MLB POSTSEASON PREDICTION
The 2018 MLB Postseason consists of eight teams, four per league, the National League (NL), and the American League (AL), and includes three rounds of playoff baseball. First off, before the rounds even start are the Wild Card games where four teams play to advance to the either the NLDS (National League Division Series), or the ALDS (American League Division series). This year, the New York Yankees and the Oakland A’s faced off in the NL WIld Card game while the Chicago Cubs faced the Colorado Rockies in the AL WIld Card game. The Rockies and Yankees advanced to their respective division series games. The division series is a best-of-five series and the National League Championship Series (NLCS) and the American League Championship Series (ALCS) as well as the World Series are best-of-seven series’.There are six other teams (Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers) competing to win the World Series. So far, the Rockies, Indians, Yankees, and the Braves have been eliminated. Here are my predictions for the championship series games and the World Series.
The LA Dodgers finished first place in the NL West with a record of 102-61, and are facing the Brewers in the NLCS. The Dodgers made the trade of the year right before the trading deadline on August 1, 2018 at 12am by trading for prized multi-all star shortstop Finishing second in the league in HR’s at 235, and ranked 12th in hits, the Dodgers have a stellar group of hitters and a complete bullpen. With All-stars Manny Machado, Matt Kemp, Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, and Brian Dozier, as well as a young phenom in Yasiel Puig, this team is deep from top to bottom. And with Clayton Kershaw and Ross Stripling at the helm of that bullpen, this team has the right pieces to win, now can they put them all together?
The defending champion Houston Astros are back to defend their title this postseason, as they just swept the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS and move on the ALCS to play the Red Sox. They finished the season first in the AL West with a record of 103-59, finished sixth in the league in runs with 797, and fifth in RBI’s at 763. Most of its key players are returning including All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve, who had the third best batting average in the AL at .316, third baseman Alex Bregman who tied for fifth in the AL for most RBIs at 103, as well as All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa and All-Star outfielder George Springer. The Astros have the best bullpen out of the other playoff teams in my opinion. With stars Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel, and Gerrit Cole, to go along with superb pitchers in Charlie Morton and Lance McCullers Jr., they can all serve up some heat. This pitching group has double digit wins this season, and the highest ERA out of these pitchers is 3.74 which is amazing, while Verlander had the third best ERA in the AL at 2.52. As the defending champions, I have a feeling the Astros may defend their title once again next season.
The Milwaukee Brewers team finished first in the NL Central with a record of 96-67, finished fourth in the league in total HR’s with 218 and 11th in hits. They have the top two players with the best WAR in the NL, Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain, at 7.6 and 6.9 respectively. After beating the Cubs in the divisional tiebreaker game and advancing to the NLDS, they faced the Rockies in a best of five series. The Brewers swept the Rockies in three games and advanced to the NLCS and will face the Dodgers. This squad is loaded with well-rounded hitters, a tough bullpen that consists of Jeremy Jeffress with a ERA of 1.29, fifth best among NL relievers, and two pitchers in the top 20 for most wins in the NL. If the runs keep piling up for this ballclub, they could end up in the World Series and should be considered a serious contender to win it all.
The Boston Red Sox finished first place in the AL East with a record of 103-59, and finished first in the league in hits with 1509, and first in runs at 876. This team is locked and loaded with stars, like MVP candidate right fielder, Mookie Betts, and stars J.D. Martinez and Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel. This team is straight up scary. Not only does Betts and Martinez lead the AL for the best batting averages at .346 and .330, respectively, but Betts led the AL in highest WAR with 10.9 while Martinez led the AL in HR’s and RBI’s. Kimbrel, their star closer, was second in saves with 42, and their star pitchers in Sale, Rick Porcello, and David Price, were all in the top 20 for most wins as a pitcher in the AL. This team is dangerous and I believe will make a deep run in this postseason.
PITTSTOP PREDICTION’S
The Astros will beat the Red Sox in the ALCS in six games, and the Brewers will beat the Dodgers in six games as well. I believe that the fire power of both the Astros and the Brewers to go along with their solid bullpens will push them past their opponents despite the Red Sox and the Dodgers having big time players. Giving it much thought, I believe that the Milwaukee Brewers will be the 2018 World Series Champions and defeat the Astros in a thrilling seven game series. I know that the Astros have Correa, Altuve and the whole crew alongside one of the best pitchers in baseball in Verlander, and the Brewers would be serious underdogs in this series, but I think the heavy hitters and depth of the Brewers will power past the Astros. I think with Yelich and Cain’s superb hitting as well as Aguilar and other young pieces contributing, and with their stellar bullpen they will shock the world and take down the reigning champs.
Follow me @pittstopblogger on instagram for blog updates and the recent sports news!
