2017 WORLD SERIES PREVIEW

Tempe Tempers vs. Hollywood Werewolves

Presented to you by Jarl Jackson – October 2017

Two clubs no strangers to the Fall Classic return to the MWBL World Series in 2017.  This will be Tempe’s 14th appearance and the 5th for Chicago. The Tempers are trying for their 10th title while the Mobsters hope to get their 2nd.

Tempe won 133 games, but failed to beat the all-time MWBL record for team wins which they set in 2012 with 134. In fact, 17 times a MWBL has won over 120 games and this was Tempe’s 8th time and 3rd time to win over 130 games. Chicago has the A.L. record for most wins with 130 in 2015 and this year marked the second time they won over 120 games.

During the 2017 season Tempe won 20 games every month. Their worst month was May when they went 20-5 and best was August when they went 24-5. The N.L. Central race was over by the end of June when they had a 16 game lead over 2nd place Columbus.  For Chicago, they won at least 18 games every month. Their worst month was April and September when they went 18-8 and 19-9. Their best month was June and July when they went 22-5 each time. Chicago couldn’t quite put their closest divisional rival away until the final month as going into September they only had a 6 game lead over Detroit.  

Here’s how the two teams match-up:

TempeChicago

CATCHERS AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB OSBP
Buster Posey CHI .295 .357 .500 140 562 94 166 38 1 25 97 5 68.9
Sandy Leon TEM .372 .438 .561 78 196 29 73 14 1 7 34 0 45.5

Posey put in a greater body of work nearly appearing in twice as many games, but over a smaller sample Leon was really impressive. Posey had better home run power while Leon was better overall in slugging.  Posey was 9th in the A.L. in Doubles. Neither player is really that fast, but Posey is a very intelligent base runner as his 5 steals prove. The difference between the two probably comes down Leon’s better OSBP. Advantage TEM

 

FIRST BASEMEN AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
Justin Turner CHI .266 .338 .513 123 425 67 113 26 2 25 78 4
Joey Votto TEM .334 .407 .521 160 622 134 208 29 0 29 76 29

The two first baseman are close in Slugging, but Votto leads in Average and On Base. Votto nearly had a 30-30 season in homers and steals. In N.L. MVP contention Votto somehow lead the Tempers in stolen bases. In the N.L. Votto was 3rd in AVG, 3rd in OBP, and first in runs. Advantage TEM

 

SECOND BASEMEN AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
Ian Kinsler CHI .250 .327 .419 134 508 72 127 27 1 19 60 12
Robinson Cano TEM .305 .353 .538 162 689 116 210 37 2 40 116 1

 Kinsler’s a solid player, but Cano is a solid N.L. MVP contender. On the N.L. leader boards Cano was 7th in AVG, 7th in SLG, 2nd in Hits, 2nd in Runs, 3rd in HR, and the leader in RBI. Advantage TEM

  

SHORTSTOPS AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
Andrelton Simmons CHI .268 .301 .345 124 426 64 114 12 3 5 39 16
Xander Bogaerts TEM .299 .367 .498 153 472 73 141 32 1 20 72 8

 Simmons is the better defender and base runner, but overall Bogaert’s was the better offensive player. Bogaert’s was 6th in OBP in the N.L.. Advantage TEM

 

THIRD BASEMEN AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
Josh Donaldson CHI .313 .395 .604 156 601 121 188 37 15 36 121 12
Adrian Beltre TEM .288 .358 .547 162 583 102 168 34 0 39 100 7

A.L. MVP contender Donaldson was not deficient in any offensive category and Beltre delivered another strong season in his long career reaching 2500 career hits. In the A.L. Donaldson was 5th in AVG. 4th in OBP, 1st in SLG, 5th in Hits, 3rd in Runs, 1st in Triples, and had the 4th longest OB streak at 28 games. In the N.L. Beltre was 4th in SLG, 4th in HR, and 5th in RBI. Advantage CHI

 

