Here are my predictions for the League Championship Series's in the 2017 MLB postseason.
American League Championship Series
(WC1) New York Yankees vs (2) Houston Astros: This should be a fun series. The Yankees are coming off an epic five-game series win over the heavily favored Cleveland Indians. The Astros are coming off a four-game series win over the Boston Red Sox. Both teams can rake offensively and the Yankees got away with a struggling Aaron Judge in the previous round, but I don't think they can afford that in this round. Gary Sanchez also struggled in the previous round, but they did get contributions from the likes of Didi Gregorius, Greg Bird, and Brett Gardner. The Astros are loaded offensively with the likes of AL MVP favorite Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, George Springer, and Alex Bregman. The Yankees starting pitching was excellent in the previous round led by the quartette of Masahiro Tanaka, Luis Severino, CC Sabathia, and Sonny Gray. The Astros have two studs in their rotation in Justin Verlander and Dallas Keuchel, but after that is a drop off with Charlie Morton and either Lance McCullers Jr or Brad Peacock. The Yankees bullpen is the best in the game with Aroldis Chapman, David Robertson, Chad Green, and Tommy Kahnle leading the way. The Astros bullpen has guys like Ken Giles, Luke Gregerson, Chris Divenski, and Will Harris, but it's not as good as the Yankees. That said, give me the Yankees to reach the Fall Classic for the first time since 2009 because of their pitching depth with both their bullpen and the rotation and I'm also banking on Judge and Sanchez to be better than they were against the Indians.
Prediction: Yankees in six games.
ALCS MVP: Aroldis Chapman
National League Championship Series
(3) Chicago Cubs vs (1) Los Angeles Dodgers: This rematch of last seasons NLCS is very fascinating. The Cubs are coming off an epic five-game series win over the Washington Nationals. The Dodgers are coming off an impressive three-game sweep over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cubs have guys that can rake like reigning NL MVP Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Wilson Contreras. The Dodgers can rake as well led by NL Rookie of the Year favorite Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, and Justin Turner. The Cubs starting pitching was solid in the previous series led by Jose Quintana, Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, and Kyle Hendricks. The Dodgers have great starting pitching as well led by Clayton Kreshaw, Rich Hill, Yu Darvish, and Hyun-jin Ryu. The Cubs bullpen isn't as good as it was last season but it has guys like Wade Davis, Brian Duensing, and Hector Rendon that can get big outs. The Dodgers bullpen is pretty good led by Kenley Jansen, Brandon Morrow, and Tony Cingrani. Kenta Maeda has been moved to the 'pen for the postseason and has got some big outs for them against the Diamondbacks. This was a tough call, but give me the Dodgers to finally come through and reach the World Series for the first time in thirty years.
Prediction: Dodgers in six games
NLCS MVP: Clayton Kershaw
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