The playoff field in the MLB is down to four teams as the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles begin their American League Championship Series on Friday and the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals engage in the National League Championship Series starting Saturday. Here are eight players to keep an eye on during each best-of-seven series.
ALCS--Kansas City Royals vs. Baltimore Orioles:
The Royals enter the ALCS for the first time since winning it all in 1985 -- 29 years ago -- while the Orioles have gotten this deep for the first time since doing so in back-to-back seasons in 1996-97. Kansas City has shown its stellar defense and will to win throughout the playoffs while Baltimore has plenty of big bats in its lineup.
James Shields, RHP Royals: Armed with the nickname "Big Game James," the Royals traded for Shields for moments just like this. While he has the "big-game" moniker, the right-hander's postseason numbers are a bit alarming. Shields is 3-4 with a 4.96 ERA in eight career playoff starts, but he notched a victory against the Los Angeles Angels in the NLDS while yielding two runs, both off of homers. Shields gets the ball in Game 1 in the biggest start of his Royals career.
Nelson Cruz, OF Orioles: Cruz led the MLB with 40 homers in the regular season and he picked up right where he left off during the Orioles three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers in the ALDS. Cruz hit .500 (6-for-12) and launched two homers in the three games and racked up five RBI while scoring four runs. It's a safe bet that Kansas City will be extra careful with Cruz in this series.
Eric Hosmer, 1B Royals: Royals fans are hopeful that Hosmer will open up another tab for them to celebrate a trip to the World Series after the first baseman treated patrons at McFadden's Pub 10 miles west from Kauffman Stadium to drinks to celebrate the team advancing to the ALCS. Hosmer has made the most of his first trip to the postseason as he got on base five times during the team's wild-card win over the Oakland A's and hit a game-winning homer in ALDS Game 2 against the Angels. Hosmer, 24, is hitting .500 (7-for-14) in these playoffs with two homers and five RBI.
J.J. Hardy, SS Orioles: With a weak field at shortstop, Hardy was to become one of the most sought-after free agent shortstops this offseason, but he avoided free agency by agreeing to a three-year $40 million contract extension with Baltimore on the eve of their ALCS opener. Hardy will look to start earning that money with a big series starting Friday night. Hardy is hitting .300 (3-for-10) this postseason with a homer, two RBI, three runs and two walks.
Prediction: This should be a great series that could go either way and will likely go the distance. In the end, the Orioles' bats will overcome the stellar defense of the Royals. Orioles in 7.
NLCS--San Francisco Giants vs. St. Louis Cardinals:
This is a rematch of the 2012 NLCS that was won in seven games by the Giants. San Francisco is in the NLCS for the third time in the last five years and won it all in their last two visits in 2010 and 2012 while St. Louis is in its fourth straight NLCS as the team looks to get to the World Series for the second straight year and win it for the first time since 2011.
Pablo Sandoval, 3B Giants: Sandoval had his 14-game postseason hitting streak snapped in the Giants' NLDS-clinching game against the Washington Nationals, but the 2010 World Series MVP is a force to be reckoned with in October. The Panda, who is surprisingly agile and can make fantastic plays on defense, is hitting .311 in his career in the playoffs with six homers and 16 RBI. While he is hitting just .211 after the three-game NLDS, Sandoval came through in the clutch against the Nationals as he always seems to do this time of year.
Matt Carpenter, 3B Cardinals: Carpenter launched three homers in the four-game NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers and is hitting .375 (6-for-16) with an MLB-best seven RBI after the opening round. His 1.125 slugging percentage is also tops in the MLB following Round 1, so the Giants will want to be careful with the Cardinals' third baseman.
Madison Bumgarner, LHP Giants: Not only can he chug five beers at once as evidenced by his celebration after the Giants topped the Nationals in the NLDS, but Bumgarner can get it done on the diamond as well. Bumgarner threw a complete game shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild-Card game, but he had a costly error in Game 3 that gave Washington some life in the NLDS. Bumgarner is eager to bounce back from that effort and is 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA through eight career starts in the playoffs.
John Lackey, RHP Cardinals: Lackey has a postseason pedigree that very few pitchers have. Lackey won the World Series at the Cardinals' expense with the Boston Red Sox last season, and now he'll look to help St. Louis get back to the Fall Classic. The right-hander is 7-5 with a 2.92 ERA through 17 career postseason starts and is coming off of an NLDS victory over the Dodgers where he held the team to one run on five hits in seven innings.
Prediction: This should be a very good and highly competitive series between these two teams as both seem to click when the calendar flips to October. In the end, St. Louis' pitching staff will dominate and get them back to the World Series for the second straight year. Cardinals in 6.
Four teams vie for a chance to play in the World Series when the ALCS and NLCS kick off this weekend as the Royals and Orioles and Giants and Cardinals go head-to-head.
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