2009 MLB Playoff Predictions
Welcome to October. The Colorado Rockies (91-68, 15.27 units) have secured a place among the eight baseball playoff teams, clinching the National League Wild Card with Thursday’s 9-2 win at home over the Milwaukee Brewers (+160). If you are going to bet the MLB odds on the 2009 playoffs, take a look at the 10% unlimited signup bonus at Bodog with short rollover requirements.
There are tough NLDS matchups either way for Colorado, whether it’s the Philadelphia Phillies (92-66, 7.27 units) in the East or the St. Louis Cardinals (91-68, 7.33 units) in the Central. It will help, however, if the Rockies can secure home-field advantage. They’ll need to win the division first, and then hope they finish with a better record than either Philadelphia or St. Louis. It can happen, although the Dodgers are 12-3 against Colorado this year. It looks like the Rockies will once again play the role of Cinderella in these playoffs. Just two years ago, they won the NL pennant as a Wild Card team. Profit on this year’s playoffs when you make your bets at Bodog using their 10% bonus money!
At least we know the identities of all four NL playoff teams. The Minnesota Twins (83-76, -0.71 units) still have a chance of catching the Detroit Tigers (85-74, 0.19 units) for the American League Central crown. A tiebreaker is possible here, since the Twins lead their season series 11-7 against the Tigers. Minnesota has three games left at home against the 65-94 Kansas City Royals, although Game 2 features likely Cy Young winner Zack Greinke (2.06 ERA, 1.07 WHIP) starting for K.C. The Tigers can clinch the division by taking two of three at home from the 77-82 Chicago White Sox.
Whoever comes out on top will get to face the New York Yankees (102-57, 13.14 units) in the ALDS. They’re the big story of the regular season, overcoming early adversity to post the best record in the majors with the most potent hitting (5.65 runs per game, 241 home runs, .842 OPS). The pitching staff, which has been a concern most of this decade, is a respectable 12th in team ERA at 4.26, doubly impressive in new Yankee Stadium with its propensity for the long ball – the park factor for home runs there is 1.254, way above last year’s 0.982 at old Yankee Stadium. Watch for the Yankees to be the World Series favorites on our updated MLB futures odds.
The Boston Red Sox (92-67, 8.74 units) are your AL Wild Card representatives, and we know they’ll be facing the West-clinching Los Angeles Angels (94-65, 18.76 units) in the first round of the ALDS. It’s believed Jon Lester (3.41 ERA, 1.23 WHIP) will start Game 1 for Boston against John Lackey (3.83 ERA, 1.27 WHIP). Boston eliminated L.A. in the first round in 2007 and 2008. It doesn’t get much better than Yankees-Red Sox, but this year might be different. The Angels will have home-field advantage and are 5-4 against Boston this year, including 4-2 at Angel Stadium.
While we celebrate the elite teams, handicappers can’t forget about the most disappointing teams of 2009 – disappointing if you didn’t fade them, that is. The Washington Nationals (56-103, -31.42 units) will once again finish the season with the worst record in the majors, losing over 100 games for the second year in a row. The Cleveland Indians (65-94, -28.43 units) look like they’ll end up as the least profitable club in the American League in a season that began with legitimate hopes of winning the Central race – even noted seamhead Rob Neyer thought so.
We’ll wrap up the regular season by tipping our cap to the great individual performances of 2009. Twins catcher Joe Mauer has a batting average of .367 and will win the MLB batting title. Albert Pujols of the Cardinals has 47 home runs, three more than Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder and Mark Reynolds of the Arizona Diamondbacks. And two pitchers will go for Win No. 20 this Friday: CC Sabathia (19-7) of the Yankees and Adam Wainwright (19-8) of the Cardinals. Wainwright has a shot at the NL Cy Young, but teammate Chris Carpenter (17-4) has the name recognition and the better ERA at 2.24 to Wainwright’s 2.58. We’ll bet both men would prefer to win the World Series.