Well at least I got the American League right... The biggest surprise by far was Arizona beating Chicago. Arizona does have good pitching (114 ERA+) but their hitting is terrible (88 OPS+.) I don't just mean below average either, it was the worst hitting in the NL. They had a .321 OBP as a team in a hitter-friendly park.
So obviously I must pick against Arizona, again. Everyone is billing this as the great offense (Colorado) vs. the great pitching (Arizona.) Colorado's pitching is actually quite good as well. Not as good as Arizona's, but much closer than most people would think. Colorado's pitching was 4th best in the NL (110 ERA+, behind Arizona, Chicago, and San Diego.) Coors Field was once again the most hitter friendly ballpark which lead to the second most runs scored. If you're not an idiot and take into account Coors Field, then their hitting was only 6th best in the NL, but still much better than the Chicago. Whatever, Colorado is Murder's Row when compared to Arizona. Colorado in 5.
Boston and Cleveland both had a little easier time with their opponents than expected, but you had to expect these two teams to be here. They were both very balanced, very good teams. Boston had the third best hitting, Cleveland was tied for fourth. Boston had the best pitching, and Cleveland had the third best pitching. Boston has a clear edge over Cleveland, but this should be a very close series... The Sabathia/Carmona combo looks a lot more intimidating against Boston than it did against New York. However, I had really forgotten just how bad Joe Borowski is until I had to watch him pitch the last two days. Boston's pitching is so good that Borowski will have to notch 2-3 saves for Cleveland to win. I just can't see that happening. Boston in 7.
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