2020 WORLD SERIES PREVIEW
Presented to you by Jarl Jackson – October 2020
In the ALCS Hollywood split the first two games at home then went to Chicago and swept the Mobsters in 3 straight including shutouts in games 4 and 5. The first three games went to extra innings over in the NLCS with the Explorers overcoming early deficits in games 1 and 2 only to see Pittsburgh walk it off both times. The same thing happened in game 3, but this time Columbus got the winning hit. Game 4 saw Columbus with the early lead with Lumber Company tying the game late. The Explorers avoided a 4th straight extra-inning affair when Asdrubal Cabrera hit a walk-off 3-run jimmy jack. The two teams split the next two games with some very nice pitching forcing a game 7. Pittsburgh fought back to tie the game in the 8th, but backup catcher Tyler Fowler surprises everyone by hitting a pinch-hit 2 run homer in the 9th to give the Explorers the pennant!
The two teams have a weird connection as Hollywood entered the league in 2001 taking over the Columbus team and moving them to Hollywood for the 2002 season and then Columbus re-entered the league in 2013. Hollywood makes its 5th World Series appearance having won it in 2014 while Columbus makes their first visit to the World Series.
CATCHERS | AVG | OBP | SLG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | OSBP |
Tom Murphy HOL | .282 | .321 | .444 | 104 | 390 | 59 | 110 | 22 | 1 | 13 | 58 | 4 | 73.3 |
Christian Vazquez HOL | .231 | .287 | .471 | 64 | 238 | 35 | 55 | 7 | 1 | 16 | 33 | 0 | 48.5 |
Robinson Chirinos COL | .220 | .324 | .462 | 92 | 273 | 37 | 60 | 15 | 0 | 17 | 49 | 1 | 75 |
All of the catchers can hit for power, but the Werewolves are slightly better offensively and they’re both better at controlling the running game. Vasquez had an 18 game hitting streak good for 5th best in the AL. Advantage Hollywood
FIRST BASEMEN | AVG | OBP | SLG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB |
Paul Goldschmidt HOL | .250 | .341 | .487 | 150 | 579 | 101 | 145 | 21 | 4 | 36 | 100 | 4 |
Brock Holt COL | .269 | .323 | .383 | 94 | 264 | 36 | 71 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 0 |
Matt Carpenter COL | .245 | .348 | .414 | 126 | 384 | 58 | 94 | 11 | 0 | 18 | 47 | 1 |
Goldschmidt was a little down in average and on-base, but otherwise, his season was on par for him. He did hit .353/.500/.529 in the ALCS. Holt could be the starting first baseman, starting outfielder, or one of the first bats off the bench. He hit .300 in the NLCS in 10 at-bats. Advantage Hollywood
SECOND BASEMEN | AVG | OBP | SLG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB |
Hanser Alberto HOL | .271 | .303 | .368 | 108 | 421 | 52 | 114 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 38 | 7 |
Dee Gordon COL | .268 | .308 | .375 | 106 | 299 | 33 | 80 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 23 | 25 |
D.J. LeMahieu COL | .284 | .352 | .455 | 148 | 549 | 87 | 156 | 29 | 1 | 21 | 80 | 8 |
Alberto had a very solid year having not been in the MWBL since 2017 when he hit only .065. Gordon and LeMahieu are two of the better hitters and due to position flexibility, you may see both in the lineup for Columbus. Gordon the team’s best base stealer was also tied for 2nd in the league in triples. Although his best position his 2nd base LeMahieu could also start at first or third. He had an on-base streak of 24 games during the season – 6th best in the NL. Advantage Columbus
SHORTSTOPS | AVG | OBP | SLG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB |
