Now that the wildcard matchups are over, we have the matchups finalized for the division series in both the AL and NL. The Nationals flipped their fortune in the eighth inning against the Brewers when it seemed all hope was lost. Down 3-1, Juan Soto stepped up to the plate with bases loaded against one of the best relievers in the game Josh Hader, Soto then smacked a single to right field where Trent Grisham misplayed the ball, allowing three runs to score and give the Nationals a 3-1 lead.
This was all the Nationals needed, Daniel Hudson came in for the ninth inning and shut the Brewers down, giving the Nationals the win and leading them to a series against the Dodgers in the division series.
In the American league we saw the matchup between the Rays and the Athletics, the Rays started off strong with a solo homerun by Yandy Diaz to lead off the game. The Rays rode this momentum throughout the game, never surrendering the lead. Charlie Morton through five strong innings, allowing one run on five hits and three walks, the run was unearned thanks to an error by third baseman Michael Brosseau.
Even the error wasn’t enough to deter the Rays of this win, the Rays are now moving on to fact the Astros in the division series.
The other matchups in the division series are the Twins vs. the Yankees in the American league, and the Cardinals vs. the Braves in the National league.
The National league series’ start tonight with the Cardinals and Braves drawing the early matchup, starting at 5:02, and the Nationals and Dodgers starting at 8:37.
The American league will start play Friday, October 4th with the Rays and Astros first pitch at 2:05, and the Twins and Yankees at 7:07.
Due to the National league starting their series tonight, let’s start off with the National league predictions.
Cardinals vs. Braves
The NL Central was one of the toughest divisions in all of baseball, their division went down to the wire with three teams fighting for the division win. With just a two-game separation between the Cardinals (1) and the Brewers (2), it virtually went down to the last series of the season to determine a division winner.
The Cardinals ended up winning the division and it was thanks to strong pitching down the stretch, specifically from Jack Flaherty. Since the all-star break, Flaherty is 7-2 with a .91 ERA, .715 WHIP, and a 5.39K/BB ratio. Flaherty put himself into the Cy Young competition because of his success in the second half of the season.
Flaherty wasn’t the only strong part of their pitching staff; the Cardinals posted the fifth best ERA in the MLB at 3.8—second to the Dodgers in the National league. Their starters and their relievers were equally as strong, the starters posted a 3.78 ERA while the bullpen had a 3.82 ERA, both good for second in the National league.
Hitting wise the Cardinals were not nearly as strong, they ranked in the bottom half of the league in all the major categories, including runs, homeruns, average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and on-base plus slugging percentage. However, they weren’t bottom half in wins, and that is all that matters when looking to make the postseason.
Offensively they were led by Paul Goldschmidt, the free agent acquired in the offseason brought in to lead the Cardinals offensively. Goldschmidt had 34 HRs with 97 RBIs to lead the team.
The Braves weren’t as strong as the Cardinals when it came to pitching, but they were still very serviceable. They ranked 10th in the MLB in team ERA at 4.19—fifth in the NL. Their starters and relievers were equally productive, the starters posted a 4.2 ERA while the bullpen posted a 4.18 ERA. Part of why the starters were so good is due to the pitching of rookie Mike Soroka.
Soroka had a great rookie year and would have won the award if not for Pete Alonso, who blasted 53 homeruns on the year. Soroka’s season also put him into the Cy Young discussion, he was 13-4 on the year with a 2.68 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and a 3.46 K/BB ratio.
Offensively they were a machine, ranking in the top 10 in the MLB for all of the major hitting stats. Three players had over 30 HRs (Donaldson, Acuna Jr., Freeman) and two players had over 100 RBIs (Acuna Jr., Freeman). They had power and speed mixed throughout the lineup which made them a force to be reckoned with offensively.
Prediction
When the Cardinals were at home this season, they were one of the best in the MLB, tied for the sixth best home record at 50-31. On the road they were not nearly as effective, they barely posted a .500 record at 41-40. This will be a key in the series considering the Braves have home field due to a better record.
The Braves have the same home record as the Cardinals, but their away record is much better at 47-34.
Although the Braves offense is very dangerous, this matchup will be a battle of starting pitching. On paper the Cardinals have the better staff due to the team stats, but some of their best pitchers are unproven. This will be their first postseason appearance which could mean that the nerves will come in play.
