Major League Baseball Postseason Predictions: American League – Part 1
The regular season of Major League Baseball is almost approaching its end and the teams eligible for making it to the postseason are becoming more evident. Eight teams in total, four each from the American League and the National League make way to the postseason.
Three division leaders combined with one wild card entry – the fourth best-performing team in that League – make up the quota of four teams from each League.
This season, except for the American League East division, the opposition for the top spot has been fairly undemanding. The Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees have been involved in a fierce competition since the onset of the season and now, just one
game separates both teams. The Red Sox are 70-43 for the season while the Yankees are 69-44. However, the Yankees have the entire arsenal to trounce their rivals and it is just a matter of a few good games before this happens.
The Red Sox have been the best batting side in the Majors this season. Their 617 runs are the most by any team thus far and their team batting average of .280, also the best in MLB, indicates that they do not have a challenger for this record.
Both, Adrian Gonzalez and Jacoby Ellsbury have been the key for Boston in getting runs. Gonzalez leads the bull-pen for best batting average (.348), most RBIs (91) and the most hits (159). With almost 48 more games to play, Gonzalez is expected to go far
beyond the 200-hits mark. His 78 runs for the season are second behind Ellsbury, who has amassed 84 by now and with a batting average of .318, the 27 year old is expected to finish the season with 120 runs. His tally of runs is the second best in the American
League.
What has been more intriguing for Boston is that all their batters have been slugging brilliantly and their team slugging percentage is first overall in the Majors at .457. Gonzalez, Ellsbury and David Ortiz are all slugging above the .500 percentage with
Ortiz leading the trio in the number of home-runs hit. Ortiz has smashed 21 home-runs for the season with Ellsbury and Gonzalez chipping in 19 and 18 respectively.
Boston’s pitching, however has not impressed as it should have. Jon Lester and Josh Beckett have been the only hope for the starting rotation while Jonathan Papelbon has been the sole reliable closer for the AL leaders in this season. While Beckett’s ERA
is mesmerising at 2.17, the team ERA, at 3.93, is ranked 18th in the Majors. The lack of starters for the rotation has allowed the Red Sox just 56 quality starts which are placed at the 24th spot out of the total 30.
Lester has led the pitching outfit with 131 strike-outs and the best win-loss record for the team at 11-5. Beckett follows Lester with 127 strike-outs and a 9-4 record in 145 innings of pitching. 30 of the 56 quality starts by the team are shared by Lester
and Beckett and the other pitchers need to rise to the challenge if the Red Sox are to maintain their slender lead over the Yankees.
Papelbon and Daniel Bard have been efficient in their jobs as relief pitchers with 24 saves and 25 holds respectively.
Continued in Part 2
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