After the drama of the Wildcard matches Major League Baseball’s Division Series are under way, with the eight best teams vying to move closer to the World Series. Let’s take a look at what’s happened so far, and what’s coming up.
Toronto V Texas: Toronto were the hottest team in baseball post All-Star break, but it hasn’t continued into the post-season. They’ve lost the opening two games of this series but they have the offense to overturn that. For Texas, that opening win was huge, to get a win off of David Price’s start is significant. He’s the Blue Jays ace and their man in the playoffs. It’s a huge mental boost to the Rangers, not to mention both wins came in Toronto. So Texas will head home and know that a win on Monday would seal their passage through to the next phase. I would usually think the Blue Jays roster is just too deep, but with Texas up 2-0 and a couple of home games coming up, they should win this 3-0.
St Louis V Chicago: This is, without doubt, the most anticipated series for me. The Cubs won’t have the brilliance of Jake Arrieta until at least Game Three as he rests after a scintillating performance to shutout Pittsburgh in the National League Wildcard. The Cubs do still have Jon Lester, but beyond that their rotation is thin. Arrieta’s start is as close to a guaranteed win as you can get, so if the Cubs get to Game Three with the series tied at 1-1 I think they’ll be happy. Meanwhile, St Louis have welcomed back superstar catcher Yadier Molina for this series, and that is potentially a decider. The Cardinals finished the year with 100 wins, but they certainly weren’t the hottest team in baseball coming into the playoffs with Molina out injured. Their pitching had been struggling without him, so he’ll have a positive impact on that as well as his ability to come up with clutch hits. The Cubs are riding a wave of momentum but I don’t think they can match the Cardinals’ depth. I’m picking the Cardinals to win this series 3-1.
Houston V Kansas City: Houston and Kansas City are two teams that seem hard to dislike. After shutting out the Yankees in New York in the wildcard match, Houston took a 1-0 lead in this series yesterday. They are a team full of confidence and momentum. They are also benefiting from a brutal September where a host of teams from their division could have snatched post-season berths. Kansas had a post-season spot all but booked up in July. I like Houston’s ability to hit well all through their lineup, and with pitchers like Dallas Keuchel and Scott Kazmir they are a massive threat. I’m picking they’ll win this series 3-0 and set up a mouth-watering Championship Series against rivals Texas for a spot in the Fall Classic.
New York V Los Angeles: The Dodgers are craving post-season success to justify the ridiculous amounts of money they are putting into their team. The Dodgers payroll sits at $470 million, let’s just compare that to another post-season team, the Astros, and their $121 million payroll. The expectations are monumental for LA. The Mets are another up and coming team, with a lot of young pitching and they’ve been playing well above their stock this season, so expectations are not huge on them. I think man for man the Dodgers roster is better, but the Mets are on a high at the moment and that counts for a lot in the sprint that is the post-season. I think if it goes to Game Five, Clayton Kershaw will probably make sure the Dodgers win, but I think the Mets will win this sooner, 3-1.