The National League playoffs will start tomorrow and the wild card provides a matchup that should honestly be a division series with the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates finishing with the 2nd and 3rd best record not only in the National League but in all of baseball. It almost seems unfair that one of these two teams will have to exit early because they play in the same division as the St. Louis Cardinals.
Wild Card Round:
Chicago Cubs v. Pittsburgh Pirates: This may actually be the hardest matchup to predict mainly because it features two of the best teams in the playoffs battling it out in one game. Each team will have their aces going for them, Jake Arrieta for the Cubs and Gerrit Cole for the Pirates.
These teams did everything they could to take down the Cardinals and claim the division to avoid this game but somehow it wasn't enough. Now they battle it out in Pittsburgh with the winner getting to head to St. Louis to face another division foe.
I think Chicago comes away with the wild card victory because of Arrieta. He has dominated all season and has basically been unhittable since the all-star break even throwing a no-hitter on August 30 against the Dodgers. He along with a few big hits from Krys Bryant and Anthony Rizzo the young guns of the Cubs will lead the cubs into the divisional round on Wednesday night. Pittsburgh will fall short again in the wild card and will have to wait until next year for another shot at maybe reaching the divisional round.
Cubs over Pirates
Divisional Round:
N.Y. Mets v. L.A. Dodgers
This series is about one thing and one thing only...PITCHING. These teams have absolutely dominant pitching staffs and they will be on full display. L.A. has Kershaw and Greinke both looking to assert themselves as dominant pitchers both in the regular and finally the postseason. The Mets will be bringing their own heat with the likes of deGrom, Harvey, and Syndergaard.
This series should be a good one and I expect it to at least go four games with most of them being decided by a run or two at the most. It really just depends on if Terry Collins can properly manage the Mets bullpen and that Harvey doesn't pitch with a short pitch count. If Mets can manage that I believe they come out of this series with Cespedes and Wright leading the offense against the tough pitching the Dodgers are putting out there.
Maybe if we are lucky we get to see "Big Sexy" Bartolo Colon get a hit or two.
Mets over Dodgers 3 games to 1
Chicago Cubs v. St. Cardinals
This matchup should be interesting mainly because I don't know how, but the Cardinals always seem to find a way to win. They have had major contributors be out for significant periods of time this year (Holliday, Wainwright, Molina) and still managed to win 100 games and the Central Division. They take on a young Cubs team whose fan base is pinning for a chance to break the curse of the billy goat. Could this be the year the Cubs win it all? Maybe, but first they have to get past the Cardinals, which I think they will.
This series will go all five games with Arrieta and Lester leading the Cubs to the series victory. Jon Lester has had a rough year having periods of highs and lows. Something happens though when the calendar turns to the month of October, Lester becomes a new man and a dominating ace and that is one of the reasons Theo Epstein brought him to the Cubs. I think he and Arrieta shut the Cardinals down. The Cardinals will just have to many injuries and they will finally catch up with them. Molina playing with a splint will limit him I think and having Wainwright in the bullpen and not the rotation will hurt them in the end. Don't worry though Cardinal fans I am sure you will be back again next year, and the next, and the next, but let's give some other teams a chance.
Cubs move onto the N.L. Championship series where they will take on the Mets.
Cubs over Cardinals in 5 games.
National League Championshop:
Chicago Cubs v N.Y. Mets
The championship series no one could have predicted at the beginning of the season has presented itself for everyone to enjoy. The Chicago Cubs and NY Mets have easily been some of the biggest surprises going into the postseason and this series will not doubt have a few more in it.
What is going to make this series better than any other is the fact that it is two teams with dominating pitching, capable offenses, but most of all fan bases that have been waiting a long time to see their teams make it this deep into the playoffs. The Mets last made the playoffs in '06 and the Cubs in '08 neither making the World series since 2000 and 1945.
These teams will be fighting hard and doing whatever they can to make the World Series for their fans. The edge will have to go to the Cubs I believe for one reason and one reason only, Matt Harvey. The Dark Knight is going to be put on a limit and if the Mets and he follow that structure that means he is making one start in the NLCS and one start only. The Cubs will have their top two starts going twice each if need be and that is the deciding factor. As good as Syndergaard is he is still young and inexperienced and being put on such a big stage could get to him.
The Cubs will reach the world series where they will take on the Toronto Blue Jays as a predicted in my AL preview, which you can check out.
Cubs over Mets in 6 games
That's just my stance though and let me know what your thoughts are in the comments below. Stay Tuned for my world series prediction tomorrow before the NL wildcard game begins.
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