2012 WORLD SERIES PREVIEW

Across the board during the 2012 MWBL season Ross is the better catcher. He leads Molina in average, on base percentage, and slugging. Molina had more homers, but he also had close to 300 more at bats.  Molina did show more speed than Ross. Defensively these guys are about the same though the running game figures to favor both offenses. Advantage Hollywood

Pujols was tied for 5^th in the MWBL for home runs and Pena was tied for 9^th. Beyond that statistical category Pujols dominates Pena. Pujols also showed some speed with 15 swipes. When you add his power to his speed Pujols was 14^th in the MWBL Power-Speed rating at 21.7. Pujols had a Runs Contributed of 49.5 compared to 30.6 for Pena.  There’s also more chance of feast or famine with Pena as he had 142 punch outs. Pena is slightly better defensively. Advantage Sacramento

Power-Speed wise Kinsler was 7^th best in the MWBL at 27.9, but overall Cano was the better second baseman.  Cano leads in average, on base percentage, and slugging.  Cano was also tied for 6^th in the MWBL with 46 doubles. Kinsler has not been thrown out attempting to steal.  Both are good defenders with a slight edge to Cano. Advantage Sacramento

Castro is slightly better than Rollins – though Rollins may only be the starting SS in Hollywood’s park where the DH rule will be in effect.  Offensively Rollins had more power and speed compared to Castro, who was better in average, on base percentage, and slugging.  The veteran Rollins was the better defender. Advantage Hollywood

The versatile Bonifacio is a little better than Youkilis thanks in large part to batting average and stolen bases. Youkilis is better in slugging tripling in homer output and nearly having twice as many doubles.  Both players know how to get on base, but both are also prone to striking out.  Youkilis is by far the better hot corner man defensively. Advantage Hollywood

Sacramento’s outfielders lead in average, on base percentage, and slugging. Although Hollywood did slightly average more doubles and home runs among their 4 players. Thanks to Stubbs Hollywood also lead in stolen bases. Unfortunately the trio of Bruce, Gordon, and Stubbs combined for 514 strikeouts for Hollywood. Both teams were near the bottom for outfield assists. Hollywood had 42 while Sacramento had 29. Advantage Sacramento

The two DH’s are close in average and on base percentage, but Hardy destroys Kubel in slugging and he out homers Kubel 30 to 4. Hardy would also help Sacramento if he started at short. Don’t expect either DH to be a base running threat although Hardy can leg out a triple. Advantage Sacramento

The two rotations are pretty evenly matched. Hollywood has the better ERA and BB/9 while Sacramento has the better SO/9 rate. The big surprise here is 28 game winner for Sacramento Colby Lewis being left out of the rotation, but he could be a factor out of the pen, where he was 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA in 6 innings. Advantage Hollywood

It’s hard to believe Rivera lost 4 games with an ERA of 0.81. Both of the pens top 4 relievers combine for a sub 2.00 ERA, but Sacramento has a combined sub 1.30 ERA.  Sacramento has a slightly better SO/9 rate and displays better control. Advantage Sacramento

Overall Sacramento was better than Hollywood defensively .988 to .982, team ERA 2.15 to 2.72, and team hitting .260 to .251. Hollywood had more team double plays at 114 to 80 and Sacramento grounded into 16 more double plays than Hollywood. Sacramento held opposing batters to .178 hitting during the 2012 MWBL season while Hollywood limited their opponents to .196. Sacramento hit 212 team home runs compared to 180 for Hollywood. Hollywood hitters also struck 175 more times than Sacramento.

In summary it looks like Sacramento will take the 2012 MWBL World Series in 6 games. Hollywood has a chance for an upset if they can avoid striking out and avoid facing Sacramento’s bullpen. This series should be dominated by the pitchers.