KJNL Week 1 Preview

By Staff Writer: Brad Atkinson (Houston Astros)

Who makes these schedules anyways?!!

Week 1 is a juggernaut’s bonanza in the NL . . . two, week 1, intra-division clashes between the four predicted playoff teams from the NL? It’s like the season starting off with two four game series one between the Red Sox and Yankees and the other between the Indians and Tigers. It really gives the media something to talk about, but in the grand scheme of things it’s just one series. But because of the colossal clashes . . . this week we have TWO featured match-ups rather than just one.

Featured Games of the Week:

Astros at Rockies:

The Rockies jump out to an early lead having drafted the Red Sox roster and getting the benefit of two early games in Japan. Honestly though, outside of Manny Ramirez and a surprise win for Okajima, the Red Sox were unimpressive in Japan. Sunday night action evened up the “surprise win” category as Jon Rauch blows a save on a passed ball and Ryan Zimmerman homers him to the RP win. But these are just the opening salvos in a week long war . . . here’s how the week could shape up.

Batting is going to be hard to call as spring training stats are rarely predictors of the regular season, but the Astros are down one of their two main SB producers and thus have Randy Winn inserted into the lineup ahead of Frank Thomas to try and make up the number a little, though there are few SB to find on the Rockies side. Batting stats will probably be split. On the pitching side, Boston is down two starters in this first week (Beckett and Liriano) and Broxton will be serving the LAD’s closer role while Saito catches up from being behind in the spring. The Astros are at full strength with 6 starters and 6 relievers ready to go. With Rauch holding down the closer role this first week with Cordero ailing and a full complement of starters look for the Astros to win the non-ratio categories with the exception of holds. With fewer innings available to them, the Rockies could take advantage in the ERA and WHIP. Overall . . . don’t look for either team to come out of this week much better than 7-4-1 at the best and that’s if everything falls perfectly for one team over the other. Though which team that will be depends on who’s hot and who’s not . . . this will be easier to predict after a couple of weeks.

Cubs at Braves:

Braves SP come roaring out of the gate with 3 solid performances, but only 1 win to show for it, giving them the early lead and Johan Santana is scheduled for today. The Cubs haven’t really had anyone compile any stats, so they can’t be counted out yet.

The Cubs are in trouble off the bat with 3 strong SP performances + Santana to come today for the Braves. It also doesn’t help that Hermida, Dukes and Lackey all begin on the DL while Cordero seems to be ailing and unable to close. It’s never good to go up against the projected NL pennant winner with a full complement of weapons. Jenks vs. Gregg for the saves category this week is the PVP match-up to watch. BJ Ryan and Chad Cordero should be non-factors this week. The Cubs should fall behind in the batting categories, except for SB . . . look for the Braves to go at least 8-4 this week . . . but the Cubs will contend as their lineup gets healthy.

The Rest of the League:

Royals at White Sox:

It will be interesting to see how hot the Royals pitching staff starts out, there is a lot of unfulfilled potential there . . . Saito will be hard to use the first couple of weeks for the Sox leaving all of their saves number up to Billy Wagner. Pitching should be a wash and the White Sox bats are dominant over the Royals . . . though it will be interesting to see if Pudge Rodriguez can keep up his spring power surge.

Mariners at Twins:

The Mariners are fully healthy and have two saves guys for as long as Accardo holds the job and BJ Ryan is making his way back . . . they are the dominant team on paper that was predicted before the season. TheTwins are down two top-of-the-line SP (Smoltz and Escobar) and only have two RP on their entire roster. They get a boost since Ethier beat out Pierre for the starting OF job in LA, but I don’t think it is enough this week. Mariners Roll.

Blue Jays at Indians:

Both teams are fully healthy . . . I give a slight edge to the Blue Jays on batting and a bigger edge to the Indians on pitching, except for saves, I am not sure anyone in the league is going to beat the Blue Jays on Saves this year if they stay healthy. I look for a 6-6 or 7-5 series here.

Reds and Cardinals:

The Reds being down Lidge doesn’t hurt that badly with Todd Jones and Troy Percival still available . . . though Lidge is arguably the most consistent of the three and that’s a little scary. I like Reds pitching a little more than the Cardinals and the Cardinals can mash the ball for sure . . . but they will be lucky to steal 40 bags on the whole year with the lineup I see in there right now. Look for a wash on batting with Cards winning HR,RBI, and OPS while the Reds win R, SB and Avg.

Diamondbacks at Dodgers:

The D-backs have a lineup built on speed and not power and their top 3 SP all begin on the DL. The Dodgers are a well balanced team with a LOT of guys coming back off of questionable years. The D-backs will probably take the SB and R categories (as they should just about every week) . . . but will be lucky to win another one in this match-up . . . especially given the health of their pitching staff.

Tigers at Red Sox:

This match-up is REALLY tough to call. The batting should be a tight race all week . . . the Red Sox starting pitching honestly scares me a little, but they could still perform on a week to week basis . . . the Red Sox have a slight edge on saves with 2 closers vs. Rivera. If you made me choose I would give the edge to the Red Sox since they have more diversity on their team and the Tigers rely mostly on Yankees who have a tough first week to start with.