The annual Mopupduty first round playoff predictions.

Cal

Rays over Sox in 4
Angels over Sox in 3
Brewers over Phils in 5
Cubs over Dodgers in 3

Early

Here are Early’s picks. Look for a detailed explaination again of my Comparative Dependance and Playoff teams later this week.

Tampa Bay over Chicago in 3
Boston over Angels in 3
Philadelphia over Brewers in 5
Cubs over Dodgers in 3

Kman

Here are Kman’s typically poor MLB playoff predictions for 2008. I’ve decided that I won’t get ahead of myself this year and predict in a round-by-round basis.

White Sox vs Rays:

The Rays are built upon pitching (both starting and relief), defense and an 80’s style offense that is based as much upon speed as it is power. With AJ behind the plate (AL qualified worst in Caught Stealing at 17.9%) I see the Rays running quite a bit in this series. The pitching favors the Rays and I also like their D. The White Sox scuffled their way through September. In my mind the playoffs are all about being hot. The Rays are the real deal, keeping up their strong play all season. This series will be closer than most see it but I’m going with the Rays in five.

Red Sox vs Angels

The Angels certainly looked smart after acquiring Mark Texeria near the trade deadline this season. He creates a different style offense and has been a huge RBI source in his short angels tenure. The Angels are still a mixture of veterans and younger stars. The Sox are playoff tested and a stronger team in my mind with Bay vs Manny + distractions. The question is how will the Red Sox’s pitching hold up? Although in a five game series starting pitching depth isn’t all important. Dice-K & Lester in the one-two spots should be enough. Red Sox in four, maybe five.

Brewers vs Phillies:

There are numerous examples of low level pitchers stepping it up and producing in the playoffs. A recent example would be Jeff Weaver. So the whole CC pitch count situation may not be as dire as some are making it out to be. The Phillies will counter with Hamels and Moyers, a legit front two in 2008 (at least statistically). Let’s not forget that the Phillies also had an awesome September run and are loaded up and down the lineup. Expect home runs galore in this series. I’ll take the Phillies to finally advance to the NLCS in four games.

Dodgers vs Cubs:

Has Lou Pinella produced in the playoffs in the past 15 years? The answer is no. Torre on the other hand has a far better track record. The front three starters are surprisingly even in stats in 2008. I say surprising when factoring the hype that Dempster, Zambrano and Harden have received. Hitting favors the Cubs 1 – 8 over the Dodgers. I’m going with intangibles and leadership in this series. The Dodgers are in essentially a no pressure situtation and I expect their young core to play as though they have nothing to lose. Dodgers in five.