NLDS prediction thread: too soon?

[SFGRTB]

I know it's really risky, but what do you think about leaving Whiteside off the roster and have Sandoval be the emergency catcher?

Whiteside hasn't been used at all lately and there will be plenty of days off for Posey. Then you could keep Rowand or Ishikawa.

 

[ColinCoby]

Also, to get msg's thread back on track (and add a little to it), here are my predictions:


ALDS:
Rays over Rangers in 4

Yankees over Twins in 4

NLDS:
Phils over Reds in 3

Giants over Braves in 5

I agree with this. The Rays are a great team; the Rangers might be the weakest. Too bad Morneau is out; the Twins could have put up much more of a fight with him in there.

The Phils are the best team in baseball IMO; would not be surprised if the Phils sweep the Reds.

Giants...The Braves are tough, but with Prado out, I think they win in 4. Of course, NOTHING is ever easy with this team. The Giants win in five, but the Braves have the go-ahead run on base when Wilson strikes out Heyward for the win!

 

[ColinCoby]

What I think Bochy et al will come up with:

Starting Pitchers
RH Tim Lincecum
RH Matt Cain
LH Jonathon Sanchez
LH Barry Zito

Relief Pitchers
LH Madison Bumgarner
RH Brian Wilson
RH Sergio Romo
RH Santiago Casilla
LH Jeremy Affeldt
LH Javier Lopez
RH Ramon Ramirez


Position Players
1B Aubrey Huff
2B Freddy Sanchez
SS Juan Uribe
3B Pablo Sandoval
LF Pat Burrell
CF Andres Torress
RF Jose Guillen
C Buster Posey


Utility Players
Mike Fontenot
Edgar Renteria
Eli Whiteside
Cody Ross
Nate Schierholtz

Last Spot : Travis Ishikawa - Aaron Rowand - Eugenio Velez

I would love to see that last spot given to Ford. How many games will there be in which we'll be posting, "Man, we desperately need a run. I wish Boch could pinch run Ford for _______ right now."

 

[SFAnthem]

I would love to see that last spot given to Ford. How many games will there be in which we'll be posting, "Man, we desperately need a run. I wish Boch could pinch run Ford for _______ right now."

I don't think Ford's eligible - he's a September callup

 

[msgkings322]

OK, I want to change my prediction. The geniuses at Baseball Tonight just predicted the same thing I did (they said it was 'the computer'): Giants in 4, Phils in 5.

I'm not saying this to trumpet my skillz. Quite the opposite.

I hereby switch to Giants in 5, Phils in 4.

 

[SFGRTB]

So, is the game going to be on KNBR and/or CSN? Or just TBS?

 

[tzill]

What I think Bochy et al will come up with:

Starting Pitchers
RH Tim Lincecum
RH Matt Cain
LH Jonathon Sanchez
LH Barry Zito

Relief Pitchers
LH Madison Bumgarner
RH Brian Wilson
RH Sergio Romo
RH Santiago Casilla
LH Jeremy Affeldt
LH Javier Lopez
RH Ramon Ramirez


Position Players
1B Aubrey Huff
2B Freddy Sanchez
SS Juan Uribe
3B Pablo Sandoval
LF Pat Burrell
CF Andres Torress
RF Jose Guillen
C Buster Posey


Utility Players
Mike Fontenot
Edgar Renteria
Eli Whiteside
Cody Ross
Nate Schierholtz

Last Spot : Travis Ishikawa - Aaron Rowand - Eugenio Velez

A buddy and I were going over the roster this evening and came up with EXACTLY the same 24. I suspect Rowand will be the 25th guy. I give Ishi a 15% chance and Uselez 0%.

 

[tzill]

Rays over Rangers in 4
Twins over Yankees in 5
Phils over Reds in 4
Giants over Braves in 4

 

[ugafan6612]

I'm a Braves fan and word is that it will be Lowe, Hanson, and Hudson. IF there has to be a 4th starter then Jurrjens might be injured so if anything they would throw in the rookie "Beachy". However there would only be a 4th starter used if the Braves were up 2-0 or something like that...which would never happen.

 

[nateistheshi]

I agree with this. The Rays are a great team; the Rangers might be the weakest. Too bad Morneau is out; the Twins could have put up much more of a fight with him in there.

The Phils are the best team in baseball IMO; would not be surprised if the Phils sweep the Reds.

Giants...The Braves are tough, but with Prado out, I think they win in 4. Of course, NOTHING is ever easy with this team. The Giants win in five, but the Braves have the go-ahead run on base when Wilson strikes out Heyward for the win!

I'll make a prediction that is symbolic for the ROY award. Tying run on 2nd, Heyward is the go ahead run with 2 outs. Heyward strikes out but it's on a slider the bounces off the plate and takes a funny hop over Posey's head and goes to the backstop. (Heyward striking out but getting on base anyway on a pitch Posey had no chance to stop represents the media hyping up Heyward before he did anything, and ignoring Posey for the first month of the season that he was up.) So now there's runners on 1st and 3rd with Heyward being the go ahead run. 2-1 count, Wilson throws a slider just off the plate and Heyward gets a good jump to steal 2nd, and Posey quickly makes the exchange and guns him out by a step to end the game (Posey throwing out Heyward at the end being symbolic of Heyward attempting to run away with the ROY award and Posey forcing himself into the conversation as the best candidate.) If this happens I will not shut up about how this is representative of the ROY award EVER! hahaha

 

[nateistheshi]

I'm a Braves fan and word is that it will be Lowe, Hanson, and Hudson. IF there has to be a 4th starter then Jurrjens might be injured so if anything they would throw in the rookie "Beachy". However there would only be a 4th starter used if the Braves were up 2-0 or something like that...which would never happen.

