Kendall Holiday NLCS Series Preview and Predictions

by: Kendall Holiday

In what should be a tremendous baseball series, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies seek the National League Pennant starting tonight in Arizona. This is a tale of two teams and two cities. There are 12,000 tickets remaining to games one and two in Arizona, while tickets in Denver sold out within hours of going on sale and are going at five times the listed price. These teams gravitated toward youth movements three and four years ago and that decision is paying dividends in a big way in 2007. The Rockies have the most home grown players on their 25 man roster at 15 but the DBacks are not far behind with 14. Arizona has gotten here on the back of its starting rotation which has been tremendous led by last years Cy Young winner Brandon Webb. Micah Owings, Doug Davis, and Livan Hernandez round out this formidable foursome, and this group keeps Arizona in ballgames and allows their offense to grind out at bats which lead to runs. If Arizona has a weakness, it could be their defense, where Steven Drew has average range at short, and the loss of stud 2B Orlando Hudson, who might have been the best defensive 2B in baseball. CF Chris Young is known for taking chances, and that might play against his team here. The Diamondbacks have a great bullpen that breathes fire and holds leads, led by closer Jose Valverde. If the Diamondbacks are able to get early leads, their opponents find it nearly impossible to claw their way back.

Colorado rumbles into this series having won 16 of 17, and off a sweep of the previously hot Philadelphia Phillies. Colorado’s strength is its lineup and defense, which boasts five terrific young hitter and Todd Helton. Colorado has one of the best defenses fielded in decades in baseball, which has been needed as their starting staff has struggled with injuries, and has had to turn to two rookies to help lead the rotation. Matt Holiday should win the MVP, and Troy Tulowitizki should win the Rookie of the Year, but we’ll have to wait and see on all of that. What makes the Rockies so special, is that is a truly a team atmosphere within professional sports, which is all but gone in this realm. Different guys have been getting it done all year long. Most recently, it was Kaz Matsui and Yorvit Torreabla against the Phillies knocking in nine runs combined. Colorado’s pitching staff is led by Jeff Francis, who is big time in the making, and has won 31 games in his last two seasons. Colorado’s bullpen is tremendous led by Latroy Hawkins in the seventh, All Star Closer Brain Fuentes, now handles the eighth, and Manny Corpas the ninth. These three have been very stingy for a month now, and Colorado will need them to continue that for the next two weeks in they want to reach the World Series.

Who has the advantage here? It is very difficult to tell in all reality. The Rockies are the hot team, but the DBacks will turn to Webb three times if needed in this series. The only problem we see there for AZ, is that Webb is 1-3 against the Rocks this season with an ERA approaching 6. Colorado will score some runs, and on paper has the superior team everywhere but the two and three starting pitchers. Ubaldo Jimenez and Aaron Cook are the likely wild cards in this series. Should the Rockies lose game one tonight, Jimenez’s start in the game two becomes critical. He held Arizona to one hit one week ago, but he will be hard pressed to do that again this time around. Aaron Cook, who has been on the DL for Colorado since early August, could return to take the third game in Colorado, which would make Colorado’s pitching that much deeper for this series. Neither team should dominate this series. It will come down to who takes advantage in key situations with two outs. Who hits behind runners and moves them up one base at a time? Who comes through in the clutch? These teams are young, and we are about to learn everything you’ll need to know moving forward about these youngsters. Our take is baseball is a game of streaks, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a better streak ever than the one the Rockies are currently riding. That being said, the Rockies’ Jeff Francis graced the cover of Sports Illustrated this week, and there are no secrets between these two teams.

Matt Holiday: He should win the MVP in a couple of weeks. This guy hits anything and everything and has a history of hitting well at BOB in Arizona.

Troy Tulowitzki: Quickly becoming a household name throughout the country, if you have not had the chance to watch this 21 year old play, take the chance during this series. Built like a linebacker with terrific range and a huge arm, he is postseason glory away from being one of the best.

Garrett Atkins: Like Tony Clark, Atkins has played well against Arizona and is the key to the Rockies offense in this series. Throughout his young career, he has hit Brandon Webb well, and he’ll have some opportunities to knock in runs in this one, and he’ll need to get that done for Colorado to win.

Ubaldo Jimenez: The 23 year old righty has got to keep it up for Colorado to have a shot. He’ll take the ball in game 2 and maybe seven if it gets that far. He chucks his fastball at 98 mph, and follows it up with a nasty curve and slider that are difficult for hitters to pick up. He has had some control problems, which he must avoid for the Rockies.

Jose Valverde: The best closer in baseball season, Valverde is a maniac of emotion on the bump. The game is as good as done when he enters with a lead. The key for AZ will be getting him leads going into Colorado’s half of the ninth.

Chris Young: Young hits for a ton of power from the lead off spot, but his average and on base % are not what you want out of your leadoff hitter. They’ll need him to get on base more than hit home runs in this series, and play error free in center field.

Tony Clark: Clark has owned the Rockies this season hitting four home runs against them. The DBacks will need him to come through with a couple of big hits to win this series.

Livan Hernandez: Hernandez has post season experience galore, and will have an opportunity at shutting down the Rockies at Coors, and getting back to yet another World Series.

Eric Byrnes: Byrnes had a cup of tea with the Rockies two years ago before being traded to Baltimore. He has turned into a fine Major League hitter and is the spark plug that makes the Diamondbacks go.

Two Predictions:

Rockies in Six

MVP: Garret Atkins

Diamondbacks in Seven

MVP: Eric Byrnes

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