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Giants

Buster Posey (l.) and Jayson Werth will be in the middle of each lineup in the NLDS. (USATSI)

After beating the Pirates in the NL wild-card game, the San Francisco Giants face the Washington Nationals in the 2014 National League Division Series. The Nationals had the best record in the league during the regular season (96-66) and thus have home-field advantage.


The series is set to take place as follows:


Game 1: Friday, Oct. 3, 3:00 p.m. ETGame 2: Saturday, Oct. 4, 5:30 p.m. ETGame 3: Monday, Oct. 6, Time TBAGame 4 (if necessary): Tueday, Oct. 7, Time TBAGame 5 (if necessary): Thursday, Oct. 9, Time TBA


Let's break down the matchup, position by position. As a reminder, this is just an overview of each team's strengths and weaknesses heading into the series. Don't waste time adding up which club has more advantages and saying that's who will win. That's not how it works and games aren't played on paper, after all.



Ramos again battled injuries and hit an acceptable .267/.299/.399 (91 OPS+) with 11 home runs while throwing out 38 percent of attempted base-stealers this season, but this isn't even close. Posey is a monster, hitting .311/.364/.490 (143 OPS+) with 22 home runs while throwing out 30 percent of base-stealers in 2014. This would be big advantage San Francisco even if Posey played Matt LeCroy-level defense.



Injuries, specifically a broken thumb and a concussion, sabotaged Belt's season. He hit .243/.306/.449 (114 OPS+) with 12 home runs in only 61 games. LaRoche was yet again above average, hitting .259/.362/.455 (124 OPS+) with 26 home runs and 92 RBI. He's also a good defender. Belt could be great, but this was a rough year for him. There are no such questions with LaRoche; we know what he is, and that's pretty good.



Both teams changed second basemen this summer due to injury. Marco Scutaro got hurt and eventually Panik was called up at midseason. He hit .305/.343/.368 (104 OPS+) to settle things down at the position. Cabrera was acquired from the Indians at the trade deadline and went on to hit .229/.312/.389 (92 OPS+) with five homers in 49 games for Washington. His track record suggests he's better than that.



Desmond is a flawed hitter who strikes out a lot (183 K in 2014), but few shortstops can swat 24 home runs with a .255/.313/.430 (103 OPS+) batting line and strong defense. Crawford hit .246/.324/.389 (104 OPS+) with 10 homers this year before hitting that grand slam in the NL wild-card game. The shape of their production is different but they are similarly valuable players.



Ryan Zimmerman's hamstring issues will relegate him to the bench this series and, frankly, the Nationals are better for it. Rendon had a brilliant season, hitting .287/.351/.473 (125 OPS+) with 39 doubles and 21 home runs while playing standout defense at the hot corner. Sandoval, a former World Series MVP, hit .279/.324/.415 (111 OPS+) with 26 doubles and 16 homers this year, also playing strong defense. Don't be fooled by his size, Kung Fu Panda can play the hot corner with the best of 'em. It's hard to ignore Sandoval's pedigree, but in 2014, I want Rendon.


Left field: Juan Perez/ Travis Ishikawa vs. Bryce Harper



Injuries have wrecked the Giants' outfield. Angel Pagan (back surgery) is done for the season and it's still unclear when Michael Morse (oblique) will return. That forced manager Bruce Bochy to use Ishikawa, a first baseman by trade, in left in the NL wild-card game. Perez is the speedy defensive replacement. Harper, meanwhile, hit .273/.344/.423 (111 OPS+) with 13 home runs in 100 games this season around a thumb injury.



Blanco went from oft-used fourth outfielder to starting center fielder because of the Morse and Pagan injuries. He hit .260/.333/.374 (103 OPS+) this year and was very good in the second half, putting up a .296/.365/.449 (136 OPS+) batting line. Span led the NL with 184 hits and hit .302/.355/.416 (113 OPS+) overall. Like Blanco, he's an excellent defender. If you buy Blanco's second half being the sign of a breakout and not just a hot streak, this would be an excellent debate. The track records point to Span, however.



