MLB Playoff Preview 2017

Oh what a regular season it has been. From Scooter Gennett’s 4 Home Run Game to Edinson Volquez’s no hitter there is still so much that slips through the cracks in a 162 game regular season. However, now with the arduous season complete there only remains 10 teams remaining in the Hunt for October. Sooooooo, let’s make some predictions.

Wild Card Games:

Minnesota @ New York: The Minnesota Twins just became the first team in MLB history to follow up a 100 loss season with a playoff birth. They have the perfect mix of young studs such as Byron Buxton and gunslinger Jose Berrios, and season vets i.e. Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer. BUT.. I give them almost no chance in beating the Yankees, even in a one game situation. Twins ace Ervin Santana has been notoriously awful at the new Yankees Stadium, never recording a win there in 6 appearances. The Yankees do have arguably the hottest hitter in baseball, Aaron Judge, to lead their charge, but they have numerous players who can take Santana deep at anytime. They hit a league leading 241 Home Runs this season with a high majority of them at home. And to make matters worse, Luis Severino, the Yankees’ ace, has been among the best pitchers in baseball this year. So ya. 8-2 Yankees.

Colorado @ Arizona: Sorry fans, once again don’t expect a tightly contested affair in this Wild Card showdown either. Despite the MVP caliber seasons of both Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon for the Rockies, the rest of their offense is a myth; will they show up or will they not? Simply too unpredictable. Rockies starter Jon Gray has only made it through 7 innings of work one time since August 12th… another bad playoff recipe. Meanwhile the Diamondbacks since the addition of J.D. Martinez have been about as good of an offense as you could possibly imagine. J.D. Martinez has an OPS over 1,000 since joining the D-Backs and has lightened the load off of Paul Goldschmidt in the middle of the order.While the Arizona Ace has been just about average in his playoff career, he is still the better pitcher here. 6-3 D-Backs.

Established Divisional Matchups:

Boston vs. Houston: Sweeeeet Carolineeeee bahmp bahmp bamp Good times…..might be over soon in Boston. Astros are better in almost every facet of the game. The Astros seem to have a kryptonite for every strength on the Red Sox. “Red Sox have strikeout pitchers”, well the Astros strikeout the least frequent of any MLB club. “Chris Sale is too good” well Justin Verlander is simply better right now (5-0 since joining Astros). “Ya well Mookie Betts can change the game” True but this year Jose Altuve and George Springer have both been better versions of Mookie. Anywhere you look it’s a mismatch. Houston hits Home Runs, Red Sox don’t. Astros in 4.

Cubs vs. Nationals: This matchup is truly brutal to predict. I can see it going both ways. They both are statistically good offensive teams, BUT the Nationals starting pitching has been miles better than Chicago this year in every category. The Nationals get to roll out Scherzer (16-6), Strasburg (15-4), and Gio Gonzalez (15-9) back to back to back. I think the Nationals could win this series quick, but the Cubs have a shot if the series goes deeper, because Chicago is such a difficult place for opponents. Even still.. The Nats starters are too much here: Nats in 5.

Once the Wild Card Games conclude I’ll have the other Matchup Predictions Prepped and Ready to Go.

Written by Paul McGovern