During their relatively easy series win against the White Sox, the Rays' bullpen gave up 1 run in 11 and 2/3 innings. That comes out to a 0.77 ERA for the series. Pitching is critical in the playoffs and to think that the Rays' bullpen is this good after the clear goal of every Yankee team since the Devil Rays came into existence was to raise Tampa Bay's starter's pitch count just to get to the bullpen. Joe Madden is clearly the runaway Manager of the Year winner, but the dramatic change in the bullpen is one of the most impressive features of this team.
That said, boy is it going to be tough to beat the Red Sox.
Speaking of the Red Sox, the Twins must be crying after saying John Lester was not a good enough of a prospect to accept in a package for Johan last winter. He is pitching better than anyone on Boston's staff at the moment, and has also been the best pitcher thus far in the playoffs for any team.
The Rays will be very tough at home as they have been all year. The Red Sox are 1-8 in The Trop this year and have not faired well against the Rays late in the season - even in Boston.
This will be a very close series and the Red Sox are likely favored in Vegas; however, I am going to pick the Rays because of the home field advantage and because their lack of experience did not hampered them one bit in the ALDS.
Prediction: Tampa Bay Rays - 7 games.
I'm rooting for Tampa Bay, but the Red Sox jsut remind me too much of the late 90s Yankees, to the extent that I'd be shocked if they DONT win it all.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of success for teams from the east doing well, I thought I would comment about the mets. Perhaps the Mets should do one of the following moves in order to have their better pitcher, pitch more often.
ReplyDeletea) transfer Johan Santana to the bulpen so he can pitch more
b) have Johan consistently pitch on 3 or tops 4 days rest throughout the season
c) get Sabathia and trade for Matsuka and/or Beckett (give Reyes and Wright and a minor leaguer for the pair)
Mets Champs in '09!!