We start it off with the Battle of the NL East. Its the two seed Atlanta Braves taking on the six seed Miami Marlins. The Marlins are in the playoffs for the first time since 2003 and only third time ever in the divisional round. They got here after beating the Cubs in the Wild Card series. Atlanta won the NL East and beat the Reds in a sweep, making it the 20th time in the last 30 years they've reached this point. This marks the 2nd time ever these teams will face off, the last coming in the 1997 NLCS, which the Marlins won in six games. All games in this series will be played at Minute Made Park in Houston.
Here's the dates and times for every game in this series:
October 6 Miami Marlins vs. Atlanta Braves Minute Maid Park TBA
October 7 Miami Marlins vs. Atlanta Braves Minute Maid Park TBA
October 8 Atlanta Braves vs. Miami Marlins Minute Maid Park TBA
October 9 Atlanta Braves vs. Miami Marlins Minute Maid Park TBA
October 10 Miami Marlins vs. Atlanta Braves Minute Maid Park TBA
He, you'd have to give credit where it's due to the Marlins. They're a team that nobody expected to be any good this year. To make matters tougher, they had missed games due to COVID. But this shows the moxy of this Marlins team,. making the playoffs finishing two games over .500 on the year. Having this shortened season played right into the hands of the Marlins, who managed to take full advantage of it. They got good pitching from guys like Sandy Alcantra not only during the season, but against the Cubs as well. They're facing a really balanced Braves team though. They have no problem putting runs up on the board with Ronald Acuna Jr and Freddy Freeman powering that offense. Max Fried has come back from injury and looks strong to be the ace for the Braves staff.
Look lets not take away from what the Marlins have been able to do. With vets like Jesus Aguilar and Matt Joyce leading the way with their playoff experience, the Marlins could make things interesting. At the end of the day though, the Braves are just too good of a team. Miami's aces might be able to steal a game in this series, but Atlanta is just too well balanced a team to go out like this.
Pick: Braves in 4!
Next up, its the first seeded Los Angeles Dodgers taking on the fourth seeded San Diego Padres. This is the 8th straight year that the Dodgers are in the playoffs and won a round for the first time in two years. LA got here by beating the Brewers in a sweep in the wild card. The Padres finished second in the West this year, making the playoffs for the first time since 2006. They're looking to win a playoff series in the divisional round for the first time since 1998. They beat the Cardinals in three games to get to this round. This will be the first time these teams will face off in the playoffs. Every game in this series will be played at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
Here's the dates and times for every game in this series:
October 6 San Diego Padres vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Globe Life Field TBA
October 7 San Diego Padres vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Globe Life Field TBA
October 8 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres Globe Life Field TBA
October 9 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres Globe Life Field TBA
October 10 San Diego Padres vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Globe Life Field TBA
Give credit where its due, the Padres have done a fantastic job getting a return on their drafts and signings over the last few years. Fernando Tatis Jr has been showing everybody that he could be (and probably will be) the next big thing in the game of baseball. The only thing that could worry the Padres in this series is the health at the top of the rotation. Dinelson Lamet (biceps) and Mike Clevinger (elbow), could be back for this series, but there is nothing set in stone yet. Also if they do manage to come back, who knows how effective they are going to be. They go up against a Dodgers team that proves once again they are the best team, at least during the regular season, in the National League. Mookie Betts has been more than worth his weight for this team and has been a big cog in the Dodgers offense. Pitching hasn't really been an issues.
If San Diego wants to have a chance at even sniffing a win in this series, they need Lamet and/or Clevinger to come back and steal a game. Otherwise it will be a quick series. The Dodgers are too good and too balanced a team, on offense and defense. This will be a fast series.
Pick: Dodgers in 3!
To the American League we go. The 2nd seed Oakland Athletics take on the 6th seed Houston Astros. Houston is looking to get back to the ALCS for the fourth year ion a row. They started that off by sweeping the Twins in the wild card round. Oakland won the West for the first time since 2013. They beat the White Sox in three in the wild card round, their first win in the playoffs since 2006. This is the first ever playoff meeting between the two teams. All games in this series will be played at Dodgers Stadium in LA.
Here's the date and times for every game in this series:
October 5 Houston Astros vs. Oakland Athletics Dodger Stadium 1:07 p.m
October 6 Houston Astros vs. Oakland Athletics Dodger Stadium TBA
October 7 Oakland Athletics vs. Houston Astros Dodger Stadium TBA
October 8 Oakland Athletics vs. Houston Astros Dodger Stadium TBA
October 9 Houston Astros vs. Oakland Athletics Dodger Stadium TBA
This could make an interesting series for the Astros. They are used to playing the role of bad boys, they been doing it all year. They took a bit of a blow during the year to the pitching staff, losing Verlander to Tommy John surgery. On offense, they had an average year at best, with only one .300 hitter on this team in Michael Brantley. When push comes to shove, the Astros can dial it up if they need to. Zack Grenke has stepped in to take over and pick up slack with Verlander not there. The offense can get it done in the playoffs, they made deep runs the last three years. They are facing an A's team who's also banged up, with Matt Chapman not being ready to go for the start of this series. Matt Olsen has stepped up with Chapman not there. Pitching for the A's has been there most of the year too.
There's a bit of bad blood here, as we already had one bench clearing dust up in August this year. So you know good and well this is going to be a lively series. Houston has a chip on its should cause of everything that has hit this year from 2017. But the A's may be a deeper and a bit more patient team at the plate. This goes the distance.
Pick: A's in 5!
Finally, we have the top seeded Tampa Bay rays taking on the 5th seeded New York Yankees. This is the 4th straight year that the Yankees have won a round in the playoffs, doing so by sweeping the Indians in the last round. Tampa won the East for the first time in team history, starting the playoffs off by sweeping the Jays in the wild card round. This is the second year in a row the Rays have won in the wild card round. This marks the first ever meeting between the teams in the playoffs. All games will be played at Petco Park in San Diego.
Here's the date and times for every game in this series:
October 5 New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays Petco Park 5:07 p.m
October 6 New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays Petco Park TBA
October 7 Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Yankees Petco Park TBA
October 8 Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Yankees Petco Park TBA
October 9 New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays Petco Park TBA
New York I feel had a lot riding on it this year, with adding in a guy like Gerritt Cole. He's been good for the Bombers. There's no doubt that the Yankees can score runs, just look what they did against the Tribe. Scoring 22 runs on 23 hits in two games. No doubt that the bats will come out. The only thing that even remotely has me worried about this team is how up and down are they going to be? Sure they brought the lumber in the last round against the Indians, but will it keep going against Tampa or will they disappear for a few days? They might have the pitching to hang around if the bats don't show. If that bats still stay hot, look out. Tampa isn't a pushover, they were the best team in the AL this season. Tampa has the staff on the hill that looks like it can match the Yankees. They have a good offense too but, when push comes to shove, the Yankees hitters are better. Not to take away from Yandy Diaz or Brandon Lowe, I'm not sure if they can match the firepower on the other side.
Much like the A's-Astros series, this one is going to have fireworks too. We have had guys throwing at eachother and had some bench clearers in this series too. Its going to be a fun one to watch. Starting staffs cancel out, but the Bombers have the hotter bats right now. Rays are going to make it a go, and a fun series to watch. At the end of it all, the deeper hitting will win out.
Pick: Yankees in 5!
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