The MLB postseason picture for 2018 is finally set. Many teams have worked their absolute hardest to make this race for October as intense as possible, and I would argue this has been one of the funnest MLB seasons in a while. Today I will be talking about each team, analyzing some of their lineup’s highlights, and how they could do in October.

AL:

AL East winning Boston Red Sox:

Boston was a bit of a  sleeper team this year in my opinion. Of course we all predicted them to have 95 wins or so, but with the Yankees’ acquistions of Giancarlo Stanton and such, many people had them as the AL East runner-ups, including myself. Oh boy were we wrong. Boston has been a threat this season, getting their lights out rotation back together. Their weapons include strikeout king Chris Sale on plenty of rest from September, rebounding David Price looking better than he has in a Boston uniform, and rebounding Rick Porcello. That doesn’t include that nice bullpen headlined by flamethrower Craig Kimbrel.

The hitting has been better than ever. After the bats were somewhat cool in 2017, they have rebounded with a capital r. Leading off is Mookie Betts, looking better than ever with a possible MVP title coming his way. Batting second you have Andrew Benintendi who is also improving this year. Batting third or cleanup you have J.D. Martinez, who has shown people what he’s really capable of by slugging 43 homers and Steve Pearce, given to the Red Sox by the Blue Jays at the deadline and mashing baseballs for a great slash line at the end of the year. That isn’t even getting into the other big threats Boston has this year, such as Xander Bogaerts and Mitch Moreland.

Boston certainly has the strength to win a World Series title this season, as they have incredible bats and stellar pitching. Their issue the last few postseasons was that their bats haven’t come alive very much, but that should should change with all of the threats in their lineup. Their bullpen is the real question mark, as we’ve seen inconsistency with it, although it has looked solid. In my opinion it will all come down to how the rotation performs.

AL Central winning Cleveland Indians:

The Indians winning the AL Central has come as no surprise to baseball fans, as every team in that division except for them is in the midst of a rebuild. That doesn’t mean they have a crappy roster though. The rotation is sound, headlined by such names as Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, and Mike Clevinger, all of whom have ERAs under 3.5, while 2 have ERA’s in the low-to-high 2 range (Kluber and Bauer). Their bullpen has been worse this season, but it doesn’t mean they’re very bad, as they picked up some threats in Brad Hand and Adam Cimber.

The hitting has looked better this season. At the head is Francisco Lindor, boasting a nice MVP case, while his infield partner José Ramírez boasts a better MVP case as one of the best 5-tool players in the game. At the infield corners you have Josh Donaldson and Yonder Alonso, both good bounceback candidates. The outfield is weaker, but Michael Brantley is a great support player and Melky Cabrera has turned somewhat back into his White Sox form. Edwin Encarnacion has let his age catch up to him a bit, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a threat in the postseason.

While I don’t think the Indians have the power to make a legitimate World Series run this season, we certainly can’t doubt them. They smoked through the AL in 2016 with a very injured rotation. The rotation will be this team’s golden goose, they will live or die by it. Once the opposing team tacks a few runs on the board, they’re in trouble, unless their bats can light up again. Houston has very good pitching though, so it could all comes down to how their rotation does.

AL West winning Houston Astros:

The Astros won the AL West, which we all saw coming, but it was closer this year as their competition was good, the Oakland Athletics. You read that right. The pitching for the Astros has been like the Indians. A level above lights out. Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Charlie Morton headline a deadly Astros rotation that has shut down some of the best lineups in the league. In the bullpen they have Roberto Osuna, and rebounding Joe Smith and Héctor Rondón. They also have deadly Ryan Pressly on a tear since being traded to Houston from Minnesota.

The Astros’ hitting has regressed, although Alex Bregman has made a legit MVP case. The young phenom slugged baseballs like it was batting practice this year and helped lead the Astros to 103 wins. Most of the hitting has cooled down, although José Altuve could make a legitimate case for a postseason rebound.