Offensively the Cardinals are not as much of a threat as the Braves, but they have postseason experience and will need to bring all the power they have to this series.
Holding the Braves lineup will not be an easy task, and this is exactly why pitching will be the key for the Cardinals, if the Cardinals give up an early lead to this dangerous lineup then it could make it really tough for the Cardinals to get back into the game.
Prediction: Braves in four games
Nationals vs. Dodgers
The Nationals are flying high after their dramatic win against the Brewers in the wildcard game. This momentum could serve them well against one of the best teams in the Dodgers. However, they will have to do this on a shortened pitching staff, with both Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg pitching in the wildcard game.
With both of these pitchers going we can rule them out for game one against the Dodgers, so Patrick Corbin will get the nod.
With three great starting pitchers it is not bad at all that Corbin is starting this game. The biggest concern lies in the bullpen, which had an MLB worst 5.66 ERA. Their starters posted the second-best ERA in the MLB at 3.53, but their relievers were not reliable to help them out anymore.
Their offense has a lot of power throughout the lineup, but they were put in their place against Brandon Woodruff in the wildcard game. They could be in store for the same thing against the Dodgers pitching staff, who has the best ERA in the MLB at 3.11.
The Dodgers pitching staff is the best in the MLB, there starters were great, and the relievers were not bad at all with a 3.78 ERA, posting a total 3.37 ERA. This will be a major factor against the Nationals who could not seem to get the bats going against the Brewers.
With Hyun-Jin Ryu, Clayton Kershaw, and Walker Buehler, on their starting staff they are very dangerous. Buehler will be going on the mound for game one against Corbin, Buehler had a very good season at 14-4 with a 3.26 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. For as good as he was this season, Ryu was the best pitcher on their staff this season.
Ryu is a Cy Young candidate this season and rightfully so, he was 14-5 on the year with a 2.32 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and a 6.79 K/BB ratio. Up to this point of his career this is his best season and served the Dodgers well this season.
As good as the pitching staff was, the hitting may have been equally as effective. Led by potential MVP candidate Cody Bellinger, they had three players with over 30 HRs (Bellinger, Muncy, Pederson). Bellinger was the only one of these players to get over 100 RBIs and he did this in a tremendous year.
There was no way that Bellinger was going to keep up his pace from an historic April, but he ended the season with a great quadruple slash line, .305/.406/.629/1.035. Bellinger was the catalyst for this offense, but they are well balanced throughout the lineup to be dangerous.
Prediction
The Dodgers had the best record at home this season in the MLB, sitting at 59-22, they take home field very seriously and feel like they can win anytime they play there. They will have the first two opportunities to play there as they have the better record.
They will also come in rested as they did not have to play in the wildcard game, giving them a couple extra days to rest and prepare for the Nationals.
If the Dodgers want the best chance for success, then they need to hit the Nationals early and often. The Nationals offense could strike at any time, but this is not the reason why the Dodgers need to get some early offense against the starters. They will need to do this to get the Nationals bullpen involved.
The Nationals had the worst bullpen ERA in all of the MLB, this means that their starters are very strong. If the Dodgers can get the starters out early, then it will bode them very well in the series.
The Nationals are better at home this season, but they are hot. The best teams don’t always win in the playoffs, the hot teams usually do well. It all depends on when a team is getting hot, the Nationals are already there.
Their offense was stifled against the Brewers but have the potential to explode at any time. It will be tough against the Dodgers staff, but they have the potential with Trea Turner, Juan Soto, and MVP candidate Anthony Rendon to come alive at any time.
It will be big for the Dodgers to knock the Nationals starters out of the game early, but the Nationals know what to expect from this series. The big three of the Nationals staff will come to play this series and make it one of the better series in the division series matchups.
Prediction: Dodgers in five games
Rays vs. Astros
The Rays won their matchup with the Athletics in Oakland to move on and play the Astros in the division series. Charlie Morton pitched a good game, not a great game to lead the Rays past the Athletics. They are in for it against a very tough opponent in the Astros.
The Rays showed pop that they were missing for almost half the season last night with the reemergence of Yandy Diaz. Diaz led off the game with a home run and added another one later in the game. Avisail Garcia also added a home run to help with the power game. Defensively they were good for the most part, with one error on a sun heavy field they almost played a flawless game.
That is exactly what they will need to be in order to defeat the Astros. The Astros are one of the most feared teams in the entire MLB, and they are set up for years to come. Not only do the Astros have a dangerous rotation, but they also have a dangerous lineup.
