If pitching is needed to win, the Red Sox have it

A month into MLB’s season, many of the division races seem to be unfolding in an unpredictable manner; at least according to my predictions anyway.

Looking at the numbers, it’s just another sign that the old cliché’ “you need pitching to win” is actually true.

If it is indeed true, there are at least four teams I can confidently say right now, that will make the playoffs:

No. 4 -- Minnesota Twins. Alright, with Johan Santana, Ramon Ortiz and Carlos Silva currently heading the rotation, the Twins already have the three men they need to head their rotation in the playoffs. Santana, a former Cy Young winner, is currently 3-2 with a 3.6 ERA. Ortiz is having a stellar year so far, standing at 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA at the end of April. Silva is putting up decent numbers as well, posting a 2-1 record and a ERA off 3.10 in his first five starts. Adding to the quality of the Twin’s pitching staff, they have one of the top closers in the game in Joe Nathan. Expect the Twins to make a real push in the playoffs, assuming they get there. If only Francisco Lariano wasn’t out the entire 2007 season following his Tommy John surgery; even so, look for the Twins to be a legitimate contender in October.

No. 3 -- New York Mets. Tom Glavine may be 41, but he’s still putting up similar numbers that he did in the early ‘90’s. Through the first six starts of his 2007 campaign, Glavine is currently sporting a 2.80 ERA and a 3-1 record. Behind Glavine is John Maine, who will be a future ace, looking at his numbers with the Mets in the past year. Last season, Maine was called up from the minors and started 15 games, putting up a 6-5 record with an impressive 3.60 ERA. This season, Maine has started five games and owns a 4-0 record, carrying a league leading 1.35 ERA, second in MLB. As a third starter, the Mets hope Orlando Hernandez (aka El Duque) will be their guy; however, Hernandez was recently was put on the DL. Before his recent DL trip, Orlando Hernandez was 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA. However, it is possible that Oliver Perez may be able to handle the load if his name is called upon in the playoffs, as he is 2-2 with a respectable 3.86 ERA. Billy Wagner, the Mets closer, is currently 4/4 on save opportunities and has a stellar ERA of .82.

No. 2 -- Atlanta Braves. With a rotation headed by John Smoltz, 39, and Tim Hudson, 31, the Braves rotation will undoubtedly pose a legitimate threat in the playoffs due to their veteran experience alone. To make the situation better, the numbers that Smoltz and Hudson currently have through the first month of the season make a potential playoff run even more likely. Smoltz is 3-1 with a 3.96 ERA. While the ERA isn’t great, Smoltz has struggled in April before. More than likely, you can expect Smoltz to bring down his ERA as the rest of the season progresses. Hudson, who guaranteed to put up great numbers before the opener, has surpassed any expectations of his guarantee. Hudson not only is having a great season, he is having a career year. Through six starts, Hudson has a 3-0 record with a 1.40 ERA. However, there is a potential closing issue lurking for the Braves ahead. Bob Wickman is 6/7 on closing opportunities, but his ERA is 3.97, which could cause problems in the playoffs if he doesn’t straighten things out.

No. 1 -- Boston Red Sox. Being a Yankee fan, it pains me to say it, but the Sox are dealing right now. At the moment, four of their five starters are putting up more-than-reliable numbers. Curt Schilling is 3-1 with a 3.27 ERA, while the knuckleballer, Tim Wakefield, supports a 2.59 ERA. Wakefield’s record sits at 2-3 at the moment; however, it is to no fault of his own. To the delight of Red Sox Nation, it appears Josh Beckett has regained his composure again, carrying a 5-0 record (tied for the league lead) and a 2.54 ERA. One of the numbers that stands out at the moment is that Beckett has only given up one HR in April; last year he gave up six HR’s in April and 36 throughout the course of the season. Last and definitely not least (and I mean that; literally) is Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Sox paid out over $100 million to get him on the roster when it was all said and done. Currently, he is in the process of adjusting to AL hitters. Dice-K, a nickname he has earned through his career in Japan, has a 3-2 record and a 4.36 ERA. By the time October rolls around; expect Dice-K to have adapted to the game and the players around the league.