OUTFIELDERS AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
Billy Hamilton CHI .305 .366 .439 120 285 64 87 12 1 8 30 71
J.D. Martinez CHI .315 .399 .531 118 448 76 141 35 1 20 87 0
Nelson Cruz CHI .261 .317 .519 155 594 85 155 32 2 39 123 2
Dexter Fowler CHI .238 .346 .385 123 475 91 113 19 3 15 52 19
Ryan Braun TEM .275 .341 .480 145 513 93 141 20 2 27 83 15
Yoenis Cespedes TEM .271 .331 .593 138 479 85 130 25 0 43 114 6
Melky Cabrera TEM .316 .358 .462 160 550 63 174 33 4 13 80 10
Chris B. Young TEM .209 .287 .405 57 153 18 32 12 0 6 24 4

The Tempers outfielders were better in home runs, but overall the Mobsters were better as the stolen bases by Hamilton were more impressive than the home runs by Cespedes. On the league leader boards Hamilton lead the A.L. in SB. Martinez was 3rd in AVG, 3rd in OBP, and 8th in SLG. Cruz was 5th in HR and 3rd in RBI. 4th Outfielder Fowler had an error-less streak of 100 games. On the N.L. side Cespedes lead in SLG, was 2nd in HR, 3rd in RBI and had an error-less game streak of 100 games. Cabrera was 5th in AVG and 8th in OBP. Young might have been the best hitting 4th outfielder for Tempe but the best defender was Rasmus, who had an error-less game streak of 108 games. Advantage CHI

DH AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
David Ortiz CHI .308 .381 .596 140 542 84 167 52 1 34 92 7
Evan Gattis TEM .260 .329 .497 137 388 51 101 14 0 26 69 8

Big Papi drank the fountain of youth all year in his final season while putting up MVP worthy numbers while Gattis put up solid numbers as Tempe’s primary catcher during the season. Traded to Chicago late in the season Ortiz hit .326 with 6 homers in 96 PA for the Mobsters. On the league leader boards Big Papi was 7th in AVG, 2nd in SLG, and first in Doubles. Advantage CHI

 

CHI STARTERS W-L ERA GS CG SHO QS IP H R ER HR SO/9 BB/9
Noah Syndergaard R 21-5 2.00 30 4 3 17 198 128 53 44 13 10.5 2.1
Aaron Sanchez R 17-4 2.71 27 5 4 19 179.2 110 60 54 17 8.4 3.7
Carlos Matias Martinez R 16-4 3.25 30 0 0 16 177 132 72 64 17 7.4 2.6
Felix Hernandez R 17-4 3.20 25 3 2 12 154.2 129 64 55 11 6.5 4.2
TEM STARTERS W-L ERA GS CG SHO QS IP H R ER HR SO/9 BB/9
Johnny Cueto R 21-8 2.10 37 3 2 17 231 142 63 54 27 7.9 1.7
Jon Lester L 25-5 1.82 36 3 1 24 233 104 50 47 21 8.9 2.2

Can two Ace’s beat a quartet of really good to excellent starting pitching? I’m not sure, but we’re about to find out. In the A.L. Syndergaard was first in Wins, first in ERA and 5th in OBA at .182. Sanchez was 4th in wins, 2nd in QS, 2nd in QS Streak at 13 games, 2nd in SHO, and 2nd in OBA at .174. Hernandez was 4th in Wins and 5th in SHO-IP at 25 innings. For Tempe in the N.L. Cueto was 4th in Wins, 3rd in ERA, and 4th in OBA at .171. Lester was 1st in Wins, 1st in ERA, 5th in IP, 5th in QS, 5th in SHO-IP at 30 innings, and 1st in OBA at .136. It’s quantity over quality in this match-up as Chicago has the luxury of their starters going as deep as needed. Advantage CHI

