League Championship Series Preview

            So far, the excitement level of the 2014 MLB Postseason has not disappointed. My predictions from two weeks ago on the other hand…well, let’s not get into that.

            In the American League, it has all come down to Royals and the Orioles, two underdogs who both went up against two powerhouse teams in the divisional series. After the trade deadline when the Tiger picked up starter David Price, and the Athletics got Jon Lester, everyone thought that it was fairly safe to say they would face off in the ALCS. That turned out not to be the case.

            It’s incredible, when you look at what’s happening with Kansas City. Out of the MLB’s 30 teams, only 11 have a lower payroll. Only three members of their roster have ever even played in a postseason game before. They are last in the league in home runs. Those facts alone would lead you to believe that Kansas City is not a postseason contender. However, the young Royals have come alive in October, winning the do-or-die wild card game, sweeping the Angels, who had the best regular season record, and now beating up on the AL East Division winners, the Baltimore Orioles.

            Going into the postseason, Kansas City’s strong points were that they had good starting pitching, speed, incredible relief pitching, great defense, and amped up fans. However, you may have noticed that the Royals offense has been the thing that has led them to their recent success. Prior to game three of the series, the Royals had a slugging percentage of .429, while their opponent’s slugging percentage has been limited to just .349. In fact, in every major offensive category except for at bats, the Royals’ statistic tops their opponents statistic, which is a credit to how good their pitching has been this postseason also.

            On the other side, of the diamond, the Orioles pitching, and relief pitching in particular, has not looked particularly impressive. Birds submarine reliever Darren O’Day got the loss in the first two games in the series, allowing three earned runs in just 1.1 innings pitched over the first two games of the ALCS. The second man in the Birds’ supposed 1-2 punch, Zach Britton, has been pathetic. He came on in game one of the series, pitched a third of an inning, walked three batters to load the bases, cutting the path for O’Day to come in and blow the game.

            At this point, I’m going to jump on the bandwagon and pick the Royals. KC has the upper hand at this point with the series lead and the way they’ve been playing, I don’t see Baltimore stopping them.

            In the National League Championship Series, which is now tied up 1-1 between the Giants and the Cardinals, we are going to see some hard fought baseball from here on out. In tonight’s game, the Cards send John Lackey to the hill to face off against Tim Hudson. If you’re St. Louis, Lackey is the guy who you want. He has pitched more playoff innings than any other active pitcher, and last year threw sensationally in the postseason for the Red Sox. However, Hudson is on nine days rest going into tonight, and in his one outing against the Cards this year, he threw seven scoreless innings and allowed just three hits. I like the Cards in the game, but the Giants in the series. The next three games in the series will be in San Francisco, and Giants fans are always pumped up, especially so in the postseason. Tonight’s game starts at 4:00 PM on Fox Sports 1.

            While the Cards and Giants are both veterans to postseason play, Baltimore and KC are two underdogs who haven’t had the chance to play for a World Series title in a long time. Whatever happens in the NL, I think it’d be nice, and good for the sport of baseball of either the Orioles or the Royals could come out on top for a change.