If the best overall rotation in baseball wasn’t enough, Jonathan Papelbon is their closer. Papelbon, perhaps the best closer in all of baseball today, has had a stellar season thus far, having not given up one run in all of April. For the record, he went 8/8 on save opportunities as well.

All right, with all of that said, those are my top four pitching teams in baseball right now. The Red Sox and Braves are my new World Series picks and I am now taking the Sox over the Braves in seven games.

I suppose this should be the time to remind any Red Sox fans that my predictions as of late – in any league or sport – have been quite lackluster. Not that I needed to tell you this, but you may want to take my predictions with a grain of salt.

Baseball opens season; helps answer questions that need to be addressed

Following the first week of Major League Baseball, it is clear the excitement of the game remains intact, despite the dark clouds overhead.

Throughout the entire offseason, most of the MLB talk consisted of the online pharmacy distributing HGH to various players – one of them allegedly Angels outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. – and the infamous “witch hunt” being run by George Mitchell.

The only baseball talk that seemed to be out there was the same as it always is: Yankees and Red Sox. The A-Rod and Jeter relationship and Dice-K’s mythological “gyroball” was all anyone heard about. Being a Yankee fan, the news relates to my interest; but for anyone else, I can imagine it becomes a bore.

So what I bring to you are some select-questions that I will take action myself to answer.

Exactly how bad the National’s will be this year? They’re going to be bad. In fact, I said they would be worse than the 1962 Mets that went 40-120. The prediction looks pretty good at the moment, as they went 1-6 in the first week of the season

Are the Toronto Blue Jays a better team than either the Yankees or Red Sox? The truth is, they may be better than both. Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi looks to have built his strongest team to date. Without the off-the-field related incidents with Shea Hillenbrand distracting the team or manager John Gibbons any longer, the Jays can set their focus primarily on the game of baseball. With veteran players like Vernon Wells, Reed Johnson, B.J. Ryan and Roy Halladay having been on the team for at least the past two years, the talent and team chemistry is unquestionably there. The addition of Frank Thomas in the offseason looks to have already made a significant impact and could prove to be one of the bigger pick-ups of the season, giving them a potential playoff berth they have missed since 1993.

Will Minnesota Twins, Oakland A’s, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals or L.A. Dodgers repeat as division champions? No. In my opinion, I don’t think any of these teams repeat their performances as division champs. The only team I have coming out on top of their division that did so in 2006 is the Yankees. Yeah, call me a homer, I don’t care, but I made these picks before the season started and I plan to stick to them, no matter how much I may be proven wrong (in the first five games for the Yankees, not one starting pitcher lasted longer than 5 innings.) For the record, I am taking the Detroit Tigers, L.A. Angels, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers and the Padres winning their respective divisions.

Who will take the Wild Card spots? I had a tough time thinking this one out. Many people forget that the Tigers were a Wild Card team last year because they won 95 games, but they were. The Twins won the division with 96 W’s. In the preseason I picked Texas and the Phillies. If I were to pick now however, I think I would take the Jays and Mets. I explained how I feel about the Jays already, but the Mets look to have a solid team if their pitching can avoid injuries. Before I didn’t think they would avoid those injuries; but now after only the first week of the season, I am starting to question my initial thoughts. I think it’s because I picked up Tom Glavine, John Maine and Orlando Hernandez on my fantasy baseball team last week.

World Series picks? Yankees over Atlanta in six. I know, it’s a homer pick. If I were to take away my homerism, I would have to take Detroit over Atlanta in seven. This of course, is considering that any Detroit pitcher whom fields a ground ball refuses to throw it to any of the bases in an attempt to get a base runner out. Seriously, its better give the hitter a single than to have an E-1 and allow the runner to advance two extra bases on a terrible throw.

Who will win the most sausage races this year? Alright, so I couldn’t pass this one up. I’m taking the Brat.