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2016 MLB Postseason Preview

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Photo courtesy of Major League Baseball

The beginning of the 2016 MLB Postseason is only one day away and for Cubs fans, it can not come enough. This year expectations for the Cubs have been off the charts. After a brutal exit in last year’s postseason playoffs, it is reassuring to say that Joe Maddon and the Cubs have some experience on their resume this time around. Though it seems like the Cubs have the most hype and potential to win the World Series in 2016, there are still many other teams that are hungry for those gaudy rings adorned by the Fall Classic champions. When you break down this year’s October match-ups, the road to history for the Cubs may not be as easy as many expect. 

San Francisco Giants vs. New York Mets, NL Wild Card, Wednesday on ESPN:

Going into the 2016 season both the Mets and the Giants had very high expectations. In 2015, the New York Mets won the National League Championship then fell to the Royals in the World Series. Many people at the beginning of the year expected the Mets to easily win the NL East, but due to injuries and losing some valuable players in the offseason, the Mets barely snuck into the National League Wild Card game. As far as their competition goes, the San Francisco Giants, were a hot mess at the end of the year. Before the All Star break, the Giants were 57-33, which was the best record in the MLB at the time. After the break, the Giants record was a mere 29-42, the second worst record in the National League. Luckily for the Giants, they got the second spot in the NL Wild Card, which will be an intriguing contest. On the hill for the Mets is Noah Syndergaard and for the Giants, Madison Bumgarner. It is a battle of the aces and two teams that are looking to renew themselves and start fresh as autumnal weather rolls around.

I believe that the outcome of Wednesday nights game in the Big Apple will be 5-4 Mets. The Giants have seemed to step it up a bit in the past week, but Noah Syndergaard and that rambunctious Mets crowd at Citi Field will be just a little too much for the Giants. I’d expect a close, intense game from the first pitch until the end, with most of the runs coming in innings 5-8. 

Chicago Cubs vs. New York Mets/San Francisco Giants, Friday on FS1/MLBN:

The Chicago Cubs are coming off one of their most dominant years as a franchise. They finished at 103-58, the best regular season record in the whole MLB. Pitching has been a high point for the Cubs all season as Kyle Hendricks has emerged from the shadows, holding the best ERA in the MLB and has become a credible candidate for the Cy Young Award along with John Lester, who earned the second best ERA in baseball. This year in the MLB All Star game, the whole starting infield was Chicago Cubs Players (Rizzo 1B, Zobrist 2B, Russell SS, Bryant 3B). Now, all of these players have a reasonable chance at being Gold Glovers.

On top of all the success with their defense, the Cubs offense is flourishing as well. Kris Bryant has the 4th most runs in the MLB along with 39 home runs on the year. He batted .292 on the season, the same mark as Anthony Rizzo. Taking all of this into account, the World Series expectations have been higher than ever. Two years ago, however, the San Francisco Giants faced up against the Kansas City Royals in the World Series. Both of those teams were a product of the MLB Wild Card game, which has been a growing trend since the game’s recent inclusion. It is not impossible for Wild Card teams to run the table. The winner of Wednesday night’s game will come out of it with loads of momentum and one thing in mind, beating the fabled, storybook Cubs. If the Giants take the Wild Card, the Cubs need to focus on timely positional hitting as the Giants have one of the best defenses in the league. However, if it is the Mets they need to focus on battling the pitching staff that gave them fits a year ago, which, as a whole, is ranked third best in the league with a combined 3.58 ERA. Whichever team presents itself, I see the Cubs going four games with. This won’t be a sweep. The Mets and Giants are both teams the Cubs need to take seriously, because they want a World Series ring just as bad as the Cubs do and nobody will lay down in the path of the Cubs’ historic, curse-breaking campaign. 

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Washington (D.C.) Nationals, Friday on FS1/MLBN:

Both teams have not had the greatest performances in the postseason in the past and they are looking to turn things around this year. Last year the Dodgers got surprised by the 2015 NL East Champion New York Mets who won the series 3-2. The Dodgers have built themselves a trend of always being the one team that is always there in the postseason, but can never seem to make it to the World Series. The last time the Dodgers had a World Series appearance was in 1988.

Since then, they have made it to the postseason 10 times without a trip back to the World Series. The Dodgers finished the year at 91-71 along with the NL West title. The Dodgers have a familiar roster to years past as their impact players on offense this year have been Corey Seager, Joc Pederson and Adrian Gonzalez. As for pitching, Clayton Kershaw–when healthy–has been dominant as well as Rich Hill, who Cubs fans may remember from the 2005-2008 Chicago Cubs. On the opposing side, the Washington Nationals, who missed the postseason last year, have high hopes being the number 2 seed in the National League. Last offseason, the Nationals picked up Daniel Murphy who has been a valuable contributor to the 2016 National League East champions and was the NLCS MVP for the New York Mets a season ago. He has the second highest average in the MLB at .347.

As far as the rest of the team, Bryce Harper has not had an eye-popping season, but is still widely regarded as one of the most complete, 5-tool talents in baseball. Max Scherzer yet again has had another great season, going 20-7 with a 2.96 ERA. The one thing National fans have to be most worried about is the return of Nationals ace, Stephen Strasburg. He has been out for some time now with an elbow injury and he will most likely not return during the NLDS. This matchup will go five games and I believe that in game five the Nationals will take the series at home and advance to play the Cubs in an NLCS showdown. Daniel Murphy will be the X factor and have a hot start to the 2016 postseason.

