Postseason Prediction Thread

Here are my predictions, feel free to leave your own.

By OOLF@DelayedLegacy Oct 3, 2018, 10:30am EDT

So, I asked everyone to leave predictions for FanPost Friday, and we got a response! You can read it here.

Meanwhile, I have my own predictions for you to laugh at! Once you’ve stopped laughing, leave a few of your own predictions in the comments below (or better yet, make another FanPost!)

Editor’s Note: Jake wrote up his predictions before Tuesday’s Wildcard Game.

WC Game 1 - #5 Oakland Athletics at #4 New York Yankees

I’m hesitant to say that the Athletics are going to destroy the Yankees, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I believe the Yankees are the better team. The game is taking place in New York. The Yankees are also the Yankees. They are the obvious pick to advance and take on the Red Sox in the ALDS, and I’m sure nobody is nervous about that at all.

However, I’m going to go out on a limb and predict the improbable. The Athletics will beat up on Luis Severino, who has pitched to a 4.53 ERA since the beginning of August, and it will be the Athletics, rather than the Yankees, who move on to face the Red Sox.

Oakland Athletics v Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Whether that’s actually better for the Sox remains to be seen, but I’m going to believe in the future I want to believe in, one where we don’t have a high-stress Red Sox-Yankees ALDS that has the potential to send everyone spiraling into a deep, dark depression.

WC Game 2 - #5 Colorado Rockies at #4 Chicago Cubs

I think the Cubs are the better team, and as a result, are likely to be the favorites... and this time, I’m going to say I think the favorite has this one. But it’s going to be close. I just think that home-field plays a big factor, and that for as good as Kyle Freeland has been (if not for Jacob deGrom, and Max Scherzer, I’d argue he deserves more Cy Young consideration), Jon Lester should be “just” good enough to keep the Rockies from winning. The question is the bullpen, but I think the Rockies magic may run out.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m pulling hardcore for the Rockies. They are the team in the National League I would be most ok with winning the World Series this year (I feel a tad guilty for 2007, I guess).

I’m really sad this could be the last game of Nolan Arenado’s season. He’s been one of my favorite players to watch over the past year, and I’m not nearly as fond of any player on the Cubs.

ALDS 1 - #3 Cleveland Indians vs. #2 Houston Astros

I really hope the Indians pull a massive upset, but this matchup seems fairly open and shut to me. The Astros are probably going to crush the Indians, who I perceive to be the weakest team in the entire playoffs, and by a pretty significant margin. Key for the Indians is going to be their starters and whether or not they can go deep, because the bullpen is a complete and utter mess.

The Astros have arguably the most complete team in baseball, and are in my opinion, the biggest threat to the Red Sox winning the World Series this year. I do not think we’re going to luck out here, and have the Indians bounce them out.

Astros in 3. 4 if the Indians are lucky.

ALDS 2 - #1 Boston Red Sox vs. #5 Oakland Athletics

Look, I know this is an outside the box possibility. We’re probably getting the Yankees and that series won’t be fun from a stress stand-point. If and when that happens, I’m sure there’ll be fifty articles about it.

Let’s talk about the series I hope happens, the A’s and Sox. This would be a fun series. It would suck to lose it, because the Red Sox, on paper, are better, and I don’t think it’s even that close. Even with the perceived issues on the Red Sox, the Athletics lack the pieces that put them over the top. J.D. will come back alive, and Chris Sale and David Price are gonna rock it. Once the series goes back to Oakland, it may be a bit tricky, but I think the Sox have the potential for a sweep. I do think they drop game 3, however, when Rick Porcello struggles with his command.

Red Sox in 4.

NLDS 1 - #3 Atlanta Braves vs. #2 Los Angeles Dodgers

This series is actually the Divisional Series matchup I’m most interested in. There are a lot of good storylines for this matchup. We don’t know the order pitchers will go in, but any series featuring Clayton Kershaw and Mike Foltynewicz (a sentence I never expected to ever be able to write), is one that deserves our attention.

I think the Braves are a lot better than most people realize. They’ve lost Dansby Swanson, but Swanson was also arguably their worst offensive player in 2018, so they’ve not lost all that much. Their second worst offensive player this year was probably Ender Inciarte (if you go by OPS+ anyways), and he makes up for it with fantastic defense. Their lineup is pretty potent (largely because of the looming presence of Ronald Acuna), and their pitching, anchored by Foltynewicz, is at least solid.

That said, the Dodgers do have the upper hand from a pitching standpoint, and their own offense is well-rounded. They won’t be sending out any black holes, and that leaves little room for error for the Braves.

I think this series goes five games. It could go either way. But give me the Dodgers this time around.

NLDS 2 - #1 Milwaukee Brewers vs #4 Chicago Cubs

I like the Brewers a lot, and I’m kind of amazed by what Christian Yelich has accomplished this season.

I’m not sure how far I think the Brewers go, though. Their pitching doesn’t feel like it’s going to hold up, and I feel like that’s going to end up being what sinks them. I think it could sink them as soon as the NLDS.

National League Tiebreaker Game - Milwaukee Brewers v Chicago Cubs

The playoffs are a crap-shoot. The Brewers are going to need some luck, even with how good their team has been. Take nothing away from them, they’ve been surprising.

Cubs in 4.

ALCS - Red Sox vs. Astros

Can I not make a prediction? I think this series is going to be rough. The Astros are a complete team. The Red Sox are a nearly complete team.

The Astros have to be the favorite in this sense. Although it’s rough to go against the Sox, Houst has been incredible. This is the best Sox team in my life-time. Unfortunately, they are going up against an Astros team that won the World Series last year, and may actually be a better overall team this year.

For the Red Sox to win, the offense needs to strike early and often, and they need to take advantage of home-field. Losing even one game at Fenway will be extremely hard to recover from.

I think this series goes all seven games, and ends in a heart-breaker. Astros in 7.

NLCS - Cubs vs. Dodgers

I’m pretty sure this is the NLCS nobody wants to see, so I’ll keep my feelings brief. I think the Cubs offense is just not good enough to overcome the Dodgers.

I think the Dodgers offense will be more than enough to take out the Cubs pitching.

I think the Dodgers win in 5 games.

WORLD SERIES - Astros vs. Dodgers

Didn’t we see this movie last year? What, you mean sequels don’t have to have the same ending? Wait, you are saying that’s not happening this time? The Astros winning the World Series again? And this time in six games?

Dang.

Astros in 6.

Postseason MVP - Justin Verlander

Yeah, I’m not happy about it either. Hopefully the Red Sox crush the Astros, and Mookie Betts can take his place at the top, as he so rightfully deserves.