I have always wondered how teams stack up from a SABRmetric viewpoint, and I think that graphics are the best way to see to understand the differences between the teams. For this year's World Series, I wanted to take a look at how the Tigers and Giants compare. Fangraphs does a great job compiling a ton of useful stats, and I isolated the stats I found most interesting. The graphic above compares the Fangraphs WAR for each player on the World Series roster. Upon first glance, you will notice the Giants have the best player in the series - Buster Posey. Not to worry Tigers fans, Miguel Cabrera is awful good, and Verlander is by far the best pitcher in the series. He was worth three more wins than the Giants top pitcher Matt Cain.
The graphic below shows the differences in distribution for batting (wOBA and wRC+), baserunning (BsR), fielding (Fld), and pitching (ERA and FIP). There is not much of a difference between the two teams offensively or pitching-wise, but the Giants have advantages in baserunning and fielding.
The key to this series for me is Verlander. If the Tigers win game one tonight, I think they will win the series. The overall matchup is very close. I think Verlander will overwhelm the Giants lineup and should win two games. I'm betting on the Tigers pitching to limit the Giants offensively and neutralize any baserunning advantage. I also feel that the Tigers pitching staff could strike out a ton of Giants hitters and thus hide their bad defense. Enjoy game one.
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