The playoffs are set to start this weekend in the 1994 season, and do we have some outstanding matchups, a couple series that if they don't make it to a game five will be very disappointing. So going into this weekend, and the next week I will be looking to hammer through these playoffs. I made a personal schedule so I can keep tabs on pitcher tiring, especially the relievers. Every team has a 25 man roster, which for the post season, rotations will go from 5 to 4 man rotations, allowing the 5th starter to slide into a bullpen role. If a bullpen pitcher goes over their IP they will need however many days off for how many IP they go over. Say a 1ip throws 3 innings, he will need 2 days off before he is eligible to pitch again. The only way he could pitch is if every pitcher on the roster has already been used, in that case he will now be a -1IP while entering the game. Lets get into these outstanding matchups, I will be creating a thread in the discord for the playoffs so anyone that wants to follow along will be able to see where to access it.
I made a slide show for a potential podcast but the stars wouldn't align, so I figured I would share the opening slide anyways.
The series of powerhouse offenses in the playoffs. These teams rank high in all the offensive categories, and the pitching is a weakness for both teams. This leads me to believe games will be ending with a combined total of over 10 runs in most games. The bullpens for the teams aren't bad at all, but can they get what they need from their starters to slow down these prolific offenses?
Yanks are led by 11 OB Paul O'Neil but it isn't just him. the lineup all the way through will be very tough to beat.
Jimmy Key is the Ace of this Yankees staff, and is the only starter in the rotation that is above a 3 control, the low controls of the Yankees against the high OB of Cleveland can lead to some traffic on the base paths, but it is a problem that both teams will be trying to figure out in this series.
Kenny Lofton put up some outstanding numbers in this season, stealing very often, and he won't be slowing down in this series, were a year early before he stole home from second base on a wild pitch, but he will be the spark for Cleveland's offense.
Dennis Martinez is leading this rotation, and their bullpen is not a deep as New York's so they will be relying on inning from the starting pitching to keep them out of trouble late in games.
On paper this looks very positive for the White Sox going into this series. The dice still have to be rolled though and as many know, it means nothing until that dice start bouncing. Frank Thomas was an absolute monster this season, and I feel like he will add to that in this post season.
As mentioned above Frank Thomas had a stupid season. Julio Franco also had an incredibly good season, and provides the protection in the order to not allow teams to pitch around Frank.
Can a 3 control lead a team to the promise land? Were going to find out if Jack McDowell can do that, the white sox have two control 3 tier 3 pitchers and a control 5 tier 3 in that rotation, the tier 3s will be plenty on watch in the playoffs as it looks like every team is filled with them.
The Athletics dealt with a ton of injuries, and low played game totals from their star players, but they all seem healthy heading into the playoffs, will Big Mac and Rickey Henderson start something special out in the Bay?
Ron Darling was a member of the 86 mets, looking to lead this Athletics team to another World Series, he will look to uplift the young growing stars and upset the heavily favored White Sox. Pitching is also not in their favor for this series, and it will be interesting to see if Oakland can even take a game.
Team Rosters:
The Series that I feel will be the best series of the opening round, and heavily gives me 2021 Giants vs Dodgers feels. Both teams can hit and both teams can pitch, the Braves have the best starter in the playoffs, and will any team be able to steal a game when he is pitching. If so the Reds have a shot in the series, but winning a game against Greg Maddux seems like a key to success.
Kevin Mitchell is an absolute stud and he's surrounded by speed, the Reds can have up to 5 speed As in their starting lineup which gives plenty of runs for Mitchell to knock in. I love the thought of Deion Sanders becoming a postseason star, lets put Prime Time on Prime Time on the MLB stage.
Reds bring a full rotation of Tier 3 starters, a good spot to start the game with, and feature a really strong bullpen as well. They have depth to go deep into games, and in most matchups look like the better pitchers, this is where they will be outmatched in this series though.
Crime Dog has an awesome chart, he will be a solid middle of the order hitter, supported by David Justice and Ryan Klesko. Chipper Jones missed the season with an injury, but a lot of pop in this batting order will make Reds mistakes their gains.
This pitchign staff is vicious. Greg Maddux is a better 2001 Pedro, and is supported by 4 other 460+ point starters in this rotation, one of them will be moving to the bullpen to pull spot duty if they need, which is a terrifying thought. The bullpen is full of tier 4 relievers and the the craziest long reliever card I have ever seen in Brad Woodall (I highly recommend pulling his 1994 card into the showdown bot) He only pitched 1 game and 6 IP that season, but he was the last player available for that team.
Team Rosters:
The Cinderella story of this season the Montreal Expos take on the San Francisco Giants, who bring in a very good pitching staff as well. This series can be very good as well, and I can see the games being very low scoring.
Larry Walker is ready for the post season and his partner in crime is Moises Alou. These two players will look to carry the offense for this team while they have many other players that can make some noise, these two players will be the key for that offense.
Pedro has arrived and is another budding superstar the league is about to be introduced to. A great rotation and a good bullpen that should shorten games and let me get it out there now, MY pick to win the National League!!!
All you need to know about this team is Barry Bonds and Matt Williams, because after them there is only 1 other player over 200 points and the rest of the batters are under 200 points.
A full tier 3 rotation, led by John Burkett and Bill Swift and a stacked bullpen looking to bail any of the starters out of trouble. I like to think the Giants will make this an interesting series, but their lack of depth on the batting side scares me against this Expos team.
Team Rosters:
Prediction Time: I haven't played any games yet, so I can get this out there now on my thoughts!
ALDS :
Cleveland over Yankees in 5
White Sox over Athletics in 3 SWEEP
NLDS:
Braves over Reds in 4
Expos over Giants in 4
ALCS:
White Sox over Cleveland in 6
NLCS:
Expos over Braves in 7
World Series:
White Sox over Expos in 7
WS MVP Frank Thomas
Can not wait until I get to see how wrong the dice will make me look with these projections.
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