SBLM: Wild Card Series Preview

Chicago vs Sherbrooke: The First Round

In a surprising move, the SBL went with a gauntlet style playoff in the SBLM. The two wildcard teams face off in a 3? game series. The winner of that series moves on to face the division winner with the weaker record. Finally, the winner of the second series faces the league's best record for the title. With there 78 and 42 record, the Pioneers have guaranteed themselves a spot in the league's championship series. While they may have to deal with rust, they will be able to lineup their pitching staff however they want. But of course, the championship game isn't what's relevant now.

The Chicago Storm and Sherbrooke Mohawks must face off in the wildcard series. Both teams come into the post season with identical 57-63 records. Sherbrooke finished the season strong winning 8 consecutive games. Chicago went on a mediocre, (but still a better winning percentage than their regular season) 5-5 run to close out the season.

Despite the identical records, the Mohawks and Storm could not be built more differently. The Mohawks made a living by absolutely crushing baseball's all season long. Lead by Kurtis McKenzie, and Sora Mekajiki, Sherbrooke had the most home runs of any team, and surprisingly finished with the fewest strikeouts. They finished tied for second in team OPS. Sadly, Sherbrooke's pitching staff and defense struggled. The team ERA of 4.50 was ranked 5th ahead of only 1 bot team. Sherbrooke possessed the capacity to blow open a game with their bats, but could just as easily allow a barrage of runs from the opposing lineup.

Behind 5th overall selection Magnus Coretti and some other guy, Chicago relied on elite pitching to win games. (Remember, these two teams are the 3rd and 4th seeds. Chicago might not even have the league's second best pitching staff.) After looking at the numbers a little bit, it was the defense winning the games. Chicago's pitchers finished 2nd in the league in hits allowed, but stuck out the fewest batters, and walked the 2nd most batters. The pitchers BABIP against was tops in the league. When an opposing batter wasn't walking to first, he was putting the ball in play. The excellent work of Sphyrna Lewin, Devin Rooks and Co. generally resulted in those batted balls becoming outs. The offense on the other hand? Delgado and Prezzy Jr can only do so much. Chicago's offense has objectively been even worse than Sherbrooke's defense ranking 5th in the league in most categories.

What happens when defense meets offense? Well, thus far results have been fairly balanced. The Mohawks took the season series 13-11. In a 3 game series, Sherbrooke's pitching could step up, or Chicago's bats could catch fire. Anything can happen, especially when these two teams play.

Projected Starting Pitching:

Game 1: Chi @ She: Magnus Coretti (12-11 3.61 ERA) vs Mario McRlwain (14-11 3.16 ERA)

Game 2: She @ Chi: Pedro Velasquez (11-11 5.52 ERA) vs Rudi Stein (5-8 4.35 ERA)

Game 3: Chi @ She: Ezekiel Bridges (11-8 2.64 ERA) vs Jermaine Cole (10-13 4.69 ERA)

Tune in Monday for the start of the SBLM playoffs!!!