Here are my predictions for the division round of the 2015 MLB postseason.
American League
(A1) Kansas City Royals vs (A5) Houston Astros: Kansas City has the best record in the American League this season. Houston comes in here as the Wild Card game winner over the New York Yankees. Kansas City has a good offense with the likes of Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer, and Salvador Perez, who all were key to the Royals run to the World Series last season. Houston's offense consists of youngsters like George Soringer, Carlos Correa, and Jose Altuve. Pitching is mediocre on the Royals side since Johnny Cueto hasn't been his normal self since he came over in the trade with the Cincinnati Reds. Yondaro Ventura and Edinson Volquez are expected to get starts in the series as well. Houston's rotation is solid with Dallas Keuchel anchoring it, who was brilliant against the Yankees. Scott Kazmir and Lance McCullers are expected to take the mound in this series as well. The Royals have the bullpen edge here, despite the loss oh Greg Holland. Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrara, and Ryan Madson will make up for the loss. The Astros pen consists of guys like their closer Luke Gregerson, Tony Sipp, and Will Harris. This series can go either way, but I like the Royals in this one.
Prediction: Royals in five games.
(A2) Toronto Blue Jays vs (A3) Texas Rangers: Toronto went on an absolute tear in the second half and took the league by storm to win the AL East and the same can be said for Texas as well in the AL West. Star power is abound in this series on offense with AL MVP favorite Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion for Toronto and AL Comeback Player of the Year candidate Prince Fielder, Adrian Beltre, and Shin-Soo Choo leading the way for Texas. Each team acquired an ace at the deadline with David Price for Toronto and Cole Hamels for Texas. The Jays rest of the rotation consists of guys like Marcus Stroman, RA Dickey, and Marco Estrada. The Rangers rest of the rotation consists of guys like Colby Lewis, Yovandi Gallardo, and Derek Holland. It wouldn't be shocking for either team to put one of their mid-teir starters as a long man in the pen for the series, though. Speaking of pens, the Jays pen features the likes of Mark Lowe, closer Roberto Osuna, and Brett Cecil. The Rangers pen features the likes of closer Shawn Tolleson, Sam Dyson, and Jake Diekman. The Blue Jays may be the favorites to win the World Series, but I really love the Rangers to pull off the upset here.
Prediction: Rangers in five games.
National League
(N1) St. Louis Cardinals vs (N5) Chicago Cubs: This will be the best series of the League Division series. St. Louis had the leagues best record this season despite losing a ton of players to injuries throughout the season. The Cubs are coming off their win in the National League Wild Card game in
Pittsburgh over the Pirates. Both teams are solid offensively with guys like Matt Carpenter, Matt Holliday, and Yadier Molina, even though Molina isn't 100%. The Cubs offense consists of guys like Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro, and rookies Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber. The Cardinals pitching took a hut when Carlos Martinez was shut down for the rest of the season with shoulder problems. Adam Wainwright is back from his injury, but he'll be a long man out of the pen. The rest of the rotation for the Cards consists of Michael Wacha, Lance Lynn, Jamie Garcia, and John Lackey. The Cubs rotation consists of National League Cy Young candidate Jake Arrieta, who was amazing against the Pirates in the Wild Card game, Jon Lester, and Jason Hammel. Both teams have solid bullpen with the likes of Steve Chisek, Kevin Siegrest, and closer Trevor Rosenthal with the Cards and guys Jason Motte, Pedro Strop, and Fernando Rodney for the Cubbies. This series is a coin flip and Molina's health worries me for the Cards and Joe Maddon had the Cubbies poised for something special. I like the Cubs in this series, which should be a classic.
Prediction: Cubs in five games.
(N2) Los Angeles Dodgers vs (N3) New York Mets: This should be a fun series where starting pitching should absolutely dominate. Clayton Kershaw and Zack Grinke headline the Dodger rotation and the rest of the rotation is a drop off with guys like Brett Anderson. The Mets rotation is loaded with perhaps the most polarizing player in baseball at the moment in Matt Harvey along with Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Steven Matz. Bartolo Colon and Jon Niese should be long relievers out of the Mets pen. Speaking of the pens, they are arguably the weakness of both teams with the exception of their teams closers in Kenley Jansen for the Dodgers and Jeurys Familia for the Mets. The offenses for both teams are pretty solid with guys like Adrian Gonzalez, rookie Corey Seager, and Yasiel Puig, who is coming off an injury and having a tough year for the Dodgers. The Mets offense consists of guys like mid-season trade acquisition Yoenis Cespedes, David Wright, and Curtis Granderson. Like the other three series's, this one is a coin flip, but I really think the offensive depth of the Dodgers is the difference in this series as they'll move on to the Championship series.
Prediction: Dodgers in five games.
No comments:
Post a Comment