MLB playoffs feature some formidable pitching
Jeff Moses
America’s Pastime, baseball, has been going through a makeover of sorts for the last five years. Gone, it seems, are the burley sluggers who belted 450 footers in great quantity; over the horizon is a new dead ball age where the bunt, the steal and the sac fly are your weapons and the pitcher reigns supreme.
The seasonal stats may look as if sluggers are still in with Jose Bautista’s gaudy 54 home runs, and Albert Pujols and Joey Votto’s staggering power numbers, but look around the playoffs.
Both in the National League and American League the Championship series are littered with strong-armed aces that dominate the opposing hitters.
The Phillies rode into the playoffs on the arms of their H2O pitching staff with 2008 World Series hero Cole Hamels, who was the first pitcher to throw a no hitter in the playoffs since 1959 Roy Halladay, and savvy former Cy Young Award winner Roy Oswalt.
On the other side of the NL matchup is the San Francisco Giants, whose staff marched into the playoffs with the second lowest ERA in the majors, the second best WHIP in the majors and the most strike outs per nine innings.
Not to mention, the Giants also have two-time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum, arguably the best number two pitcher in the majors in Matt Cain and former Cy Young winner Barry Zito.
As good as the National League pitching is when it comes to playoff time, the American League boasts an equally impressive resume. The New York Yankees found that hitting wasn’t enough in 2008 when they missed the playoffs in their last year at Yankee stadium, so they revamped their pitching staff and brought in arguably the best power pitcher in the league, CC Sabathia, Marlins ace AJ Burnett and the young and apt Phil Hughes.
Those three, along with the legendary Mariano Rivera at closer, create one of the most fearsome staffs in recent memory – one that was thought to be primed to repeat in the World Series before their loss to the Rangers.
Rounding out the Championship series were the Texas Rangers. Before 2010, the Rangers had never won a single playoff series.
Now, with the addition of stellar playoff ace Cliff Lee, they find themselves in the franchise’s first World Series.
With all the young up-and-comers and savvy veterans pitching today, it will be a long time before we see our next Barry Bonds.