I haven't heard anything on Mike Minor lately, what are the chances we see him in this series? Also I wanted to commend you on how well-mannered you are and how you've fit in to our conversations perfectly since showing up. Sorry I just made the move here from the ESPN board and I'm used to opposing team's fans coming here to say "you guys are gonna lose bc yall are losers and timmy smokes pot!" hahaha

 

[ElJimador]

Surprised at all the folks thinking Ishikawa will be left off the roster. I don't think he's even on the bubble. Schierholtz and Ross will still be used as defensive replacements which means you can't count them as PH, and depending on Sanchez's shoulder Bochy may be reluctant to use Fontenot early as a PH as well. So who does that leave? Ish has been their best PH all year and will make the roster for that. I think the choice for the final roster spot will come down to Rowand vs. Renteria, because against a team w/Wagner and Venters they'll need a RH PH as well, and I'm guessing it will be Rent because of the way he's hit Wagner this year.

 

[msgkings322]

Surprised at all the folks thinking Ishikawa will be left off the roster. I don't think he's even on the bubble. Schierholtz and Ross will still be used as defensive replacements which means you can't count them as PH, and depending on Sanchez's shoulder Bochy may be reluctant to use Fontenot early as a PH as well. So who does that leave? Ish has been their best PH all year and will make the roster for that. I think the choice for the final roster spot will come down to Rowand vs. Renteria, because against a team w/Wagner and Venters they'll need a RH PH as well, and I'm guessing it will be Rent because of the way he's hit Wagner this year.

This.

Well said.

 

[nateistheshi]

Surprised at all the folks thinking Ishikawa will be left off the roster. I don't think he's even on the bubble. Schierholtz and Ross will still be used as defensive replacements which means you can't count them as PH, and depending on Sanchez's shoulder Bochy may be reluctant to use Fontenot early as a PH as well. So who does that leave? Ish has been their best PH all year and will make the roster for that. I think the choice for the final roster spot will come down to Rowand vs. Renteria, because against a team w/Wagner and Venters they'll need a RH PH as well, and I'm guessing it will be Rent because of the way he's hit Wagner this year.

Great insight here, I could very easily see Ishakawa coming up big for us, he's had some pretty big hits late in games this season. Does anybody think that since he's made a name for himself as a great pinch hitter and defensive specialist that he'll have some trade value this offseason? I could picture maybe a team that has a horrible defensive 1st baseman like Dunn and doesn't have any good LH pinch hitters on the bench wanting him.

 

[calsnowskier]

[/B]

I'll make a prediction that is symbolic for the ROY award. Tying run on 2nd, Heyward is the go ahead run with 2 outs. Heyward strikes out but it's on a slider the bounces off the plate and takes a funny hop over Posey's head and goes to the backstop. (Heyward striking out but getting on base anyway on a pitch Posey had no chance to stop represents the media hyping up Heyward before he did anything, and ignoring Posey for the first month of the season that he was up.) So now there's runners on 1st and 3rd with Heyward being the go ahead run. 2-1 count, Wilson throws a slider just off the plate and Heyward gets a good jump to steal 2nd, and Posey quickly makes the exchange and guns him out by a step to end the game (Posey throwing out Heyward at the end being symbolic of Heyward attempting to run away with the ROY award and Posey forcing himself into the conversation as the best candidate.) If this happens I will not shut up about how this is representative of the ROY award EVER! hahaha

Take the story one extra step...

Heyward is clearly out at second from the throw by Posey, but the ump calls Heyward safe anyway (Heyward winning the ROY award despite Posey out-performing him).

 

[tzill]

I have both Rowand and Rent making the roster and Ishi not. I think with Ross and Nate, they have enough pinch hitting and Rowand has playoff experience. Rent also has playoff experience and we need another SS.

 

[msgkings322]

Great insight here, I could very easily see Ishakawa coming up big for us, he's had some pretty big hits late in games this season. Does anybody think that since he's made a name for himself as a great pinch hitter and defensive specialist that he'll have some trade value this offseason? I could picture maybe a team that has a horrible defensive 1st baseman like Dunn and doesn't have any good LH pinch hitters on the bench wanting him.

Sure he has trade value, but probably doesn't bring much back if he's just a bench player. Maybe a prospect. I guess he could start on some teams with nothing at 1B although I can't think of any offhand. He will probably have to be dealt to make room for Belt.

 

[msgkings322]

Take the story one extra step...

Heyward is clearly out at second from the throw by Posey, but the ump calls Heyward safe anyway (Heyward winning the ROY award despite Posey out-performing him).

OUCH. Don't even joke about that!

 

[gp956]

Great insight here, I could very easily see Ishakawa coming up big for us, he's had some pretty big hits late in games this season. Does anybody think that since he's made a name for himself as a great pinch hitter and defensive specialist that he'll have some trade value this offseason? I could picture maybe a team that has a horrible defensive 1st baseman like Dunn and doesn't have any good LH pinch hitters on the bench wanting him.

Hey, they got a former #1 for Molina, so anything is possible.

 

[gp956]

I have both Rowand and Rent making the roster and Ishi not. I think with Ross and Nate, they have enough pinch hitting and Rowand has playoff experience. Rent also has playoff experience and we need another SS.

Plus, the Braves's have some quality left-handed relievers - Ishi's split's against lefties this year have been bad. He still might make the lineup, but i wouldn't be surprised to see him left off. It might, ironically, depend on how healthy Huff's legs are - since he can move to LF as a late inning replacement for Burrell providing his wheels are back, then Ishi can fill 1B. That possibility would move nate or poopin to the bubble.

Rent, i think, is the first right-handed pinch-hitter off the bench. He's just come through in too many big games over the years for Bochy and company not to take him to the post season (if he's fully healthy).