Surprisingly enough it appears the Old Sports Dude was fairly accurate with the predictions made over the last two weeks in regards to who would qualify for the Major League Baseball playoffs, all the way down to the seedings in both the National League and American League
As I write this on Monday afternoon all of the playoff spots and the first-round match-ups are pretty much locked up. This week we will take a look at the four match-ups scheduled for this weekend and predict who will advance to the second round.
All of the Wild-Card series are best-of-three with all games being played a the higher seed.
As the regular season comes to a close it’s become clear that there are only five of the 12 teams that have a chance to win the World Series, although fans of the Cleveland Guardians would disagree. The Dodgers in the National League and the Astros in the American League would be the favorites of most prognosticators, with the Yankees, Braves, and perhaps even the Mets being the choice of some of the experts.
This week, however, we are not going to look at who will play for the World Series, but instead just focus on what is ahead of us this weekend.
The Houston Astros and New York Yankees have the two first-round byes in the AL, while the Dodgers and Braves (if they win at least one game fro their season-ending playoff series with the Marlines) have the NL byes.
In the American League the Cleveland Guardians, winners of the Central Division, will the third seed and will likely host the Tampa Rays in the Wild-Card Round, while the Toronto Blue Jays will be the fourth-seed and host the fifth-seeded Seattle Mariners.
In the National League the Cardinals, who won the NL Central, will the third seed and will likely host the Philadelphia Phillies. The other matchup will have the fourth-seeded Mets hosting the No 5 seeded Padres.
Here is a series-by-series breakdown:
— SEATTLE AT TORONTO: The East was the best division in the American League and that is backed up by the fact the Yankees, Blue Jays and Rays all made the playoffs. The Mariners may be primed to pull an upset here, but playing on the road may be too much for Seattle in this Instance. I’m going with Toronto in three games. That will give the Blue Jays the joy of taking on the Astros, who were 104-55 at the beginning of this week, in the second round.
— TAMPA AT CLEVELAND: The Guardians were one of the hottest teams in baseball during late September. Cleveland should take care of Tampa in two games, but the series could go to a game three. Either way, the Guardians will advance to take on the second-seeded Yankees in a best of five series.
— OVERALL AL THOUGHTS: While it is likely that the Yankees and Astros will meet for the AL Championship, Cleveland has a real chance to pull a shocker.
— PHILADELPHIA AT ST. LOUIS: The Phillies have had to scrap just to make the playoffs while the Cardinals have a roster that is a walking history of baseball in Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, and Adam Wainwright. The Phillies have some offensive potential, but the Cards at home will be just too much for Philly. Look for St. Louis to take it in two straight and move on to face the Atlanta Braves in a best-of-five.
— SAN DIEGO AT NEW YORK: As long as last weekend’s sweep at the hands of the Braves don’t demoralize the Mets, they should beat the Padres in two straight. That will set up a match-up with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
— OVERALL NL THOUGHTS: While the Dodgers are the overwhelming favorite to represent the National League in the World Series, any of the four teams I have projected playing in the second round could make it. The Mets have the top-level pitching to cause L.A. real problems, while the Cardinals have always been a touch match-up for the Braves. Atlanta is on a quest to be the first team to win back-to-back World Series titles since the Yankees won it’s third straight in 2000.
Austin Bishop, AKA The Old Sports Dude, has been covering high school, college, amateur, and professional sports since 1975 and is an ordained Assemblies of God minister. He may be contacted by email at starsportsboss@yahoo.com or by phone at 601-938-2471.
