If the American League playoffs started today and played out by who had the better starting pitching based on www.valueaddbaseball.com, the A’s would have a big edge in a one-game playoff with the Rays (A.J. Griffin ranked 22nd with a 9.45 Value Add over Matt Moore 49th/7.16).
The A’s would then run into the 4th-rated Red Sox Rotation (41.36), which is virtually even with the Reds and Braves for the third best rotation in baseball. The Red Sox problem is that they have great balance, but their highest ranked individual pitcher is Jon Lester at 40th.
The Tigers (44.22/2nd) would have a huge edge over the Rangers (37.93/6th), though Derek Holland gives the Rangers a top 10 pitcher (10.60).
The Tigers would then have the edge over the Red Sox to win the AL Title.
Of course, baseball also has hitting, fielding, relief pitching and the most luck of any of the major US sports, so the Tigers are below 50-50 to make the Series even though they look to have best rotation in the league.
See the separate post for the ratings of all 218 MLB Starting pitchers.
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