Zito vs Santana tuesday.
Buster Olney breaks down some of the ALDS matchups.
2. The Oakland bullpen vs. Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau
Mauer batted 23 points higher against right-handed pitchers
this year, and Morneau's OPS against right-handers was 42 points
higher. Oakland could use a great matchup left-hander in this series,
but the Athletics don't really have that -- left-handers have batted
.321 against Ron Flores, .333 against Joe Kennedy and .317 against Brad Halsey. The Athletics will just have to trust their best right-handers -- Justin Duchscherer and Huston Street, in particular -- against the Minnesota lefties.
7. Johan Santana vs. Barry Zito
Santana is widely considered to be baseball's best pitcher, the
front-runner to win the AL Cy Young Award. Zito, a Cy Young winner
himself, was perhaps the AL's best left-hander before Santana arrived
and he's poised to make a whole lot of money this offseason as a free
agent.
But Zito could drive the bidders into a frenzy if he were to go
toe-to-toe against Santana and win in this series. He has pitched
pretty well in the Metrodome, allowing just 10 hits and striking out 27
in 24 innings there since the start of 2003, while losing two of three
decisions. Watch to see, in the first few innings, how well Zito is
able to command his fastball; that is usually a telling sign.
8. The Oakland defense vs. the Metrodome turf
The Athletics have had one of baseball's best defensive teams this year, from their superlative outfield to third baseman Eric Chavez to the ability of second baseman Mark Ellis to turn double plays; Oakland finished in a tie for third for fewest errors,
and ranked sixth in double plays. But in this series, the A's will play
on baseball's version of a pool table -- the Metrodome's artificial
surface -- and the outfielders must combat the effects of the
light-colored ceiling on fly balls. It's a whole new ballgame.
