Justin Raley’s Preseason Complete Playoff Predictions

March 4, 2018 Off By tailgatesports

Here we are. It seems we have finally made it through another offseason. We are into Spring Training games and if you’re anything like me you can’t wait for Opening Day. Obviously, with another baseball season comes more “way too early” playoff predictions. I am going to give you how I think October will turn out this year, starting with the winners from each division, Wild Card winners, and then I will go through each series.

NL East: The Washington Nationals will win the east again with little resistance from the New York Mets.

NL Central: The Cubs will come out on top of the Central in what comes down to a tight 3 team race between the Cubs, Cardinals, and Brewers.

NL West: The Dodgers will easily win the West.

NL Wild Cards: The Cardinals and Rockies will gain Wild Card berths and the Rockies will get the win in the Wild Card game after losing to the Diamondbacks last year.

AL East: The Yankees will come out on top of a tight race with the Red Sox.

AL Central: The Indians will win the Central with ease.

AL West: The Astros will take the West with ease, followed by a tight race with the Angels and Mariners for the 2nd place spot.

AL Wild Cards: The Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins will earn Wild Card berths. The Red Sox will move on though, as they will beat the Twins handily.

Playoff Series

NLDS: Dodgers vs. Rockies: The Dodgers pitching will prove too strong for the Rockies bats and they will win the series in 4 games and head on to the NLCS.

NLDS: Cubs vs. Nationals: The Cubs will sweep the Nationals as another disappointing October for the Nats could lead to a departing Bryce Harper.

NLCS: Dodgers vs. Cubs: The Cubs lost the NLCS in 2017 but they will get their revenge in 2018 as they will defeat the Dodgers in 7 games, and move on to another World Series appearance.

ALDS: Red Sox vs. Astros: This will be an exciting series but the Astros will handle their business in 5 games and move on to the ALCS.

ALDS: Indians vs. Yankees: The rematch of the ALDS last year will have a very different outcome as the Indians will take care of the Yankees in 3 games and move on to the ALCS.

ALCS: Astros vs Indians: This will be a series for the ages as the Tribe and the Astros will battle it out in 7 games. The depth of the Cleveland bullpen will take over and the Indians will come out on top late in Game 7. The Indians will move on to face the Cubs in the World Series.

2018 World Series

A long, hard, season comes down to this. Game 7 between the Cubs and Indians. Yu Darvish vs. Corey Kluber. The lack of complete bullpen depth for the Cubs will haunt them in this game. The Indians will come out on top as your 2018 World Series Champions.

Season Notes