First off, congratulations to the Detroit Tigers on clinching the 3rd seed in the ALDS! They will play their first game Friday night in New York at 8:37 EST. Although they squandered an opportunity to host the first round of the playoffs (Texas won tonight making them the 2nd seed), I am very pleased with playing the "Bronx Bombers."
Here's why:
1. The Tigers won the regular season series 4-3. I'm going to argue that if these two teams played in the second half, the Tigers would have made it a different story. Detroit was horribly inconsistent in the first half of the season when these teams met, however they still managed to take the season series from New York. After being outscored 16-9 in their first two losses to the Yankees (the FIRST TWO games of the SEASON), Detroit outscored New York 27-17 in the final five games, including a 4-0 shutout on May 4. While New York hadn't hit its offensive stride either, it speaks volumes that the Tigers CAN shutout this "feared" New York offense.
2. My favorite stat, runners in scoring position (RISP). A batter's avg with RISP is one of the most underrated statistics in baseball. It proves that a player is able to get a hit when a player is in scoring position, which is clutch. Of the Yankees everyday starters, they only have TWO players (Cano and A-Rod) batting above .300 with RISP. And Cano is the best with .320 RISP. Pshhh...the Tigers? Yeah, we have FIVE. Count 'em FIVE everyday players (Cabrera, V-Mart, Peralta, Young, Betemit) including the top two in ALL of baseball with Miggy (.393 RISP) and Victor (.390 RISP). I would rather have a high batting average with RISP then a team that can only hit home runs.
3. PAPA GRANDE. Valverde has been clutch and did not blow a save all season after getting his 49th save tonight. Post All-Star break, Papa Grande has the following line: 1.72 ERA, .173 AVG against, 19 K's in 31 1/3 IP. I do not want to face this guy in the playoffs when the game is close. The Yankees career statistics against Jose? The Yankees team is batting a combined .196 against Valverde for their career. I'm satisfied with that.
4. The Ace, Justin Verlander. Alright, so he got a little roughed up in his last start against the Orioles, so what? The main point is even though the Tigers eventually lost both games Verlander started against the Yankees this year, he had 6 IP and only gave up 3 ER in both of his starts. I'm also going to argue that JV was not at his best in the first month of the year because he had 4 BB in each of those starts too.
I don't see the Tigers having any major trouble against the Yanks. One area to focus on is the starting pitchers besides Verlander for Detroit. The rotation has yet to be released, but I see it going something like this: Verlander - GM 1/4, Fister - GM 2/5, Scherzer - GM 3. If Scherzer can win his game and given the offense stays consistent, I think the Tigers win the series. Fister has been a STUD since arriving in Detroit, and I'm not too concerned about him. No need to worry Tigers fans, that 12 game win streak was not a fluke, and the Yankees will see why.
GO TIGERS!
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