Well, for half of us at least...
Congratulations to Russ, Pflanz, Mark, Eric, Richie and myself for making sure John didn't make the playoffs this year. Aside from Mark seemingly doing whatever he could to let him sneak in, we came together at the end and really pulled off a beautiful team effort. Suck it, John.
Actual congratulations for us all receiving a $50 playoff berth bonus (that's a thing, right?). Unfortunately, I don't have as much time as I would want to put together a playoff preview, but it would be irresponsible of me to not do something. So here it is - my way too quick playoff preview / predictions.
Week 1 Matchups
Russ vs. Mark:
Upon a brief look, this pitching matchup aggressively favors Mark. He gets two starts out of deGrom, and even though it's D-Backs and Dodgers, it's Jacob deGrom. Hamels get's Petco Park. Lynn and Lester have decent match-ups as well. On the other side we have Russ, who's injury riddled season is not going to have a "Kluber comes back in the nick of time" storyline to it. Furthermore, the Dodgers have decided to skip Ryu and Buehler's starts in the rotation (Eric you lucky bastard), so that's, well, devastating. And the ones that actually are playing are up against the likes of Brewers, Cardinals, Yankees. Rangers and Marlins are decent match-ups but, overall that's tough.
As much as I hate to say it, I think Mark's bats do enough to split the offensive categories, and with the pitching draw being what it is, it seems Mark is in a good position to get most of the pitching. I think Mark wins 6-3-1 as Russ still continues to struggle with the curse.
Pflanz vs. Richie:
Similarly to the first matchup, I think the hitting is going to be pretty competitive. These are two loaded lineups who are going to have to rely on some good pitching to go forward. Pflanz draws a two start weeks from his two best pitchers as well, as Bieber gets the Angels and the Twins and Berrios takes on the Nationals before going head to head with Bieber to close out the week. Richie is definitely going to find a way to watch the Mets - Dodgers game on Friday, as Syndergaard and Kershaw face off in what Richie hopes to God is a masterful pitching duel. Tonight and tomorrow are big for Pflanz - if Bieber and Berrios give him strong starts early and he's flexible at the end of the week to be in a position to not need starts, he'll have a serious advantage. Richie wins the bullpan matchup and it's not even close.
Prediction: I think Richie pulls off the second upset of the playoff 5-4-1 when the Kershaw - Syndergaard matchup is indeed a pitchers duel and the Bieber - Berrios matchup turns poorly for Pflanz to end the week.
Eric and I will take a week to catch our breathe, get some guys rested and healthy (Cruz, Moustakas, Kimbrel, Muncy) and ready for the following week. We have a potential passing of the torch matchup in round two between Russ and I, as well as four of the six teams bidding for their first title (I think that's right - correct me if I'm wrong).
Two teams who sold off the most last year and entered the draft with the most picks wound up on top of the league - best of luck to you next year Perkins. Congratulations to Eric for being crowned the regular season champion. We'll end this the way we started it - Welcome to the the Games that Really Count.
