World Series Preview

Before the first pitch is thrown on Wednesday night in San Francisco, I felt it was appropriate for me to post my own World Series Preview to get us all ready for what will unfold over the next week and a half.  I will introduce you to the Giants and the way they have been playing ball to get this far, hit a few points of interest from the Rangers side of things, and wrap it up with a few discussion questions for us to tackle in the comments.

The Giants have been to the Fall Classic twice since moving to San Francisco, having lost to the Angels in 2002 and to the A's in the Earthquake Series of 1989.  (Just noticed those are both AL West teams...nice omen.)  They won the NL West this year by beating the San Diego Padres on the last day of the season.  So they have been in playoff mode for most of the season, having to run down the Padres from an almost double digit lead at one point.  The Giants ousted Bobby Cox and the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS, then Saturday night they upset the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS.

The Giants are led by their pitching staff, while their offense has done just enough to grind a few runs across to give them some wins.  Their ace, Tim Lincecum, has already won 2 Cy Young awards at a young age.  Fellow righthander Matt Cain is not as heralded, but can be just as good at putting zeroes on the scoreboard.  Lefties Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner (yikes, what a name) round out their playoff rotation, but the righthanders are the key to San Fran's success.

Their bullpen is pretty strong and capped off by closer Brian Wilson.  No, he's not the guy from the Beach Boys.  You've probably seen him already in the playoffs.  He's the quirky guy with the funky jet black pirate beard and mohawk.  He can be shaky at times, but at other times he can be lights out dominant.

The lineup is pieced together with many guys who have paid their dues in other organizations, like 1B Aubrey Huff, SS/3B Juan Uribe, SS Edgar Renteria, CF Andres Torres, 2B Freddy Sanchez, and OF Cody Ross.  Their one home grown talent is their rookie catcher Buster Posey.  He came up mid-season and did so well that the Giants traded Bengie Molina to the Rangers to make room for him behind the plate.  (More on Molina later.)

San Francisco's ballpark plays big, and works in favor of their pitchers.  The left center and right center alleys are triple trouble, and homeruns over the wall in right field can land in McCovey Cove, though it doesn't happen as often now since Barry Bonds is retired.  The Giants offense is more like what the Rangers faced with the Rays than with the Yankees.  They have guys with homerun power, including Ross and Uribe who have hit clutch homers this month, but they will mostly beat you with stringing a few hits together and taking advantage of any mistakes made by the defense.  If the Rangers can continue to score 5-8 runs a game, as they have done most times they have won this postseason, I don't think the Giants can put up enough offense to keep up.

However, the Giants have been scoring often against bullpen pitchers, which scares me some with the wobbly track record of our relievers.

The Rangers will be favored in this series, but the Giants are used to being the underdogs and will embrace that role.  Talent-wise, the Rangers have the edge, but like Ron Washington says, it's not the best team that wins any given day, it's the team that plays the best on that day.  Make no mistake, the Giants can win this series.

Back to Bengie Molina.  Since he played with both organizations for quite a bit of time this season, he is going to get a World Series ring no matter who wins.  Molina could be the Rangers best scout, having most of the Giants staff this year before the trade.  He knows the arsenal of each pitcher, as well as their tendencies in different counts.  That could pay off in his at bats, but he could also relay that information to his offensive teammates.  Like I said, if the Giants are going to be successful this series, it will be because of their pitchers, so maybe Molina can serve as a secret weapon.  By the way, Molina was the catcher for the 2002 Angels that beat the Giants in the World Series.

Ron Washington has announced that DH Vladimir Guerrero will start one of the first two games in the outfield in San Francisco.  The DH is not used in National League parks in the World Series, so Vlad would just be a pinch hitter in the other game.  Washington has not decided which game Vlad will start.

This worries me a little bit.  Vlad is no longer a good outfielder and our defense will take a hit by putting him in right field.  With the big alleys, any balls that get by him will probably go for three bases, and that's big if there are any runners on.  It's nice to have his bat in the lineup, but is it worth the defensive risk rather than starting someone like David Murphy and losing Vlad's presence in the lineup?

Which game would be better for him to start?  Cliff Lee will be starting the first game against Lincecum.  Does it make sense to put Vlad's bat in the lineup to try to get to Lincecum while taking the chance a ball or two could fall in with Cliff Lee on the mound?  Or would it be better to bench him in Game One, go with the best defense behind Lee, and then use Vlad in the field in Game Two with either CJ or Colby on the hill?  And if he's not starting in Game One, and if the Giants win, do you still take the chance putting him out there for Game Two, running the risk of his defense putting the Rangers in an 0-2 hole?  Or what if it's decided at that point not to play him in the field in either game, now that it's been made public that he will start one game, does he sulk if he has to stay on the bench for both?

Ron Washington has yet to announce the way the rotation will be set up, other than Lee in Game One.  Either CJ or Colby will start Game Two, leaving the other to start Game Three at home.  After that is where it gets tricky again.  If the Rangers decide to pitch all three guys on short rest, something they haven't done yet this postseason, Lee could start games 1, 4, and 7, with CJ/Colby going 2 and 5 or 3 and 6.  If they go on normal rest, Lee would get games 1 and 5, CJ/Colby 2 and 6 or 3 and 7, with either Tommy Hunter or Derek Holland in Game Four.

That leads me to the discussion questions.  Which game would you put Vlad in the field?  Are you nervous he's even being considered, or does his offensive threat outweigh the defensive risk?  What about the rotation?  Would you want Lee available for three starts, but risking all starters going on short rest to do that, or just have them go on normal rest as they have been doing all month?  Finally, who wins the series?

I won't go as far as predicting how many games it will go, though it would be nice to win it all at home, I will say that I'm cautiously confident in predicting the Rangers season will end with a win.