League Championship Preview

Now we are down to four. The League Championships have arrived in Major League Baseball! On one side we got a team that's looking for its 3rd pennant and first ever world title, playing a team that's looking for its 7th world series appearance. On the other side, one team is the two-time defending league champion, who is taking on a team that's looking to go to the series for the 2nd time in their history.

So lets get into it. here's how we see the League Championships going.

National League Championship
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Brewers
We start it off with the NL Central winning and best record in the National League Milwaukee Brewers taking on the National League West Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers come in as the two time defending NL pennant winners, taking on a Brewers team that hasn't been in the Series since their lone appearance in 1982 (When they were still in the American League).

Milwaukee won the Central with a 103-59 record, and they beat the Padres in the divisional round in four games to get here. They take on the Dodgers who won the West with a 100-62 record, and they beat the Braves in four to get here. This is a rematch of last year's NLCS, a series in which the Dodgers swept. This is the 4th meeting between the two teams in the playoffs, with the Dodgers having won the previous three meetings (2018 NLCS, 202 Wild card series and last years NLCS).

This is going to be a heavyweight fight for the NL Pennant. Both teams are evenly matched coming in, so this is a little harder to predict than first thought. The Dodgers hitters had been hot coming into this series, but so has Milwaukee pitching. It has been well know that good pitching always beats good hitting, and this time of year it amplifies that more than any other time of year.

Dodgers will get a couple of games, but the Brewers have been just a step above them all year and this is no different.

Pick: Brewers in 6!

American League Championship
Cleveland Guardians vs. Tampa Bay Rays
This one is a battle of the AL Central winning Cleveland Guardians taking on the best team in the AL the East winning Tampa Bay Rays.

Cleveland got here by winning the Central with an 85-77 record, then beat the White Sox in five games in the divisional round. As for the Rays, they won the East and finished with the best record in the AL with a 98-64 record and swept the Yankees in the divisional round. Tampa has been to the series twice, 2008 and 2020. Meanwhile Cleaveland hasn't been to the series since 2016 and have won the AL three times total. This marks the third playoff meeting between the teams, having split the two previous matchups (Rays won the 20134 wild card game, Cleveland won the 2022 wild card game).

This series might not be as hard to predict. Cleveland had to come back from down two games to none against the white sox. They've had to play a little more baseball. That may help them just a tad at the start of the series, given the fact the Rays had a few more off days. But the Ryas have had the better overall team as this season has gone on. The big guys at the top of the lineup haven't slowed down. The role guys have been having moments as the season grew late.

Pick: Rays in 6!