Catcher
| Name | Team | HR | R | RBI | SB | BABIP | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | wOBA | WAR |
| Russell Martin | NYY | 18 | 57 | 65 | 8 | 0.252 | 0.237 | 0.324 | 0.408 | 0.732 | 0.325 | 3.1 |
| Alex Avila | DET | 19 | 63 | 82 | 3 | 0.366 | 0.295 | 0.389 | 0.506 | 0.895 | 0.383 | 5.5 |
Avila has had a great year. Coming into the season, he was looked at as a solid defensive option to give Victor some rest so he wouldn't have to catch full-time. He made things easy by hitting as well as he has, ensuring he would be an everyday player. If he can keep up his hot hitting in the playoffs, this position isn't close.
Advantage: Tigers
First Base
| Name | Team | HR | R | RBI | SB | BABIP | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | wOBA | WAR |
| Mark Teixeira | NYY | 39 | 90 | 111 | 4 | 0.239 | 0.248 | 0.341 | 0.494 | 0.835 | 0.361 | 4.2 |
| Miguel Cabrera | DET | 30 | 111 | 105 | 2 | 0.365 | 0.344 | 0.448 | 0.586 | 1.034 | 0.436 | 7.3 |
These numbers are skewed slightly by Teixeira's hot streak to end the season. He has had a poor year, whereas Cabrera is a dark hose MVP candidate. Teixeira closes the gap slightly with his glove, but I still give this one to Detroit.
Advantage: Tigers
Second Base
| Name | Team | HR | R | RBI | SB | BABIP | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | wOBA | WAR |
| Robinson Cano | NYY | 28 | 104 | 118 | 8 | 0.316 | 0.302 | 0.349 | 0.533 | 0.882 | 0.375 | 5.6 |
| Ryan Raburn | DET | 14 | 53 | 49 | 1 | 0.324 | 0.256 | 0.297 | 0.432 | 0.729 | 0.314 | 1.2 |
Raburn had a very hot start to the season but has cooled off considerably. Cano was an MVP candidate last year and put up similar numbers this season. He is developing into an elite second basemen.
Advantage: New York
Third Base
| Name | Team | HR | R | RBI | SB | BABIP | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | wOBA | WAR |
| Alex Rodriguez | NYY | 16 | 67 | 62 | 4 | 0.311 | 0.276 | 0.362 | 0.461 | 0.823 | 0.361 | 4.2 |
| Brandon Inge | DET | 3 | 29 | 23 | 1 | 0.256 | 0.197 | 0.265 | 0.283 | 0.548 | 0.247 | -0.4 |
But, Justin, A-Rod is a slouch in the playoffs. Pass! This one isn't even close.
Advantage: New York
Shortstop
| Name | Team | HR | R | RBI | SB | BABIP | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | wOBA | WAR |
| Derek Jeter | NYY | 6 | 84 | 61 | 16 | 0.336 | 0.297 | 0.355 | 0.388 | 0.743 | 0.332 | 2.3 |
| Jhonny Peralta | DET | 21 | 68 | 86 | 0 | 0.325 | 0.299 | 0.345 | 0.478 | 0.823 | 0.353 | 5.2 |
Peralta had a great season and earned the contract extension Detroit signed him to. Jeter, on the other hand, continued his decline and made New York look even more foolish for giving him a deal that was easily two years longer than any other team would have considered.