Freddy Galvis HOL | .297 | .327 | .476 | 131 | 525 | 74 | 156 | 31 | 0 | 21 | 73 | 4 |
Trevor Story COL | .254 | .323 | .461 | 147 | 566 | 83 | 144 | 23 | 2 | 30 | 85 | 29 |
Both shortstops were acquired in late-season trades. Galvis has the advantage in AVG while Story leads in SB coming up 1 steal short of a 30-30 season. He was tied for 6th overall in the NL. Advantage even
THIRD BASEMEN | AVG | OBP | SLG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB |
Matt Chapman HOL | .266 | .364 | .538 | 145 | 541 | 105 | 144 | 40 | 4 | 33 | 102 | 4 |
Giovanny Urshela COL | .276 | .337 | .498 | 122 | 424 | 55 | 117 | 29 | 1 | 21 | 59 | 1 |
Chapman was 10th in runs and 8th doubles. He leads in every category except batting average. For the first time in his career, Urshela played in more than 34 games delivering some nice power numbers. Advantage Hollywood
OUTFIELDERS | AVG | OBP | SLG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB |
Ketel Marte HOL | .344 | .406 | .610 | 146 | 575 | 101 | 198 | 36 | 9 | 33 | 97 | 10 |
Christian Yelich HOL | .344 | .424 | .712 | 124 | 479 | 110 | 165 | 39 | 1 | 45 | 112 | 21 |
Alex Gordon HOL | .241 | .323 | .394 | 138 | 507 | 72 | 122 | 22 | 1 | 18 | 57 | 3 |
Juan Lagares COL | .257 | .314 | .340 | 104 | 206 | 27 | 53 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 2 |
Charlie Blackmon COL | .298 | .352 | .596 | 140 | 537 | 96 | 160 | 36 | 5 | 38 | 115 | 2 |
Ian Desmond COL | .236 | .327 | .468 | 126 | 385 | 64 | 91 | 18 | 7 | 19 | 63 | 4 |
For the Werewolves, Marte is 2nd in AVG, 4th in OBP, 7th in SLG, 2nd in Hits, and 2nd in triples. Yelich is 3rd in AVG, first in OBP, first in SLG, 10th in Hits, 8th in Runs, 5th in HR, and 5th in SB. For the Explorers Blackmon is 6th in AVG, 3rd in SLG, and 3rd in RBI. Desmond was tied for 5th in triples. It’s hard to beat the 1-2 punch of Yelich and Marte especially with Yelich being the potential AL MVP Advantage Hollywood
DESIGNATED HITTER | AVG | OBP | SLG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB |
Matt Olson HOL | .252 | .342 | .516 | 125 | 465 | 75 | 117 | 12 | 0 | 37 | 96 | 0 |
Asdrubal Cabrera COL | .232 | .332 | .438 | 137 | 393 | 61 | 91 | 17 | 2 | 20 | 59 | 2 |
Olson had a nice break out year with 37 homers and 96 RBI’s. The veteran Cabrera gets penciled in at DH simply because he’s the best switch-hitter on the team, but he is a good defensive second and third baseman. Columbus could use multiple players as the DH depending on matchups. Advantage Hollywood
HOL STARTERS | W-L | ERA | GS | CG | SHO | QS | IP | H | R | ER | HR | SO/9 | BB/9 |
Charlie Morton R | 21-7 | 2.77 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 217.1 | 132 | 68 | 67 | 24 | 9.9 | 2.7 |
Clayton Kershaw L | 18-5 | 2.68 | 29 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 194.2 | 120 | 62 | 58 | 27 | 7.8 | 2.2 |
Diego Castillo R | 5-5 | 3.26 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 80 | 54 | 38 | 29 | 6 | 11.9 | 5.1 |
COL STARTERS | W-L | ERA | GS | CG | SHO | QS | IP | H | R | ER | HR | SO/9 | BB/9 |
Michael Fiers R | 11-9 | 2.93 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 203 | 154 | 74 | 66 | 23 | 7.6 | 2.1 |
Julio Teheran R | 13-7 | 3.86 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 179.2 | 144 | 84 | 77 | 27 | 8 | 4.1 |
Jordan Lyles R | 15-5 | 3.84 | 28 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 157 | 131 | 73 | 67 | 31 | 8.3 | 3.3 |
Morton was first in Wins, 5th in ERA, 6th in IP, Tied for 3rd in QS, 5th in SHO Innings at 20.1, and was 4th in S-OBA at .171. Kershaw was tied for 10th in Wins, 6th in ERA, and 5th in S-OBA at .177 Fiers was 6th ERA, 8th in IP, tied for 2nd in QS, and was 11th in S-OBA at .205. Morton and Kershaw give the edge to the Werewolves Advantage Hollywood
