The MLB playoffs are here, and, personally, I'm glad we've gone back to the old way! Last year's expanded postseason with the best-of-three first round was probably a test-run to see how it went with the intention of making it permanent. Perhaps as early as next season. So, this could very well be the last time we see five teams per league with a single-game Wild Card round.
What I'm really glad about, however, is the return of the previous schedule after last year's series were played without days off since there was no travel (and so they could cram the best-of-three Wild Card Series in). Playing seven days in a row really affected Houston and Atlanta in the LCS. They had exhausted bullpens! Going back to the 2-2-1 and 2-3-2 is much fairer. It gives teams a chance to reset their pitching.
It's also great to see teams playing in their own parks in front of their own fans again. I get why they did what they did last season, and I'm grateful there was playoff baseball. But it didn't feel completely like October baseball. That's what we saw at Fenway Park and Dodger Stadium over the past two nights, and it's hopefully what we'll see all month.
Rays vs Red Sox: Last season clearly wasn't a 60-game fluke in Champa Bay. The Rays followed up a World Series appearance by winning 100 games for the first time in franchise history. And they really were the best team in the American League for most of the year. There's very little they don't do well. We've always known they can pitch, but now they can hit, too. Which makes them that much harder to beat.
Boston sees Tampa Bay enough to not be intimidated by them, though. And the Red Sox certainly have the lineup to go toe-to-toe with them. But do they have enough pitching to match up? In the rotation, with Sale, Eovaldi and Pivetta, they do. In the bullpen? Not so much! That bullpen is Boston's Achilles heel, and it will be what makes or breaks this series for the Red Sox.
At the end of the Wild Card Game, they brought up the stat that the Red Sox have now won nine of their last 10 postseason games (the only loss was that 18-inning classic in the 2018 World Series). That streak likely comes to an end here. Because as well as Boston knows Tampa Bay, the Rays know them just as well. So the fact that Tampa is simply the better team will be the deciding factor. Rays in five.
Astros vs White Sox: Can the Astros make it five consecutive trips to the ALCS? Or will the talent-laden and fun-to-watch White Sox keep their dream season going? Frankly, I have no idea! We've known this would be the matchup since mid-September, and it's the one I've been looking forward to the most! Because these teams are so evenly-matched and the differences between them are so slight that I can truly see it going either way.
Houston's core has obviously been there and done that plenty of times before. And that playoff experience could end up playing huge dividends. The offense will almost certainly be the key to their success. They led the Majors in batting average, hits and runs scored this season. So you know they'll put some runs on the board. Like Boston, though, the question is whether the offense will be able to score more than the pitching staff gives up.
As for the White Sox, I, like many, saw this season coming. Too much good, young talent on the South Side, and bringing in Tony LaRussa, which looked crazy at the time, looks brilliant now. They feel like they've got a lot to prove, too. They ran away with a weak AL Central, so some people question how good the White Sox really are. Well, they're about to show everybody. Because, by having that huge lead and a Hall of Fame manager, this team was able to rest up for the games that really matter. White Sox in four.
Giants vs Dodgers: Are you kidding me?! The Giants won 107 games. The Dodgers won 106. One of them will be eliminated in the Division Series! Oh, yeah, and they're also archrivals who are meeting in the official postseason for the first time (although, they also met in an NL tiebreaker game in 1962, as well as the Bobby Thomson series in 1951). So, needless to say, it'll be worth it to stay up and watch as many of these 10:00 games as there are.
My preseason World Series pick was the Dodgers, and I have no reason to change that pick now. They don't have Kershaw and will only have Scherzer once since he pitched the Wild Card Game. OK. Big deal. So they'll just have to settle for Walker Buehler and 20-game winner Julio Urias in Games 1 and 2. Plus, after last year, they've suddenly got all this playoff mojo. They've gone from finding ways to lose playoff games late to finding ways to win them.
But...they finished second in the NL West this season. That's because the Giants had a historic season. I'm not entirely sure how they won 107 games, but they did, so they can't be easily dismissed. This is gonna be a great series between two teams that don't like each other very much. And don't be surprised if the winner doesn't just win the NL pennant, but wins the whole damn thing! Dodgers in five.
Brewers vs Braves: Had this series been played in June, I would've said the Braves win it no problem. That was before Atlanta had all of those injuries, of course. Nevertheless, the Braves retooled big time at the trade deadline and ended up winning the NL East yet again. Are they as good as they were last year, when they led the Dodgers 3-1 in the NLCS? No. But don't think the fact that they have just 88 wins compared to the Brewers' 95 is relevant, either. Because the Braves are more than capable of winning this series.
Frankly, I'm not entirely sure how the Brewers won 95 games or how they won the NL Central going away. A lot of it probably had to do with their pitching, and Milwaukee does have three dominant starters in front of a dominant Josh Hader. Losing Devin Williams will certainly hurt, though. I also question whether the Brewers will be able to muster enough offense.
So, call me crazy, but I think the Braves win this series. I'm not entirely sure why I think so. But they've got a chip on their shoulder after last year, and they also probably want to make people shut up about how "bad" the NL East is. Atlanta relies on its postseason experience and pulls this one out. Braves in four.
Of the eight teams remaining, I can really see five of them going all the way. There are two that I really have a feeling about, though. And that's why Dodgers-White Sox is my World Series pick. With the Dodgers becoming the first team since the 1998-2000 Yankees to win back-to-back championships.
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