TSN Baseball Analyst Steve Phillips answers several questions surrounding the game each week. This weeks topics include comparing Bryce Harpers playoff record to Mickey Mantles, the more intriguing LCS matchup, Kershaws playoff struggles and Mattinglys job security. 1) The Division Series saw some dubious stats comparisons: Bryce Harper tied Mickey Mantle (amongst others) for all-time post-season home runs before the age of 22 (with four) and Nelson Cruz passed Babe Ruth for all-time post-season home runs (16). Do these records mean much, given that the records being broken are from players whose only post-season games were in the World Series? Make no mistake about it: Bryce Harper hitting four homers before the age of 22 and Nelson Cruzs 16 career post-season homers are special accomplishments. It is amazing. Stats tell a story about patterns of behavior/performance. They only have meaning, though, in comparison to something else. The reality is that the sheer number of homers doesnt tell the whole story. The number of games played and at bats matter. The post season is different now than it used to be. We have more rounds now, which give todays players more opportunities to accumulate stats. Bryce Harper is not Mickey Mantle but any player earning four post-season homers before the age of 22 is special no matter how many games it takes to get them. By the way, it took Mantle 59 at-bats for his homers and took Harper just 40. Nelson Cruz has hit his 16 homers in 138 plate appearances, while Ruths 15 homers came in 129 at bats. Many people look at baseball today and say that the talent is diluted compared to the eras in which Ruth and Mantle played. Expansion has spread the talent across more teams. They believe that todays numbers are fortified by lesser competition. That is not necessarily true. Remember Ruth played in the era of segregation, when the best African American and minority players werent allowed in the major leagues. Therefore, his performance was enhanced by lesser competition too. Other factors to consider today are that stadiums are more hitter friendly and the pitchers mound was lowered in the early 70s to provide another advantage for todays hitters. Dont forget that Cruz was found to have used PEDs in his career. I dont know for sure when or for how long he did, but I assume the effects of the drugs may have helped him for some number of his homers. The bottom line is that whether you played in the 1920s or 1960s or in the 2010s, hitting post-season homers should be celebrated. For the record I will take Ruth and Mantle over Harper and Cruz on my team. 2. The LCS match-ups could not be in greater contrast. In the American League, the Orioles and Royals meet with a combined World Series drought of 60 years. In the National its the Cardinals and Giants, who now have seven combined NLCS appearances between them over the past five seasons, including a previous head-to-head match-up in 2012. How will these match-ups stack up against one another in terms of entertainment value? I believe there will be more interest in the National League Championship Series than the American League Series. Fans like name recognition and brand recognition. That is what garners more interest than anything. Pitching matchups also pique fans interest and the Madison Baumgarner vs. Adam Wainwright matchup will be phenomenal. I cant wait to watch it. The ALCS will be interesting for those that watch it but the casual fan might not take the time to sit and view. James Shields vs. Chris Tillman doesnt stimulate the senses quite like the names in the NLCS. I think both series will be interesting and exciting. The Giants and the Cardinals are pretty evenly matched. The Cards have a slight edge in starting pitching because I prefer Adam Wainwright over Madison Baumgarner in the head-to-head match-up of aces. The bullpens are comparable, although I like the strikeout ability of closer Trevor Rosenthal of the Cards over the contact style of Giants closer Santiago Casilla. Offensively, neither team possesses great power but the Cards have better overall lineup. Giants manager Bruce Bochy is the best in the game today and has an edge over the Cards Mike Matheny despite his early success at the helm. Im picking the Cards to win the Series in seven games. The Royals and Orioles starting rotations are pretty comparable. I give the edge to Kansas City because they are led by Big Game James Shields. Shields has previous playoff experience with the Tampa Bay Rays, which will prove helpful in this series. The bullpens are both very good, but again I give the advantage to the Royals even if set-up man Kelvin Herrera is hurting. Defensively the Royals have been playing out of their minds this post-season. Their outfielders have run down just about everything the opposition has hit in the air that hasnt gone over the walls, advantage Royals. The Orioles offence is far superior to the Royals. They have much more power and quick-strike production. Although the Royals hit several homers in the ALDS, they are by far more of a manufacturing offense than a power club. The Royals have great speed on the bases and that will be a challenge for the Orioles, yet having to lump multiple hits together for a single run could be a problem for the Royals. Oppositely, the Orioles are often in scoring position when they are standing at home plate with their power. The differential between the two offenses is more substantial than the Royals advantage in pitching and defence. Add the five-day layoff after the ALDS that hurts the Royals more than the Orioles, and Ill pick the Orioles to win the series in six games. I believe the ratings for the NLCS will be better than the ALCS. I just ask that fans give the AL series a chance. I think you could really like the type of game the Royals and Orioles play. Plus, the fans in these two cities are rabid right now, they are desperate for a pennant. That always makes the games more interesting. 