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2009 MLB Playoffs AL Championship Series Predictions
Published by JM Van Horn on October 15, 2009
The 2009 American League Championship Series will feature the power hitting New York Yankees versus the pesky Los Angeles Angels to see who earns a trip to the World Series.
The Yankees are back in the playoffs thanks and looking to add to their collection of World Series rings. Leading the way is the team leader and present day Yankee icon, Derek Jeter.
During the 2009 ALDS against the Twins, Jeter managed a .400 batting average with 4 runs, 1 homerun, and 2 RBI’s while not recording a single strikeout.
Alex Rodriguez has started to live up to his potential during the playoffs. In the ALDS, he had a .455 batting average with 2 homeruns and 6 RBI’s.
The only question is will he be able to keep this up or revert back to his 2007 form where he hit .267 with 1 homerun and 1 RBI in 15 at bats.
Yankee fans have to be concerned with the performance of players like Johnny Damon, Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera only managed 6 hits in 48 at bats against the Twins. If this group does not improve upon their .125 batting average it is going to be a long series.
Manager Joe Giradi has decided to lay it all out there against the Angels by going with a three man rotation in the best of seven series. Cy Young candidate CC Sabathia will start the series and has the chance to be on the mound three times in the ALCS.
Sabathia shook off his post season demons against the Twins when he pitched 6.2 innings and allowed only 1 earned run while striking out 8.
The Angeles were also able to overcome their past and sweep the Boston Red Sox right out of the playoffs. Manager Mike Scioscia will need to pull out all of the tricks out of his bag to help knock off the team with the best record in baseball.
During the ALDS against the Red Sox, Vladimir Guerrero snapped out of his post season funk by hitting .400 including the game winning single to advance them to the next level.
Several regular season stars experienced major slumps during the series with the Red Sox. Tori Hunter struggled at times; hitting .200 though he did manage 1 homerun and 3 RBI’s in the series.
Their spark plug, Chone Figgins was atrocious during the ALDS where he had zero hits while striking out six times.
The Angels’ success relies upon their pitching staff led by John Lackey who was dominant in his one appearance against the Red Sox. Lackey allowed no runs in 7.1 innings of work while striking out 4 batters.
Jered Weaver followed that up by allowing only one earned run with a 7 strikeout performance in 7 plus innings of work.
The key factor in determining the outcome of this series will be the effectiveness of the starting pitchers. The Yankees seem to replacing all of their eggs in one basket in this series and the odds are not stacked in their favor.
They will need AJ Burnett or Andy Petite to repeat their performance from the ALDS where they only have up one earned run in at least six innings of work.
The key to the pitching staff will be Joe Saunders who did not need to make an appearance during the ALDS. During the season Saundera had a 16-7 record with a 4.60 ERA in 186 innings of work while striking out 101 batters.
If the Angels can get Saunders to continue his regular season performance, then they will be able to advance to the World Series
This Yankees and Angels will play each other tough and force the series to go the distance. Look for the Angels to knock off the Bronx Bombers and earn a trip to play for the championship.
Prediction – Angels Win Series in 7 Games
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Tagged with: 2009 ALCS, 2009 MLB Playoffs, AJ Burnett, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Petite, CC Sabathia, Chone Figgins, Derek Jeter, JM Van Horn, Joe Saunders, John Lackey, Los Angeles Angels, Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees, Tori Hunter, Vladimir Guerrero
