Seaon 9 World Series Preview

WORLD SERIES PREVIEW – SEASON 9 by hurricane384

MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS ( AL )

VS.

ARIZONA SUN DEVILS (NL)



RATINGS ADVANTAGES

STARTING LINEUP

POWER: Arizona
CONTACT: Arizona
VS L: Arizona
VS R: Arizona
EYE: Arizona

ADV: Arizona

BENCH

POWER: Arizona
CONTACT: Arizona
VS L: Minnesota
VS R: Minnesota
EYE: Arizona

ADV: Arizona

Rotation

CONTROL: Minnesota
VS L: Arizona
VS R: Arizona
VELOCITY: Arizona
STUFF: Arizona

ADV: Arizona

Bullpen

CONTROL: Minnesota
VS L: Arizona
VS R: Arizona
VELOCITY: Arizona
STUFF: Arizona

ADV: Arizona

#3 MINNESOTA (81-81)

This was the first division championship in the franchise’s history and bighead34 rode the momentum all the way to the World Series. A sweep in the first round, then a 3-2 win and a 4-2 AL championship over the Golden Bears, who were seeded 5th despite having the 5th most victories in the majors.

Offense: The top AL team in batting average, OBP, and doubles, 5th in runs scored, and 6th in slugging, they ranked at or near the bottom of the AL in the rest of the offensive categories. Bob Guerrero finished 8th in the league in batting average, but the true toast of Minnesota was 2B Candy Thomas (.303/.353/.531) who finished 2nd in RS and hits, 6th in doubles and RBIs, and 15th in homers. Ron Thomas was an all-star who hit 26 home runs, and 32 doubles while driving in 94.

Pitching: This was truly one of the worst pitching staffs in the league during the regular season. A combined 4.79 ERA was good for 12th out of 16 teams in the AL. The bullpen blew 20 saves and they finished dead last in the league in strikeouts while giving up a OAV of .270. The staff did ratchet it up in the postseason with a 3.68 ERA and going a perfect 3/3 in save opportunities. The Golden Gopher staff was led by Don Holt with a 4.83 ERA in 206.2 innings pitched and Stuart Anderson who won 13 games despite a 5.09 ERA. Closer Norman Borders was solid with a 3.86 ERA in 35 IP and was 24 of 26 in save opportunities.

Fielding: The top fielding team in the league, Minnesota boasted a .987 fielding percentage while also finishing fifth in double plays with 384. With 71 plus plays against 12 minus plays, they truly were one of the best fielding teams in the league. Anthony Myers led the team with 13 plus plays in 87 games at SS and 12 plus plays in 54 games at 3B. SS Jamie Cameron contributed 9 plus plays as well. This is a great fielding team and Arizona will not be able to get any cheap runs this way.



#3 ARIZONA (94-68)

Whatever lpa2a is doing, he needn’t stop as Arizona beat a very strong Syracuse Orange team in 5 games, outscoring the Orange (#2 in ERA, #3 in runs scored) 50 to 20, including a game 5 shellacking by the score of 18-0. The Sun Devils are making their 5th straight World Series appearance and are looking for their 3rd title after having been stopped short last season.

Offense: This is an offense ranked 1st in runs scored, doubles, triples, home runs, runs batted in, and slugging percentage, 3rd in stolen bases and average, and 4th in OBP. This season they had 5 players hit 30+ home runes, and had 3 players steal 20+ bases. Bernie Ortiz and Jake Peterson had 150+ RBIs in addition to 50+ homers (3rd & 4th in the NL, respectively). 5 guys scored 100+ times during the season. This offense averaged 5.7 runs per game while only hitting into 100 double players. The Sun Devil offense is a true force to be reckoned with.

Pitching: The pitching was very solid, finishing 7th in the NL in ERA, 8th in WHIP, 5th in OAV, 6th in OBP, and 1st in strikeouts. Arizona had 5 players start 30+ games, 6 players won 10 or more games, and of the 5 starters with 30+ starts, 3 had ERAs less than 4, and one had an ERA less than 5. Even the starter with a 5+ ERA had a winning record. Joaquin Nunez (17-6, 3.47 ERA) is once again a Cy Young finalist, while last year’s Fireman of the Year Justin Ward struggled to 37 saves (77%) with a 5.44 ERA.

Fielding: Arizona ’s defense was slightly below average this year with a .982 fielding percentage, which was good enough for 10th in the league. 110 errors were 8 more than last season. Surprisingly they did turn the 4th most double plays in the NL, led by the combo of 2B Shawn Tremie (.977 pct, 99 DPs) and SS’s Juan Delgado (.946 pct, 75 DPs) Joaquin Colon (.962 pct, 28 DPs).



Prediction: Arizona in 4.

Despite the historical accomplishments of bighead34 and his Golden Gophers becoming the first non-winning team to make it to the World Series as well as making their first ever playoff appearance a huge success, I believe that the ride ends after 4 games. Arizona just has too many advantages over Minnesota for this series to go any further.