The 2013 Major League Baseball Worlds Series will take place in late October. Teams from both the American League and National league look to make the Fall Classic that pits the respective leagues’ winners against each other. Last year the San Francisco Giants swept the Detroit Tigers four games to zero in the best-of-seven series to claim the world title. Nearly halfway through the season and Detroit was the favourite to not only get back to the World Series, but to win it.
The Tigers have quality pitching and hitting. Justin Verlander is the big name on the mound. The 6-foot-5, 225 pound Verlander is a strikeout machine generally registering more strikeouts than innings pitched. Still the Tigers have more than the former Cy Young Award winner on the mound. Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer, and Doug Fister are all quality starters. At the plate for Detroit is the all-everything Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera led the AL in batting average, home runs, and RBI last season (the Triple Crown) and is in the running to win the Triple Crown again this season.
Other teams with good odds to win the World Series are fellow American League standouts Texas, Oakland, and Boston. The Texas Rangers lost star outfielder Josh Hamilton, but are still making noise out in the AL West. Adrian Beltre, Mitch Moreland, and Nelson Cruz have picked up the slack for Hamilton leaving. On the mound for Texas, Yu Darvish is one of the AL’s best. The Oakland A’s, who edged out Texas for the division last season, is in contention again this season. Oakland third baseman Josh Donaldson is having a strong second year. He, Brandon Moss, and Yoenis Cespedes are carrying the A’s offence. They are backed by strong pitching from a resurgent Bartolo Colon. After starting the season 0-2, the 40-year-old Colon has been one of the most effective pitchers in all of baseball. The Boston Red Sox are getting back to their winning ways this season. Mainstays David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia lead a balance Boston offence, while Clay Buchholz is having a season reminiscent of his 2010 breakthrough campaign.
Pittsburgh, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Cincinnati are all teams to watch as well. They are also National League clubs. The Pittsburgh Pirates have gotten good pitching this season. Starter Jeff Locke and closer Jason Grilli have been especially good, while Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez, and Starling Marte have hit the ball well. The Atlanta Braves have been winning thanks to a strong start by Justin Upton and great play from Freddie Freeman. They also have balanced starting pitching and a great bullpen.
The St. Louis Cardinals made it to the NL Championship last season before losing. Helping their cause this year are starting pitchers Adam Wainwright, Shelby Miller, and Lance Lynn. Also, the bat of Carlos Beltran remains live as he spearheads the Cardinals offence. The Cincinnati Reds have plenty of offence of their own. Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Brandon Phillips, and Shin-Soo Choo are capable hitters. Plus Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake, and Mat Latos are the beginning of a good starting rotation, while Aroldis Chapman is feared coming out of the bullpen.
Other teams to watch as possible World Series winners are the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks and Baltimore Orioles just to name a few.
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