World Series Preview: Texas Rangers Vs. San Francisco Giants

By November 4th, there will be a first in baseball. Either the San Francisco Giants will have won their first World Series in San Francisco or the Texas Rangers will have won their first World Series period.

This World Series pits two teams that few people expected to play for a title. What I find funny is that people talk about how this World Series won’t have high ratings. Since when does high ratings equal quality baseball?

Lee will lead the Rangers into Game 1

This should be a fantastic series and I expect a very high level of baseball played throughout. Let’s take a look at the 2010 World Series at a glance…

Schedule

Game 1: Wednesday, October 27 at 7:57 PM est. Cliff Lee vs. Tim Lincecum

Game 2: Thursday, October 28 at 7:57 PM est. C.J. Wilson vs. Matt Cain

Game 3: Saturday, October 30 at 6:57 PM est. Jonathan Sanchez vs. Colby Lewis

Game 4: Sunday, October 31 at 8:20 PM est. Madison Bumgarner vs. Tommy Hunter

*Game 5: Monday, November 1 at 7:57 PM est. Lincecum vs. Lee

*Game 6: Wednesday, November 3 at 7:57 PM est. Wilson vs. Cain

*Game 7: Thursday, November 4 at 7:57 PM est. Lewis vs. Sanchez

* Denotes If Necessary

Season Series

N/A

Prediction

From the Rangers perspective, things couldn’t have worked out much better in the ALCS against the New York Yankees. The Rangers beat the Yankees in six, which allows them to start Lee in Game 1.

Lee is 7-0 in eight career postseason starts with a 1.26 ERA and three CG’s. He is the single most polarizing player in this postseason. When he is on the mound, the Rangers believe they are unbeatable.

After Lee, Texas will roll with Wilson in Game 2, Lewis in Game 3, and Hunter in Game 4. I am going to have to agree with Dave Cameron of Fangraphs in regards to starting Wilson in Game 2 over Hunter.

Hunter is a flyball pitcher. Why not have him pitch in the bigger ballpark? Wilson, on the other hand, is a groundball pitcher and has pitched very well at home in 2010.

In the bullpen, Ron Washington is going to need to find a hot hand outside of Neftali Feliz. When you play the Giants, you have to expect tight games. In a 3-2 game in the eighth, who is pitching that inning?

Darren O’Day and Darren Oliver really struggled with their control in the ALCS. One of those guys is going to need to step in the World Series. There is no way Washington can keep going to Clay Rapada in big spots.

One guy Washington may want to look at late in the game is Derek Holland. Holland was amazing in the ALCS (no runs in 5.2 IP) and could be a factor late in the game for the Rangers.

Offensively, the Rangers will have to potentially play four games without DH Vladimir Guerrero, so to avoid that situation, Washington has already decided Vlad will start in RF in Game 1. It’s definitely a risky decision considering Vlad only played in 17 games in RF for the Rangers in 2010.

Here is my take on the DH playing the field debate. Every year the debate rages on how the American League team will fair without the DH and what will happen when the AL team plays in the NL ballpark.

Every year this debate happens and every year it seems never to matter. I always think back to 2004 or 2007 when everyone wondered what would happen when the Boston Red Sox put David Ortiz at first or in 1993 when the Toronto Blue Jays had to put Paul Molitor at third base. In both cases, everything worked out fine for the Red Sox and Blue Jays.

Having Vlad in right is not ideal, but at the end of the day, it won’t be as big of a deal as people are making it out to be.

As for the Giants, this World Series boils down to a couple of things. 1. Can their bullpen continue to dominate and 2. Can they continue to get All World contributions from Cody Ross and Juan Uribe.

Let’s start with No 1.

The Giants are getting some great bullpen performances this postseason. Closer Brian Wilson hasn’t allowed a run in nine innings and Javier Lopez is getting lefties out like it’s his job. Oh wait, it actually is.

The matchup to watch is Lopez vs. Josh Hamilton. Boone Logan couldn’t get Hamilton out in the ALCS and it will be Lopez’s job to do so in the World Series. Lopez carved up Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in the NLCS.

Like the Rangers, the Giants do have a little bit of an eighth inning situation. Who is going to be the bridge to Wilson? Remember, Bruce Bochy went to Lincecum in relief in Game 6, not Santiago Casilla or Sergio Romo.

How is their mindset going into this World Series? I guess we will find out soon enough.

As for their rotation, again, like the Rangers, everything worked out for them. The Giants will have Lincecum in Game 1 and Cain in Game 2.

I was out with some friends on Friday night and my friend Justin made a good point. When did Cain become a ham n’ egger?

He was going to start Game 7 of the NLCS if there was one and everyone was just assuming the Phillies would win that game. As if Wayne Gomes was starting the game for the Giants.

In case you haven’t noticed, Cain is 1-0 this postseason and hasn’t allowed a run in 13.2 innings. He is legit and gives the Giants a big edge in Game 2.

On to No. 2.

The Giants have gotten some unbelievable contributions from NLCS MVP Ross and Uribe. Can this hodgepodge of players continue to produce for the Giants?

They are going to need Pablo Sandoval, who will most likely DH in Texas to somehow find his stroke. They are also going to need Pat Burrell not to hit .207 like he has in the postseason.

It’s real easy to doubt the Giants’ offense, but this group has been defying the odds all year. Somehow this group finds a way to score runs. The way they are going, it wouldn’t surprise me if Freddy Sanchez or Aubrey Huff have a huge series.

Now it’s time for a prediction.

This is a really hard series to call. The Rangers have the advantage position by position in six out of the eight positions on the field. Then again, so did the Phillies.

Starting rotation, I will give a slight edge to the Giants and I give them the edge in the bullpen as well. The Giants also have home-field advantage which certainly helps.

However, I think this Ranger team is a team of destiny. They have the two best players in this series and the Giant pitchers haven’t faced a lineup like this in quite some time.

Rangers in 6

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