Can anyone cool off Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the red-hot Blue Jays? (Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)The baseball playoffs are happening again. Nobody knows what's going to happen.
We can attempt to predict it.
The re-introduction of the Wild Card Series and the debut of MLB's new 12-team field are some of the changes that will take place in the years to come. All games will be played at the higher seed's home turf in the initial round.
The division series has the top four seeds. The Championship Series is followed by the World Series.
All you need to know about how we came up with our predictions is that we went with our gut. Predicting the MLB playoffs is a best-guess affair since we can't read signs and tea leaves.
Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesThe regular season had a record of 86-76.
The season series was titled, "Guardians 4, rays 2."
There are projected pitching matchups.
Based on how these two teams ended the regular season, theGuardians are catching theRays at the right time and theRays are catching theGuardians at the wrong time.
In their last 26 games, the team scored 3.3 runs per game and went 8-18. TheGuardians won 24 of 30 and outclassed the opposition by 46 runs during the month of September.
In Cleveland's favor, health is one of the things that pushes the needle. Brandon Lowe, Kevin Kiermaier, and quite a few other players will not be with the team. Is that the group of people called TheGuardians? All of the guys are on it.
The best hope for the team is to win the game. The Guardians don't score runs the easy way, and it helps that the two guys have the stuff for it. Their 127 home runs were the second-fewest in the league.
There are a lot of hot hands in Cleveland's relief corps, as evidenced by the sub-3.00ERAs posted by the two pitchers. Even if this series is low scoring, the Guardians should still serve at Progressive Field.
There is a sequel to the movie, "Guardians in 2."
Vaughn Ridley/Getty ImagesThe BlueJays had a regular season record of 92 70.
The season series was a 5 to 2 win by the BlueJays.
There are projected pitching matchups.
The two teams that ended the regular season differed greatly. The BlueJays won 24 of their last 36 after theMariners stumbled to a 14-18 finish.
Only the New York Yankees had more home runs in the second half than Seattle. Both of them hit 27 of those on their own, even though they both spent time on the IL.
It's not easy to conclude that theMariners have the advantage. The BlueJays out-homered them throughout the regular season, and they also led the American League in average, on- base and slugging percentage.
It's possible that the Seattle pitchers will be too much for the Toronto offense. They throw gas against hitters who are better than them.
We don't underestimate Manoah and Gausman. It doesn't seem wise to underestimate a relatively inexperienced team in front of a large crowd.
The BlueJays played in 3.
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Mitchell Leff/Getty ImagesThe regular season had a record of 87-75.
The season series was tied at three.
There are projected pitching matchups.
The order of the pitchers for the Wild Card Series was never in doubt, but the latter's was.
"It's going to be difficult decisions," Marmol said on Tuesday. I don't know what the three are, but I'm comfortable going to town.
He probably picked names out of a hat. Jordan Montgomery hit a wall at the end of the year, while Wainwright was fighting for his life. Neither of the two were overpowering at the end.
Wheeler, Nola and Surez all pitched to a 2.95ERA after the latter ended a stint on the IL. Even thoughHarper missed two months with a broken thumb, thePhillies still beat theCardinals.
Even if Paul Goldschmidt hadn't gone ice-cold in the last weeks of the season, it would be cause for concern for the Cards. Even though the Redbirds went 53-28 at Busch Stadium, this series has the potential to be a big upset.
The baseball team in 2.
John Fisher/Getty ImagesThe Padres had a regular season record of 89- 73.
The Padres defeated the Mets 4-2 in the season series.
There are projected pitching matchups.
There is a possibility that the Mets' rotation may be a scheme.
If the Mets are in the playoffs, deGrom will only take the mound against the Padres. If the teams split the first two games, that means Game 2. If the Mets win the first and second games
Even though the Padres never fully launched, they are still not to be taken lightly. The Darvish-Snell-Musgrove trio is one of the best in the game, along with the Machado-Santos duo.
The Mets will be without one of their top hitters in the Wild Card Series due to Starling Marte's broken finger. It takes depth to get them on, get them over, and get them in offense to do their job.
It doesn't bode well for the Padres if deGrom and Scherzer show up. The fact that the Mets have a 54-27 record at Citi Field doesn't mean anything. The Padres went 38-40.
The Mets are in a game.
New York Yankees/Getty ImagesThe Yankees had a 99-63 regular season record.
The Yankees defeated the Guardians in the season series.
The Yankees look moreatable now than they did in the beginning of the year. They didn't make it to 100 wins after going 61-23 through July 8.
It's difficult to imagine a worse match up for the Guardians.
The Yankees hit almost twice as many home runs as the Guardians did. Even though Judge did most of the heavy lifting with a record 62 long balls, he would still finish with the team lead for home runs if he played for the Guardians.
Home runs are a big part of the playoffs. They are counted for a lot. The team that won the home run battle within a given playoff game between 2012 and 2021 won the game 58.3% of the time.
