Who to watch in the playoffs

[steveringo]

I posted this on the Sox board, then I thought it might make a good thread out here.

Who do you think might make a difference (ot the difference) for the playoff teams.

I was very impressed with Will Middlebrooks last night. He hit an opposite field HR and pulled an off-speed pitch over the wall with a glof swing. Since he was recaled from AAA, his plate approach has been fun to watch.

If he can play like this, I think he could help the Sox go far...








Will Middlebrooks' two-homer night shows off his successful new approach - Over the Monster

 

[Ryanballa]

The person I think thats gonna make a difference and come up big for my Reds is Todd Frazier. I think he gets on a tear and hits a few key homers.

 

[Wazmankg]

The Tigers need Miggy to regain some semblance of his usual form. He's been playing hurt for at least 2 months and it finally caught up with him the past few weeks. He has very little lower body strength and movement. Balls that used to end up in the seats aren't making it to the warning track. I don't think that gets better with a week of rest.

 

[ImSmartherThanYou]

Since I can't root for the Yanks, I'll be adopting the Reds as my team for the postseason, even though I fucking hate Dusty Baker (don't most fans hate their manager anyway?).

If the Reds don't make it past the WC game, I'll be pulling for the Pirates.

The player I'm most interested in seeing on the big stage is Andrew McCutchen. If the Pirates get through the WC game, McCutchen has a chance to really become a major star on the national level with some October heroics.

We all know every year, some player unexpectedly becomes a hero, such as Marco Scutaro, Delmon Young, Mike Napoli, David Freese, and Jeff Suppan. Will Middlebrooks is a good pick to be that guy for the Red Sox. If I had to choose one guy on each team that I think could be a surprise hero it would be:

Boston: Middlebrooks
Tampa: Alex Cobb
Detroit: Drew Smyly
Cleveland: Danny Salazar
Oakland: Brandon Moss
Atlanta: Julio Teheran
St. Louis: Michael Wacha
Pittsburgh: Gerrit Cole
Cincinnati: Tony Cingrani
Los Angeles: Juan Uribe

 

[steveringo]

Since I can't root for the Yanks, I'll be adopting the Reds as my team for the postseason, even though I fucking hate Dusty Baker (don't most fans hate their manager anyway?).

If the Reds don't make it past the WC game, I'll be pulling for the Pirates.

The player I'm most interested in seeing on the big stage is Andrew McCutchen. If the Pirates get through the WC game, McCutchen has a chance to really become a major star on the national level with some October heroics.

We all know every year, some player unexpectedly becomes a hero, such as Marco Scutaro, Delmon Young, Mike Napoli, David Freese, and Jeff Suppan. Will Middlebrooks is a good pick to be that guy for the Red Sox. If I had to choose one guy on each team that I think could be a surprise hero it would be:

Boston: Middlebrooks
Tampa: Alex Cobb
Detroit: Drew Smyly
Cleveland: Danny Salazar
Oakland: Brandon Moss
Atlanta: Julio Teheran
St. Louis: Michael Wacha
Pittsburgh: Gerrit Cole
Cincinnati: Tony Cingrani
Los Angeles: Juan Uribe

I'd love to see Moss have a great post season. I was very sad when Boston sent him to Pittsburgh (especially after they had just shipped David Murphy to Texas!).. I really thought Murphy & Moss had potential to be a great outfield duo... Josh Reddick is another former Sox Outfielder in Oakland that I'd like to see step up...

In the NL, I think I'll root for The Pirates and Starling Marte.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

I think if Matt Kemp can continue to stay healthy and keep looking like his old self, I can see our lineup being very formidable in the postseason. And now that there are questions about Ethier's availability for the first round, we're going to need him. Matt's batting around .333 since returning.

 

[sjsharksfan88]

For the Cardinals, I would say Carlos Beltran.

Always seems to come up big in the playoffs and he's in a contract year.

 

[ugafan6612]

You could watch the whole Braves team choke in the first round again :debbiedowner:

 

[uncfan103]

Cardinals: I'm going to say Matt Adams. We've been having young guys step up late in the year in the last couple of post-seasons and he has been playing great lately.

Cincinnati: Billy Hamilton. He doesn't need an At-Bat to make a difference, my guess is that because of the 4-5 games that he has been responsible for the tying/winning run they can afford to keep a spot on the roster for him.

 

[Hunter Montana]

You could watch the whole Braves team choke in the first round again :debbiedowner:

If they could at least make it past the first round, I would be happy. It would be the their first NLCS since 2001. If they could make the World Series, I would be thrilled (even if they don't win...but if they do, obviously that would be awesome). Braves are playing really bad right now and the Cardinals look the best out of any NL playoff team.

 

[Brahmsian]

Since I can't root for the Yanks, I'll be adopting the Reds as my team for the postseason, even though I fucking hate Dusty Baker (don't most fans hate their manager anyway?).

If the Reds don't make it past the WC game, I'll be pulling for the Pirates.

