Rays versus Phillies
Catcher: Ruiz vs. Navarro. Ruiz is a good defensive catcher but does not have much of a bat. Navarro is good defensively and offers a little more with the bat. Edge: Rays
First Base: Howard vs Pena. Both are power lefties who strike out a lot and have OK batting averages. Pena is better defensively but not by much. Howard is a former MVP and has more pop than Pena. Edge: Even
Second Base: Utley vs. Iwamura. Iwamura is a scrappy player and is very good defensively. He also is a pretty good lead off hitter. Utley is one of the best, if not the best second baseman in the majors. He is good defensively but has a great bat for a second baseman. Edge: Phillies
Shortstop: Rollins vs. Bartlett. Bartlett plays great defense and is a very important part of the Rays success this year. When he was out with a minor injury this year, the Rays played below .500 ball. Rollins though is another former MVP and is a top notch shortstop. Edge: Phillies
Third Base: Feliz vs. Longoria. Feliz is an OK third baseman. Play adequate defense and has a decent bat. Longoria is a star in the making. Besides the fact whenever I hear his name I think of Eva Longoria, he plays amazing defense and has a very good bat for a young hitter. Edge: Rays
Outfield: Burrell, Victorino, Werth vs. Crawford, Upton, Gross/Perez. I do not want to go position by position so I will lump the whole outfield. In Left field it is a push between Burrell and Crawford. Burrell has more power, Crawford provides the speed. In Centerfield Upton play gold glove defense while Victorino is a good all around centerfielder. Slight edge to the Rays. In right field, Werth had a good year with the bat and is ok defensively. Gross and Perez are adequate but not everyday players. Slight Edge to the Phillies. Overall the outfield is a push. Better bats for the Phillies, better defense and speed for the Rays.
Starting pitching: The Rays have a better starting 4. Garza, Sheilds, Kazmir and Sonnastine are better than Myers, Moyer, Hamels and Banton. It is not a huge egde but the edge here has to go to the Rays.
Relievers: The Rays have better setup men but no closer. The Phillies have a closer but not as good setup men. I am also worried about Lidge mentally in a big spot. Edge: Even
Bench: I do not know a lot about the benches for these teams but usually a NL team has a better bench because they do not have a DH. But when playing in an AL ballpark the NL has a disadvantage because they do not have a DH like the Rays do with Cliff Floyd. Since the AL has home field advantage, I give a slight advantage to the Rays.
Managers: Both managers have proven to be successful. Neither manager is much better than the other. Both have experience with their ballclubs, first time for both in the worls series as managers, both are not household names. Edge: Even
Sum up of the numbers:
Edge to Rays: 3
Edge to Phillies: 3
Even: 4
After comparing the teams I still stick with my Rays in 6 prediction because I think they have played against better teams all year although I think it is a much more even matchup than I thought yesterday.
You never know with baseball and what teams look like on paper means nothing, that is why they play the games. These playoffs are waaaaaaay too long.
