ALPS Preview: Tucson vs. Huntington

American League Rankings:
2nd - Offense - 7th
4th - Pitching - 6th
4th - Defense - 14th

Preview: The Tucson Pilots cruised into the American League West title, but hasn't played any meaningful baseball in a while. Now, after falling a game short of the 2-seed and a bye week, they'll welcome the Huntington Guyandottes to Tucson Electric Park. TEP is a nightmare for teams unprepared for the offensive slugfests it encourages, but both of these teams play in hitters' parks, and, as a result, are accustomed to doing so.

Anyone who loves watching opposing pitchers duel each other to 1-0 decisions in the cold October air will want to take a pass on this one. Expect a ton of offense from both sides. The winner of this series will be the team that can manage RISP situations the best--both on the mound and at the plate.

Offensive Analysis: The offensive numbers for Tucson are unreal. They have 2 full-time players hitting over .340. Those are DH Felipe Espinoza (.360, 51, 140) and 2B Butch Collins (.343, 49, 123). But neither of those brilliant hitters matched the RBI production of 1B Julio Tejera (.305, 64, 159), the best run-producer in all of the bigs. If Huntington can't at least contain these 3, it's going to be a short series. For their part, though, the Guyandottes counter with the HR King, 1B Ivan DeSoto (.326, 67, 142). DH Mendy Corino (.268, 53, 121) provides some pop as well, but most of the Guyandottes hitters don't hit for average like the Pilots' do.

Pitching Analysis: Tucson will need big time performances from SP Oswaldo Mendez (18-5, 2.63), who has been their workhorse all year long. The rest of Tucson's starting rotation is a little suspect, but we all know they're not trying to win any 3-2 ball games. The Tucson bullpen lacks identity, as it has been a closer by committee most of the year. Huntington, meanwhile, has a starting staff built for a 5-game series. SP Coco Casey (23-9, 2.96) has been dominant for them, but likely Game 2 starter SP Yamil Aguilar (15-4, 2.83) has been even better at times. Mix in SP Tom Klein (16-8, 3.33) and it becomes pretty easy to overlook the Guyandottes' bullpen holes. If Huntington's starters go deep in this series, an upset would not be a surprise.

Prediction: There's going to be so much offense in this series that you'll probably wonder if the players are using aluminum bats. Even though Hungtingon has a very tough 1-2 starting punch, I don't think they'll be able to handle the murderer's row of hitters that Tucson features.

Tucson Pilots in 4

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

The battle of Tennessee.

What a nice rivalry between the Memphis Blues and the Nashville Sounds for the second season in Double Mendoza. Last season Memphis won the division title by 20 games but this season, Nashville had a very strong start to lead during almost all the season.
Unfortunately for the Sounds, the Blues came back very strong winning 15 of their last 20 games to take the lead. With 4 games to play in the season, Memphis has a 4 games lead.
For Memphis, Rico Parra, who's leading his team with 20 wins, won the pitcher of the week award during that final stretch. Pablo Suarez, who's in the running for ROY award, Jerry Piazza, Bryan Guerrero and Rafael Montanez lead the offense.
For Nashville, the dynamic duo of Danny Brunette and Adam Huff are among leaders for HRs and RBI's, but the lost of Benji Reyes for the final month of the season ruined their chances for the title. On the mound, Sonny Bell did a fantastic job, saving 53 games in 56 attemps while the newcomer John Burroughs was 5-1 in his last 7 starts but it was not enough for the Sounds.
If those 2 teams met during the playoffs, it will be very interesting to see who's the champion of Tennessee.

Instant Classic: Vancouver Outlasts Ottawa

The closest playoff races remaining are in the National League, including the all-Canadian battle for the final Wild Card spot between Ottawa and Vancouver, who are in the midst of a 4-game series. After splitting the first two games, Vancouver won a war of attrition in 17 innings. This instant classic had it all, and the Renegades never held a lead until C Carl Ramirez hit a bases loaded single that plated P Ralph Cornelius and LF Mike Freeman due to a poor relay throw from the Filibusters' 2B Vic Larson.

The Renegades rallied to tie (or win the game) during 3 must-rally occassions. Once in the 9th on a 2-out single from SS Russell Gibbs, once in the 15th on a leadoff home run from 1B Jason Arnold, and finally once more on Ramirez's walk-off. Forty-four players entered the game, 16 of which were pitchers. The game featured 42 hits, and the Renegades produced 7 extra base hits. Vancouver RF Esteban Segui collected 5 hits in 8 at-bats, while Ramirez reached base 7 times in 10 plate appearances.

