Aaron Judge playing for the New York Yankees; CC by License 2.0
The MLB postseason is currently underway as I’m sure many of you are excited about this. This year's field consists of teams we expected here, but there are a couple of surprises like the Tigers and Royals who have advanced to the ALDS. Although the Wild Card round has already begun, I wanted to take the time to rank the top two seeds in each in league and see where they stack up against one another, and discuss their strengths and weaknesses so let’s dive right in.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers look to be the best team in baseball and have arguably the best player in baseball in Shohei Ohtani. They secured the #1 seed in the National League and have the best record in baseball at 98-64 while winning the NL West. Although the Dodgers’ pitching staff isn’t perfect, their offense is simply overpowering. Shohei Ohtani recently reached 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the regular season and posted the second-highest wRc+ only behind Aaron Judge. Ohtani is not the only star when it comes to this Dodgers offense. They also have Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Teoscar Hernandez to name a few. The Dodgers lead the MLB with an impressive .337 team wOBA and 118 wRC+. They also have the highest run differential in the MLB with a +156. None of their pitching jumps off the page at you, but Jack Flaherty was picked up at the trade deadline by LA and he has been a bright spot for this banged-up Dodger pitching staff, and he looks to be a huge part of the Dodgers postseason run. They will need him to perform if they want to come away with wins in big games this postseason. The Dodgers look to be the most consistent team in the playoffs with their high-powered offense and they will be successful if their pitching can hold up other great offenses.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies hold the second-best record in the MLB just three games behind the Dodgers at 95-67 and won the NL East. This team is hungry for a World Series win, especially after last year getting put out by the Diamondbacks. They have lots of experienced, veteran guys like Bryce Harper, J.T Realmuto, and Trea Turner to name a few. The Phillies' pitching staff is strong, with names like Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler. Wheeler has the third-best ERA in baseball with a 2.57. Their bullpen is impressive as well having the third-best K/9 with a 9.71. This group looks to be the most complete with a fully healthy squad, they also know what it takes having been in this position the past two years and making it to the World Series in 2022. Their offense is solid having one of the highest team wOBAs at .325. Bryce Harper is having another great year at the plate posting a .145 wRC+ and .380 wOBA, while also hitting 30 home runs. Kyle Schwarber, another big piece of this offense leads the Phillies in RBIs with 104. With this whole Phillies team being healthy, they hope to have all their units firing at all cylinders to make another run for the World Series.
New York Yankees
The Yankees have arguably the best one-two punch in all of baseball with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. The Yankees won the AL East with a record of 94-68. The Yankees have bounced back after last year's disappointing season missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The Yankees look to make their first World Series since 2009 and they definitely have what it takes, but they always seem to fall short. The Yankees offense is led by AL MVP frontrunner Aaron Judge. Judge had an incredible season, leading the MLB in multiple offensive categories including home runs, RBIs, and OBP. The Yankees offense leads the MLB in home runs as a team with 237. Their high-powered offense will be the key to their postseason success. The Yankees pitching staff combines for a 3.76 ERA ranked 8th in the MLB. Star Gerrit Cole will need to continue to perform as he has in the late half of the regular season. Starter Luis Gil has been another impressive arm for this Yankees rotation with 15 wins and striking out 171 batters. Their defense has caused them problems at times, but hopefully, they can play clean this postseason. The Yankees will need continued success from their offense and big games out of their not-so-great bullpen to make a deep playoff run. For many Yankee fans like myself, we hope to see them in the World Series for the first time since 2009.
Cleveland Guardians
If you have kept up with baseball this season, you know Cleveland's bullpen has been outstanding. They have a combined bullpen ERA of 2.57 with the next team being well behind them at 3.11, that being Milwaulkee, another playoff team. Their bullpen has also accounted for 42 wins (ranked 4th) and 53 saves (ranked 2nd). As far as starting pitching goes for them, it’s definitely not as impressive, ranking 24th in team ERA with a 4.40. Their offense got an addition at the trade deadline from Washington in Lane Thomas. He looks to add depth and power to this lineup. Speaking of power this offense also has Jose Ramirez who we all know is an all-star at the plate. Ramirez bashed 39 home runs and posted a 141 wRC+. They’ll need him to show up at the plate this postseason. Steven Kwan and Josh Naylor have also been a part of Cleveland’s success this season. If they can get back into their first-half form this offense will cause problems for opposing pitchers. Cleveland will rely on their bullpen to continue their success and make it back to the World Series for the first time since 2016.
Many things must go well for a team to make it to the World Series and win, and these teams definitely have their strong suits, but can one of them get it done, or will we have more upsets like we have seen already in the Wild Card round? We can only wait and see how this postseason will end, but I am sure that it will be a fun one watching all these highly talented teams on the road to glory.
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