MLB.com's Position by Position Analysis

[backwardsk]

Add to that the fact that they're discounting Caleb Joseph because he "only" threw out 23 runners. Never mind the fact that he only caught in 78 games. Caleb threw out 40% of basestealers...to Avila's 34%.

I don't really care that they're giving advantage the Tigers, but the article and most of the reasoning is pretty silly stuff. I mean Torri Hunter over Nick Markakis? Markakis is clearly the better overall player. They're reasoning seemed to be that Hunter hit over 300 in September and the fact that he's played in the postseason before...WTF.

Also guys don't run on Tillman and the Tigers may have lost 45 of their 106 steals without Jackson and possibly Rajai Davis.

[weams]

How do you quantify Orioles magic and how it will affect the series ?.

[weams]

Also guys don't run on Tillman and the Tigers may have lost 45 of their 106 steals without Jackson and possibly Rajai Davis.

Don't let fact get in the way. Seriously.

[weams]

... possibly Rajai Davis.

Grade one pelvic strain

This strain is usually curable within 2 to 6 weeks if treated appropriately with conservative treatment and resting of the affected area.

[backwardsk]

Grade one pelvic strain

That would mean a hell of a lot of rainouts for that 2-6 week timetable.

[Old#5fan]

This is no surprise to me as I clearly observed and posted a thread about Detroit's clear superiority over the Os talent wise in man per man comparisons. One big reason why they unfortunately dominated the O's in the regular season. I see little reason to expect a different outcome in a playoff series. Just too much of a talent advantage to Detroit.

[weams]

This is no surprise to me as I clearly observed and posted a thread about Detroit's clear superiority over the Os talent wise in man per man comparisons. One big reason why they unfortunately dominated the O's in the regular season. I see little reason to expect a different outcome in a playoff series. Just too much of a talent advantage to Detroit.

See, we agree on this. You are totally on the Motown Love Train.

[Yardball85]

From ALDS predictionhttp://atmlb.com/1rA1a3V

What a complete joke!!!

Nathan > Britton? Britton has an ERA almost one third of Nathan's and has been worth 0.9 more WAR (huge difference for relievers).

Hunter > Markakis? Markakis has been worth 2.2 more WAR than Hunter this season. They note playoff experience as the main factor even though...

Martinez > Cruz? Martinez is better than Cruz, but the gap is much smaller than the one between Hunter and Markakis. Yet Cruz is a playoff monster. But nope. Going off regular season stats on this one apparently!

Castellanos > Flaherty/Johnson? Castellanos has been worth -0.3 WAR this season. He's terrible. Johnson and Flaherty have been worth 0.8 and 0.9 more WAR this season than Castellanos in half the playing time.

Cabrera > Pearce? Pearce has been a much better hitter and fielder than Cabrera this season.

Tigers Rotation > Orioles Rotation? Orioles rotation ERA is 3.61 compared to 3.90 ERA for Detroit. So now they are using WAR instead of traditional stats (ERA) to decide who is better...

Overall the Tigers are only better at 2B, LF, and DH. Catcher is pretty even. Left field and DH are very close too factoring in De Aza's and Martinez's defense. The Orioles are significantly better at 3B, SS, CF, RF, in the bullpen and managerial wise. Pearce has also out hit Cabrera all year. And their starters have the names but ours have a better ERA. The Tigers are a scary matchup but the Orioles are a better team.

Orioles will take this series!

Right, that's what I've been saying. Wherever the Tigers win, it is by an eyelash. However, for us, Jones crushes Carrera/Davis, Hardy beats Romine at SS pretty soundly, and our pen crushes their's.

For them, V-Mart barely beats Cruz, Castellanos should be a wash with our guys at 3B, Markakis/Hunter is a wash (or Markakis), C is them but Avila is nothing special, and rotation comes down to postseason experience vs. what have you done for me lately.

Manager is another that goes to the O's by a landslide.

[larrytt]

The analysis on the starting pitching is complete nonsense. They even use the Tiger Cy Young award winners from past seasons as the primary reason the Tigers have better starters. Perhaps I'm a bit confused, but we're playing the playoffs this next week, not in some past season, so perhaps the way to judge how the starting pitching is NOW would be to judge how they are pitching NOW? (I've bolded the Oriole starters.)

ERA SINCE ALLSTAR BREAK

Gonzalez 2.19

Tillman 2.33

Chen 2.76

Scherzer 2.87

Norris 3.22

Porcello 3.48

Price 3.59

Gausman 3.72

Verlander 3.97

Lobstein 4.35

ERA in SEPTEMBER

Gonzalez 1.69

Chen 2.05

Norris 2.08

Scherzer 2.48

Gausman 2.87

Price 3.00

Tillman 3.23

Verlander 3.89

Lobstein 4.88

Percello 6.20

The analysis on the closers is also utter nonsense. Nathan had a 4.81 ERA to Britton's 1.65. Nathan saved 35 out of 42 (83.3%) to Britton's 37 out of 41 (90.2%). Nathan's WHIP: 1.53, to Britton's 0.90. And they say advantage Tigers? Are they insane?

[JayThomas]

How do you quantify Orioles magic and how it will affect the series ?.

Simple. It means we WIN ALL THE GAMES!

[ExileAngelos]

This is no surprise to me as I clearly observed and posted a thread about Detroit's clear superiority over the Os talent wise in man per man comparisons. One big reason why they unfortunately dominated the O's in the regular season. I see little reason to expect a different outcome in a playoff series. Just too much of a talent advantage to Detroit.

If they are so much more talented then how did we manage to win so many more games than they did? Please explain.

[JayThomas]

If they are so much more talented then how did we manage to win so many more games than they did? Please explain.

Winning isn't transitive. They beat us straight up. Just ask Old#5fan