2017 MLB Postseason Predictions
The 2017 MLB season was a wild one. From the most home runs ever hit in a season, to teams going from first to worst (and vice versa). The playoffs are set to be even better and in this article we will give you our predictions for the World Series.
AL WILD CARD GAME (Minnesota Twins @ New York Yankees)
Jay Booden- This is a pretty easy game to call. The Yankees are stacked on offense and their rotation is loaded with good pitchers. Meanwhile, the Twins have a 34-year-old starter and a couple good hitters… on the bench? Paul Molitor has said that the Twins’ star 3rd baseman, Miguel Sano, will most likely on the bench for this game. This severely hurts the Twins’ otherwise low-powered offense, and I don’t think that Ervin Santana can keep up with the likes of Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, and the rest of the Baby Bombers. Even if Sano makes an appearance, the Yankees are moving on.
Bracton Abella- First of all, I want to congratulate the Minnesota Twins on an exceptional season going from 59-103 to 85-77. However, I believe they will still fall to the high powered New York Yankees at the new Yankee Stadium. Georges’ son Hal has done a great job of turning this ship around the past few years by letting talent develop and making blockbuster trades. This is the exact definition of an accelerated rebuild. As far as the game goes, pitching will decide this one. I’m banking on the breakout year of Luis Severino and I am giving him the edge over 34- year old Ervin Santana. Expect the Yankees to face the defending AL Champions Cleveland Indians in what should be one of the more exciting matchups of this postseason.
NL WILD CARD GAME (Colorado Rockies @ Arizona Diamondbacks)
Jay Booden- Unlike the AL Wild Card Game, this matchup features a tense division rivalry that will inevitably end with one team’s season being over. This game will come down to whichever team wants to move on more. Both offenses have tons of firepower that will score early and often throughout the game. Arizona has the slight edge in starting pitching with Zack Greinke, but Colorado has a better bullpen to close out the game with. This is a close one, but give me the Diamondbacks in a close game. Greinke has playoff experience under his belt, while whoever starts for the Rockies will struggle to be dominant on the road in his first career playoff start.
Bracton Abella- This is going to be one of the most exciting games of this postseason. Both teams have unbelievable hitting but as Jay said, Arizona has the edge in pitching. However, I believe that Colorado has the better hitting which in my mind, will be the deciding factor of this game. If the Rockies can make Greinke work early (25-35 pitches per inning) and get him out by the 4th-5th, Colorado’s bullpen will outlast Arizona’s leading to a Rockies win. Also, the return of Car-Go will spark this team enough to get by their division rival.
ALDS – Cleveland Indians vs New York Yankees (Both agree)
Jay Booden- This series will be an interesting one to say the least. The Indians carry the hottest streak in baseball into the postseason while the Yankees have been inconsistent of late. That being said, the Yankees high powered offense and their underrated rotation give them a chance to make some noise. In the end, this is a matter of Cleveland’s pitching holding up against New York’s hitting. I give the series to the Indians. Probable CY Young winner Corey Kluber will dominate the young, undisciplined Yankees lineup while José Ramirez and the hot Indians offense will be too much for the Yankees rotation. Expect this series to be over quickly.
Bracton Abella- Being a Blue Jays fan, I personally don’t like either of these teams. The Yankees are in our division and Cleveland pulled a Golden State and signed Edwin Encarnacion (who just lost to CLE with TOR in the ALCS last season). The series in the end, I believe will go to Cleveland in 4. The Yankees will win at least one home game and that’s that. Cleveland has too much power for the young group of Yankees pitchers. Plus, the Indians bullpen is more consistent and should play a major role in this series (containing the Baby Bombers). Expect Cleveland to return to the ALCS again for the second straight year.
ALDS – Houston Astros vs Boston Red Sox
Jay Booden- This is going to be a quite interesting series. The Red Sox and Astros just played a 4 game set to close out the season, with Houston blowing the Sox out in 2 of those games. Although Boston didn’t use their top pitchers in those games, their offense looked sluggish compared to Houston’s balanced approach at the plate. All of that being said, Chris Sale and Drew Pomeranz will provide the Sox with a pretty good chance at winning the games they start. Both teams’ rotations and bullpens are very solid. I’m going to give the slight edge in this series to my Boston Red Sox. The Sox’ 43 come from behind wins this season are a testament to how clutch the Sox have been this year, and that trait is important against a Houston team that is arguably the most balanced in baseball. I expect the series to go to 5 games no matter who advances, and it should be fun to watch.
Bracton Abella- This might be the worst, most unexciting series of this postseason. Houston is FAR better than the Red Sox and more consistent at every position. Houston is winning in 3-4 games decisively. I’m expecting these games to be somewhat blowouts and this series is over in a week. I don’t think the Red Sox can score as many runs needed against Houston’s superior pitching to win this series
Jay’s NLDS – Los Angeles Dodgers vs Arizona Diamondbacks
Jay Booden- Oh what a fun series this will be. A tense division rivalry from the best division Major League Baseball. 2 solid pitching rotations. 2 high powered offenses. 1 common goal. In a great series, I pick the Diamondbacks to move on. The Dodgers suffered an 11 game losing streak at the worst part of the season to do so, while the Diamondbacks stayed consistent throughout the season. Arizona has an MVP candidate in Paul Goldschmidt, and he will lead the great force that is the D’Backs offense to glory. On the flip side, Clayton Kershaw and the rest of the Dodgers’ starting pitching will struggle to keep up at times with the force of the opposing offense. This series could be concluded in as early as 3 games, but expect it to be a great one either way.