The player I'm most interested in seeing on the big stage is Andrew McCutchen. If the Pirates get through the WC game, McCutchen has a chance to really become a major star on the national level with some October heroics.

We all know every year, some player unexpectedly becomes a hero, such as Marco Scutaro, Delmon Young, Mike Napoli, David Freese, and Jeff Suppan. Will Middlebrooks is a good pick to be that guy for the Red Sox. If I had to choose one guy on each team that I think could be a surprise hero it would be:

Boston: Middlebrooks
Tampa: Alex Cobb
Detroit: Drew Smyly
Cleveland: Danny Salazar
Oakland: Brandon Moss
Atlanta: Julio Teheran
St. Louis: Michael Wacha
Pittsburgh: Gerrit Cole
Cincinnati: Tony Cingrani
Los Angeles: Juan Uribe

Middlebrooks is worth watching, but Dustin Pedroia is even more so.

Hustles EVERY inning of every game and plays as soundly as anyone in the process. Makes at least one Gold-Glove caliber fielding play per game and sometimes more than 1 in a single inning. Great candidate to become Red Sox Team Captain when David Ortiz retires.

 

[steveringo]

Middlebrooks is worth watching, but Dustin Pedroia is even more so.

Hustles EVERY inning of every game and plays as soundly as anyone in the process. Makes at least one Gold-Glove caliber fielding play per game and sometimes more than 1 in a single inning. Great candidate to become Red Sox Team Captain when David Ortiz retires.

Sox don't need a captain.

 

[Brahmsian]

Sox don't need a captain.

Maybe they don't need one, but I see no harm in having one,
and Pedroia would be a natural choice, IMO.

 

[Villain]

You could watch the whole Braves team choke in the first round again :debbiedowner:

Again? They didn't make it to the first round last year...

 

[Darkstone42]

Since I can't root for the Yanks, I'll be adopting the Reds as my team for the postseason, even though I fucking hate Dusty Baker (don't most fans hate their manager anyway?).

If the Reds don't make it past the WC game, I'll be pulling for the Pirates.

The player I'm most interested in seeing on the big stage is Andrew McCutchen. If the Pirates get through the WC game, McCutchen has a chance to really become a major star on the national level with some October heroics.

We all know every year, some player unexpectedly becomes a hero, such as Marco Scutaro, Delmon Young, Mike Napoli, David Freese, and Jeff Suppan. Will Middlebrooks is a good pick to be that guy for the Red Sox. If I had to choose one guy on each team that I think could be a surprise hero it would be:

Boston: Middlebrooks
Tampa: Alex Cobb
Detroit: Drew Smyly
Cleveland: Danny Salazar
Oakland: Brandon Moss
Atlanta: Julio Teheran
St. Louis: Michael Wacha
Pittsburgh: Gerrit Cole
Cincinnati: Tony Cingrani
Los Angeles: Juan Uribe

If Cole steps up big, it would not surprise me at all. In fact, I expect it. He's been pitching well since being called up, but his last few starts have been something special to watch. He's working in his secondary stuff, and his secondary stuff is working over hitters, and it's making his fastball that much more effective in the process.

I would amend the Pirates pick to Pedro Alvarez. He's not been great since the break, but a lot of that has been really horrible luck, and his power is huge, so he always has a chance to get on a hot streak.

Frazier is my pick for the Reds. If Ethier gets healthy, he's my pick for the Dodgers. Him or Young. I hate Uribe too much to agree with that pick, even if that's a completely irrational argument. If Danny Salazar has a big impact, I wouldn't be surprised, so I'll go with Giambi from the Indians. Salazar has nasty, nasty stuff, including a majestic split-change, and Giambi's old, but I think he's still got something in the tank for some October baseball.

Everyone else I either agree with or simply can't think of a better candidate.

 

[ugafan6612]

If they could at least make it past the first round, I would be happy. It would be the their first NLCS since 2001. If they could make the World Series, I would be thrilled (even if they don't win...but if they do, obviously that would be awesome). Braves are playing really bad right now and the Cardinals look the best out of any NL playoff team.

Cards always look good in the playoffs which pisses me off.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

Cards always look good in the playoffs which pisses me off.

Dodgers took the Cards out a couple years ago.

 

[Sportsguy9695]

Im really rooting for the Pirates and Indians. They both will be great stories if they make it to the world series

 

[ImSmartherThanYou]

Middlebrooks is worth watching, but Dustin Pedroia is even more so.

Hustles EVERY inning of every game and plays as soundly as anyone in the process. Makes at least one Gold-Glove caliber fielding play per game and sometimes more than 1 in a single inning. Great candidate to become Red Sox Team Captain when David Ortiz retires.

You think I'm unaware of Dustin Pedroia? You think I've never seen him?

That wasn't the point of my post or the point of this whole thread. The point of my post was choosing one player from each team I think could be an unlikely postseason star.

 

[Villain]

Dodgers took the Cards out a couple years ago.

Then they turned around and won the World Series two years later.