MLB postseason in preview, Part 3

Playoff baseball is upon us, and with the bracket set and schedules released, who among the contenders has the best chance to take home the Commissioner’s Trophy?

A couple of Toronto heavy hitters, Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion, silence the critics while celebrating Canada on July 1. They dismantled the Boston Red Sox 11-2, en route to a 93-win season and AL East title. Photo from web.

Strengths and weaknesses will be exposed, franchises vaulted and aspirations dashed. One-hundred sixty-two regular season games is a long road to travel to reach this stage, and the playoff field of 10 dwindles to eight after only a couple of games. While most organizations are already cleaning house and gearing up for the hot stove offseason, this year’s elite are mandating two-a-day workouts and honing their craft.

Diving right in…

New York had both its horses in the race, the Yankees hosting (and losing on Tuesday) the AL Wild Card game and the Mets taking the NL East away from the heavily favored Washington Nationals. The Bronx Bombers had a terrific bullpen all season, but they couldn’t muster any offense and Houston advanced in convincing fashion. The Mets, however, have perhaps the most feared rotation in baseball with Jacob DeGrom, Matt Harvey and Noah Syndegaard able to dominate opposing lineups at will. In a short series, they’ll be quite dangerous and their date with Los Angeles should prove riveting.

Speaking of the Dodgers, they and their $310 million payroll will have yet another shot at breaking through to the championship round, but this time, they could have the tools to do it. Pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke are as good as anybody they’ll face on the Mets side, but their offense has had a down year, even with rookie Joc Pederson’s 26 home runs added to the mix. A suspect bullpen and the health of some regulars are also lingering questions, but ones that will be answered soon enough.

Toronto is crashing the post-season party for the first time since they won it all back in 1993. The Blue Jays are an offensive juggernaut, scoring 891 runs this season, 127 more than the second-place Yanks. With David Price anchoring the Jays’ starting rotation, the supporting cast provides just enough to position the team for a deep playoff run.

The Show Me State has both Kansas City and St. Louis in the postseason for a second straight year, but for the first time, both teams won their respective central divisions – both sport the best record in their respective league and both teams will face the Wild Card winners. The Royals might not be as strong as they were a year ago when they went all the way to Game 7 in the World Series, but, if healthy, could be a force to reckon with. The Cardinals are the only team in the majors this year with 100 wins and it’s quite remarkable how they’ve pieced it all together. Most of their injured starters are back from the disabled list, with one notable subtraction: Carlos Martinez, a vital rotation piece, will miss the postseason with shoulder issues. Couple his loss with an anemic offense, and the Redbirds might be in trouble unless manager Mike Matheny can carry over some of the Cards’ regular season magic.

Continuing the in-state trend, both Texan clubs will compete this postseason, as well. The Rangers and Astros are very comparable teams: they have powerful lineups prone to striking out a ton, a few very good starting pitchers, and decent relief corps. Houston has the edge in defensive metrics and Texas has the experience advantage; either way, they won’t outduel Toronto for AL supremacy.

On Wednesday, the Cubs and Pirates met in the NL Wild Card game, and while the Pirates had home field advantage, they were simply overmatched by Cubs starter Jake Arrieta. This October thing is all new to Chicago, a team riddled with talented first-year players and who earned their first postseason win since 2003. Now, the Cubs look to end their famed curse and win their first championship since 1908, all the while proving 1989’s Back to the Future 2 correct (it predicted the World Series title for the North Siders in 2015). The Blue Jays don’t care about the cult classic’s foreshadowing though; and, being a heavyweight among lightweights, it will take a David to slay the Goliath.

Advocate Staff