By: Robert Whitney
I have copied all the 25 man rosters for playoff teams into the attached text file. For comparison purposes, I am showing here the matchups of the starting pitching from each team. This was eye opening for me because I didn't know, had forgotten, the grades of some of the pitchers. In my opinion starting pitching is the #1 indicator of a teams chances in the playoffs. Most teams in the playoffs have incredible bullpens and I would guess more scoring happens vs. the starters in the first 3 or 4 innings than the other innings.
Round 1 Delphi #6 at Columbia Pike #3DELPHI
Richards 14xh (R)
McHugh 14x (R)
Darvish 13xy (R)
Archer 12yg (R)
Darvish 13xy (R)
Archer 12yg (R)
COLUMBIA PIKE
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WAINWRIGHT, Adam P 16yzg (R)
ARRIETA, Jake P 16xyg (R)
ARRIETA, Jake P 16xyg (R)
SHOEMAKER, Matt P 14xz (R)
BUEHRLE, Mark P 11z (L)
BUEHRLE, Mark P 11z (L)
Round 1 Roswell #5 vs. Washington # 4
ROSWELL
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Cueto, Johnny 18 X (R)
Greinke, Zack 14 XZ (R)
Greinke, Zack 14 XZ (R)
Alvarez, Henderson 14 Z (R)
Cosart, Jarred 11 WG (R)
Cosart, Jarred 11 WG (R)
WASHINGTON
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Scherzer 14XY (R)
Fernandez 13K (R)
Gray 13YG (R)
Cobb 13YG (R)
Fernandez 13K (R)
Gray 13YG (R)
Cobb 13YG (R)
Byes
OAKTON
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Kershaw 21kzg
Hernandez 17xyz
Ross 14xg
Cashner 13zg
Ross 14xg
Cashner 13zg
SEACOAST
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Kluber - 16XYZG Righty
Fister - 16Z Righty
Fiers - 14XYZG Righty
Hendricks - 14ZG Righty
Fister - 16Z Righty
Fiers - 14XYZG Righty
Hendricks - 14ZG Righty
I would rank the teams starting rotations as:
1) Oakton and 2) Seacoast - pick 'em. Kershaw beats Kluber, Hernandez beats Fister, Fiers beats Ross, and Hendricks beats Cashner. I give a slight nod to Oakton because in a 7 game series the Cashner vs. Hendricks matchup would happen only once in game 4.
3) Columbia Pike. Close to Seacoast's level. Able swap out Buehrle for a 12L or 12XW righty in the next round if the matchups were to indicate it was a better choice.
4) Roswell. The big surprise for me was that I had forgotten about Arrieta in thinking about Columbia Pike vs. Roswell, and I had the impression that Greinke was a grade 16 righty. So just the opposite happens. But it's either Cueto or Hernandez for 2nd most devastating starter in the playoffs. Kershaw being #1.
5) Delphi and 6) Washington - pick 'em. This is close but give the nod to Delphi, they win the first 3 matchups and Washington wins the game 4 matchup.
These lower ranked teams will not be playing each other unless they go all the way to the finals. Any team that advances from the first round will run into the Oakton and Seacoast juggernauts in the 2nd round. If Oakton takes care of business vs. Sterling tonight and either Columbia Pike or Roswell are upset in the first round, it would be a big boost to Oakton's chances of reaching the finals where anything can happen. They would play whichever 5th or 6th seeded team won. Of course if both the 5th and 6th teams upset their opponents in the first round, this bring the 2nd round back to both Oakton and Seacoast expecting to advance to the finals relatively easily.
Enjoy the playoffs guys, it looks like a fun year this year. I can't wait.
