Sizing Up the Opponents
by scott longert on 09/12/16I may be calling it in early, but I believe the Indians will win the American League Central. I know they finish the regular season with games against Detroit and Kansas City, however I am confident they will have the title wrapped up by then.
I think Boston has the East taken care of and Texas same thing in the West. The wild cards will likely be Toronto and Baltimore. At this point I am not too concerned with the Orioles. Despite them being a home run machine, I believe the Indians pitching can keep the baseballs from flying out of the park. Toronto can hit their share of home runs but again I an sure the Tribe's pitching staff will be able to handle Donaldson and Encarnacion.
That leaves the Red Sox and Rangers. Both these teams will be awfully tough to beat. Boston has tremendous hitters all through the lineup. They can run, play good defense and hit the ball out of the park. I don't have to go to great detail to talk about David Ortiz and the year he is having. Pedroia, Betts and Bradley are outstanding and Hanley Ramirez is having a great second half. David Price has raised his game to ace level and Rick Porcello continues to have an excellent year. It is always tough to win in Fenway.
Texas has enough pitching with a healthy Yu Darvish, while their hitting is not quite Boston or Baltimore but more than good enough. They are veterans, capable of winning a World Series.
If Danny Salazar is unable to pitch any further, that leaves Trevor Bauer to pick up the slack. In the playoffs I expect Kluber and Carrasco to pitch well, but after that the situation becomes a bit shaky. The only other alternatives are Josh Tomlin and Mike Clevinger. For Cleveland to go deep in the post-season they need a lot of hitting from Kipnis, Lindor and Napoli. Can't wait for October!
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