CHI RELIEVERS W-L-SV BS ERA HLD G GF IP H R ER HR SO/9 BB/9
Aroldis Chapman L 1-2-46 2 0.85 0 67 60 53 22 5 5 1 13.1 3.6
Alexander Reyes R 9-1-0 1 0.93 2 19 1 58 24 11 6 2 12.1 4.8
Dellin Betances R 1-2-0 1 1.84 21 57 7 58.2 27 12 12 4 9.5 3.4
Andrew Miller L 1-2-2 1 1.88 30 65 9 57.1 25 13 12 8 13.5 2.0
Seung-Hwan Oh R 4-2-5 4 1.90 25 65 17 61.2 34 14 13 4 12.4 3.1
TEM RELIEVERS W-L-SV BS ERA HLD G GF IP H R ER HR SO/9 BB/9
Derek Law R 4-3-23 4 1.68 14 60 30 64.1 31 13 12 5 6.9 1.8
Chris Smith R 0-0-3 1 1.80 8 15 3 15 7 3 3 2 8.4 2.4
Santiago Casilla R 2-0-0 0 1.83 11 30 5 34.1 29 10 7 1 10.7 3.9
Joba Chamberlain R 2-0-5 1 1.85 3 21 7 24.1 14 5 5 1 7.4 2.2
Jim Johnson R 1-0-1 0 1.84 8 33 8 44 35 11 9 0 7.2 3.5
Matt Belisle R 6-1-6 3 2.32 10 41 17 50.1 31 13 13 5 6.6 1.1
Tony Barnette R 6-4-11 1 2.55 15 49 19 60 29 18 17 5 7.7 2.1
Hisashi Iwakuma R 7-1-0 0 2.67 0 20 0 94.1 76 30 28 9 6.9 2.2
Zach Putnam R 4-0-0 0 2.86 8 19 6 22 15 7 7 1 10.6 2.5

If you like strikeouts you’ll love the Mobster bullpen. On the leader boards for A.L. relievers Chapman was first in Saves, 1st in ERA, 3rd in GIR, 2nd best in SO/9 and 1st in OBA at .124. Betances was 3rd in Holds, 5th in ERA, and 4th in OBA at .138. Miller was 1st in Holds, 6th in ERA, 1st in SO/9, and 2nd in OBA at .130. Oh was 2nd in Holds and 3rd in SO/9. Among National Leaguers Belisle and Barnette tied for 3rd in Wins. Law held opponents to a .146 batting average and Barnette held them to .142. Hammel and Iwakuma will be available for long relief for Tempe. The low ERA, high strikeout rate, and low OBA gives the edge to Chicago. Even their long man Reyes held hitters to a .123 average. Advantage CHI

 

Overall team stats and MWWL League rankings:

TEAM AVG OBP SLG R/GAME 2B 3B HR SB
Chicago (1) .274 (1) .344 (1) .469 (1) 5.8 (2) 303 (1) 39 (2) 244 (1) 185
Tempe (1) .278 (1) .343 (1) .477 (1) 5.5 (5) 268 (12) 13 (1) 275 (5) 107
                 
TEAM S-WINS S-ERA SHO S-OBA R-WINS SAVES R-ERA R-OBA
Chicago (1) 104 (1) 2.94 (1) 12 (1) .206 (4) 18 (1) 59 (1) 2.22 (1) .166
Tempe (1) 81 (1) 2.24 (3) 7 (1) .180 (1) 52 (1) 73 (5) 2.77 (5) .203
                 
TEAM FLDG PCT OF ASSISTS DP          
Chicago (1) .984 (11) 40 (9) 114          
Tempe (1) .986 (13) 36 (7) 117          

Easy to see why these two teams made it to the World Series as they both dominated their respective leagues with lots of number 1 rankings. The Tempers hope to mix and match with their bullpen allowing them to just use two starters throughout the Series, but it may be Chicago’s pen who decides this one along with the baserunning ability of the Mobsters. Prediction: Chicago in 7 games.

WORLD SERIES WINS
Team Wins Losses
Tempe 9 4
Kentucky  2 0
Sacramento 2 0
Severn 2 3
Tijuana 1 0
Merrick 1 0
Detroit 1 0
Chicago 1 3
Hollywood 1 3
Iron City 0 1
Yonge Street 0 1
East Lansing 0 1
Ohio Valley 0 1
Emporium  0 1
Virginia 0 1
Bethesda 0 1

 

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