The win keeps the Renegades very much alive, but it came at a cost. GM Rodneyhuff reports he has only two available bullpen arms for the next game, and his next-day starter, Cornelius, threw the final 4 innings of this one. But don't fault the Renegades if they wind up falling short of the second season. They proved they have a world of fight in them during this 10-9 slugfest. It may not be much consolation if it does not propel them to the playoffs, but it is a game these players can hang their hats on for the rest of their careers.

Predicting Playoff Seeds

With only 27 games remaining in what has been an exciting regular season, the playoff picture has some of its pieces coming into focus. The Montgomery Biscuits, for example, are already on the precipice of locking up the NL South and possibly the #1 seed yet again. But not every race features such clarity. The AL South has a couple of heavyweights vying for the division crown, the Nashville Sounds and the Memphis Blues. Each has upwards of 80 wins on the year already, but neither has been able to pull away from the other. With all of that in mind, here are some predictions for the playoff brackets this year.

American League
#1: Hartford Hartattacks (Currently: 89-46)
- They're healthy now that LaRocca is back and poised to defend their championship of a year ago. They already gunned down a team that once looked uncatchable in Nashville and don't figure to let off the gas any time soon.

#2: Memphis Blues (Currently: 84-51)
- Call it a hunch, but after a disappointing playoff exit last year, I think the Blues still have some bite in them. And even though that Nashville offense is fearsome, I think both teams are running out of steam a bit, which tilts the scales back toward the more defensive-oriented Blues.

#3 Tucson Pilots (Currently: 81-54)
- A very solid team with a litany of hitters and a hitter's park to boot. They're a virtual lock for this slot in the bracket, but they're going to have to shake off their playoff flop of a year ago from the same line. Right now the Huntington Guyandottes seem their likeliest opponent, and though Tucson fans might not want to hear it, the Huntington pitchers look better to me in a 5-game set.

#4 New York Monarchs (Currently: 71-64)
- Bravo to the Monarchs for being well on their way to a first ever AL North title after Cleveland's collapse left this division up for grabs. I expect them to fend off a very game Chicago Gangsta' Chimps club that has too many holes in the rotation to erase a 6-game lead this late in the year.

#5 Nashville Sounds (Currently: 87-48)
- Whichever team lands here, Memphis or Nashville, is going to have to be very worried about fatigue in the playoffs. Due to the intense battle for the divisional crown, a lot of players on both squads have carried heavy workloads this season. And whichever is forced to play a play-in series will be at a serious disadvantage compared with the other.

#6 Huntington Guyandottes (Currently: 77-58)
- After finally running away from New Orleans for good it seems, these Guyandottes are an interesting upset special team to be aware of. We know they'll play good defense during the playoff pressure cooker moments, and they can pitch pretty well for a 6-seed. Keep an eye on these guys.

National League
#1 Montgomery Biscuits (Currently: 87-48)
- Clearly the National League's best team and pitching staff, the Biscuits would have to collapse in a hurry to fall out of this line. Someone in the NL is going to have to find a way to score on these guys, or Montgomery fans can rest easy knowing that this 1-seed should translate to a 2nd straight World Series appearance.

#2 Fargo Fightin' Sioux (Currently: 79-56)
- At one point it wasn't clear whether the Fightin' Sioux would be able to defend their AL North crown, but now with the Los Angeles Dodgers in a freefall it appears they will even get a first-round bye, giving us an identical set of Top 3 seeds in the NL from a year ago. They'll rely on just 3 starters once they make the postseason, but a team who can stretch a 7-game series against them will have the upperhand.

#3 Los Angeles Dodgers (Currently: 79-56)
- A very good NL West is quickly getting bigger in the Dodgers' rearview mirror, but LA's pitching is too strong to let them fall any further than the 3-seed. Other than a 4-game set against Montgomery, no non-divisional matchups really seem much of a threat for this squad.

#4 Louisville Sluggers (Currently: 69-66)
- While still not as healthy as they'd like to be at this point, the Sluggers finally seem to have seized the reigns of the AL East after a drawn out battle with the Kansas City Masterpiece. They are actually the NL's highest-scoring offense, so with the right playoff matchups they could be a dangerous team despite their record.

#5 Oklahoma City Kingfishers (Currently: 76-59)
- The NL Wild Cards are the fuzziest berths left, and could really fall any number of ways. Of the 4 primary contenders, however, the Kingfishers seem the most balanced on offense and defense, and have routinely won series against some of the NL's best.

#6 Vancouver Renegades (Currently: 75-60)
- The 6-seed may actually be preferable in the NL this season because Louisville could spring up and bite any team while the Dodgers will have to snap out of a funk by playoff time to survive their first series. Ottawa is a great story and is playing great baseball right now but still has series left against Oklahoma City and Vancouver, and a losing record over those 8 games would likely doom their odds of sneaking in. Vancouver swept Ottawa in a 3-game series recently, making the Renegades look like the better choice.