League Championship Series Previews

Well I got two out of the four LCS teams right, 50% ain't all that bad. I never would have seen the Cardinals who are on a roll after picking up Matt Holiday had a smooth road to the LCS, but the Dodgers pulled off the surprising sweep.

But in the end, the four best teams in the league are rightfully in the LCS. The National League Championship Series will pit the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies against the Los Angeles Dodgers and in the American League Championship Series, the potential American League favorite the New York Yankees will square off against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Here now is a positional breakdown of the LCS and my predictions for each series:

Yankees vs. Angels

Position Breakdown

Manager

Joe Girardi vs. Mike Scoscia

Advantage: Angels

Catcher

Jorge Posada vs. Mike Napoli

Advantage: Yankees

1st Base

Mark Teixera vs. Kendry Morales

Advantage: Push

2nd Base

Robinson Cano vs. Howie Kendrick

Advantage: Yankees

Shortstop

Derek Jeter vs. Erick Aybar

Advantage: Yankees

3rd Base

Alex Rodriguez vs. Chone Figgins

Advantage: Yankees

DH

Hideki Matsui vs. Vladimir Guerrero

Advantage: Angels

Outfield

Yankees (Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera, Nick Swisher) vs. Angels (Torii Hunter, Bobby Abreu, Juan Rivera)

Advantage: Angels

Bench

Yankees (Jose Molina, Brett Gardner, Jerry Hairston, Jr.) vs. Angels (Maicer Izturis, Gary Matthews, Jr., Reggie Willits)

Advantage: Push

Starting Rotation

Yankees (CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Andy Pettite) vs. Angels (John Lackey, Joe Saunders, Jered Weaver)

Advantage: Yankees

Bullpen

Yankees: Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, David Robertson, Phil Coke, Chad Gaudin

Angels: Ervin Santana, Darren Oliver, Jason Bulger, Kevin Jepsen, Matt Palmer

Advantage: Yankees

Closer

Yankees (Mariano Rivera) vs. Angels (Brian Fuentes)

Advantage: Yankees

PREDICTION: The Angels are riding on a miraculous high this year spirited by the loss of their fellow teammate Nick Adenhart at the start of the season, especially getting that playoff monkey off their back defeating the Red Sox in the ALDS. The Angels are entering this series at full strength, with the returning Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana on the roster to help counter the Yankees "Three Headed Monster" pitching rotation.

Unlike the Twins, the Angels should give the Yankees a more competitive series, but the Yankees are destined to make the World Series and though the Angels are having a big year, the Yankees look unstoppable on their quest for a 27th World Title. I predict the Yankees to take the ALCS in 6 games and if the Yankees stick to a 3 man rotation than CC Sabathia would be my choice for MVP.

Dodgers vs. Phillies

Positional Breakdown

Manager

Joe Torre vs. Charlie Manuel

Advantage: Dodgers

Catcher

Russell Martin vs. Carlos Ruiz

Advantage: Dodgers

1st Base

James Loney vs. Ryan Howard

Advantage: Phillies

2nd Base

Orlando Hudson vs. Chase Utley

Advantage: Phillies

Shortstop

Rafael Furcal vs. Jimmy Rollins

Advantage: Phillies

3rd Base

Casey Blake vs. Pedro Feliz

Advantage: Push

Outfield

Dodgers (Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier) vs. Phillies (Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino, Raul Ibanez)

Advantage: Phillies

Bench

Dodgers (Jim Thome, Juan Pierre, Mark Loretta) vs. Phillies (Miguel Cairo, Matt Stairs, Ben Francisco)

Advantage: Push

Starting Rotation

Dodgers: Randy Wolf, Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Vincente Padilla

Phillies: Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Pedro Martinez, Joe Blanton

Advantage: Phillies

Bullpen

Dodgers: George Sherrill, Hong-Chih Kuo, Jon Garland, Jeff Weaver

Phillies: Chad Durbin, JA Happ, Scott Eyre, Ryan Madson

Advantage: Push

Closer

Dodgers (Jonathan Broxton) vs. Phillies (Brad Lidge)

Advantage: Push

PREDICTION: So the Dodgers did get by the Cardinals in a sweep no less, but the defending champions are going to be a whole other story.

The Dodgers are entering this series with a big challenge how their young pitching staff is going to surpass the power packed lineup of the Phillies, the only advantage they would have is the number of left handed pitchers on their roster to match guys like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez.

Like the Yankees, the Phillies seemed to be the destined team to make repeat appearances in the World Series, they clearly have every position outmatching the Dodgers and even though Manny, Kemp and Loney are having a solid overall year, they are going to need every run they can score against this Phillies rotation.

I predict the Phillies to advance to the World Series by winning this series in 7 games and Jayson Werth, a former Dodger, now Phillie will win the NLCS MVP.