The Bronx Bombers had a better record at Yankee Stadium than the Guardians did this season. This may not be a big deal.
The Yankees are in a game.
Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesThe Blue Jay's had a regular season record of 92 70.
The BlueJays defeated the Astros 4-2 in the season series.
It is indeed true. The BlueJays beat the Astros in the head-to-head games this year.
The contests took place between April 22 and May 1. The Astros were trying to get liftoff at 11. They went a best of 95-45.
If the offense shows up as the best version of itself, the BlueJays can take it to the Astros again. Toronto's lineup was more productive in the regular season due to the fact that it runs deeper.
It's the Astros' ace duo of Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez who will be able to stop the BlueJays hitters. They ranked second and seventh in the country in home runs per nineinnings.
The Astros went 55-26 at the park. They went 42-27 against winning teams and 45-47 against losing teams. It's only fair to also count the things in Houston's favor.
In the 4th
Adam Hagy/Getty ImagesThe regular season had a record of 87-75.
The Braves won the series 11-8
The season series was not as close as the wins and losses would suggest. Atlanta scored three times more than the Philadelphians in the three extra wins.
There are many cases of two teams ending the regular season on different notes.
The Braves went into the playoffs on a hot streak, winning five of their seven games against thePhillies. Outside of those seven contests, the team lost 20 out of 35 games.
If Wheeler and Nola are available to start the first two games of the series, the Phils will have a fighting chance. Unless Rob Thomson is willing to start both on three days' rest, that won't happen.
Atlanta could get Spencer back from an oblique injury in time for the NLCS. The NL's best home run-hitting offense with him along with Max Fried, Kyle Wright and Charlie Morton sounds like a recipe for success for us.
Atlanta is in four.
Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesThe Mets had a regular season record of 101 61.
The Mets defeated the Dodgers in the season series.
Imagine being the favorite in a playoff series against a team that won more games than you did.
If the Mets face the Dodgers in the NLDS, a loss would not be a foregone conclusion. The Mets did a better job of handling the Dodgers in the regular season than most other teams. There's an overly left-handed rotation.
The Mets may not be the right team to take advantage of the former if Daz gives them a clear advantage. They were less dangerous against left-handed starting pitchers than they were against right-handed starting pitchers.
The Mets will have a disadvantage in the Division Series because of our prediction that they will need three games to dispatch San Diego. None of the other players would be immediately available.
The Dodgers went against winning teams at home and on the road. They will be difficult for anyone to beat.
The Dodgers are in a game.
Carmen Mandato/Getty ImagesThe Yankees finished the regular season with a 99-63 record.
The Astros defeated the Yankees in the season series.
It seems like this is supposed to be.
The Yankees and Astros know what it's like to face each other in the ALCS, but their feelings about what happened in the last two years are completely different. The Astros won both games, but the Yankees didn't forget about the '17 win.
ESPN @espn"You cheated and you didn't earn it."
Aaron Judge said the Astros should be stripped of their 2017 World Series title because it doesn't "hold any value." pic.twitter.com/IbGrWGQqsn
The Yankees will have a hard time getting their revenge.
If the Astros hadn't blown leads at Yankee Stadium, they might have swept the season series. The Yankees were in historic domination before they turned their attention to the rest of the world.
New York's abysmal record away from Yankee Stadium would bode well for Houston. Judge needs to be contained by the Astros. The Yankees were 39-12 when he hit a home run.
In 6.
AP Photo/Wilfredo LeeThe Dodgers had a regular season record of 111-5.
The Dodgers won the season series 4-2.
Is there another championship series? Two good ones have been played by the Dodgers and Braves.
The Dodgers would have history on their side if they faced Atlanta. The only team that didn't make it to the World Series was the 2001 SeattleMariners.
If a chip were to be put on Freddie's shoulder, the Dodgers would be much better off. In the regular season, he destroyed his former team with a 1.117 OPS and two homers.
What if the Dodgers are just the team to exploit their weaknesses? Atlanta's.799 OPS against left-handed starting pitchers was the best in the business this season, and Kenley Jansen ended the year on a hot streak.
The Braves had a slightly better record than the Dodgers over the last four months of the season. Who is responsible for ignoring that?
Atlanta is in the 7th.
Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesThe Braves had a regular season record of 101 61.
Atlanta defeated the Astros in the season series.
Is there a World Series repeat? One might say baseball is due for one since there hasn't been a Yankees and Dodgers game since 1978.
Atlanta would want to beat the Astros again if such a thing happened.
It's not complicated why they were able to do that. Atlanta hit 11 home run balls to just 2 for Houston. Three of Atlanta's came in the decisive Game 6.
This version of the Astros might not be as vulnerable to such an attack. The Astros had a team-wide talent this season. After the San Francisco Giants, 134 was allowed.
If we're going to talk about things that are due, how about Baker winning in the Fall Classic for the first time? It's been 25 years since he tried and failed to get it.
In 7.
Baseball reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant provide the statistics.
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