Their pitching staff had the third best ERA in the MLB at 3.66, this was in large part to their starting rotation. They have two potential Cy Young candidates in that rotation in Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. Cole and Verlander were two of the best pitchers in the game all season long and will be a juggernaut for the Rays to go through.
On top of that they also acquired Zack Greinke at the trade deadline from the Arizona Diamondbacks, this only added to one of the best rotations in the game.
Aside from having two Cy Young candidates they also have an MVP candidate in Alex Bregman. Alex Bregman was the best hitter on a team loaded with good hitters. Bregman had an outstanding quadruple slash line, .296/.423/.592/1.015, and led the league in walks with 119. This is on top of being one of the best defenders at third base in the game.
Bregman was the best hitter on the team, but they also have all-stars flooded throughout the rest of their lineup in Jose Altuve, George Springer, Carlos Correa, Yuli Gurriel, and Yordan Alvarez. This lineup would give any team nightmares, and now it is the Rays turn.
Prediction
Although the Rays have one of the best pitching staffs in the game, the Astros have that and have name recognition within the rotation. Charlie Morton and Blake Snell are really the only two recognizable names in the Rays rotation, the Astros have Verlander, Cole, Greinke, and Roberto Osuna.
Due to this the Rays need to have great pitching throughout the series if they want to stand a chance against the Astros. Not only will they need to pitch great, but they will also need to put runs up on the board like they did against the Athletics.
The Astros have one of the best lineups in the entire MLB and have the power to put runs on the board at any time they like. Pitching will still be important for the Astros, but not as important as their offensive game.
The Rays have a great staff so the Astros will need to put runs on the board to defeat the Rays. Looking at how they did this all season long, it looks like the Astros roll will continue into the championship series.
Prediction: Astros in three games
Twins vs. Yankees
In the battle of power teams, we have the Twins and the Yankees, the top two teams in home runs this season and of all-time. These two teams have some of the best offensive bats in the whole game, the Yankees have more name recognition in their lineup, but the Twins are still a very dangerous team.
These two teams were ranked one and two in the MLB offensively, this series will be a showcase of what offensive teams can do in the playoffs.
It was amazing what the Yankees were able to do this season, dealing with so many injuries they still managed to get over 100 wins and lock home field advantage for this series. However, the Yankees are back at full strength and have the name recognition of players to give them an early advantage.
Offensively the Yankees have Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez, Edwin Encarnacion, and Didi Gregorious. Maybe second to the Astros, the Yankees have one of the best lineups in all of the league.
They have a great lineup, but their pitching leaves a lot to be desired. On paper they should have a great rotation, but Masahiro Tanaka has only been average this season, and they were without Luis Severino for most of the season. Now with an ongoing investigation into the domestic violence incident with Domingo German, they will be without him as the playoffs continue.
They will still have James Paxton who hasn’t been as dominant as he was in Seattle but can still be great at any time. However, this rotation does not equal that of Minnesota’s.
We all know Minnesota is a threat offensively, with names like Nelson Cruz, Jorge Polanco, Eddie Rosario, Miguel Sano, and Byron Buxton, but their pitching staff is not one to overlook.
On the bump their starters had the fifth ranked starters ERA in the AL, and the fifth ranked total ERA in the AL. This will be necessary as they face a lineup of hitters who can destroy the ball in the Yankees.
Their rotation will be led by Jose Berrios and Jake Odorizzi who have played well all season long. They also have Kyle Gibson and Michael Pineda to add to the rotation. They don’t necessarily have any star pitchers, but all of their pitchers are very good and execute their role perfectly.
Prediction
This showcase will be about the offenses, because of this pitching will be the key in the series. We all know that both of these offenses were historically good, but the pitching will be tested more than anything.
Both lineups can put runs up on the board with ease, especially the Yankees now that they are back at full strength. Starters will be key for both of these teams, whoever will be able to last the longest on the mound without allowing too many runs will win the series.
The Twins rotation looks to be a little stronger at this point because of the consistency they bring. When the Yankees pitchers are on then they can be really good, but they are more inconsistent than the Twins are.
Even with the Yankees at full strength offensively, their pitching may not be enough to get past this dangerous Twins team. This might be the most exciting of the division series matchups to watch and could be an offensive show and make history while they are at it.
Prediction: Twins in five games