The 2017 Major League Baseball regular season is over and now it is on to the post season as ten teams battle for a shot at the World Series.The Chicago Cubs won it all last year and are back again looking for a repeat following the 108-year drought they endured until last November.
The Cleveland Indians (22 game winning streak and all) are also back after winning 102 games this season. They boast perhaps the most formidable pitching in the big leagues. Although the Los Angeles Dodgers (104 wins to lead the league) might have an argument about that.
There are three 100-win teams in the playoffs this year as the Houston Astros (101 wins) ran away with the American League West division and will face the Boston Red Sox in the divisional series.
The Red Sox were extremely hot down the stretch and have Cy Young candidate Chris Sale (300-plus strikeouts this season) leading the pitching staff. The lineup just grinds and while they don't boast real power like past lineups, they have a knack for getting the long ball in clutch situations.
The Astros have Jose Altuve, a solid candidate for American League Most Valuable Player, leading the way as well as Carlos Correa, George Springer and solid pitching, led by Justin Verlander and Dallas Keuchel.
The Cubs will play the NL East champion Washington Nationals in the divisional series.
The Cubs are the defending champions and Manager Joe Maddon knows what it takes to get his team ready for October baseball. Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant lead the offense while Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester anchor the starting pitching. Closer Wade Davis blew just one save all season long and has experience in the playoffs, having been the closer with Kansas City in their World Series title season two years ago.
The Nationals have Bryce Harper (just off the disabled list), Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman, (Cubs killer) Daniel Murphy and Trea Turner in a very strong lineup while the trio of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez is perhaps the best in baseball. All three have earned run averages below three runs. The bullpen has been suspect in years past, but the addition of Sean Doolittle, Brandon Kintzler and Ryan Madson at the trade deadline seems to have solved that issue.
Before those series get going, there is the matter of the wild card games in both leagues.
In the American League (Tuesday, October 3) the New York Yankees will host the surprising Minnesota Twins, who were coming off a 103-loss season. The National League game features two West Division foes, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies on Wednesday in Arizona.
The Yankees feature a power laden lineup led by rookie Aaron Judge (MLB rookie record 52 home runs) and Gary Sanchez, along with a solid bullpen, anchored by Dellin Batances and Aroldis Chapman. The Twins have a solid nucleus of grinders and manager Paul Molitor has been getting everything out of this team all season long. The Yankees have dominated the Twins in recent memory and will likely win this one, but anything is possible is a one-game playoff.
The Cleveland Indians will host the Divisional Series against the winner of the wild card game and will be the favorites.
Led by manager Terry Francona (two World Series titles with Boston) the Tribe has a great pitching staff with Cy Young candidate Cory Kluber anchoring the starters. Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger and Josh Tomlin have been consistent pitchers all summer long. The bullpen was the best in baseball in 2017 and has the three-headed monster of Bryan Shaw, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen to close out games.
The lineup is led by Francisco Lindor, Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Ramirez, Carlos Santana and Michael Brantley. Speed and power is consistent throughout the batting order and Cleveland can score runs at any time.
Meanwhile, Arizona and Colorado know each other all too well and this game could go either way as both teams have solid lineups with plenty of pop and good pitching to boot. Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado is a Most Valuable Player candidate in the NL as is D-Backs first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.
The Diamondbacks have been the more consistent team during the stretch run of September, so they rate the edge, especially with ace pitcher Zack Greinke starting the game.
Whoever wins the game will face the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers and their formidable pitching. Staff ace Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher in the game and is surrounded by Rich Hill, Yu Darvish and Alex Wood. Bullpen closer Kenley Jansen has been stellar all season as well.
Rookie of the Year candidate Cody Bellinger leads a solid lineup that features Justin Turner, Yasiel Puig, Chris Taylor, Cory Seager and veteran Chase Utley, who has been a part of numerous post-season rosters.
Once the action begins, anything can happen and let's not forget the recent runs of the Kansas City Royals (2014 and 2015) when they came so close to winning it all in 2014 and then parlayed that into a World Series title the next season. Also coming to mind is the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals, who barely finished over .500 but caught fire and beat Detroit to win the World Series.
Here are the Heftyinfo predictions for the 2017 MLB Playoffs and World Series.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Wild Card - Arizona over Colorado
NLDS - Chicago over Washington; Los Angeles over Arizona
NLCS - Chicago over Los Angeles
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Wild Card - NY Yankees over Minnesota
ALDS - Houston over Boston; Cleveland over NY Yankees
ALCS - Cleveland over Houston
WORLD SERIES
Cleveland Indians over Chicago Cubs in six games
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