Bracton’s NLDS – Los Angeles Dodgers vs Colorado Rockies
Bracton Abella- If the Dodgers can stay healthy, I am betting on them to win this series. The pitching matchup of Clayton Kershaw, Yu Darvish, Rich Hill, Alex Wood, and Kenta Maeda will outlast Jon Gray, Chad Bettis, Tyler Chatwood, Tyler Anderson and Jake McGee. The hitting is obviously in the Dodgers favor. This will be the test for Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger. The Dodgers will win this series in 4 games and will go to the NLCS. Who knows? Maybe this is the year!
NLDS – Washington Nationals vs Chicago Cubs (both agree)
Jay Booden- This series will be closer than some might think. Yes, the Nationals have the better pitching rotation. Yes, the Nationals offense has been great this season. However, I would like to point out one more “yes”, which is the fact that the Nationals ALWAYS choke in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Cubs have steadily got better over the course of the season, and their pitching has returned to its dominant form from last season. The Nationals are good, but give me the team that plays better in October. Chicago will make its 3rd straight NLCS.
Bracton Abella- THIS IS THE YEAR! The Washington Nationals will finally cross the threshold into the NLCS. The Nationals have a stacked offense and the pitching combo and Max Scherzer and Steven Strasburg will wreak havoc. Jake Arietta went form Mr. Unhittable to getting roughed up every start (somebody was the juice here don’t get me wrong). However, this series will be close as the Nats and Max Scherzer will win Game 5 at Nationals park vs Jake Arietta. He will get roughed up and this game will be over in 5 innings. Sorry Cubs fans, only hockey’s getting a back to back this year.
Jay’s ALCS – Cleveland Indians vs Boston Red Sox
Jay Booden- This series will be much like last year’s ALDS between these two teams. Cleveland’s pitching will establish dominance early on while the Red Sox offense can’t produce any run support for their starters. While the addition of Chris Sale to the rotation is helpful, the Sox offense just isn’t the same without “Big Papi” David Ortiz. This might be a close series, but give me the Indians moving on to their 2nd straight world series. Boston is good, but they won’t be able to conjure up enough come from behind wins this time.
Bracton’s ALCS – Cleveland Indians vs Houston Astros
Bracton Abella- This won’t be as entertaining as the NLCS, but I think it will still go 6-7 games. The pitching is near even in terms of starters, however the bullpen is slanted toward Cleveland (Cody Allen and Andrew Miller). I believe Houston will find a way to win the series and rally the city around them after the tragic damage of Hurricane Harvey. This will go down as one of the most special playoff runs in sports history due to the affect they will have on the city of Houston. The loaded Astros offense and AL MVP hopeful, Jose Altuve, will lead this team to an AL Pennant and advance to the World Series for the first time since 2005.
Jay’s NLCS – Chicago Cubs vs Arizona Diamondbacks
Jay Booden- Before I get into my pick for this series, I would like to talk about the tale of 2 outfielders. The Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber was expected to have a breakout campaign. Instead, he struggled all year and even had a stint in triple A. The other outfielder in this story is the Diamondbacks’ JD Martinez. After suffering an injury early in the season playing for the Detroit Tigers, he came back around the All Star Break strong and was a hit machine. The rebuilding Tigers traded him to Arizona, where he has continued his tear and is currently their 2nd best hitter next to Paul Goldschmidt. JD Martinez will hit a clutch home run in game 7 that will send Arizona to the World Series. The Cubs’ final out will be made by Kyle Schwarber with men in scoring position and a chance to tie the game. Arizona will outlast Chicago.
Bracton’s NLCS- Washington Nationals vs Los Angeles Dodgers
Bracton Abella- This series will finally settle the debate that began before the season even started. Both of these teams have tendencies to lose this series, however, one of them has to win. I believe the Los Angeles Dodgers will win this series in 6 games. This series will be the defining moment for Cody Bellinger in his carrer and I predict he will play on a whole different level throughout these 6 games, leading to a Dodger victory. Despite the improved bullpen, the streak continues for the Nationals. Better luck next year.
Jay’s World Series – Cleveland Indians vs Arizona Diamondbacks
Jay Booden- This is the series that October baseball has been leading up to. This is a matchup for the ages. The Indians get to this World Series off their stacked pitching corps and high powered offense. The Diamondbacks are here because it truly is #TheirSeason. This series will either be decided in 4 games or 7 games, but either way Cleveland finally ends their World Series drought. The Diamondbacks pitching will be worn out by the time this series arrives, and their offense will be running out of steam. Meanwhile, the Indian’s depth on both sides of the ball will keep this ship afloat long enough to beat Arizona. The Diamondbacks faithful watched their team go from 69-93 to 93-69, but they will have to wait at least another year before they witness another World Series championship.
Bracton’s World Series- Houston Astros vs Los Angeles Dodgers
Bracton Abella- This year’s World Series truly will have the best team from each conference in it. This will be one of the best World Series’ in recent years. Saying this, I believe it will go 6-7 games. In the end, the pitching of the Dodgers will outlast the Astros and Clayton Kershaw (by getting the ring he deserves) will have solidified his legacy as one of the greatest pitchers in the past few decades. I think the problem with Houston against the Dodgers is that I don’t think they have enough power hitters compared to LA. The Dodgers have a whole lineup full of guys that can go deep every at-bat (even Clayton Kershaw hits homers sometimes). In conclusion, I believe the Dodgers will win their first World Series title since 1988 this season.
This concludes our predictions for the 2017 MLB Playoffs. More MLB content will come in the offseason after trades, free agency, and more.