By Graham Anderson – Last Word On Baseball
The 2016 ALCS begins tonight with the Toronto Blue Jays meeting the Cleveland Indians. Both teams managed to sweep their opponents in their respective ALDS match ups and will look to bring the American League title to their home towns, or in the case of Toronto, an entire nation.
2016 ALCS Preview: Toronto Blue Jays vs Cleveland Indians
Game 1
The series begins with two of the games elite starters. In Kluber, the Indians send to the mound the potential Cy Young recipient this season. Both pitchers maintained ERAs under 4.00 this season, and have pitched well in the post-season so far. Estrada nearly pitched a complete game in his ALDS start going 8.1 innings with six strikeouts. Kluber did similar in his appearance in the ALDS going seven innings with seven strikeouts. Game 1 will certainly be a magnificent match up on the mound.
Game 2
The Blue Jays send their 20-game-winner to the mound against one of the Indians young arms in 25-year-old Bauer. Although Happ only went five innings in his ALDS appearance he fared much better than Bauer who couldn’t get out of the fifth inning, giving up three earned runs on two home runs. On paper the pitching edge here goes to Happ, but Bauer will want to bounce back and give his team a solid start at home.
Game 3
This is where the series switches back to Toronto and the Rogers Centre will be electric with an entire country supporting its team. Tomlin had a productive start in the ALDS but will need to do more on the round to give the tribe hope. Stroman was the pitcher who had a fabulous start for the Blue Jays in the wild card game. He went six innings with six strikeouts and no walks. Another start like that is what Toronto will need.
Game 4
Mike Clevinger vs Aaron Sanchez
Two of the games elite young arms meet up in game four of the ALCS. Clevinger is a rookie but performed well over the regular season with 50 K’s over 53.0 innings. He has yet to pitch in the postseason and the Blue Jays collectively have seven at bats versus the youngster. They will look to get their offence going early before he can settle in. Sanchez struggled in his ALDS start giving up six earned runs over 5.2 innings. His teammates bailed him out in that game, but he’ll need to do better in this game.
Who to Watch: Blue Jays
Edwin Encarnacion has three home runs already this post-season and backs it up with a .375 average and seven RBI. Jose Bautista is also playing well with two home runs and five RBI this post season. It may be their final season in Toronto and they are certainly showing their value to the team. The 2015 AL MVP is playing just like one this post-season. Josh Donaldson already has five doubles this post season. He is hitting .500 with nine hits in 18 at bats. Lastly, the unsung hero, Ezequiel Carrera, should also be given a lot of credit for the Blue Jays post-season success. He may not be flashy or loud but he does the little things right and uses the tools he has to give his team the best shot at victory. His .375 average is also nice to have whether he bats lead off or in the nine hole.
Who to Watch: Indians
24-year-old third basemen Jose Ramirez has had a dominant post-season. In three games he has gone 5-for-10 and will be a key part in the Indians advancing to the World Series. Veteran second basemen Jason Kipnis is also swinging a hot bat with a .364 average. Add in 22-year-old Francisco Lindor and the Indians possess a dangerous infield with multiple weapons. One player that needs to step up for Cleveland is Mike Napoli. The veteran first basemen has over fifty games of playoff experience but only has two hits so far in the 2016 playoffs. If he gets hot the Indians will have a much better chance at punching their ticket to the World Series.
The Cleveland Indians won the season series four games to three over the Toronto Blue Jays in the regular season, but playoff baseball is a whole new story. Four of those games were decided by one run and a similar outcome is likely to occur in the 2016 ALCS. One game that both teams will have on their mind is the July 3rd game in which the Blue Jays hammered the Indians to a 17-1 defeat at Rogers Centre. Corey Kluber was hit hard on that afternoon. Don’t expect any blowouts now though. Both of these teams are hungry and cannot wait to get their hands on either the Chicago Cubs or Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2016 World Series.
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