NLPS Preview: Oklahoma City vs. Ottawa

National League Rankings:
9th - Offense - 3rd
2nd - Pitching - 12th
7th - Defense - 9th

Preview: A wild reshuffling of seedings on the season's final day gave us some unexpected National League Play-in Series matchups. The big winners were the Oklahoma City Kingfishers, who claimed the National League West title with an extra-innings win over the Arizona Flip-Floppers while the Los Angeles Dodgers fell to the Vancouver Renegades. Meanwhile the Ottawa Filibusters took their finale over the Fargo Fightin' Sioux to keep the Renegades at home in October.

But now that the grind of the regular season is behind us, the details of the game are subject to going under the microscope in the postseason. So when examining each of these two teams, one thing is immediately clear: they are polar opposites. The Filibusters get offensive production from their entire lineup, while the Kingfishers rely on an arsenal of arms to win their games. Something has to give in this NLPS, though.

Offensive Analysis: The Filibusters had 5 guys drive in 90 runs this year, led by 1B Brian Taylor's (.311, 35, 123) terrific campaign. LF Braeden Duchscherer (.309, 30, 92) is also an intimdating hitter while part-time C Curt Williams (.361, 23, 90) had eye-popping numbers in just 432 at-bats. For the Kingfishers, the meat of their order does most of the work. Young star 3B Magglio De La Vega (.312, 29, 124) protects a couple of other big bats in LF Sal Knight (.294, 39, 112) and 1B Charlie Freeman (.287, 56, 133). With the Kingfishers having home-field advantage, though, 3 of the games will be played in AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, a pitcher's paradise. The Filibusters will have to be able to manufacture runs in the road games.

Pitching Analysis: The Kingfishers have the edge in this category, but the gap isn't as wide as you might think. For OKC, SP Peter James (14-9, 2.85) is their go-to man, but their bigger strength is a talented and deep bullpen. But, despite the plethora of live arms just a phone call away for the Kingfishers, they also blew 19 team saves this year, a stat worth keeping an eye on in the postseason. The Filibusters are likely to have SP Malik Dunston (16-7, 3.65) toe the rubber in Game 1. All of Ottawa's starters are good but not great, while the bullpen only has a few standout names as well. CP Zoltan Schultz (6-7, 5.74) did convert 37 of 41 save opportunities this year, but his ERA was nightmarish for a 9th inning man.

Prediction: Oklahoma City must take care of business at home in this series where the Ottawa hitters will be choked off from the long ball. Neither team jumps off the page as the obvious pick, but I think the bullpens are going to play a huge role in this set, and the nod goes to the Kingfishers if they do.

Oklahoma City Kingfishers in 5