Breaking down the American League Division Series

September 20, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels first baseman

(5) celebrates with second baseman

(47) and center fielder

(27) after hitting a two run home run in the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Gary A.Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Pitching

Neither of these teams have built their teams around the old adage that starting pitching wins championships, but they both have starting rotations that have performed well this season.

The Angels were 13th in baseball while the Royals were 11th in starters’ ERA, but the Angels will be without one of their key guys, as they have been for a few months now. Garrett Richards suffered a serious knee injury in Boston earlier this year, and will not return until next season. Therefore, Jered Weaver will be the ace of this staff.

The match-ups for the first three games have been set, and are as follows:

1. Jason Vargas LHP (11-10, 3.71 ERA) vs Weaver RHP (18-9, 3.59 ERA)
2. Yordano Ventura  RHP (14-10, 3.20 ERA) vs Matt Shoemaker RHP (16-4, 3.04 ERA)
3. C.J. Wilson LHP (13-10, 4.51 ERA) vs James Shields RHP (14-8, 3.21 ERA)

Weaver’s experience and Shoemaker’s numbers give the Angels the edge in the first two games, but with these teams, the bullpens reign supreme. The Royals have some of the best late-inning relievers in the postseason, with three guys with ERAs under 2.00 (Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland). The Angels will counter with three bullpen guys with great numbers of their own. Huston Street (1.37 ERA) Joe Smith (1.81 ERA) and Kevin Jepsen (2.61 ERA) will all play key roles.

When picking who has the edge in pitching, I would go with the Angels. They will have their ace available on regular rest for two games this series, and I think that will make the difference.

Offense

If you look at the numbers, there’s a clear winner here, but if you watched the AL Wild Card game, you will see that there’s more than just batting average and RBIs when it comes to the Royals.

With that being said, the Royals are still at a serious disadvantage. The Angels were the highest-scoring offense in all of baseball with 773 runs, while the Royals were the lowest scoring team of all the American League playoff teams.

One thing the Royals bring to the field is speed, and lots of it. They swiped seven bags in the American League Wild Card game, but that was against Oakland. The A’s allowed the fourth highest stolen base against percentage (.781) during the regular season,  but the Angels are a bit better equipped to catch the Kansas City thieves. They allowed a SB percentage of .731, marginally better than the A’s, but they allowed six more total stolen bases on the season.

Even though the Royals might be going for some stolen base records, the Angels still have the advantage. With world-class hitters like Albert Pujols and Mike Trout, complementary guys like Kole Calhoun and Collin Cowgill and seasoned playoff performers like David Freese, the Angels should have the superior scoring attack.