Cincinnati Reds at Philadelphia Phillies (-200, 7)
You
can bet Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins will be in the
lineup when the club opens up its ALDS series against the Cincinnati
Reds Wednesday, but where he’ll hit in the lineup is still a mystery.
Manager Charlie Manuel refused to shed any light on the situation in his
media briefing Tuesday.
Rollins says his strained right
hamstring feels much better and he did play the final week of the
regular season, going 4-for-19 at the plate with a double and a grand
slam. He looked tentative though, not like the speedster Phillies
backers are used to seeing.
“I won’t be 100 percent when the
playoffs start,” Rollins told reporters recently. “I won’t be 100
percent until next February, probably”.
Meanwhile, Shane
Victorino hit .276 in 346 at-bats at the top of the order while Rollins
sat out for much of the year. If Rollins doesn't bat first Wednesday,
then it'll definitely be Victorino.
Rollins is a career .231
hitter in the postseason, but the Phillies were 31-6 this season when he
scored a run and his energy at the top of the order – if he’s able to
really crank it up – is obvious.
Philadelphia will be up against a Reds club that has lost 10 of its last 14 games on the road.
Pick: Under
New York Yankees at Minnesota Twins (+130, 7.5)
If
the New York Yankees are going to snap out of their late-season slide
now that Game 1 of the ALDS is upon them, they’re probably going to need
their captain to pull another one of his classic postseason
performances. The 36-year-old Derek Jeter has all sorts of motivation to
do just that.
The Yanks’ shortstop is in the final year of his
10-year, $189-million contract and is coming off the worst season of his
career, hitting .270 with 67 RBIs. That said, while New York stumbled
down the stretch, Jeter started to come around. He worked on shortening
his swing in the cage and ended up with hits in 19 of New York’s last 20
games in the regular season while batting .326 over that span.
“He’s
hitting the ball harder,” Yanks manager Joe Girardi told reporters.
“He’s getting the ball in the air sometimes. He’s not getting jammed as
much. You’ve got to be careful now when you go in there, because he’s
getting to that ball again.”
With some rotation question marks
after CC Sabathia takes the hill for Game 1, the Yanks need to get out
of the gate in a hurry.
Pick: Yankees
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