Finally. With the completion of Sunday’s Major League Baseball regular season schedule, we now know who’s in, who’s out, and which matchups to look forward to when playoff action commences Wednesday.
For some, season-long dreams were crushed, and in other cities, storied franchises will be returning to postseason baseball after a long time away, and feel good stories abound. A baseball prodigy once far-removed from the game due to his personal battles with substance abuse and addiction will make his playoff debut, as he helped lead his team to their first postseason appearance since 1999. Further east, legendary manager Bobby Cox, in his farewell to baseball, will try to lead his Atlanta Braves to World Series glory one last time.
A new crop of baseball’s younger generation of marquee stars will also be making their first appearances on the game’s grandest stage. With their victory over the heartbroken San Diego Padres on the season’s final day, the San Francisco Giants return for the first time since the Barry Bonds era, led by two-time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum and rookie catcher Buster Posey making their playoff debuts.
Cincinnati’s Joey Votto, a man who gave a valiant effort in a battle for a potential National League Triple Crown will see his first playoff action, as well as the Reds’ first since 1995. Jason Heyward of the Braves will try to cap off his impressive rookie campaign with a successful postseason run.
All those potentially great stories aside, for the moment, our focus is on the American League Division Series. The Rangers had long had the AL West wrapped up, playing out the final two months of the regular season with little drama due to their sizable lead in the division. With their playoff appearance virtually locked up for quite some time, the Rangers were only left to wonder who their opposition would be, as the Rays and Yankees were locked in a heated battle for divisional supremacy until the very last day of the season.
As the Yankees sputtered in Boston, the Rays triumphantly finished out their season in Kansas City, celebrating their second division title in three years, after a decade of cellar dwelling in the big-money AL East.
Since the Yankees and Rays are unable to face each other due to both hailing from the AL East, the Rays, owners of the best record in baseball, will then face the division winner with the lowest winning percentage, rather than the wild card team. This configuration means that the Rangers will travel to St. Petersburg for the Wednesday opener of what should be a thrilling ALDS matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays.
In anticipation of this meeting of two of baseball’s most dynamic and well-rounded teams, let’s take a look at the on-field matchups, position-by-position to find out which team has the edge in this leg of the ALDS.