Four Matchups To Keep an Eye On
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MATCHUP NO. 1: Josh Beckett vs. Sandy Koufax
Here are the career postseason records for Boston ace Josh Beckett and baseball legend Sandy Koufax, often acclaimed the greatest postseason pitcher of all time:
Name | W-L | IP | K | BB | H | ER | ERA |
Beckett | 5-0 | 65.2 | 73 | 13 | 34 | 13 | 1.78 |
Koufax | 4-3 | 57 | 61 | 11 | 36 | 6 | 0.95 |
Before anyone protests, I am aware that Koufax pitched all of his postseason innings in the World Series. Still, when you take into account the difference in scoring between his time and Beckett’s, and the fact that Beckett has been at his best in games in which his team could have been eliminated, it’s hard to find all that much separating the two. As talented and competitive as Beckett is, he can’t really keep this up — but then maybe he can. No doubt a new World Series MVP award to add to his old one and his ALCS MVP award would make for a nice conversation piece.
MATCHUP NO. 2: Todd Helton vs. Hideki Okajima
Overrated as lineup protection may be, in short series it can matter a great deal. Unless things go horribly wrong for the Rockies, the Red Sox will at several key points be forced to decide whether or not to pitch to Matt Holliday, who is slugging .714 in October. How Todd Helton is hitting will affect their decision. The problem for Colorado is that Helton, who’s always been far more of a Keith Hernandez- or Mark Grace-type line drive hitter than his reputation would suggest, has hit all of four home runs against lefties the last two seasons. For the Red Sox, the problem is that key left-handed setup man Hideki Okajima is actually better against righties. They slugged .277 against him; lefties slugged .360.
MATCHUP NO. 3: David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez vs. Coors Field
The prospect of these two behemoths clouting home runs that hit the Rocky Mountains is entertaining. For Red Sox fans at least, the prospect of them in the field is much less so. Ramirez is a famously inept defensive player, his main weaknesses being arbitrary wanderings towards routine balls, inattentiveness, and his lack of speed; the spacious Colorado outfield is going to challenge him. Ortiz, meanwhile, hasn’t played more than 10 games in a season at first base since 2004, and plays like a bowling ball with a glove glued on. It’s worth stressing that even in the humidor era, Coors is a great hitter’s park, and the ball just carries differently there because of the thin air. Defense matters even when you hit like David Ortiz.
MATCHUP NO. 4: The Rockies’ defense vs. Ground Balls
This year, the Rockies set a record for team fielding percentage. This does not, in fact, make them the greatest defensive team of all time, or even necessarily the greatest defensive team in this series, but their defense is very, very good. Todd Helton is a three-time Gold Glove winner, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has a cannon arm and the wide-ranging style with which people wrongly credit Derek Jeter, and second baseman Kaz Matsui, always better defensively than Mets fans gave him credit for, is a fine bridge between them. The Rockies’ strength at the 6-4-3 positions works out particularly well for them because their pitching staff gave up a greater percentage of ground balls than any other staff in the league this year. The Red Sox must fear the rally-snuffing DP.