3. The Dodgers got bounced in four games by the Cardinals, despite getting two starts in the series from ace Clayton Kershaw. Did Kershaw choke? If not, who should be held accountable for the loss after a 94-win regular season? For the record, I hate the word choke. Sometimes players get the job done and sometimes they dont. The same player may get the job done in a critical situation one time and not the next time. That doesnt mean he choked. Clayton Kershaw threw six innings of one-run baseball in Game 1 before things blew up in the 7th inning. Does that mean Kershaw choked? Not for me. He pitched great for six innings and then choked? No! So what happened in the 7th inning? Baseball happened! Rather than criticizing Clayton Kershaw credit the Cardinals for taking advantage of the situation. They made him pay for his mistakes. They found holes and they put up eight runs before you can say Red Schoendist. In Game 4 Kershaw threw six shout out innings before getting tagged with a three-run homer by Matt Adams. Kershaw made very few mistakes in that game despite pitching on three days rest. He unfortunately hung a curve ball and Adams hit it out of the park. Since it went out of the park Kershaw choked? No way. That ball could have easily been a line drive right at some one for an out. It could have been caught at the wall or hit off the wall and the game could have been dramatically different. No one is to blame. Just give credit to Matt Adams. Clayton Kershaw does not have great post-season numbers does that make him a choker? The same is always said about Peyton Manning in football. He has all the MVP awards from great regular seasons but only one Super Bowl championship. They call him a choker. For the longest time Barry Bonds was called a choker because of poor post-season performance. That is until he finally hit in the post-season. Alex Rodriguez was the same way. Forever he was ripped in New York for being a poor post-season hitter until he hit in the post-season. Give me the player who continuously gets me to the post season and sooner or later he will perform then. Talent always finds a way. Give me Peyton Manning over Eli Manning everyday of the week. Doug Fister of the Nationals has pitched in three elimination games for in his career and his teams have won all three with him getting two of the wins. Ryan Vogelsong of the Giants is 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA in five post-season starts, while Clayton Kershaw is 1-5 with a 5.12 ERA in his career. I will take Kershaw over both of them without hesitation. If I could draft one pitcher today to start Game 1 for my team in the 2015 playoffs I would choose Clayton Kershaw. Give me the best player with the most talent and I will take my chances. The Dodgers lost to the Cardinals because their team got outpitched and outhit. Sure Kershaw has a share in that but they would never have been in that position without him. He can pitch for my team anytime. 4) After the Cardinals defeated the Dodgers on Tuesday night to advance to the NLCS you would have thought that it was an upset the likes of Appalachian State beating Michigan or the 1980 US Mens Hockey team defeating the Soviets. There was slight acknowledgment of the Cardinals great play but mostly everyone wanted to crush the Dodgers for the loss. Specifically, fans and media are screaming for Don Mattingly to lose his job. The argument is that since the Dodgers had the highest payroll in the game, the season is a failure if they dont win the World Series. In fact, the Dodgers had somehow assumed the expectations of the Yankees. Heads must roll if the Dodgers didnt win the World Series. I mean, really, what was Mattingly thinking pitching Clayton Kershaw (21-3 1.77 ERA), the best starter in baseball? How did Mattingly not know that his ace, who will win both the NL Cy Young Award and MVP, would lose two games in the series? How dare he bench Yasiel Puig in Game 4 after he had struck out in eight of his last nine at-bats? The Twitter-sphere was abuzz with criticism of Mattingly for pinch running with Puig in the ninth inning while pinch-hitting Justin Turner. Why wouldnt he have batted Puig and run Turner instead? Why did Mattingly opt not to pinch-hit Puig who had a measly four homers and 17 RBI after the All Star break? What is so impressive about Turners .419 batting average with runners in scoring position? People couldnt believe Mattingly could have been so stupid. The fact is that the Dodgers lost to a very good team in the Cardinals. There is no shame in losing to them. The Dodgers won the NL West title for the second straight season. Under Mattinglys leadership they have gone from 82 wins in 2011 to 86 wins to 92 in 2013 and 94 this year. They advanced to the NLCS last season where they lost to the Cardinals. This season the Cards got them in the NLDS. How can this be looked at as failure? This Dodgers team was a tough one to manage. Just because a team has the highest payroll doesnt mean that it is as easy as just rolling the bats and balls on the field and writing a line-up. It takes work. Mattingly earned his money. It started the season with having four everyday outfielders for three positions. The call-up of two young outfielders made the juggling of playing-time even more difficult. Yasiel Puig is a handful who lives recklessly and plays recklessly. He made the most outs on the bases and he ran until he was tagged out at times. Puig has a bit of an attitude that at times rubbed his teammates the wrong way; there were several issues between Puig and his teammates this season. Hanley Ramirez