2022 MLB Championship Series Preview

New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros

They were on the brink of being eliminated in 4 games by the Cleveland Guardians in the Division Series. Thanks in large part to Gerrit Cole who pitched 7 innings for the Yankees in Game 4 that was avoided. Cole struck out 16 batters in his two starts for the series with a 2.03 ERA thus earning his salary. Nestor Cortes in his two starts had a 2.70 ERA and Clay Holmes didn’t allow a run out of the bullpen in his 4 appearances. The bats were alive and well with Giancarlo Stanton leading the way with 6 RBI and half of those coming from a 3-run HR in Game 5. Anthony Rizzo batted .294 with 4 RBI and Harrison Bader had 3 home runs and batted a respectable .267. Aaron Judge didn’t have a great series, but his presence was felt with him getting 2 home runs. If New York wants to return to the World Series, their pitching staff will need to be near perfect the rest of the way.

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Week 5 Review of the NFL

An Actual Must See Game In The NFC East?

I’ve said for many years now that the NFC East is a Jekyll and Hyde division. I never know which version of the four teams will show up in a given week. Dare I say that may be changing now with the way the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles have been playing this year. For Dallas they are winning games without their star quarterback Dak Prescott. Backup QB Cooper Rush has been solid and the Cowboys’ defense has been among the best in the league. Their dominance was on full display against the Los Angeles Rams this past week, but their biggest test will come against the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night. Not to mention the New York Giants are 4-1, but I’m not quite there with saying they’re contenders just yet. Assuming the Cowboys-Eagles matchup next week lives up to the hype, this will shape the hierarchy for the NFC the rest of the season.

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2022 MLB Division Series Preview

American League Division Series

1. Houston Astros vs. 5. Seattle Mariners

The strength of the Astros starts with their lineup, but they have a bevy of arms at their disposal for the rotation and bullpen. Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez and Christian Javier each struck out at least 185 batters during the season. Their bullpen has been solid at the back end with Ryan Pressly saving 33 games and having a 0.89 WHIP. Rafael Montero had 14 saves with a 2.37 ERA. Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman were the run producers for Houston with each of them driving in at least 93 on the year. Jose Altuve was his usual self getting on base consistently scoring 103 runs. If Jeremy Pena can add some extra pop or likewise deadline acquisitions Trey Mancini and Christian Vazquez, Houston will be in a good position for another ALCS appearance.

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Week 4 Review of the NFL

Baltimore, You Have A Problem

In today’s NFL, you are bound to blow a significant lead in at least one game. When you do it in two of your first four games, that isn’t a good sign. Granted when Baltimore blew their 21-point lead against Miami in Week 2 it was worse in that it happened in the 4th quarter. With the latest one coming against Buffalo it was slow and meticulous and it started before halftime. QB Lamar Jackson had a terrible performance and his last pass of the game was everything you’re not supposed to do as a quarterback in the NFL. The receiver was open in the back of the end zone, but Lamar doesn’t rollout to his right and rather back peddles and throws off his back foot. This gave time to the Bills defender to close the gap and intercept the pass. Buffalo would go on to drive the length of the field for the eventual game winning field goal. This one is going to sting for a while and that doesn’t bode well for this team. Also what makes these blown leads worse is that both of them happened at home.

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2022 Wild Card Series Preview

American League Wild Card Series

3. Cleveland Guardians vs. 6. Tampa Bay Rays

The one constant for the Rays the past decade has been a pitching staff that has plenty of depth and is the main reason they are Postseason participants. That is no different this year as their rotation is as strong as its ever been with Shane McClanahan as their ace. Tyler Glasnow has returned from Tommy John surgery and could be that extra spark to make a deep run. Jason Adam has been a force in the bullpen this year and with the return of Pete Fairbanks that only adds to their arsenal. Randy Arozarena had a fantastic run in September and his Postseason heroics of 2020 weren’t that long ago. Expect him to make some noise again. There needs to be more from the lineup if they want to play in the Division Series. Could that be Wander Franco with his return from injury?

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