The MLB's 2015 League Division Series kick off on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. ET when the Toronto Blue Jays host the Texas Rangers. We felt it'd be a more appropriate times to make our postseason predictions now, since the Wild Card Games were a toss-up and presented a much greater chance to thwart our pick for the World Series (hint: because we were picking the Pirates if they won).
Well, now that the wild card winners are settled, the ALDS and NLDS will start this week and the first two series are between the Toronto Blue Jays/Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals/Houston Astros followed by the St. Louis Cardinals/Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers/New York Mets tomorrow.
You can check out the entire postseason schedule here.
The 2015 MLB playoffs feature a number of notable storylines:
- The Blue Jays are in the postseason for the first time in 22 years
- The Astros are in the postseason for the first time in 10 years
- The New York Mets seek their first World Series title since 1986
- The Chicago Cubs seek their first World Series title since 1908
- The Kansas City Royals hope to make another World Series run and earn their first title since 1985
Anyway, here are HNGN's predictions for this year's postseason:
This matchup is between two MLB clubs that used a late season push to capture their respective division titles. The Blue Jays executed shrewd moves at the trade deadline to supplant the New York Yankees in the AL East in late August while the Rangers' consistent and resurgent second half helped them overtake the Houston Astros in the AL West.
Today it'll be David Price vs. Yovani Gallardo in Game 1 of this ALDS series. Toronto will be home for the first two games, which is an enormous disadvantage for Texas because Blue Jays fans have been waiting 22 years for this moment. The league's top offense received some backup from an improved starting rotation (Price, Marcus Stroman, Marco Estrada, R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle) as the year went on, and it's clear the Rangers' rotation is not as deep.
Texas does own the MLB's third-ranked offense and finished out the year 20-12 (although with an exhausted bullpen), but the Blue Jays look much better top to bottom and that'll be too overwhelming for the Rangers.
BLUE JAYS IN FOUR
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The Astros have some momentum after taking down the Yankees in the AL Wild Card Game on Tuesday, but their next matchup won't be as easy. They'll travel to Kansas City for the first two games of this ALDS series and Collin McHugh and Scott Kazmir will be starting in those contests. McHugh hasn't faced the Royals this year and Kazmir struggled in the second half of the season (2-6 with a 3.86 ERA vs. 5-5 with a 2.49 ERA In first half) even though he is 1-1 with a 2.11 ERA in three starts against the Royals this year.
Kansas City will have a loyal and loud crowd at Kauffman Stadium and it's going to be an unfavorable environment for the young Astros, who will have to face the new-and-improved Yordano Ventura and Johnny Cueto in the first two games. Unless McHugh can outduel Ventura and/or Kazmir can get back on track, this doesn't look good for Houston.
They'll get one win with Keuchel pitching at Minute Maid Park in Game 3, but that's it.
ROYALS IN FOUR
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This is perhaps the coolest matchup of the first round. It's full of awesome pitching, and the Mets are going to Los Angeles for Games 1 and 2 to take on Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke - two of the top three NL Cy Young candidates. However, the Mets will counter with Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard (the rookie started against Kershaw in L.A. this year and the Mets won 2-1). They'll need to split on the road to stand a chance because they'll have a layup in Game 3 when Matt Harvey duels Brett Anderson.
The Mets led the NL (third in MLB) in runs in the second half while the Dodgers were 13th in the NL (28th in MLB). With that being said, there's a much better chance New York can get something going, especially in Game 1 since Kershaw has a 5.12 postseason ERA.
If not, it'll likely be a battle of the bullpens, and the edge goes to the Mets. I think New York will split in L.A., and if they go up 2-1 in New York, Dodgers' manager Don Mattingly may have to pitch Kershaw and Greinke on short rest.
METS IN FIVE
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And here we have a tremendous divisional matchup between the Cubs and Cardinals.
Chicago just impressed the baseball world by shutting out the Pittsburgh Pirates on the road in the NL Wild Card Game, and now they're playing with a ton of momentum. They're 24-9 since the beginning of September and are winners of nine straight, while the Cardinals had their worst stretch of the season over the past month (15-17 since beginning of September, dropping eight of 10 at one point).
Cubs' left-hander Jon Lester will take on Cards' right-hander John Lackey in Game 1 at Busch Stadium, where Lester has a 1.29 ERA this season. Arrieta probably won't pitch until Game 3 at Wrigley, which means if the Cubs can split the series on the road they will set themselves up nicely for their first NLDS victory since 2003.