The Astros have a pennant and even World Series case even though the hitting has regressed. The rotation boasts absolutely deadly strikeout kings and is their golden goose like Cleveland. If the rotation underperforms I see the road to a World Series being much more difficult for the team. Then again you can’t doubt names like Altuve, Bregman, and Correa to make noise in the playoffs.

AL Wild Card winning New York Yankees:

Although they finished second in their division, the Yankees had a great season, winning 100 games despite having some injuries and underperformances to a few of their key guys. The rotation is sound, led by phenom Luis Severino, with playoff stud Masahiro Tanaka and veterans J.A. Happ and CC Sabathia doing great as well. The bullpen is stacked, led by flamethrower Aroldis Chapman with guys like Dellin Betances, David Robertson, Chad Green, Jonathan Holder, and Zach Britton to back him up.

The hitting is also extremely good, led by star outfielders Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Contact outfielders Andrew McCutchen, Aaron Hicks, and Brett Gardner are also available for New York. Rookie stars Miguel Andújar and Gleyber Torres lead a strong infield that also includes stud shortstop Didi Gregorius and emerging first baseman Luke Voit. Gary Sánchez had a down year, but he can come alive in October, so he could do very well for them too.

In my opinion, I don’t see the Yankees making it past the first round. They have a loaded roster, filled to the brim with great pitching and hitting, but the Red Sox have given even the best lineups in baseball some trouble, and with the inexperience the Yankees have with their star players in the postseason like Stanton, Torres, and Andújar. I definitely think they have the capability and veteran presence to make it far in the postseason though, if they beat the Red Sox.

NL:

NL East winning Atlanta Braves:

Another gigantic sleeper team this season was the Atlanta Braves, who started their reign this season, winning 90 games led by star pitcher Mike Foltynewicz, who had backup weapons in a rebounding Aníbal Sánchez, a phenom in Sean Newcomb, a declining but still good pitcher in Julio Teheran, and rebounding deadline acquisition Kevin Gausman. The bullpen has been really good, flamethrowing closer Arodys Vizcaíno is back from the DL and has many good, and has weapons like A.J. Minter and Dan Winkler to hold the save opportunity for him.

The hitting has gained a beat this year. Freddie Freeman has been a stud as always, getting a great average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. Ronald Acuña Jr. has been a stud and a rookie of the year top candidate, Ozzie Albies has some sneaky power, Nick Markakis has been hitting for average and power both well this season, and there are some wild cards in the lineup like Johan Camargo and Ender Inciarte.

This team’s gonna be relying on its pitching to take them far. The Dodgers have a hungry lineup and they’ll be looking for some vengeance for that World Series loss. If they can get a quality start almost every game from their starters then I certainly think they have the lineup power to tack some runs onto the board. But if they’re going far, they need to shut down the Dodgers’ lineup and get about 3 runs a game at least in my opinion.

NL Central winning Milwaukee Brewers:

Oh boy this isn’t going to be easy to write. As a Cubs fan, watching the Brewers this year has been very intense, as their lineup is hungrier than a starving pack of wolves. On the pitching, the rotation is rocky, but has some solid names like Jhoulys Chacín, with possible rebounders in Chase Anderson and Gio Gonzalez. The bullpen is stacked in all caps. Highlighting it are strikeout kings Josh Hader and Jeremy Jeffress, with good backup guys in Corey Knebel, Dan Jennings, Joakim Soria, Xavier Cedeño, and Brandon Woodruff.

The hitting core is also very good. Christian Yelich has made a MVP case for himself this season, barreling the ball and driving base hits against multiple lefties and righties, almost equally. Lorenzo Cain is an on-base machine, getting an on-base percentage of somewhere near .400. Jesús Aguilar has emerged onto the baseball scene slugging baseballs like no tomorrow. Deadline acquisitions Curtis Granderson and Mike Moustakas are also pleasant surprises to an already loaded lineup.

The Brewers, in my opinion, have a legitimate shot to win the pennant as long as their lineup does as well as it has done during the regular season. This team will be relying on its bullpen the whole way though in my opinion, if it keeps up its production during the regular season it’ll give the Rockies some trouble. As long as their bats score about 2 runs or more a game and the bullpen does well on short rest I can see the Brewers going far in the postseason.

