SBL Playoff X-Factors

Not many are giving a chance to the Drillers in this playoff, but that won't stop the competitive spirits of these Drillers at all. To become a big leaguer, you just have to be competitive. There's no fucking way these men are going to just bow down and let their opponents have at it. When you are the dog, you fight till your last breathe. For Drillers to have a chance, Carlos Delgado will need to play out of his mind. Drillers had drafted a lot of pitchers but sadly, this was not the year for all of them. One could argue that Drillers' fielding wasn't the best but hey, you gotta have both if your team goal is to win by pitching. As of now, they have no choice but to rely on their offense, which Carlos Delgado was the best in their squad.

Another thing to consider is that trying to win the playoff with pitchers is just ultra hard to do with the overall quality of the pitchers as of now. You need an entire rotation of good starters to win a series or you need top tier bullpen where you can plug into any game and expect them to hold. Otherwise, fielders are just better to rely on due to them being present in literally every game. A starting pitcher can maybe pitch 2 or overwork for 3 games in a 7 games series. Relievers can be plugged in at any time but they pitch limited innings. A top tier closer is a premium asset, but one that is lacking in this league as of now. Meanwhile, a batter will bat every game and someone who can consistently get on base will be a threat in all 7 games of a 7 games series.

Carlos Delgado is that guy for Drillers, the beacon of light for a team that is not looking good as of this season, and the one that will look to make things interesting in a series most are expecting Drillers to lose.


For the championship favorite and a team that is full of premier batters, the X-factor is not going to be those players you see in the SBL daily highlight, but the defensive master Sphyrna Lewin. The man will be holding down the key defensive spot in shortstop, but more importantly, he is the 8th batter and the pivot of the bottom part of the lineup. I do not expect him to be a batting monster but if he can hit like .240 AVG and not .195, that is huge for the team. All you want for him is to just get a hit, the situation when he steps up there doesn't matter, he just has to get a hit at all cost.

The idea is simple. He hit and gets on base, pitcher hopefully bunts and moves him to 2nd, then it's the top of the lineup once again. Any hit from the best Invaders, which is more likely than you think, and you get an extra run out of the rotation. That's the value Lewin can provide as the 8th batter and ultimately, you can't go wrong with more runs, especially when you are an offensive-oriented team.


This is another case of a team that has multiple good players and just need their more inconsistent player to actually flip more heads than tails ain the playoff series, preferably in critical moments because you don't want to waste his good game in a blowout -- you want him to get you that winning run or to put your lead out of reach with say, a grand slam. Indeed, Eddie Donovan is a player who is capable of hitting homeruns and that's really one of the two things he is good at. He is a full-blown 3 results player: a homer, a walk, or a K.

Bighorns have three solid batters atop their lineup, having a strong finisher like Donovan to actually finish the job before the not-as-good part of the lineup comes up will be key to Bighorns. They don't have a good 8th batter or whatever, so they have to bank their horns all on the top of their lineup.


I will admit, Cardinals is the toughest to break down for me. I take ample time to consider before I land on Lucas Peterson. Rocky Mitchell is bound to do well or it's a dead series. Dale Cooper is going to be great at fielding but Cardinals don't have the depth to depend on him batting well in my opinion. Thus, what is needed the most is a top of the lineup bat that can produce outright. Lucas Peterson will be that player. He has to be consistent with his output on both ends of the field and be batting like .300+ to give Cardinals a fighting chance against the big guns of this season.

Lucas Peterson has been covered quite a lot by me due to his up and down phase over the course of the season. He's more of an offensive SS that is arguably more useful for Cardinals than a full-defensive one, and so his offensive output needs to be there.

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Ultimately, this is the year of batters, and I expect the team to win to be the ones that have more batters performing above their average statline.