We took a break as our system was generating plays but plays did not take into account teams giving up and teams fighting for their lives. We are back with some plays with the two wildcard games.
Plays:
3*: San Fransisco -110
1*: San Fransisco and Pittsburgh Over 6
Lean: Oakland +104
Oakland vs KC
No play on our system but a lean towards Oakland +104. Lester is slightly overrated per our system and strikes out batters at an amazing 8.33 K per 9 innings. Lester might find it difficult to strikeout the Royals team which has one of the lowest strikeout rates in baseball. Additionally, the Royals are a very patient team with the highest walk ratio in the league. Lester is all about three pitches his fastball (45%), cutter (33%), and curveball (21%). His best pitch is by far is the curveball which could give the Royals some trouble as they are very poor against this pitch.
KC is going to rocking on Tuesday night with its first playoff game in a long time and what a pitcher to send to the mound with James Shields. Shields is also slightly overrated with a very high strikeout rate as well sitting at 7.14 per 9 innings. The Athletics just don’t strikeout with one of the lowest in the league. Shields has four pitches he uses routinely with fastball (41%), cutter (24%), curveball (13%), and changeup (27%). If Shields gets too dependent on his fastball he could get into trouble against a very good fastball hitting Athletic team. Shields should find a lot of success with his cutter and changeup and the Athletics are very poor against these pitches.
Overral our system likes the Athletics but it is tough to pick against the Royals at home for their first playoff game in along time. The total looks dead on with our system generating a total of 6.51.
San Fransisco vs Pittsburgh
Our system does have a play on the Giants tomorrow and a lean on the over of 6. There is a huge pitching advantage in this matchup per our system. Bumgarner is slightly underrated per our system and has a very impressive 9 K per 9 innings. The Pirates are not a very high strikeout team which should bode well for the Pirates but Bumgarner is still very impressive. Bumgarner is all about three pitches with fastball (43%), slider (35%), and curveball (14%). Bumgarner’s best pitch is by far his fastball but he is going to have to mix it up as the Pirates are the 3rd best fastball hitting team in baseball. Bumgarner should throw his slider frequently as the Pirates are one of the worst slider hitting teams in the nation.
On the other mound is Volquez who is very overrated and might have some difficulty tomorrow against the Giants. Volquez is pitching at home but is on a different level than Bumgarner. Volquez is all about his fastball (55%), curveball (25%), and changeup (18%). Volquez’s best pitch is his curveball but the Giants destroy curveballs and is going to have to throw more change ups to get through the game.
Overall our system loves the Giants on Wednesday night and a slight play on the over as our system thinks the total should be closer to 7 or 7.5.