Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Playoff Preview (Salem)

Salem Grand Salamies (AL West Champs)
Salem won it's 10th consecutive AL WEst title despite a 10 game drop-off from last season's win total.

Hitting:
Salem may be the least HR-defendant AL playoff team. That's not to say they can't hit the big fly, three Salamies had 30+ and 10 finished in double figures. Tony Baez is a 4-tool talent that hit 31 HRs, stole 82 (in 89 attempts) bases and hit .322 while playing a fine 2B. Keeping him off the bases is key to stopping this balanced attack.

Team BA: .316
Team HR: 254
Team SB: 189

Pitching:
Doc Belle posted a 17-7 mark with a 4.99 ERA in the difficult AL. Juan Velazquez and Greg Jameson are next in the rotation line and Carl Brooks is one of 2nd City's all-time great closers.

Team ERA: 5.59
Team SV: 49-68
Team HR Allow: 252

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