NL West winning Los Angeles Dodgers:

One of the most exciting divisional races for a majority of the season became a tiebreaker for the Dodgers and Rockies, in which the Dodgers played very well. Their rotation is absolutely sound, headlined by Clayton Kershaw with backup weapons in Hyun-Jin Ryu, Walker Buehler, Rich Hill, and Ross Stripling either emerging or coming back onto baseball’s biggest stage. Their bullpen has been worse, but former starters Alex Wood and Kenta Maeda, along with names like Dylan Floro and Kenley Jansen are the best parts of a good Dodgers rotation.

Their hitting has really improved since the beginning of the season. The infield is stacked, highlighting guys like an emerging Max Muncy, Manny Machado, and Justin Turner with guys like David Freese and Enrique Hernández available off the bench for the final infield spot. The outfield is worse, but you can’t go wrong with Cody Bellinger, Matt Kemp, Joc Pederson, and Yasiel Puig. Their catching situation is also good, as Yasmani Grandal has the power to be a threat at the plate.

I would say my prediction for most likely to win the pennant would go to LA. It’s not necessarily because they have a better roster than teams like Milwaukee, but it’s more about playoff experience, as most of their rotation and bullpen have experience pitching in high-pressure games due to the World Series from last year. What will really carry them is the pitching, as the rotation is usually lights-out, so if the hitting gets 2-4 runs a game I think they have enough power to hold the opposing team to a lesser amount of runs.

NL Wild Card winning Colorado Rockies:

This is also going to be tough for me to write, as the Rockies defeated my favorite team, the Cubs, in the NL Wild Card game. That game single-handedly showed me that the Rockies have the power to make a decent postseason run. The rotation has improved from last season, headlined by Kyle Freeland and German Márquez, both emerging young names to the MLB’s atmosphere. Their bullpen looks sound as well, headlined by guys like Adam Ottavino, Scott Oberg, Seunghwan Oh, and Wade Davis.

The hitting for the Rockies you can never doubt, obviously you have near-MVP Nolan Arenado who keeps mashing baseballs like it’s his hobby. You also have emerging name Trevor Story, coming back onto the stage with a mic-drop season after a bad injury. DJ LeMahieu didn’t have the best season, but he has good contact to get the power guys up. The outfield is also good, headlined by big beard Charlie Blackmon in center, with sneaky power guys David Dahl and Carlos González at the outfield corners.

The Rockies have lot of bright spots and in my opinion could give the Brewers a decent run for their money. The hitting has to look alive though, the Cubs’ pitching had a great season but even so they only get 2 runs against them, so that has to increase against Milwaukee’s lights out staff. If the rotation performs like it did this season and the bullpen can live and breathe off of short rest I do think the Rockies have the capability of a decent postseason run, as long as the offense becomes more alive.

World Series prediction:

In my opinion, I think we see a Dodgers vs Astros rematch in the 2018 World Series. The Dodgers have the firepower and postseason experience to go to the World Series in my opinion, as even though they likely will face Milwaukee’s stacked lineup they have the guys who know how to pitch in clutch games and have done it well before. They know this is a tough NL but they’re hungry for some revenge, and with the potent veteran experience as well as the great emerging rookies, I’d say they hoist the 2018 NL banner.

As for the Astros it’s very complicated. Their only huge competition in the postseason, in my opinion, are the Red Sox who have a really good lineup but are also somewhat postseason inexperienced. The Astros have the bat power to come alive in October, and they’ve shown us this before. You can never sleep on them. Their rotation is what will carry them though, as they already have some good October experience and have added a powerful rebounder in Cole.

For who wins, I’d say the Astros win in 7 again. Their lineup hasn’t changed all too much, and even though the Dodgers did upgrade their hitting I don’t know if the bullpen can sustain the Braves and the Brewers/Rockies. The one thing LA has going for them is postseason experience, as adding guys like David Freese and maybe even Ryan Madson could help them in close games. To every team in the playoffs, best of luck in your postseason journey.