Post by Jesse (Dodgers) (LM) on Sept 7, 2014 17:20:36 GMT
The Indians have impressive depth, with a starting lineup where each hitter has either 14 HR or 20 SB. Lately they have been led by two players having breakout 2014 seasons: Alex Gordon(9 HR, .943 OPS in last 100 AB), and Corey Kluber(109 K, 19 BB, 1.61 ERA in 100.2 IP since June 25th)
The Yankees have gotten this far due to some fantastic front office moves to salvage a depleted roster: free agent signings of Scott Kazmir, Brian McCann, Nelson Cruz(traded), along with pickups of Will Smith an Matt Shoemaker among others. Unfortunately, their hottest pitcher, Carlos Carrasco(34 K, 4 BB, 0.90 ERA, 0.83 WHIP in last 30 IP), starts the day before the playoffs begin.
Look for the Indians to have a commanding lead in most counting categories(R, HR, RBI, SB, K, W, SV) except for holds. The Yankees look towards a good performance in the rate categories(AVG, OPS, ERA, WHIP) to overcome the Indian depth. The Yankees can point to their season WHIP of 1.152(lowest of all playoff teams), and the combined line of McCann/Viciedo/Cespedes over the past week(.365 AVG, .980 OPS, 8 R, 4 HR, 13 RBI)
The Yankees have gotten this far due to some fantastic front office moves to salvage a depleted roster: free agent signings of Scott Kazmir, Brian McCann, Nelson Cruz(traded), along with pickups of Will Smith an Matt Shoemaker among others. Unfortunately, their hottest pitcher, Carlos Carrasco(34 K, 4 BB, 0.90 ERA, 0.83 WHIP in last 30 IP), starts the day before the playoffs begin.
Look for the Indians to have a commanding lead in most counting categories(R, HR, RBI, SB, K, W, SV) except for holds. The Yankees look towards a good performance in the rate categories(AVG, OPS, ERA, WHIP) to overcome the Indian depth. The Yankees can point to their season WHIP of 1.152(lowest of all playoff teams), and the combined line of McCann/Viciedo/Cespedes over the past week(.365 AVG, .980 OPS, 8 R, 4 HR, 13 RBI)