Here are my predictions for the League Division Series for the 2019 MLB Playoffs.
National League Division Series
(N3) St. Louis Cardinals vs (N2) Atlanta Braves: The Cardinals have had a good season thus far winning their division for the first time in four seasons. The Braves have had a good year as well winning their second consecutive division crown. The Cards offense is a unit that tends to be streaky, but has a lot of talent led by Paul Goldschmidt, Paul DeJong, and Marcell Ozuna. The Braves offense has been great all season led by Ronald Acuna Jr, Freddie Freeman, and veteran Josh Donaldson. The Cardinals starting pitching has been excellent for most of the season led by Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, Adam Wainwright, and Dakota Hudson. The Braves starting pitching is solid for the most part led by rookie Mike Soroka, Dallas Keuchel, Mike Foltynewicz, and Max Fried. The Cardinals bullpen is solid led by closer Carlos Martinez and Andrew Miller. The Braves bullpen made some additions in Shane Greene, Chris Martin, and Mark Melancon to go with Luke Jackson, Darren O'Day, and Josh Tomlin, but I don't love any of these guys in a big spot. That said, this is my upset special of the this round and the best unit in this series is the Cardinals starting pitching and they'll lead them to the NLCS for the first time in five seasons.
Prediction: Cardinals in five games.
(WC1) Washington Nationals vs (N1) Los Angeles Dodgers: The Nationals are coming off a huge win in the Wild Card game over the Milwaukee Brewers and if it weren't for the big hit by Juan Soto and the egregious error by Trent Grisham in right field, Dave Martinez would have been fired. The Dodgers have been the best team in the National League all season long. The Nats offense is solid led by Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto, Victor Robles, and Trea Turner. The Dodgers offense is the best in the NL led by MVP favorite Cody Bellinger, Max Muncy, Justin Turner, and Corey Seager. The Nats rotation is great led by Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin. The Dodgers rotation is very good led by Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-jin Ryu, and Rich Hill. The Nats bullpen is a unit I do not trust in October at all against a competent with the likes of closer Sean Doolittle, Fernando Rodney, Daniel Hudson, and Hunter Strickland. The Dodgers bullpen I don't trust either, but it's better than what the Nats have trotting out with closer Kenley Jansen, Julio Urias, and Kenta Maeda leading the way. This won't be a walkover for the Dodgers with the Nats great starting pitching and offense, but they should return to their fourth straight NLCS.
Prediction: Dodgers in four games.
American League
(WC2) Tampa Bay Rays vs (A1) Houston Astros: The Rays are coming off a nice win in Oakland against the Athletics in the Wild Card game. The Astros are the best team in baseball and are the World Series favorites for that simple reason alone. The Rays offense is not good as a whole, but their position players are solid and are capable of having some good at-bats such as Austin Meadows, Tommy Pham, Brandon Lowe, and Avasail Garcia. The Astros offense is loaded and deep led by MVP favorite Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, rookie Yordan Alvarez, Carlos Correa, and Michael Brantley. The Rays starting staff is the strength of their team led by Charlie Morton, Blake Snell, and Tyler Glasnow. The Astros starting staff is also the strength of their team led by their big three of Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Zack Greinke. The Rays bullpen is very good too led by Emilio Pagan, trade add Nick Anderson, Diego Castillo, and Colin Pache. The Astros bullpen could be good at times led by closer Roberto Osuna, Ryan Pressly, Will Harris, and Chris Devenski. That said, I don't see the Rays offense having success against the Astros big 3 and that will be the difference here as the Astros go to their third ALCS in a row.
Prediction: Astros in four games.
(A3) Minnesota Twins vs (A2) New York Yankees: The Twins have had a fantastic season in Rocco Baldelli's first season as manager and here they are as division champs. The Yankees sans a ton of regular season injuries are here with home field advantage for this round and winning their division too. The Twins offense is lights out led by Nelson Cruz, Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, and Eddie Rosario. The Yankees offense is potent too led by Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu, Gary Sanchez, and Giancarlo Stanton. The Twins starting pitching is not left to be disorder with guys like Jose Berrios (who has struggled down the stretch), Jake Odorizzi, and Martin Perez. The Yankees starting pitching is better than it's perceived led by James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, and Luis Severino. The Twins bullpen is not good what so ever all though closer Trevor Rodgers had a nice season and guys like Sergio Romo, Zack Littel, and Drew Smeltzer have had moments. Meanwhile, the Yankees bullpen is awesome led by closer Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton, Adam Ottavino, Tommy Kahnle, and occasional opener Chad Greene (who may open playoff games if necessary). The Yankees are the more superior team here (especially on the pitching end of the spectrum) and they will advance to their second ALCS in three seasons to set up a highly anticipated rematch with the Astros.
Prediction: Yankees in four games.
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