can be a bit moody too. I understand that the Dodgers had the largest payroll in baseball, but the notion that it is a failed season if they dont win a World Series is absurd. Its arrogant. There are plenty of other good teams in baseball too. Remember it is not always the best team that wins but the team that plays the best. Don Mattingly did a good job this year and any thought of his termination is crazy. Nike Air Max 95 Kopen. Uruguays soccer federation said it planned to appeal the ban, which prohibits striker Luis Suarez from all soccer activities for four months. The ban also covers Uruguays next nine international games, which rules him out of next years Copa America. Nike Air Max 90 Premium Oem Infrared. The 33-year-old Cameroon international, who scored 12 goals in 35 matches in his only season at Chelsea, is available to make his debut against the west London club on Saturday. "I was impressed about the hunger he still has," Everton manager Roberto Martinez said. http://www.2016airmax.nl/kopen-nike-air-max-2016/nike-air-max-2016-rood.html. He made the comment at a media availability Saturday prior to Game 2 of the Boston-Montreal playoff series when a Quebec reporter said there is sentiment in Quebec that the NHL looks more favourably on Seattle than Quebec City when it comes to future expansion. Nike Air Max Lunar 90 Kopen. - The width of Alec Martinezs shin guard was the difference between the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks in their playoff series opener. Nike Air Max 90 Zwart Dames. LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St.TORONTO - With six weeks remaining before his teams likely return to the playoffs, Dwane Casey is hoping to manufacture some late-season rest for the Raptors two leading scorers. Although DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry have shown no sign of wearing down, each logging more playing time than they have previously in their careers, Casey would like to keep them as fresh as possible for the stretch run, something that may be easier said than done. Sitting 9 1/2 games ahead of ninth-place Detroit in the Eastern Conference standings, Toronto - the Easts third seed - is poised to make its first postseason appearance in six years. With that comes another rarity for the franchise, playing meaningful games in March and April. The challenge for Casey and the Raptors coaching staff will be in managing the rotation, loosening it enough to give the guards a breathier - together or separately - without sacrificing important games. "Thats the hard thing," Casey acknowledged following Wednesdays practice. "Weve got to buy them a few minutes here and there but every possession - not only every game, every quarter [but] every possession - is meaningful." "When you start looking at scoring, we hit a drought the other night against Golden State right before the fourth quarter but we were just trying to buy minutes for those guys off the floor. Its a catch-22." DeRozan is fourth in the league, averaging just over 38 minutes per game, behind only Carmelo Anthony, James Harden and Kevin Durant while Lowry is 14th, logging roughly 36 a night. Amongst NBA duos, only Houstons pair of Harden and Chandler Parsons as well as Golden States Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson play more. In February, DeRozan played over 40 minutes a night, with Lowry nearly hitting 38. Since the early-December trade, Casey has been rolling out a strict nine-man rotation, using primarily Greivis Vasquez and John Salmons to spell Lowry, DeRozan and Terrence Ross. Getting reliable contribution from his reserves and piecing together the right combinations will bee essential for the Raptors coach to expand the rotation enough to buy his backcourt duo more downtime on the bench.dddddddddddd One player hed like to see more of, who could help in taking the burden off Lowry and DeRozan, is newcomer Nando De Colo. The versatile guard has played just eight minutes since being acquired from the Spurs in a deadline day trade two weeks ago. Although Casey has had trouble pinpointing where exactly De Colo fits in his lineup, he anticipates using the 26-year-old as a secondary ball handler, likely at the two or three position. "Weve got to make sure we have the right combinations on the court, that way we dont sacrifice scoring, but he knows how to play, he has a feel for the game," Casey said of De Colo. "You cant really put your finger on his position or what he is, a two, a three or a point [guard], but hes a basketball player. He just knows how to play." The Raptors got back to work Wednesday after taking a couple days off to satisfy a league mandate. "I thought we had decent focus," Casey said, "the usual first day back to school-type start, but I thought once guys got into it we ramped the intensity a little bit. "There was no resistance as far as the drills were concerned whatsoever, so I could sense they were anxious to get back. As a coach you dont want to lose that rhythm, thats the biggest fear. I didnt sense any of that today." While Jonas Valanciunas used the time off to get away from the game, spending the day ice fishing on Lake Simcoe (he returned home empty handed, without a fish), Terrence Ross took advantage of a rare mid-season opportunity for rest. Ross has been nursing a sprained left ankle, keeping him out of Sundays win over Golden State, but was able to practice in full Wednesday. "It happened at the best time," said Ross, who expects to be in uniform when the Raptors host Sacramento on Friday. "I got a few days off to stay off it and rest. Im feeling back to normal. Ive still got to do treatment on it but right now it feels good." cheap nfl jerseys? cheap jerseys?cheap jerseys?cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '