2015 NLDS Preview - North Georgia vs. Metropolis

The North Georgia Yellow Jackets and Metropolis Avengers will match up in one of the two National League Division Series. North Georgia earned their spot by defeating the Portland Blue Sox four games to one in the National League Wild Card round. They'll make the trip to the Hall of Justice for Games One and Two before the series moves to North Georgia for the middle games. To preview the series, here is glance at some of the Avengers' and Yellow Jackets' regular season stats.

• North Georgia went 86-76 and won the second NL Wild Card spot.
• Metropolis went 106-56 and won the NL West by 13 games over Portsmouth.
• Metropolis is attempting to win its third World Series in four years and fourth overall, having won in 2006, 2012, and 2014. North Georgia is making its first playoff appearance since 1999.
• North Georgia was 4-8 in extra-inning games and 27-20 in one-run games.
• Metropolis was 12-4 in extra-inning games and 31-24 in one-run games. The Avengers’ 55 one-run games was the second most in all of Brassball (California went 22-34 in its 56 one-run games on the way to a 60-102 record).
• North Georgia scored 718 runs and allowed 658, for a +60 run differential.
• Metropolis scored 794 and allowed 510 runs, for a +284 differential (second to Fleetwood’s +299).
• North Georgia has one of the best closers in the game. Jared Hughes collected 46 saves with a 0.99 ERA. Metropolis, on the other hand, goes with a bullpen by committee. Eleven different Avengers recorded a save, led by Craig Kimbrel's 19.
• The Avengers won five of the seven games against North Georgia games in the regular season, outscoring the Yellow Jackets 36-18.
• North Georgia stole 112 bases and was thrown out 28 times.  Metropolis was much more conservative, stealing just 28 bases in 37 chances.
• The Avengers made 87 errors and allowed 37 unearned runs. The Yellow Jackets 99 errors and surrendered 67 unearned runs.
• Both teams hit more homers on the road than at home. North Georgia hit 82 road bombs and 69 at home. Metropolis had 86 on the road and just 60 at home.
• Metropolis had the league’s second-highest OPS at .762. North Georgia’s .715 OPS was 11^th.
• North Georgia’s catchers allowed just three passed balls all season.
• Both teams are vulnerable to the stolen base. Metropolis allowed 114 steals at a 74.5% rate while North Georgia allowed 119 with an 82.6% success rate.
• Only three Yellow Jackets collected double digit wins - Jose Quintana (14), AJ Burnett (13), and Dan Haren (11). 
• Metropolis had five pitchers in double digits - Corey Kluber (21), Stephen Strasburg (17), Carlos Carrasco (15), Collin McHugh (13), and Yusmeiro Petit (10).
• The Avengers trust their hitters to hit and pitchers to pitch. They didn’t bunt once all year and attempted just one hit-and-run. Their pitchers issued only a single intentional walk (by September call-up Cam Bedrosian). North Georgia was in the middle of the pack with 48 sacrifice attempts, 49 hit-and-runs and 18 intentional walks.
• North Georgia starters completed 20 games on the season, led by Quintana's 7 and Masahiro Tanaka's 6. Metropolis only completed nine, with Kluber and Strasburg each doing so three times.
• Metropolis pitchers allowed a .604 OPS with 7.1 hits, 2.3 walks, 9.1 strikeouts, and .7 home runs per nine innings.
• North Georgia pitchers surrendered a .712 OPS, 8.7 hits, 2.8 walks, 7.3 strikeouts, and .9 homers per nine innings.
• Yellow Jacket rookie Jose Abreu had the league’s only game with five walks (vs Leesburg) and one of two games with three homers (vs Brew City).
• North Georgia out homered Metropolis 151 to 146. They were led by Abreu's 37 and Adam Jones's 31. Jose Bautista paced the Avengers with 27. 
• However, Metropolis pitchers allowed just 120 home runs while North Georgia allowed 150.
• The top of the order could be the difference in the series. Metropolis's 1-2 hitters had OPS of .836 and .839 on the season. North Georgia's table setters were just .650 and .638.
• Avenger hitters were at their best with the bases loaded. They hit six homers and had a .951 OPS in 127 at bats. North Georgia hit three grand slams and had a .768 OPS in their 108 at bats with the bases loaded.
• Metropolis added two players at the trade deadline - 1B/DH Steve Pearce and starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez. Pearce hit .249/.329/.437 with eight homers and 32 RBIs in 222 plate appearances. Sanchez was just 3-3 in his seven starts, but had a 1.65 ERA and allowed just 30 hits and 12 walks in 49 innings.