EAST LANSING- The final four is upon us in MLB’s Postseason and after an unbelievable first two rounds filled with clutch moments, memorable finishes and all-time performances, we have finally reached the best of seven stages of the playoffs.
The Yankees, Guardians, Dodgers, and Mets, are the only teams remaining. With no days off between the Division Series and Championship Series, let’s get right into what to watch for as there are now two teams left in each league.
Guardians vs Yankees
For the fourth time in the last eight seasons, New York will meet Cleveland in the American League playoffs. This will be the first time the Yankees and the Guardians have played each other in the ALCS since 1998, and it is the seventh time they’ve matched up in the Postseason in the last twenty-seven years.
The Yankees come into this series off a 3-1 series win over Kansas City in the ALDS.
The Yankees had the best record in baseball on the road in the regular season and won both games they played away from Yankee Stadium against the Royals, while only giving up three runs in those two games. The Yankees bullpen also did not give up an earned run in the series.
The Guardians come in fresh off of a tough battle against the Tigers, where they were able to win the last two games of the series to come back and win it 3-2.
Cleveland was shutout through games 2 and 3, but came up big in games 4 and 5, as they rode consistent pitching and their excellent bullpen to win their first ALDS since 2016.
Cade Smith came up huge for Cleveland in the series, registering twelve strikeouts, the most by any reliever in a single Division Series in AL/NL history.
The Yankees bullpen was great as a unit as well, and Luke Weaver came up with huge saves in all three wins in the series.
The Probable starter for the Guardians is the veteran Alex Cobb while southpaw Carlos Rodon will get the nod for Aaron Boone and the Yankees.
These two teams won their division and were the top two seeds in the American League for a reason.
The Yankees had one of the best all-around offenses in baseball all year long, highlighted by Aaron Judge and Juan Soto who will both undoubtedly finish in the top three in American League MVP voting.
The Guardians also have a likely silver-slugger this year in José Ramírez, along with other solid hitters in Josh Naylor, Steven Kwan, David Fry, and Lane Thomas, who came up absolutely huge in the Division Series for Cleveland.
I do however believe that the Yankees all-around depth both in their lineup and pitching staff will be too much to overcome for the Guardians in a seven game series. I expect players like Austin Wells, Jazz Chisolm Jr, Gerrit Cole, and Giancarlo Stanton to play huge roles for New York. Although Cleveland absolutely has a better bullpen, I think the Yankees pitching overall pitching depth will match up well with the Guardians, and the Yankees will win their first American League pennant in fifteen years.
Prediction: Yankees in 6
Mets vs Dodgers
Flipping to the National League side, we may have an even more intriguing matchup, as some of the game’s brightest stars will shine in the NLCS this year for the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers.
This will be the fourth time in these franchise’s histories they’ve met in the Postseason, with battles in the NLDS in 2006 and 2015 won by the Mets, and a victory for the Dodgers in the 1988 NLCS.
The Mets come into these series off a 3-1 series win over their division rival Phillies, which included New York winning the final two games of the series at Citi Field. Fransico Lindor hit a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning of game four to give the Mets a three run lead that they would not relinquish.
The Mets starting pitchers came up huge in the series as well, as they held the Phillies to two runs or less in all three of their wins in the series.
The Dodgers are coming off a hard fought series win against their rivals as well, defeating the Padres in game five to come back and win after trailing the series 2-1.
The Dodgers were able to shut out San Diego for the last 26 innings where they batted in the series. They were able to shut the Padres out in game five off a great start from Yoshinobu Yamamoto and two solo home runs from Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández,
The Mets and Dodgers played six games in the regular season this year, where L.A. won the series 4-2.
The Dodgers will have home field advantage in this matchup which will help them a lot as they have the best home record of any team remaining in the playoffs, which helps since they finished the regular season with the best record in the league. The probable starters in game one are Kodai Senga for New York and Jack Flaherty for Los Angeles.
The Mets have been one of the best teams in baseball since the beginning of June, while the Dodgers have had the best record in baseball all season and have the star power to show for it.
The likely top two finishers in MVP voting this year will be squaring off in this series as Shohei Ohtani and Francisco Lindor will look to come up big for their teams respectively. The players in this series who will likely play a huge factor include Mookie Betts, Pete Alonso, Edwin Diaz, and Micheal Kopech.
I think baseball fans may be in for an all-time classic series in this matchup. I expect this series to go the distance and be filled with iconic moments and clutch performances that we will remember for a long time. With that being said, I think the Mets starting pitching will prove to be an x-factor, and they will ride timely hitting and good chemistry to the World Series for the first time since 2015.
I believe baseball is in store for its first Subway Series since the year 2000.
Prediction: Mets in 7