HOL RELIEVERS | W-L-SV | ERA | BS | HLD | G | GF | IP | H | R | ER | HR | SO/9 | BB/9 |
Will T. Harris R | 2-4-41 | 2.37 | 5 | 1 | 59 | 50 | 57 | 32 | 15 | 15 | 7 | 6.2 | 2.4 |
Brandon Kintzler R | 1-1-1 | 1.20 | 1 | 20 | 50 | 13 | 52.1 | 23 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 2.6 |
Samuel Tuivailala R | 2-1-0 | 1.61 | 1 | 13 | 22 | 1 | 22.1 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 11.3 | 5.6 |
Carlos Estevez R | 6-1-0 | 2.24 | 3 | 12 | 48 | 14 | 56.1 | 43 | 16 | 14 | 3 | 10.9 | 1.6 |
Adam Kolarek L | 7-2-0 | 3.38 | 3 | 7 | 49 | 10 | 48 | 43 | 20 | 18 | 13 | 7.7 | 2.1 |
COL RELIEVERS | W-L-SV | ERA | BS | HLD | G | GF | IP | H | R | ER | HR | SO/9 | BB/9 |
Liam Hendriks R | 9-1-35 | 1.17 | 6 | 11 | 70 | 48 | 100.1 | 38 | 15 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 2.5 |
Yusmeiro Petit R | 5-5-16 | 2.71 | 3 | 21 | 73 | 28 | 89.2 | 59 | 33 | 27 | 12 | 7 | 1.2 |
Adam Ottavino R | 4-0-5 | 2.33 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 2 | 73.1 | 42 | 22 | 19 | 7 | 7.5 | 6 |
Kyle Ryan L | 5-1-3 | 2.09 | 0 | 20 | 57 | 18 | 64.2 | 43 | 19 | 15 | 8 | 7.2 | 2.1 |
Matt Shoemaker R | 3-0-1 | 3.98 | 3 | 7 | 21 | 2 | 31.2 | 23 | 15 | 14 | 4 | 8.2 | 2.8 |
On the league leader boards, Harris was 2nd in SVS and held opponents to a .162 batting average good for 8th best. Kintzler was 4th in holds and Kolarek was tied for 3rd in Wins. Hendriks was first in Wins, Tied for 2nd in SVS, 2nd in ERA, 1st in IP, and 1st in R-OBA at .118. Petit was first in Holds, 4th in IP, and 2nd in GIR. Ottavino was 9th in R-SO/9 and 10th in R-OBA at .168. Ryan was 2nd in Holds and 9th in ERA. Advantage Columbus
Overall team stats and MWBL League rankings:
TEAM | AVG | OBP | SLG | R/GAME | 2B | 3B | HR | SB |
Hollywood | (3) .271 | (3) .338 | (2) .489 | (3) 5.8 | (6) 309 | (6) 24 | (2) 293 | (6) 64 |
Columbus | (6) .239 | (4) .308 | (6) .417 | (5) 4.7 | (11) 252 | (1) 37 | (8) 217 | (9) 84 |
TEAM | S-WINS | S-ERA | SHO | S-OBA | R-WINS | SAVES | R-ERA | R-OBA |
Hollywood | (2) 77 | (3) 3.77 | (11) 3 | (1) .217 | (3) 30 | (2) 50 | (3) 3.46 | (3) .208 |
Columbus | (2) 76 | (5) 3.68 | (10) 4 | (7) .235 | (3) 34 | (1) 63 | (1) 2.48 | (1) .185 |
TEAM | FLDG PCT | OF ASSISTS | DP | |||||
Hollywood | (1) .986 | (14) 34 | (4) 117 | |||||
Columbus | (6) .980 | (13) 29 | (3) 126 |
Hollywood is the better offensive team while Columbus has a better bullpen. The two teams are nearly even at starting pitching and team defense. The Explorers have so many players who can play multiple positions it’s mind-boggling.
Can the 4 best Hollywood players (Yelich, Marte, Morton, and Kershaw) lead their team to the championship? Can Columbus with their flexibility mix and max the right players for the right situations? If Galvis and Goldschmidt stay hot from the ALCS and the 4 stars above perform like legends then Hollywood wins in 5 or 6 games, but if Columbus can limit the damage from those 6 and get the key hits, make the defensive gems, and throw the right pitch at the right time then Columbus could win the series in 7 games.
WORLD SERIES | ||
Team | Wins | Losses |
Tempe | 11 | 4 |
Kentucky | 2 | 0 |
Sacramento | 3 | 0 |
Severn | 2 | 3 |
Tijuana | 1 | 0 |
Merrick | 1 | 0 |
Detroit | 1 | 1 |
Chicago | 1 | 5 |
Hollywood | 1 | 3 |
Iron City | 0 | 1 |
Yonge Street | 0 | 1 |
East Lansing | 0 | 1 |
Ohio Valley | 0 | 1 |
Emporium | 0 | 1 |
Virginia | 0 | 1 |
Bethesda | 0 | 1 |