Regards,
Robert
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the attachment
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ROSWELL
BATTERS
Alonso, Yonder -4/-1 1B4 3B3**
Brantley, Michael -4/0 OF3
Cervelli, Francisco -5/+1 C8 Th-1 1B2**
Chisenhall, Lonnie -2/-1 3B3 1B2*
Desmond, Ian +1/-2 SS8
Duda, Lucas -15/+2 1B3 OF1**
Gattis, Evan +7/-3 C6 Th-1
Harper, Bryce -2/-1 OF2
Headley, Chase -1/-1 3B5 1B3**
Inciarte, Ender -2/-1 OF3
Lagares, Juan +6/-3 OF3
Navarro, Dioner -1/-1 C8 Th-2
Reddick, Josh -11/+2 OF3
Rodriguez, Sean +1/-4 2B7 OF2* 1B3* 3B3** SS7**
Utley, Chase -4/0 2B7 1B2**
PITCHERS
Alvarez, Henderson +5/-5 14 Z (Right)
Cosart, Jarred 11 WG (Right)
Cueto, Johnny +2/-2 18 X (Right)
Greinke, Zack -2/+1 14 XZ (Right)
Alburquerque, Al 15* XYL (Right)
Benoit, Joaquin 23* KG (Right)
Hunter, Tommy 12* YZ (Right)
McGee, Jake 18* KZH (Left)
Street, Huston 22* XZ (Right)
Thayer, Dale 15* XZL (Right)
COLUMBIA PIKE
ARRIETA, Jake P 16xyg
BUEHRLE, Mark P 11z
SHOEMAKER, Matt P 14xz
WAINWRIGHT, Adam P 16yzg
AVILA, Alex C
BADENHOP, Burke P
BEIMEL, Joe P
BRITTON, Zach P
CASTRO, Starlin SS
DAVIS, Rajai OF
DYSON, Jarrod OF
ESCOBAR, Eduardo SS
GILES, Ken P
HERRERA, Kelvin P
MARTIN, Russell C
MARTINEZ, J.D. OF
MARTINEZ, Victor 1B
PEARCE, Steve 1B
PEDROIA, Dustin 2B
PUIG, Yasiel OF
RAMOS, A. J. P
RENDON, Anthony 3B, 2B
STUBBS, Drew OF
VALBUENA, Luis 3B
ZIMMERMAN, Ryan OF
WASHINGTON
Starters
Scherzer 14XY (R)
Fernandez 13K (R)
Gray 13YG (R)
Cobb 13YG (R)
Relievers
Hughes 18ZG (R)
Miller 18KXYG (L)
Familia 18XG (R)
Gregerson 17YZ (R)
Strop 17XYG (R)
Otero 14ZZG (R)
1B
Gonzalez PR-12/+3 1B5
Morison PR+4/-3 1B4
2B
Altuve SA+7/-4 2B7
Walker SA-4/-1 2B8
3B
Arenado SA+4/-3 3B5
Frazier SA-2/-1 3B4
SS
J. Peralta PL+5/-3 SS9
Cabrera SA-2/-1 SS8 - 2B9
OF
Ellsbury SA+3/-3 OF3
D. Peralta SA-13/+2 OF2
Pence SA-1/-1 OF2
Fowler SA+4/-3 OF2
Smith SA-1/-1 OF2
C
Molina SA+1/-2 C9 (+6)
Maldonado SA-1/-2 C8 (+1)
OAKTON
Cashner 13zg
Ross 14xg
Hernandez 17xyz
Kershaw 21kzg
Storen
Holland
Smith
Melancon
Jennings
Thornton
Loney
Ortiz
Cano
Butera
Lucroy
Mesoraco
Tulowitzki
Rollins
Beltre
Kelly
Harrison
Cabrera
Gomez
Upton
Holliday
SEACOAST
SPs (Not In Order)
———————
Kluber - 16XYZG Righty
Fister - 16Z Righty
Fiers - 14XYZG Righty
Hendricks - 14ZG Righty
RPs
———————
Betances - 24*KXG Righty
Ramirez - 24*XYWG Righty
Putnam - 20*YWG Righty
Edgin - 20*XYZ Lefty
Abad - 20*XYZ Lefty
Hitters
———————
Joseph -1/-1
McKenry +1/-2
LaRoche -11/2
Abreu PL +5/-3
Turner -1/-1
Kinsler PL -1/-1
Tejada 0/-2
Aybar -5/0
Lawrie -6/0
Uribe -2/-1
Garcia -3/0
Stanton +5/-3
McCutchen -4/-1
Trout -2/-1
Crawford +4/-2
Bonifacio +13/-6
DELPHI
Pitchers
Richards 14xh
McHugh 14x
Darvish 13xy
Archer 12yg
Rondon
Watson
Crockett
O'Day
Neshek
Farquhar
Position Players
Chirinos
Castillo
Morneau
Van Slyke
Kendrick
Solano
Santana
Hardy
Seager
Carpenter
Bautista
Werth
Pollock
Eaton
Gardner
