The Four Best Teams In Baseball

I'll be honest.  The four Division Series kinda disappointed.  And the reason why is the four series winners.  The quality of baseball played by the Red Sox, Astros, Brewers and Dodgers was absolutely top-notch.  They showed us why they were the top two seeds in their respective leagues.  As a result, we've got 1 vs. 2 in both LCSes for the first time since 2009 (and just the second time in the Division Series Era).

Before the playoffs started, I wondered if the Milwaukee Brewers were ever going to lose again.  After their sweep of Colorado (in which they never trailed), I'm still wondering that.  The Rockies' travels across the Midwestern and Western United States might've been a factor, but Milwaukee completely dominated that series in every respect.  It was clear that the Brewers were the better team.

It was also clear that the Dodgers are significantly better than the Braves.  Those first two games at Dodger Stadium were as close to perfect as that team can play.  And the bold decision to start Kershaw in Game 2 certainly paid off.  He's back to his accustomed spot as the Game 1 starter in the NLCS, but they made their point.  They're much more than Clayton Kershaw.

The Dodgers are so deep that their bench for most of the Atlanta series consisted of a guy who started the All*Star Game (and is the likely Comeback Player of the Year), a guy they picked up at the trade deadline, two guys who started in the World Series last year, and a former World Series MVP.  That doesn't even seem fair.  The Brewers, meanwhile, will look to continue to ride their two strengths, their MVP candidate and their stacked bullpen.

Milwaukee's biggest advantage in this series is in the bullpen.  It's probably the Dodgers' biggest weakness, while the Brewers can't wait to get to their bullpen.  In fact, they got away with doing Tampa Bay's stupid "opener" thing in Game 1 against Colorado.  That tactic won't work against the Dodgers, though.  Because as much as they don't really trust their bullpen, the Dodgers know that their rotation is their biggest strength.  And if they get the type of pitching performances from their starters that they got against Atlanta (especially those like the ones turned in by Kershaw and Ryu), we could see the Dodgers back in the World Series.

Really that's the key to this series for both teams.  Starting pitching.  If the Brewers are able to get to the Dodgers' starters, they're in good shape.  Likewise, if Milwaukee's pitchers go toe-to-toe with them (or even outperform them), it'll be very difficult for the Dodgers to come back against that ridiculous Brewers bullpen.

In my initial pre-playoffs blog, I picked the Brewers to win the NL pennant.  I'll stick with that, but I can easily see this going either way.  For as impressive as Milwaukee was against Colorado, the Dodgers were just as impressive against Atlanta.  It's their third straight NLCS, but their only goal is getting back to the World Series.  And they're playing well enough to get there.  So is Milwaukee, though.  Either way, we've got a potentially great NLCS on our hands.  Brewers in seven.

Meanwhile, the ALCS gives us a matchup of the teams with the two best records in baseball, 108-win Boston and defending champion Houston.  And like the NLCS, the ALCS combatants are so equal in almost every way that it's so difficult to separate them.  Last year when they met in the Division Series, Houston pretty much dominated.  I think this ALCS will be vastly different.

There were a number of reasons the Red Sox beat the Yankees, but the biggest one was where Boston had an advantage all season, a Yankee weakness that was exposed greatly in the Division Series.  And, stop me if you've heard this before, that difference was starting pitching.  The Yankees' starters were vastly inferior to the arms the Red Sox were running out there.  And it wasn't just because the Yankees' bullpen is a strength.  It's because the starters were THAT ineffective.

We all know about what Boston's lineup can do.  When they're facing subpar pitching, 16-1 is what happens.  They won't be seeing subpar pitching in the ALCS, though.  Because the Astros have been winning on the strength of their starting rotation all year long.  And I don't see that changing in the ALCS.

Both the Red Sox and Astros have a dangerous lineup.  They both have solid rotations.  And they're both scared of their bullpens before their closer.  So where's the difference between the two?  Well, I'd argue that Houston's lineup is a little deeper.  The bottom four in the Boston order are definitely manageable, especially compared to those beasts on top.  The Astros, meanwhile, had Carlos Correa batting sixth against Cleveland.

Boston's better than last year.  That's obvious.  They won 108 games and have two MVP candidates.  But what everyone seems to be forgetting is that Houston is better, too.  And the Astros were hot in September (they needed to be to hold off the A's), and they carried it right into October.  They've got Altuve back, too, which has been a big difference.

And there's this, too.  Alex Bregman was "pissed off" that the Astros played all afternoon games during the Division Series.  I disagree with him on the scheduling topic, but I think his point is that Houston felt disrespected.  Well, they get to be in prime time during the ALCS, which features the second-most combined wins in LCS history.

Just like I took Milwaukee at the start of the playoffs, I'm doubling down on my Houston pick in the AL.  Heck, I took the Astros back in March, so I really have no reason to change now!  I think the difference in the ALCS will be the back end of the rotation.  I also think Verlander outduels Sale.  Astros in six.

Either way, we've got the four best teams in baseball left, which should give us two outstanding LCSes.  And you can't really complain about any of the four possible World Series matchups.  It'll either be Dodgers-Red Sox, two of the marquee franchises in the game, Dodgers-Astros in a World Series rematch, Astros-Brewers in the battle of teams that switched leagues (and just the second-ever all-expansion World Series) or a Red Sox-Brewers matchup between the top team in each league.  I'll sign up for any of those.