| Jonathan Rosenbluth. 3rd October, 2007 - 1:48 pm
 ANGELS vs. RED SOX
Players to watch:
ANGELS
Vladimir Guerrero has had a great season yet again, but he has been hampered by recent injuries. This will force him to DH and maybe even to miss a game or more. Without Guerrero the Angels’ lineup looks weak in comparison to the Red Sox line up. Vlad makes this team go. Nevertheless, he has a tendency to swing at bad pitches out of the strike zone and the Red Sox veteran pitchers will look to take advantage of that. It will be key for Guerrero to lay off the junk.
RED SOX
Mike Lowell is the most underrated player on this Red Sox ball club. As much as Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz hit the highlight reel home runs, Lowell has consistently been the engine that keeps this team going. Lowell is both a contact and power hitter and if he gets hot the Red Sox will feed off his energy.
Strengths:
ANGELS
The Angels’ strength lies in their speed. The Halos were third in the league in stolen bases and their offense relies heavily on the ability of players to get themselves into scoring position. Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek does not have the best arm behind the plate and the Angels will need to take advantage of that to be successful.
RED SOX
The Red Sox starting pitching had the second best ERA in the majors this season, and their starters had the most combined wins out of any team. The Red Sox starters have big game experience and playing playoff baseball will not get them off their game.
Weakness:
ANGELS
The Angels’ problems lie in the pitching woes of Kelvim Escobar and in their lack of power. After pitching fantastically for the first five months of the season Escobar was horrendous in the month of September, in which he had a 7.99 ERA and averaged only 4.64 Innings pitched per start. If Escobar pitches like he has as of late, this series could be over fast.
The Angel offense was ranked 18th in total home runs this season and had the third most at bats per homer run. They will need more power if they want to contend with the high octane Red Sox offense.
RED SOX
If the Red Sox fall, fatigue will probably be at the root of their problem. After pitching great for most of the season Dice-K struggled in August and September (although he had a great last outing against the Twins). In September there were rumours that Dice-K was fatigued. In addition to this problem, Hideki Okajima, another Japanese rookie phenom for the Red Sox has only pitched twice since September 14th. He was given time off because of fatigue. The Red Sox need these ‘rookies’ to be able to go all out as they are facing a top quality pitching staff in the Angels.
Uh-oh! - Angel ace John Lackey is a career 1-5 pitcher with a 7.09 ERA at Fenway Park.
Overview:
Even with a healthy Vladimir Guerrero the Angels hitting is significantly weaker than that of the Red Sox. John Lackey’s lack of success in Fenway Park and Kelvim Escobar’s horrible pitching of late will prove to hurt the Angels, as they can’t compete in a slugfest with the Red Sox. Overall the Red Sox are a much better team and this series will be a repeat of the 2004 ALDS with the Red Sox bringing the Angels back down to Earth as they sweep the Halos.
RED SOX WIN SERIES 3-0
|
