ALCS preview

*Photo from the Denver Post*

*Photo from the New York Times*

   Ladies and Gentleman, it's time for the ALCS. The matchup that determines who from the AL will win the 2021 AL Pennant and advance to the world series. New adversaries squaring off again. It's the Boston Red Sox. It's the Houston Astros. Let's preview it all.

   First, let's talk about all the storylines around this series. Both teams have since had scandals around them since they last met in the playoffs. The Astros and their infamous sign stealing scandal has drawn a dark cloud over their run to the 2017 title, during which they swept the Red Sox in the ALDS. One of the main men behind it, Alex Cora, is the Red Sox manager.

   The Red Sox have their own scandal around sign stealing, despite it being in lesser magnitude than the Houston one. They stole signs during the 2018 season, the year they won the title with 108 wins in the regular season. That year, they beat the Astros in 5 games in the ALCS. The Red Sox are also facing an Astros team that has made the ALCS 5 seasons in a row.

The starters(Based off ALDS series)

C: Christian Vazquez(BOS), Martin Maldonado(HOU)

1B: Kyle Schwarber(BOS), Yuli Gurriel(HOU)

2B: Christian Arroyo(BOS), Jose Altuve(HOU)

3B: Rafael Devers(BOS), Alex Bregman(HOU)

SS: Xander Bogaerts(BOS), Carlos Correa(HOU)

LF: Alex Verdugo(BOS), Michael Brantley(HOU)
CF: Kike Hernandez(BOS), Chas McCormick(HOU)
RF: Hunter Renfroe(BOS), Kyle Tucker(HOU)
DH: JD Martinez(BOS), Yordan Alvarez(HOU)

   The Astros enter this series firing on all cylinders, swiftly taking care of the Chicago White Sox in the ALDS. Their lineup leads baseball in runs this season, and it has showed so far this postseason, with Altvue, Correa, Bregman, and Alvarez swinging hot bats, as has Kyle Tucker. Maldonado remains one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, and he can throw out plenty of runners too.

   In terms of the pitching, their starters feature Framber Valdez, rookie Luis Garcia, and Jose Urquidy, with Zack Greinke relegated to bullpen duty. Look for either Greinke or Jake Odorizzi to make a spot start since Lance McCullers Jr is hurt and not on the roster. Their bullpen has Kendall Graveman and Ryan Pressly manning the late innings, with Yimi Garcia, Cristian Javier, and Ryne Stanek among the names in the middle innings.

   The Red Sox lineup was scuffling at the end of the regular season, and in game one of the ALDS, but they're back in full force. Hernandez in particular has been the definition of red hot, and Verdugo has gotten hot at the right time, same for JD Martinez. Schwarber keeps getting on base a ton, and Vazquez has had a few clutch moments recently as well. This also includes Devers hitting homers as per usual. 

   The starting pitching is lined up well, as everyone will get the necessary rest. Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi are the starters for the first two games, likely followed by Eduardo Rodriguez, and Nick Pivetta can draw a spot start as well as pitch in relief, as referenced by his dominance in extra innings in game 3. Tanner Houck has had a strong postseason in relief, and Hansel Robles, Ryan Brasier, and Garrett Whitlock have been good in high leverage opportunities.

   This hurts me to say as a Red Sox fan, but if I had to make a series prediction, I would pick the Houston Astros to win the ALCS in 7 games and return to the world series this season. They've just been the better and more consistent team all season, which is why I think they'll end up on top.