Advantage: Tigers
Outfield
| Name | Team | HR | R | RBI | SB | BABIP | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | wOBA | WAR |
| Brett Gardner | NYY | 7 | 87 | 36 | 49 | 0.303 | 0.259 | 0.345 | 0.369 | 0.714 | 0.330 | 5.1 |
| Curtis Granderson | NYY | 41 | 136 | 119 | 25 | 0.295 | 0.262 | 0.364 | 0.552 | 0.916 | 0.394 | 7 |
| Nick Swisher | NYY | 23 | 81 | 85 | 2 | 0.295 | 0.260 | 0.374 | 0.449 | 0.823 | 0.358 | 3.8 |
| Delmon Young | DET | 8 | 28 | 32 | 0 | 0.286 | 0.274 | 0.298 | 0.458 | 0.756 | 0.325 | 0.1 |
| Austin Jackson | DET | 10 | 90 | 45 | 22 | 0.340 | 0.249 | 0.317 | 0.374 | 0.691 | 0.309 | 2.8 |
| Magglio Ordonez | DET | 5 | 33 | 32 | 2 | 0.275 | 0.255 | 0.303 | 0.331 | 0.634 | 0.283 | -1 |
The Yankees have the best outfield player in Granderson, who is another dark horse MVP candidate. Detroit's best outfielder is Jackson and most of his value is derived from his defense. Brennan Boesch would give them a better option in right field, but he hasn't been activated from the DL yet, so Magglio gets the start. This could really be a deciding area in this series.
Advantage: New York
Designated Hitter
| Name | Team | HR | R | RBI | SB | BABIP | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | wOBA | WAR |
| Jorge Posada | NYY | 14 | 34 | 44 | 0 | 0.262 | 0.235 | 0.315 | 0.398 | 0.713 | 0.309 | -0.4 |
| Victor Martinez | DET | 12 | 76 | 103 | 1 | 0.343 | 0.330 | 0.380 | 0.470 | 0.850 | 0.368 | 2.9 |
Two former starting catchers represent the designated hitters for these two playoff teams. Jorge's best years are way behind him and he will probably retire at the end of this year. Victor, however, had a strong first season with the Tigers and earned year one of his four year deal. He gives the Tigers a good offensive weapon, whereas Posada represents a void.
Advantage: Tigers
Bench
| Name | Team | HR | R | RBI | SB | BABIP | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | wOBA | WAR |
| Jesus Montero | NYY | 4 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 0.400 | 0.328 | 0.406 | 0.590 | 0.996 | 0.421 | 0.6 |
| Eric Chavez | NYY | 2 | 16 | 26 | 0 | 0.320 | 0.263 | 0.320 | 0.356 | 0.676 | 0.294 | 0.6 |
| Eduardo Nunez | NYY | 5 | 38 | 30 | 22 | 0.287 | 0.265 | 0.313 | 0.385 | 0.698 | 0.313 | -0.6 |
| Chris Dickerson | NYY | 1 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 0.364 | 0.260 | 0.296 | 0.360 | 0.656 | 0.307 | 0.3 |
| Andruw Jones | NYY | 13 | 27 | 33 | 0 | 0.296 | 0.247 | 0.356 | 0.495 | 0.851 | 0.371 | 1.4 |
| Omir Santos | DET | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.278 | 0.227 | 0.227 | 0.227 | 0.454 | 0.202 | -0.1 |
| Wilson Betemit | DET | 5 | 11 | 19 | 1 | 0.429 | 0.292 | 0.346 | 0.525 | 0.871 | 0.373 | 0.5 |
| Don Kelly | DET | 7 | 35 | 28 | 2 | 0.256 | 0.245 | 0.291 | 0.381 | 0.672 | 0.296 | 0.6 |
| Ramon Santiago | DET | 5 | 29 | 30 | 0 | 0.283 | 0.260 | 0.311 | 0.384 | 0.695 | 0.305 | 1.4 |
| Andy Dirks | DET | 7 | 34 | 28 | 5 | 0.273 | 0.251 | 0.296 | 0.406 | 0.702 | 0.308 | 0.4 |
Jesus Montero has the best upside and could actually be a big name to watch in the playoffs. The benches are really a wash, otherwise.
