American League Championship Series

New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers

Hitting: The Yankees looked pretty impressive in their sweep of the Minnesota Twins in the Division Series.  Only one starter batted under .250 and that was Brett Gardner (.200).  Curtis Granderson was everything the Yankees needed for the back end of their lineup batting .455 and driving in 3 runs.  The Yankees will need to get more production out of Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez to move on.  Jeter (.286) and A-Rod (.273) had sub par averages and combined to drive in only 2 runs and struck out 5 times.  New York was fortunate that the Minnesota Twins didn’t put up much of a fight.
The Texas Rangers showed no signs of wilting under pressure in their series with Tampa Bay.  Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz provided the pop combining for 6 HR and 9 RBI against the Rays.  That helped a whole lot as Josh Hamilton struggled to find a groove.  Hamilton will need to wake up for the Championship Series if the Rangers are to have a more consistent attack against the Yankees.  Vlad Guerrero and Michael Young will need to be more active.  Elvis Andrus had a good start to the postseason, but will need to put even more pressure on the Yankees defense than he did with Tampa Bay.
Edge goes to New York

Pitching: It’s amazing that the Yankees can still get the kind of production out of Andy Pettitte year in and year out in the postseason.  Him and Phil Hughes went 7 innings in their starts and both were phenomenal.  C.C. Sabathia will have to earn his paycheck in the Championship Series against Texas.  He won’t have to face off against his former Cleveland Indians teammate Cliff Lee, but he will need to have a bounce back series.
Texas probably won’t have Cliff Lee pitch in three games if it goes seven games, but they will have a better chance knowing they have him in their rotation.  C.J. Wilson was brilliant in his only start against Tampa Bay.  He will have to continue that success and challenge the Yankees hitters.  The Rangers don’t have the strongest bullpen.  Considering they don’t have Mariano Rivera, but they have better setup options than the Yankees.
Edge goes to Texas

Outcome: Two of the best hitting teams all year will square off.  They both have some great pitchers as well.  Ultimately it will come down to who has the better starting pitching.  Cliff Lee and C.J. Wilson vs. C.C. Sabathia and Andy Pettitte.  That is where the eyes should be.  There is plenty to see with the offense, but who has the better pitching will be key.  The lower ERA goes to the victor.

Yankees in 6 games

National League Championship Series

San Francisco Giants vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Hitting: Not surprisingly the Giants as a team batted .212.  But what was surprising is how clutch some of their hitters were against the Atlanta Braves.  Buster Posey, Cody Ross and Aubrey Huff will have to continue to show up in clutch situations for the Giants.  They didn’t get much out of Juan Uribe, Andres Torres and Pat Burrell.  All three were integral parts of the success during the season.  The Giants will have to score runs to help their pitching staff.
The Phillies hitting was a surprise batting only .212, the same as the Giants.  Chase Utley was the only one to hit a home run.  Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez along with Utley were the most consistent hitters.  They will have to continue that trend.  The magic needs to come from Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins in a big way.  Both set the tone on the base paths and put constant pressure on the defense.  The big key is Jayson Werth.  He will need let his presence show the rest of the postseason.
Edge goes to Philadelphia

Pitching: The Giants got a complete game two-hitter out of Tim Lincecum in his first postseason start.  He added 14 strikeouts in that start.  Matt Cain played up to par with 6 strikeouts in his only start.  Jonathan Sanchez struck out 11 and dismantled the Braves in his start in Game 3.  The Giants bullpen was superb with Brian Wilson doing his job and closing out the crucial wins.  All in all the Giants have the arms to shutdown the Phillies bats, but time will tell if they can sustain it for a 7-game series.
The Phillies had a no-hitter thrown by Roy Halladay in his first postseason start.  Only the second time that ever happened.  Roy Oswalt didn’t have a great start, but the Phillies bullpen backed him up.  Cole Hamels pitched a 5-hit shutout to complete the sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.  The Phillies still have Brad Lidge, who is second all time in postseason saves as their closer.  Should it come down to that the Phillies are in good shape.
Edge goes to Philadelphia

Outcome: While the American League will have a focus on the pitching staffs of both teams, the National League will have a focus on the hitting.  Both teams will have to bat better than .212 if they expect to win the World Series.  The Giants aren’t expected to have the big bats, but if they should have a better showing against the Phillies pitchers they will be the victors.  The same goes for Philadelphia’s bats if they can hit the Giants pitchers.  The highest batting average goes to the victor.

Phillies in 5 games