Pence and Werth are two of the most unique players in baseball. Pence because of his goofy mannerisms and Werth because of his caveman beard. They both also happen to be stellar players. Pence hit .277/.332/.445 (121 OPS+) with 29 doubles and 20 home runs, a performance that will probably earn him some MVP votes. Meanwhile, Werth hit .292/.394/.455 (134 OPS+) with 37 doubles and 16 homers and will likely get fewer MVP votes. MVP voting is weird like that.


Bench

The Giants are at a disadvantage because of the Pagan and Morse injuries. Guys like Joaquin Arias, Andrew Susac and Perez just aren't as formidable as Jose Lobaton, Danny Espinosa, Kevin Frandsen and Zimmerman. If San Francisco was totally healthy with Ishikawa and Blanco on the bench, this would be a different story.


Starting pitching: Jake Peavy, Tim Hudson, Madison Bumgarner and TBA vs. Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Doug Fister and Gio Gonzalez/ Tanner Roark



Because he was needed in the NL wild-card game, Bumgarner will only be able to make one start in the NLDS even if it goes the full five games. Peavy and Hudson -- if the Giants don't start Peavy on short rest in Game 4, either Ryan Vogelsong or Yusmeiro Petit would get the ball -- are fine veteran hurlers who will leave it all out on the mound. No shame in starting them in the postseason.


Now, that said, the Strasburg-Zimmermann-Fister trio is the best 1-2-3 punch in the postseason. Strasburg had the worst season of the three with a 3.14 ERA and an NL-leading 242 strikeouts. Zimmermann (14-5, 2.66) and Fister (16-6, 2.41) were marvelous. Most teams would love to pick between Gio and Roark for Game 2, but Washington will pick between them for Game 4. Washington's starting staff is dominant one through four (really five).


Bullpen: Santiago Casilla, Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt, Jean Machi vs. Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard, Matt Thornton, Rafael Soriano



Both teams changed closers at midseason and that's really no big deal -- all four LCS teams changed closers at midseason last year. Casilla replaced Romo and Storen replaced Soriano. Romo was able to right the ship and is now the team's primary setup man while Soriano never really figured it out. Clippard and Thornton will be the bridge between the starters and Storen.


With Gio rumored to be the fourth starter, Roark could figure into the Nats' bullpen picture. The Giants also have September revelation Hunter Strickland and veteran lefty specialist Javier Lopez. These two bullpens are pretty evenly matched except for experience. San Francisco won a World Series with largely this same bullpen in 2012. The Nats ... well let's not talk about Game 5 of the 2012 NLDS.


Defense

Both the Giants and Nationals are very good defensive clubs. The only notable exception is left field for San Francisco if they continue playing Ishikawa out there. Heck, they'll have below-average defense out there even after Morse returns. The Giants have a big edge in defensive efficiency (.718 vs. 706) though their current defense talent level is something less than that without Pagan. Either way, both teams are good defensively. The Giants are just a smidge better.


Manager: Bruce Bochy vs. Matt Williams



This might be the biggest mismatch of the series. Bochy has shown he is a tactical genius in the postseason during the team's 2010 and 2012 World Series runs as nearly every decision worked out. At some point it stops being a fluke. Williams is a rookie skipper who had some bumps in the road this year. How will he handle pressure-packed postseason games? This series could evoke memories of Tony La Russa managing circles around Ron Washington in the 2011 World Series.


Prediction

This is young vs. old, in terms of postseason experience. Not that the Giants have old players, but even their young guys like Posey and Bumgarner have plenty of postseason experience under their belt. The Nationals are loaded with talent, from the No. 1 player on the roster all the way through No. 25, but they reminded everyone in 2012 that talent isn't enough. I do think that disappointing collapse in 2012 will help this Nationals group that has stayed largely intact since then, but I also find it very hard to bet against the San Francisco. The Giants will take the NLDS in five games.


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