Advantage: New York, if Jesus gets playing time
Starting Rotation
| Name | Team | W | L | GS | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | ERA | FIP | WAR |
| CC Sabathia | NYY | 19 | 8 | 33 | 237.1 | 8.72 | 2.31 | 3 | 2.88 | 7.1 |
| Ivan Nova | NYY | 16 | 4 | 27 | 165.1 | 5.33 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 4.01 | 2.7 |
| Freddy Garcia | NYY | 12 | 8 | 25 | 146.2 | 5.89 | 2.76 | 3.62 | 4.12 | 2.2 |
| Justin Verlander | DET | 24 | 5 | 34 | 251 | 8.96 | 2.04 | 2.4 | 2.99 | 7 |
| Doug Fister | DET | 8 | 1 | 10 | 70.1 | 7.29 | 0.64 | 1.79 | 2.49 | 2.4 |
| Max Scherzer | DET | 15 | 9 | 33 | 195 | 8.03 | 2.58 | 4.43 | 4.14 | 2.7 |
| Rick Porcello | DET | 14 | 9 | 31 | 182 | 5.14 | 2.27 | 4.75 | 4.06 | 2.7 |
Both of these rotation are incredibly top heavy. New York is employing a three man rotation due more to lack of depth as opposed to the skill of their three starters. Sabathia is a Cy Young candidate and Nova a Rookie of the Year candidate, but Verlander has the best chance to be a deciding factor. If he continues the dominance he displayed during the season, he could win two starts for the Tigers. Fister has been fantastic since being traded to the Tigers, and Scherzer and Porcello have the ability to either have a dominating game or get rocked. Due to overall depth, the advantage has to go to the Tigers.
Advantage: Tigers
Bullpen
| Name | Team | SV | G | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | ERA | FIP |
| Mariano Rivera | NYY | 44 | 64 | 61.1 | 8.8 | 1.17 | 1.91 | 2.19 |
| Bartolo Colon | NYY | 0 | 29 | 164.1 | 7.39 | 2.19 | 4 | 3.83 |
| David Robertson | NYY | 1 | 70 | 66.2 | 13.5 | 4.73 | 1.08 | 1.84 |
| Rafael Soriano | NYY | 2 | 42 | 39.1 | 8.24 | 4.12 | 4.12 | 3.97 |
| Cory Wade | NYY | 0 | 40 | 39.2 | 6.81 | 1.82 | 2.04 | 3.76 |
| Boone Logan | NYY | 0 | 64 | 41.2 | 9.94 | 2.81 | 3.46 | 3.29 |
| Phil Hughes | NYY | 0 | 17 | 74.2 | 5.67 | 3.25 | 5.79 | 4.58 |
| Luis Ayala | NYY | 0 | 52 | 56 | 6.27 | 3.21 | 2.09 | 4.19 |
| A.J. Burnett | NYY | 0 | 33 | 190.1 | 8.18 | 3.92 | 5.15 | 4.77 |
| Jose Valverde | DET | 49 | 75 | 72.1 | 8.59 | 4.23 | 2.24 | 3.55 |
| Joaquin Benoit | DET | 2 | 66 | 61 | 9.3 | 2.51 | 2.95 | 2.96 |
| Al Alburquerque | DET | 0 | 41 | 43.1 | 13.92 | 6.02 | 1.87 | 2.08 |
| Phil Coke | DET | 1 | 48 | 108.2 | 5.71 | 3.31 | 4.47 | 3.57 |
| Ryan Perry | DET | 0 | 36 | 37 | 5.84 | 5.11 | 5.35 | 3.94 |
| Daniel Schlereth | DET | 0 | 49 | 49 | 8.08 | 5.69 | 3.49 | 5.03 |
| Brad Penny | DET | 0 | 31 | 181.2 | 3.67 | 3.07 | 5.3 | 5.02 |
The Yankees have a good back of the bullpen, but the Tigers may have the most underrated bullpen in the league. Jose Valverde was perfect in save situations and strikes out almost one guy per inning. Joaquin Benoit is actually more of a power pitcher than Valverde and continued his great showing from last year. Al Albuquerque and Daniel Schlereth also give the Tigers the ability to overpower most offenses. With the strength of their bullpen, the Tigers really cut each game down to six innings.
Advantage: Tigers
This was one series that looking at the numbers really changed my mind. The Yankees have the bigger names and are heavily favored, but the Tigers have a much deeper team on paper.
Prediction: Tigers win in 4
No comments:
Post a Comment