With Detroit’s Game 5 victory in Oakland last night, the League Championship Series’ are set. Boston vs. the Tigers, and the LA Dodgers vs. St. Louis.

How did the ’13 O’s compare vs. these teams?

(You can discuss this post on the BSL Board here.)

Baltimore
:
5th Runs
10th Batting Average
19th On-Base %
3rd Slugging %
23rd ERA
24th Quality Starts
20th WHIP
24th Batting Average Against
10th Defensive Efficiency

Boston:
1st Runs
2nd Batting Average
1st On-Base %
1st Slugging %
14th ERA
3rd Quality Starts
15th WHIP
10th Batting Average Against
17th Defensive Efficiency

Detroit:
2nd Runs
1st Batting Average
2nd On-Base %
2nd Slugging %
9th ERA
1st Quality Starts
9th WHIP
8th Batting Average Against
27th Defensive Efficiency

LA Dodgers:
17th Runs
6th Batting Average
9th On-Base %
15th Slugging %
2nd ERA
7th Quality Starts
6th WHIP
5th Batting Average Against
9th Defensive Efficiency

St. Louis:
3rd Runs
4th Batting Average
3rd On-Base %
12th Slugging %
5th ERA
13th Quality Starts
8th WHIP
12th Batting Average Against
21st Defensive Efficiency

Starting Rotations:
Baltimore – Tillman, Chen, Gonzalez, Norris, Feldman
Boston – Lester, Dempster, Lackey, Buchholz, Peavy
Detroit – Scherzer, Verlander, Sanchez, Fister, Porcello
LA Dodgers – Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, Nolasco, Capuano
St. Louis – Wainwright, Lynn, Miller, Kelly, Wacha  (Carpenter, Garcia)

Bullpens:
Baltimore – Johnson, O’Day, Hunter, Matusz, Rodriguez, Patton, McFarland
Boston – Uehara, Tazawa, Thornton, Morales, Breslow, Workman, Doubront
Detroit –  Benoit, Alburquerque, Veras, Smyly, Rondon, Bonderman, Putkonen
LA Dodgers – Jansen, League, Belisario, Marmol, Howell, Wilson, Rodriguez
St. Louis – Mujica, Rosenthal, Axford, Choate, Maness, Siegrist, Martinez (Motte)

1st:
Baltimore – Davis
Boston – Napoli
Detroit – Fielder
LA Dodgers – Gonzalez
St. Louis – Craig*  (*Craig is off the NLCS roster with a foot injury. Adams is the current starter.)

2nd:
Baltimore – Roberts
Boston – Pedroia
Detroit – Infante
LA Dodgers – Ellis
St. Louis – Carpenter

SS:
Baltimore – Hardy
Boston – Drew
Detroit – Iglesias
LA Dodgers – Ramirez
St. Louis – Kozma

3rd:
Baltimore – Machado
Boston – Middlebrooks
Detroit – Cabrera
LA Dodgers – Uribe
St. Louis – Freese

Catcher:
Baltimore – Wieters
Boston – Saltalamacchia
Detroit – Avila
LA Dodgers – Ellis
St. Louis – Molina

Starting OF:
Baltimore – McLouth, Jones, Markakis
Boston – Nava, Ellsbury, Victorino
Detroit – Dirks, Jackson, Hunter
LA Dodgers – Crawford, Ethier, Puig
St. Louis – Holliday, Jay, Beltran

DH/Bench:
Baltimore – Morse, Snyder, Valencia, Flaherty, Casilla
Boston – Ortiz, Ross, Gomes, Carp, Berry, Bogaerts
Detroit – Martinez, Pena, Santiago, Perez, Kelly, Tuiasosopo
LA Dodgers – Young, Federowicz, Punto, Gordon, Hairston Jr, Van Slyke
St. Louis – Adams, Cruz, Carpenter, Wong, Descalso, Robinson, Peterson

When you look at the numbers and rosters above, what stands out to you? For me, I note the following:

1)  It has been stated repeatedly by us, and everyone else; the O’s on-base % has to improve.

2) These were some of the best offenses in the game, with LA drastically improving once Puig became part of their lineup.

3) If the O’s are going to win with this basic core of players, they need to obtain a front-line starter, or hope that Gausman / Bundy (Bundy being unlikely to touch a Minor League mound until after June next year, meaning the odds of  him reaching the Majors by next September are limited) ascend to those heights over the next 2 years.

4) By measure of defensive efficiency, only the Dodgers would be considered a good defensive team based on those still playing.

5) The O’s everyday lineup has comparable talent.

6) Baltimore’s 2013 payroll was comparable or higher than several Playoff teams this year, but drastically trails the average salary of these four teams.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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