Playoffs

There are a few things about which I know a lot. Many of these things are, in the grand scheme of things, useless. Such as the ability to solve a Rubik's cube, or being able to determine the day of the week for any date. Another one of these things is baseball. And now, for the first time in 6 years, my team is in the playoffs, the mighty Metropolitans of the city, state, but not county, of New York. Many people with whom I have spoken have wagered against the Mets in their first round matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers, especially since their #1 pitcher Pedro Martinez has been left off of the postseason roster due to injury. There are those of you who say that the Mets have no pitching. To all you nay-sayers, I have these thoughts:

The Mets named Orlando Hernandez as their #1 postseason pitcher: His stats over his last 6 starts are as follows:
6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 8 Ks, 1 BB
5.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER. 4 Ks, 6 BB
7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 6 K, 1 BB
7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 7 K. 1 BB
7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 8 K, 1BB
5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 9 K, 5 BB

For an ERA of 1.70, a WHIP of 1.07, and 42 Ks in 37.1 innings
Just for argument's sake, let's compare his stats to the leading AL Cy Young Award candidate, Johan Santana's stats over his last 5 starts.
Hernandez: 37.1 IP, 1.70 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 42 Ks, 15 BBs
Santana: 35.1 IP, 1.78 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 38 Ks, 7 BBs

Now, let's discuss Hernandez's postseason statistics for his Major League career. Over the past 8 seasons, he has appeared in the postseason 7 times and has pitched 106 innings. He has compiled a 9-3 record with a 2.55 ERA. He has also struck out 107 batters in those 106 innings.

I'm not saying he's the greatest pitcher of all time; I'm just saying you could do far worse with your starting pitcher for the first game of the playoffs.

Now, let's discuss the bullpens. Steve Trachsel, the Mets 4th starter has been the beneficiary of timely hitting and a solid bullpen during the season. He sported a pedestrian 4.97 ERA, but with a record of 15-8. In other words, if the Mets can get through 5-6 innings with the lead, they have a very good chance of winning. Their bullpen record stands at 32-15 with 43 saves. They also have the 2nd best ERA in all of baseball, at 3.28. The only team with a better bullpen ERA is the Minnesota Twins at 2.91. What I am trying to say here is that the starting pitching doesn't need to be spectacular and lights out for the Mets to have a good chance to win.

Now, let's discuss the New York Mets as a whole. The key dates, which I'll be using here are August 9th and September 18th. August 9th is the date of Pedro Martinez's last healthy start. Between August 10th and September 18th, Pedro pitched twice and lost both decisions while pitching horribly. September 18th is the date the Mets clinched the National League East division. Anything that happened afterwards was, for all intents and purposes, meaningless. The Mets played 37 games during that span and posted a 23-14 record. Even if we include Pedro's two starts, only one team in baseball has a better record over that span. The Oakland A's won 24 against 11 losses during that span. Every other team to whom they are worth comparing have worse records, including the mighty Yankees (24-16), the red-hot Minnesota Twins (21-15), the upstart Tigers (14-22), and their first round opponent, the Los Angeles Dodgers (21-15).

These are my thoughts going into the postseason. Am I concerned about the Dodgers? Yes. Am I overly concerned about the Dodgers? No. Am I concerned about any 2nd round team in a 7-game series? No. Would I be surprised if they steam-rolled their way into the World Series? Absolutely not.

Now I'll make like the Sports Guy and submit my playoff picks.

NLDS: Mets over Dodgers 3-1
Cardinals over Padres 3-1
ALDS: Yankees over Tigers 3-0
Twins over A's 3-2
NLCS: Mets over Cardinals 4-1
ALCS: Yankees over Twins 4-2

I hesitate to pick a World Series winnner, so I won't. I'll just leave that one up to the man upstairs. Thanks for reading, everyone. I mean, thanks for writing, Schmutter.