MLB: Championship Series Preview

One round down, and two to go! The MLB playoffs are proving once again that baseball is fun, although haters may still cling to the suggestion that we do away with the regular season altogether. From my previous posts, I went 3-1 on predicting winners of a series, and then perfectly picked the Tigers winning their series with the Yankees in 5 games. Here are my thoughts for the upcoming championship series.

Matchup: Detroit Tigers (95-67) vs. Texas Rangers (96-66)

Breakdown: The Tigers are fresh off of a fairy tale series win over the Yankees, and they are definitely flying high. Justin Verlander proved to be very good in the series, and the combination of Max Scherzer/Doug Fister provided the extra boost to pull the Tigers over the top. Most of the offense came from a surprising source: midseason pickup Delmon Young, as he had a great power stroke going to right field, hitting two such home runs at Yankee Stadium. The Tigers' power hitters - Young, AL MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera, and Victor Martinez - will need to keep that opposite field power going at the Ballpark in Arlington if they hope to keep with their winning ways. However, they will have to take down the undoubted remaining favorites in the Texas Rangers. The Rangers played the role of the midnight clock perfectly in the division series - turning the World Series hopes of the Cinderella story Tampa Bay Rays into pumpkin pie in three games after getting hit in the mouth by rookie pitcher Matt Moore in Game One. Now, the rested Rangers only need to continue their recent formula for success and they can reach their second consecutive World Series. The Rangers throw out a slew of young strikeout pitchers, and their lineup is filled with power hitters who work opposing pitchers for very tough at-bats consistently. The Rangers would have to hit some pretty serious speed bumps to be ousted from their apparent collision course with the World Series.

Key Players: Again for the Tigers, the key to this series lies in the hands of the secondary starters. Verlander has shown his Cy Young chops off in these playoffs already and will be called upon at every possible chance, but Doug Fister and Max Scherzer will need to have carbon-copies of their division series performances to provide the Tigers with more pitching stability. For the Rangers, I think the studly hitting by Adrian Beltre needs to continue. While the Hall of Fame buzz may be a bit premature, his 3-homer day really shows how amazing he can be when he's locked in. Beltre, along with Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, and Nelson Cruz, needs to bring the wood again when being pitted against some dirty strikeout Tigers pitchers.

My Pick: Rangers in 6

Matchup: St. Louis Cardinals (90-72) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (96-66)

Breakdown: The glass slipper is still firmly on the sole of the St. Louis Cardinals, as their Cinderella wild card run is alive and kicking into the NLCS. However, the prayers of St. Louisans will be upon Albert Pujols and...not much else. And Pujols has been getting some "empty calories" hits, as he hasn't really been performing when it really matters. However, between him, Yadier Molina, and a hopefully-resurgent effort from Matt Holliday, there is definitely the potential to break out for some big games. The Brewers, on the other hand, played well, and more importantly, hit well in their division series win against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ryan Braun was amazing for Milwaukee, and Prince Fielder didn't play that bad himself. Yovani Gallardo pitched well in both Game One and Five, and the Brewers will need him to repeat that in this series. This NL Central matchup in the NLCS is very interesting, especially considering the bad blood shown between the two teams throughout the regular season. The main matchup to watch: hothead Nyjer "T-Plush" Morgan against Chris Carpenter. T-Plush has already spoken out against Carpenter via Twitter, and it will be interesting to see if Carpenter continues to get his goat in this series.

Key Players: The Cardinals need to hit. Plain and simple. The keys in this series will be the Cardinals 3-4-5 hitters: Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman, and Matt Holliday. If they can step up and get some clutch hits, then they can definitely hang with the Brewers. The Brewers' missing component has been starting pitching. Neither Zack Greinke nor Shawn Marcum faired too well in their only starts of the division series, but they will need to show up in a big way to give some defensive support to back the Brewers potent lineup. Also, a dark horse in this series could be both the Brewers' and Cardinals' sub-par defense - they were both among the bottom 10 in the majors for team errors in the regular season.

My Pick: Brewers in 7