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Baltimore Orioles, Tuesday on TBS:

You may not believe me initially, but the Canadians love their postseason baseball as much as they do playoff hockey. The Toronto Blue Jays clinched home field advantage in the Wild Card yesterday when they defeated the Red Sox 2-1. Typically, for postseason games the Blue Jays close the Rogers Centre roof so they can get the stadium as loud as possible and it works. The Jays will have no problem selling out Tuesday’s game vs. their division rival, the Baltimore Orioles. At the onset of the season, the Jays were hoping to win the AL East for the second year in a row, but the Red Sox denied their opportunity to do so, winning the division by four games. The Jays have a fantastic defense and the Rogers Centre centerfield is home to one of the most underrated defensive players in the game, Kevin Pillar, who rarely lets a base hit drop out there. They also have past All-Star shortstop in Troy Tulowitzki who is one of the best at his position in the MLB. Offensively, their bats never fail to come alive. Led By Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson, the Jays can easily catch fire at any moment.

The Baltimore Orioles are back after a postseason absence last year. Led by J.J Hardy, Adam Jones, Manny Machado and Mark Trumbo, the Orioles are looking to end the Jays World Series hopes in just one game. Coach Buck Showalter has plenty of postseason experience as he gets ready to lead his team into the Rogers Centre. I think for the first four innings of this game it will be tight, but as the game goes on I see the Jays jumping out late with some power from Donaldson and Bautista, effectively taking a 7-4 victory over the O’s on their home field. 

Texas Rangers vs. Toronto Blue Jays/Baltimore Orioles, Thursday on TBS:

Texas is back in the postseason, but this year they are representing the number one seed in the AL. They have the all around talent that can lead them back to the World Series for the first time since 2011 when they fell to the St. Louis Cardinals. A lot of what has helped this team succeed to the number one seed in the AL is the moves that were made this offseason and at the mid-season trade deadline. The Rangers added star players like Jonathan Lucroy, Carlos Gomez, and Carlos Beltran, all players who were not on their roster a year ago. These players accompany other Rangers players who have been continuing their excellence in the lone star state. Elvis Andrus, Adrian Beltre and Ian Desmond have all been large contributors to the team and the Rangers pitching rotation has held their own. Yu Darvish and Cole Hamels highlight the Rangers pitching staff although both of them have an ERA of over three. If my AL Wild Card prediction is correct with the Toronto Blue Jays beating the Baltimore Orioles, I am taking the Blue Jays in four games. Jose Bautista will return the punch that he received from Rougned Odor earlier in the season except this time it will be targeted to the whole Rangers team. I believe that the Jays will get rolling early in the series and then will be to tough to stop–especially in their mid-series stretch in Toronto.

Boston Red Sox vs. Cleveland Indians, Thursday on TBS:

This is the biggest shock of the 2016 MLB season. The Cleveland Indians made the playoffs. Not as a Wild Card team, but as the 2016 AL Central Division champion and the number two seed in the AL of the MLB playoffs. The season didn’t start off amazing for Cleveland, but it seemed right when the Cavaliers hoisted up their championship trophy, the Indians suddenly became boiling hot. Maybe they got some inspiration from their next door neighbors at Quicken Loans Arena, but Cleveland ended up finishing eight games above the second place Detroit Tigers and concluded their regular season with 94 wins.

What was behind the Indians and this magical run? Certain players got hot at the right time. Jose Ramirez, the third baseman for the Indians boasted .312 average, one of the best on the team and Francisco Lindor, the shortstop also batted above .300. Other players like Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis helped power the Indians to their postseason birth. Pitching also was a seminal part of why the Indians made it to the postseason as Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer were the Indians’ two aces. One of the biggest moves that the Indians made this offseason was acquiring Andrew Miller from the Yankees and he has been an important part of the Indians pitching staff and has been stellar in save situations.

The Indians have a daunting test going into the playoffs with their first matchup being against the 2016 AL East Champions, the Boston Red Sox. Similar to the Indians, the Boston Red Sox had a rough time in their division last year, finishing dead last with only 78 wins on the season.  One year later, however, the Red Sox have a chance at receiving the World Series title for the first time since 2013. The Sox have three players batting over .300–Mookie Betts, who seems to be having an MVP season, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz, who is retiring this year but having one of his best statistical seasons. The Red Sox have had the hitting for some time now, but the piece that they have been missing–especially in the 2015 season–was their pitching. In the offseason, Red Sox Manager John Farrell went out looking for a pitcher that could redefine the Sox. Farrell found David Price, the former Toronto Blue Jays ace and bought him for $217 million over 7 years. During the season, another growing star pitcher for the Red Sox emerged in Rick Porcello. With the two aforementioned hurlers having great seasons, the Red Sox were able to win the AL East.

Out of all of the MLB postseason match-ups this year, I believe this one to be the most intriguing. These are two teams who seemed to have little hope last year and have completely turned things around. This series is going to be a dog fight. It is going to be back in forth, but at the end of game five, the Boston Red Sox will be moving onto the ALCS to face the Blue Jays for a chance to head to the World Series.

This postseason is going to be exciting, not just for Chicago, but for all baseball fans. Buckle up, this year’s MLB postseason will be one of the best of its kind.

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Joe Thomas, Author
Joe Thomas is a staff writer for The Forest Scout who has a burning passion for sports. He covers high school football, hockey and baseball along with the MLB and college basketball. He constantly dreams of being a writer for a professional sports organization when he is older. You can find the majority of his work in the In Between The Lines section.
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