An Indians Fan’s Guide to the Playoffs: ALCS and NLCS

The second round of the 2012 MLB playoffs is underway, so it’s time to revise our previous Indians fan’s guide to the playoffs in light of the teams that have been eliminated. Here’s a look at which former Tribe players are still on playoff rosters and how they did in the divisional series, and who Cleveland fans should be rooting for in the second round of the postseason.

• ALCS: Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees

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Detroit Tigers

Jhonny Peralta (Indian from 2003-10): Peralta went 5-for-17 against the A’s in the ALDS, good for a .294 batting average, but he worked only one walk and didn’t get an extra-base hit.

New York Yankees

CC Sabathia (2001-8): Sabathia started two games for the Yankees in the ALDS and won them both, holding the Orioles to three runs on 12 hits while fanning 16 Baltimore hitters in 17.2 innings.

Derek Lowe (2012): Lowe threw four pitches in Game 4 of the ALDS, getting Adam Jones to groundout in the top of the 13th inning.

Who to Root For:There’s no good choice for Tribe fans here, but Detroit is the clear pick because you never, ever root for the Yankees. Ever.

•  NLCS: St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants

St. Louis Cardinals

Jake Westbrook (2001-10): Westbrook is not on the playoff roster, though he did go 13-11 with a 3.97 ERA with the Cardinals this year.

San Francisco Giants

Guillermo Mota (2006): Mota pitched one inning split between two games in the NLDS, giving up two runs on four hits with two strikeouts in that span.

Who to Root For: I guess the Cardinals, because of Jake Westbrook. Not a whole lot of Cleveland connection here. Overall, this perspective isn’t very exciting. The playoffs are great and I’ll be watching every game no matter what, but as an Indians fan this postseason looked a lot more exciting in the first round.