under $40 million, they won a hotly contested NL East over the Braves and Marlins with a 98-64 record, 2nd best in the league. And this is no one-hit wonder, as the Nats have one of the top farm systems in baseball and should be a force for years to come. 51-30 was the second best road record in the league.

The Milwaukee Brewers were no surprise after a great season last year, posting the best record in the MLB at 100-62 to win the NL Central over St. Louis by 4 games. They posted the best road record at 55-26 and did it with a payroll of about $75 million.

The Nationals

Catcher
The cleanup hitter is one of the marquee catchers in the league in Victor Martinez who hit .296 with 15 HR and 93 RBI, and had an .818 OPS. Martinez is a switch-hitting stud who slumped to end the season but has the talent to turn it around. Josh Bard hit .276 as a serviceable backup with a good arm.

Infielders
The first baseman and #3 hitter is Derrek Lee who smacked 23 HRs with 91 RBIs, while also stealing 20 bases. He also added to his 399 career doubles with 35 this year and is a great fielder. Bernie Castro leads off and holds down second base...and when he gets on the bases WATCH OUT. He stole 74 bases with a 76% success rate, placing 2nd in the league in steals. Veteran utilityman Scott Spiezio is the third baseman and has a great arm down at the hot corner. He hit .342 in 32 games after being signed to a minor league deal, a great pickup. The shortstop is 26-year old Ronny Cedeno who hit .242 but stole 39 bases with a 72.2% success rate. Whoever backs up this gentlemen will not get much work, but Jared Sandberg, Frank Catalanotto, and Larry Broadway don't deserve much anyway.

Outfielders
Charles Gipson doesn't hit much and doesn't hit for power, but boy can he walk...a .266 AVG with a .355 OBP. This veteran provides the Nats with good on-base capabilities from the bottom of the lineup. And oh yeah, he stole 38 bases too with an 81% success rate. Young Felix Pie anchors CF, with good hitting, fielding, and running capabilities. He hit .269 with 16 HRs and 85 RBIs while stealing 53 bases with a 78% success rate. In RF is another young star in Jeff Francouer who hit .276 with 24 HR, 105 RBI, and had an .876 OPS. A good defender with a good arm. J.J. Davis and Eli Marrero are two good pinch-hitting options off the bench.

Starting Rotation
Probably their biggest strength all year, with three pitchers posting ERAs from 3.24 to 3.47. Eric DuBose led the team by going 12-4, 3.24 out of the #3 slot in the rotation, after being signed to a minor league deal - another great pickup. Cesar Carillo was 12-12 despite a 3.47 ERA and 1.17 WHIP, and John Lackey also had a fantastic season, going 15-7 with a 3.45 ERA. Expect Jeff Suppan to pitch Game 4 after the veteran posted a 13-9, 4.61 season after signing a 1-year, $548,000 deal.

Bullpen
The pen was another source of reliability for Washington in 2009. Jay Bergmann shined in his first season as the closer, going 10-6 with a 2.72 ERA and an NL-leading 44 saves. Setting him up were righty Francis Beltran who posted a 4.43 ERA in 77 appearances, and lefty Robert Coke who posted a 3.53 ERA in 90 games including one start. Jon Rauch went 4-1 despite a ghastly 6.09 ERA, the one ugly ERA in the pen. The talented Roy Corcoran was 5-4 with a 4.52 ERA in 74 games, and either James Chavez, Beltran Perez, or John Patterson will mop up.


NEXT UP: The Brewers

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DAH BREW CREW

Catcher
Talented young prospect Francisco Hernandez is certainly up to the challenge of the runnin' Nats with his good arm behind the plate. He also hit .313 as the regular catcher for the team at the tender young age of just 23. He's backed up by an unspectacular backup in the young Taiwanese Tiger Chao Wu.

Infielders
The Greek God of Walks, Kevin Youkilis shined at both 1B and 3B for the Brew Crew this season. He hit 35 HR and 87 RBI with an outrageous OPS of .951 to go with a .284 AVG. Prince Fielder held down the 1B fort vs RHP by smacking 23 of his 28 homers against them. Young Ryan Braun caught fire in the 62 games he played, hitting .372, and will play 3B against lefties. Durable veteran Edgar Renteria is the shortstop and hit .281 with 54 RBI and 23 steals in 136 games. Veteran 2B Jesse Garcia will bring his good lefty-hitting skills and fielding to the postition against southpaws. And then there's Jason Romano, who plays just about every position except bench coach. He'll play 2B against righties and trade in his glove for a center fielder's one against lefties. Romano hit .257 and stole 22 bases but also struck out 130 times. Just-as-super-utilityman Hector Luna provides nice insurance after stealing 27 bases in 131 games and playing everywhere except 1B and P.

Outfielders
Albert Pujols, one of the biggest stars in baseball, had a down year for him. He hit .296 with 25 HRs, 96 RBIs, 97 BBs (more BBs than strikeouts) and a .933 OPS while steailng 19 of 24 bases. Not a bad down year. Jose Guillen will play both CF and RF and hit 24 HRs with 103 RBIs, having three games this year of 6 RBI in a single contest. He's also a great defender with a cannon for an arm. Cliff Floyd, a late FA signing, posted a nice .815 OPS vs righties in 341 PAs, while Jay Gibbons provides good outfield depth, hitting .321 with a .946 OPS in in 126 games and 210 PAs.

Starting Rotation
You may have heard of Johan Santana. He's pretty good. The ace of the team and possibly the league went 18-6 with a 2.32 ERA and a phenomenal 0.91 WHIP while striking out 261 in 221 innings. Right behind him is a solid starter in Dave Bush, who went 14-10 with a 3.88 ERA. Lefty Doug Davis went 17-6 with a 3.94 ERA, while holding lefty batters to a .193 AVG and .599 OPS against, terrific numbers. Kirk Saarloos went 10-5 with a 4.16 ERA and may see the ball in a Game 4 situation. Young Will Inman posted a 4.15 ERA in 12 starts but barring a catastrophic turn of injuries will not see action in this series.

Bullpen
The clear strength of this team in the NLDS. Shutdown reliever Adam Brandt inherited the closer role from shaky Derrick Turnbow after going 7-5 with a 2.17 ERA in 96 games. He struck out 113 in 103.2 IP. The aforementioned Turnbow saved 38 games but went 6-10 with an ugly 5.89 ERA. Talented young reliever Bill Bray will set up Brandt after posting a 2.58 ERA in 75 games and going 5-1 in an impressive season. Rusty Tucker went 7-1 with a 2.29 ERA in in 67 games and pitched well despite control issues. Mitch Stetter posted a 2.54 ERA in 26 games after a midseason callup and lefty Sam Narron posted a 3.88 ERA in 45 games as well. Young Robbie Wooley spent the whole year in AAA but has enough talent to make the postseason roster.

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PREDICTION

This should be a pitching-dominated series between two very evenly matched teams. However, the big guns of Santana and Pujols will be too much for Washington to overcome in the end. Look for the BREWERS to win it in 6 games.

[Providence A's]

yes...the big guns that Slyder didn't even acquire...he can thank Raphictor, Zito, mntwinsfan, and myself for that...

[Slyder]

But I did make the decision to not totally nuke the team :P. Found guys like Narron and Brandt wasting away in the minors when I took over. Acquired Youkilis, Renteria, Guillen so its not like this team hasn't had a face lift while I've been in control .

[DMBZeppelin]

After what the Cubs did to the Brewers last year. I really hope Milwaukee wins.