St. Louis will be without Carlos Martinez, and Adam Wainwright will get work out of the bullpen, so their two best starting pitchers will not be in the rotation. This leaves Lackey (1.25 ERA against Chicago this season), Michael Wacha (6.84 ERA) and Lance Lynn (7.64 ERA) to carry the load, and that doesn't bode well since they'll have to face Lester, Arrieta and Jason Hammel.
Additionally, it's unknown if Yadier Molina is completely healthy after he tore a ligament in his thumb a couple of weeks ago (he's on the NLDS roster), which will be a significant factor heading into this series.
The Cubbies will shock the MLB once again under the guidance of baseball's Buddha, manager Joe Maddon.
CUBS IN FOUR
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Now for the ALCS, NLCS and World Series predictions...
ALCS
The series between these two in August got heated when the benches cleared in Toronto after a couple of hit batsmen. It's been clear since then that the Blue Jays and Royals do not like each other, which will make for a slobberknocker of an ALCS.
Kansas City has the experience after last year's World Series run, but it'll be tough to take down the Blue Jays in seven games, especially with a largely questionable rotation beyond Ventura, Cueto and Edinson Volquez. Let's put it this way: it will not be like last year when they ran through the American League.
The Royals' offense should keep them alive, but those good left-handed hitters (Eric Hosmer, Ben Zobrist, Kendrys Morales and Alex Gordon) will have to face Price twice. A fresh Marcus Stroman won't help either.
The Royals' bullpen is perhaps the best in the league and the advantage is certainly on their side if there's a close game, but if this series goes to seven, how will they be able to neutralize Toronto's offense that many times?
I think it will go to seven games, but the Royals will not be returning to the World Series. The Blue Jays' balanced roster is superior to the Royals' (even with Kansas City's home-field advantage).
BLUE JAYS IN SEVEN
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NLCS
Mets and Cubs in the NLCS? If you told me this before the season - hell, if you told me this at the All-Star break - I probably would have challenged you to a fist fight. But the Cubs finished 50-25 in the second half of the season and the Mets added Yoenis Cespedes, Tyler Clippard, Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson at the trade deadline and out-dueled the Nationals for the NL East title.
This series, in my opinion, comes down to managing. We've seen the Cubs can handle good pitching (much better than the Dodgers can), so Terry Collins will need to bring in the right bullpen personnel in the event Chicago gets after one or more of his starters. Similarly, Maddon will have to get creative with his lineups, as he did last night, to neutralize the likes of deGrom, Harvey, Syndergaard and Matz.
Nonetheless, Chicago still has the advantage here because they possess a lot of veteran pitching, whereas the Mets have all four of their starters (each of whom have no more than two full MLB seasons under their belt, if that) making their MLB postseason debuts. The Cubs have a lot of rookies too, but they're all position players, which isn't as risky as having such youngsters in the starting rotation. The pressure is much greater on the man with the ball in his hand, and that will also be a difference maker.
Even with the cast of starters they have, the Mets could easily go down 2-0 after facing Lester and Arrieta. Maddon's previous postseason experience vs. Collins' lack thereof will also be a key aspect in the Cubs' road to the World Series.
CUBS IN SEVEN
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WORLD SERIES
A 22-year World Series drought vs. a 106-year World Series drought. This should be electrifying (if it happens, of course).
The Blue Jays and Cubs both have the consistent firepower in their offense and pitching staffs to make it to the final stage. One glaring difference will be the postseason experience of Joe Maddon vs. the postseason debut of Jays' manager John Gibbons, but the veteran players on Toronto could bail Gibbons out if it were to come down to managerial decisions.
However, up until this point in the postseason, Chicago would have faced no team like Toronto, whose balance of offense and pitching is arguably the best in the league, and that will likely be too much for a young team to handle. The Blue Jays' offense may even be too much for Arrieta, who has faced only one top-10 offense (Arizona Diamondbacks) in his last 22 starts.
Price and the rest of the Blue Jays' rotation have been exposed to some of the best offenses in the MLB (Yankees, Rangers, Red Sox, Astros, Royals and Orioles) because of their presence in the American League, so the Cubs will finally meet their maker in the World Series.
BLUE JAYS IN SEVEN
