As Sunday games finished, teams wrapped up game 162, and while some teams and players are now set to pack it up and head home for the offseason, others are getting ready to compete for a World Series championship. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the matchups for this postseason:
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Washington Nationals/Milwaukee Brewers
The National League Wild Card Game will feature the Milwaukee Brewers traveling to our nation’s capital to face the Washington Nationals in a one-game series on Tuesday. The Brewers are banged up, and their pitching has taken a big step back this season, but they are resilient as they get and will try to give Max Scherzer and the Nationals everything they can handle.
While the winner will rejoice, they can only do so momentarily as they will then have to travel to Los Angeles to face the National League’s top-ranked Dodgers. At 106 wins, the Dodgers are the cream of the crop in the NL.
They have everything: A dominant pitching staff (Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu, etc.) and offense (Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner, etc.), and a bullpen that can be good enough to try to make the third time a charm in terms of winning a World Series. The Dodgers will face the Wild Card winner starting on Thursday in L.A.
Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals
It took until game 162, but the St. Louis Cardinals finally won the NL Central. Being able to bypass the one-game Wild Card play-in, the Cardinals now get the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 on Thursday starting in Atlanta.
While the Cardinals are streaky, they can certainly make a run. One disadvantage is that they had to use ace Jack Flaherty on Sunday, meaning that they will need other parts of the starting rotation to get the series started right.
The Braves will be led by pitchers Mike Soroka and Dallas Keuchel along with sluggers Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Josh Donaldson.
New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins
This one has the potential to be one of the more explosive series this postseason. Both sides don’t exactly have the most dynamic starting rotations, but they both can hit. A lot. In fact, the two teams rank first and second in the majors in runs per game.
The Yankees ranked first, averaging 5.85 runs, while the Twins finished second, averaging 5.81 runs per game. They also finished tied for first in home runs per game at 1.89. Expect sluggers like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Nelson Cruz and Jorge Polanco to be swinging for the fences.
Looking at the pitching, when considering the entire pitching staff, the Twins ranked eighth in the league with a 4.18 staff ERA, while the Yankees ranked 14th with a staff ERA of 4.31.
Houston Astros vs. Oakland A’s/Tampa Bay Rays
Like the Brewers/Nationals, the A’s and Rays will face off in a one-game series. These two will meet in Oakland on Wednesday for the right to go on to face the Houston Astros. In that matchup, it looks like it will be Charlie Morton going for the Rays against either Mike Fiers or Sean Manea for the A’s.
For the Astros, after winning 107 wins, they will have home-field advantage throughout the postseason for as long as they are in it. The Astros feature a very complete team, having ranked third in the majors in average runs per game (5.66) behind the efforts of players like Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, George Springer, Yordan Alvarez and others. On top of their offense, they also boast a playoff rotation of Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke.
Maddon, Hurdle Become Managing Free Agents
The Joe Maddon era in Chicago is officially over. On Sunday, prior to game 162, the Chicago Cubs and manager Joe Maddon agreed to part ways. In five seasons with the Cubs, Maddon finished 471-338.
Most importantly, though, Maddon led the Cubs to the postseason in four out of five seasons, including the 2016 World Series championship. That alone should keep Maddon in Cubs lore for years to come after 108 years of futility prior to that.
Still, for Theo Epstein and company, it felt like the right time to move on, particularly after a disappointing season that saw the Cubs not make the postseason after struggling down the stretch.
While Maddon mostly enjoyed success in his tenure with the Cubs, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Clint Hurdle never quite had the same during his time with the club. Still, the two face the same outcome in that they’re no longer employed.
Technically, Maddon’s contract was simply not renewed after expiring, while Hurdle was fired with two years remaining on his contract. In nine seasons as manager of the Pirates, Hurdle finished 735-720. In that time, the Pirates made it to the playoffs three times but never with much success.
While he is fourth in terms of wins among all Pirates managers, Pittsburgh will look to move on and try to revitalize a team that certainly had its struggles this season, finishing last in the NL Central at 69-93.
Correa Hopes To Be Ready For Postseason
Despite how strong the Houston Astros have been this season, they have done it most of the time without star shortstop Carlos Correa. In fact, Correa only played in 75 of 162 regular-season games due to an assortment of injuries ranging from broken ribs to a hurt back. His back is what has kept him out of play lately, but it appears that he could be on the mend.
Despite being shut down for the end of the regular season, Correa told reporters on Sunday that he was feeling much better and thinks he will be a go for the ALDS when it starts up in Houston on Friday. If healthy, he would just add to an already dynamic lineup. In 75 games this season, Correa hit .279/.358/.568 with 21 home runs, 59 runs batted in and 42 runs scored.
Add that to Springer, Altuve, Brantley, Bregman, Alvarez, Gurriel, Chirinos and Reddick, and it could be disastrous for all other pitching staffs. Still, the next few days will be very important as to whether Correa can suit up or not.
Brewers Dealing With Injuries
Speaking of injuries, the Brewers are dealing with their fair share as well. Already without superstar Christian Yellich, who broke his kneecap, the Brewers are also trying to manage the health of Ryan Braun and Lorenzo Cain. Both are hopeful that they can play Tuesday, but Braun has a calf issue, and Cain has a bad ankle that may at the very least keep them less than 100 percent.
Still, with Brandon Woodruff on the mound in the Wild Card Game against the Nationals, they are going to try to continue to show their resiliency, hoping for the opportunity to face top-ranked Los Angeles.
