Regular season ends, Time for Playoff Baseball!
Written By: Greg Arnold
Staff Writer
Baseball’s grueling 162 game season is coming to an end and those that have played the hardest are staying alive for their shot at playing in the World Series. Four teams will face off against each other to represent the National League. These teams have fought hard since the beginning of April to get this chance, and they will not let it slip past.
Leading the league in wins, the Philadelphia Phillies were considered by most to be the favorites. Their starting rotation has lived up to their salaries, but the surprise has been the efficiency of their bullpen that struggled last season. The Phillies have 45 saves in 53 opportunities. Their late season addition of right fielder Hunter Pence has sparked their lineup. The Phillies were missing a right-handed bat, as rookies Dominic Brown and John Mayberry Jr. were not hitting as well as the Phillies, and their fans, hoped. Pence gave the lineup what was missing and the Phillies have not looked back at the rest of the National League East since.
The Milwaukee Brewers have been fueled by the thought of having only one season left with their big clean-up hitter Prince Fielder. Fielder has been fighting for the lead in home runs and RBIs all season and has been a huge run producer. Also, leading the team to winning the Central Division is five year veteran Ryan Braun. Braun has led the league in batting average and runs scored. The Brewers are also looking forward to going into the playoffs with a much improved pitching rotation. They have four pitchers with 13 or more wins this season. New additions Zack Greinke from Kansas City and Shaun Marcum from Toronto haven given Brewer fans a little bit more to believe in.
The NL West was a bit of a surprise this season. The Arizona Diamondbacks have snuck up to take the lead in the division. The Diamondbacks ended August with a nine-game winning streak. Not taking their foot off the gas, they won nine of 12 games. Pitchers Ian Kennedy and former Old Dominion player Dan Hudson have been a huge part of the late surge. Kennedy was the National League’s first 20-game winner of the season, and is one of the few remaining Cy Young Award prospects. Justin Upton has been a huge help to a lineup in the top five in runs scored and home runs.
The Wild Card spot in the playoffs has been held for much of the season by the Atlanta Braves, but the St. Louis Cardinals made a late in the season run for that last spot. The Braves have gotten a huge boost this season with the help of two Rookie of the Year hopefuls. First baseman Freddie Freeman has taken over the starting position and has earned his spot in the lineup, while closer Craig Kimbrel has not only led rookie closers in saves, but all of the National League.
The St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff has been a bit of a letdown this season, the usually strong rotation is outside of the top five in ERA, and outside the top-10 in strikeouts and opposing batting average. Knowing that the end was near, however, the Cardinals won 15 of 20 games in late August through the middle of September. The future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols has recovered from a relatively slow start and is in prime form fighting for the league’s top spot in home runs.
The hunt for October, and playoff baseball, has come to an end, and the cream has risen to the top in the National League. After the National League won the All-Star game, they will be at home for four of the seven games in the World Series. Superstar hitters Fielder, Braun, Upton, and Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard square off to take advantage of that and represent the National League in the World Series.
