The ultimate goal for every team in the postseason is to be the last team standing when the fireworks fly and the Gatorade showers dry, but for a few teams, the more realistic satisfaction lies within the chance to even compete in October.
Playoff baseball has played host to some of the most iconic moments in sports history, with dramatic rallies and controversial plays sparking the unlikeliest of comebacks. Each year, the road to immortality never ceases to amaze, and in 2015, some franchises set for postseason action are hungrier than ever.
With the predictions made in last week’s article in mind, it is time to create the first of many playoff brackets around the world.
| Division | National League | American League |
| East | Washington Nationals | Toronto Blue Jays |
| Central | St. Louis Cardinals | Kansas City Royals |
| West | Los Angeles Dodgers | Houston Astros |
| Wild Card | Pittsburgh Pirates
Chicago Cubs |
New York Yankees
Los Angeles Angels |
National League Wild Card Game: Chicago Cubs
The field is set for the one-off elimination game between two division rivals. With the better record, PNC Park welcomes the visiting Cubs, and celebrates a third straight trip to the postseason for the hometown Pirates.
Pittsburgh has played in the high pressure Wild Card game before. After all, they defeated the Cincinnati Reds in 2013 to advance to the Division Series, while being shut out by Madison Bumgarner and the eventual World Series champions, the San Francisco Giants, in last year’s Cinderella run. And, of course, the United States of America still had not seen an African-American POTUS when the Cubs last saw the postseason.
With Jon Lester taking the mound against early Cy Young favourite, Gerrit Cole, the game should be a pitcher’s duel for as long as the starters last. In the end, however, in typical playoff fashion, drama will claim its first victim as the Cubs take its first step toward the Fall Classic in a close ballgame and the Pirates threatening in the bottom of the ninth inning, only to be stranded like the year prior.
American League Wild Card Game: New York Yankees
For the first time in a long time, the Yankees’ roster does not boast an ace pitcher of any kind. Nathan Eovaldi and Masahiro Tanaka have had a number of quality starts in the past two months, but if star rookie Luis Severino continues to deliver until the end of the regular season, he will most likely be handed the ball in the Wild Card game against the Angels. The Halos would counter with Jered Weaver, in hopes of hanging around long enough to strike against the Yankees’ bullpen.
The clear difference in starting pitching, however, will give the edge to the Yankees. With veteran hitters – future Hall of Famers – in the lineup, the winningest franchise in the league will not be intimidated by the pressure, and the Angels will be blown out of the waters by the firepower of the Pinstripes.
National League Division Series: Los Angeles Dodgers (4) and St. Louis Cardinals (4)
On paper, the Dodgers and the Nationals are identical in pitching talent and incredible young players. In a series that will be remembered as the start of a decade-long postseason rivalry between Hollywood and the Capital, the Dodgers will take round one of the bouts.
Led by stellar gems from Kershaw and Greinke against the duo of Strasburg and Scherzer, tension will run high in the series, but the consistency throughout the season for Los Angeles will prevail, despite the best efforts from NL MVP Bryce Harper. It is hard to imagine the Nationals being swept in the series, so the Dodgers will take it in 4 games.
With the second Division Series, between the league-best St. Louis Cardinals and their division rival, the Chicago Cubs, the mismatch is obvious. Despite the Cubs’ fairytale story, the Cardinals have simply played like the best team in the league all season. Head-to-head, the Redbirds have taken 9 of 13 meetings between the two teams.
Already possessing a distinct advantage in pitching over the Wrigley Field dwellers, the Cardinals may be fortified with the return of Adam Wainwright for the postseason, as he is set to throw off a mound in a week or so. That will undoubtedly be the final nail in the coffin, not just for the desperate Cubs, but for any National League challenger ahead.
As heartbreaking as it is, 2015 will not be the destined year for the Cubs.
American League Division Series: Toronto Blue Jays (5) and Kansas City Royals (3)
The Jays have come too far to surrender in the first round of the playoffs. Flapping its ways into the postseason for the first time in 22 years, the two teams with the most home runs in all of the Majors will bring out the big guns in a Division Series for the ages. The series will witness a trio of Cy Young pitchers from the Jays in David Price, Mark Buehrle, and R.A. Dickey, pitted against three of American League’s best pitchers this season in Dallas Keuchel, Scott Kazmir, and Mike Fiers.
But can anyone argue against 670 runs scored with a month left to go?
The Toronto Blue Jays have shown off an ability to score like none other, having scored 84 more runs than second-place Yankees. The team is stacked throughout the lineup, with no rest stop for opposing pitchers. 167 homers and a league-best .777 OPS are evidence of power, and when a team slugs like the Bluebirds, no pitching can shut them down in a five-game series. Toronto will be pushed to the brink, but they will limp away with the victory in 5 games.
On the other hand, the Royals have played like World Series contenders all season long. After last year’s unlikely run to Game 7, only to fall by one run, Kansas City is ready to repeat the feat – in dominant fashion.
The New York Yankees may have the experience, but the Royals have the drive and the desire to win it all. New York’s rotation, without any outstanding starters, will easily be outdueled every game by the likes of Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez. Even if the Bombers can hang around to see the bullpen, however, they are matched up against one of the league’s best trio in recent memory (Herrera-Davis-Holland).
Bust out the brooms, because it’s sweeping time.
National League Championship Series: St. Louis Cardinals (5)
As hinted before, the Cardinals have shown no weaknesses. The longest losing streak for the Redbirds this season is four in a row. They have not been swept once in 2015. They only have a losing record against the Tigers (1-2) and the Padres (3-4). Simply put, the Dodgers do not stand a chance.
St. Louis is 5-2 against the Dodgers this season, prompting a prediction of the Cardinals winning in 5 games in a 7-game series. If the Cardinals do not compete in the Fall Classic this year, it will be the biggest shocker in the new decade.
American League Championship Series: Toronto Blue Jays (7)
This will be the most anticipated series in this year’s playoffs. In the final regular season series between the Jays and the Royals, numerous players were hit by pitches, capped off by four pitches thrown at AL MVP Josh Donaldson – two of which landed – and one more at Troy Tulowitzki, in the final game of the series. To add fuel to the fire, the Royals trash talked on social media, angering an entire nation.
Without a doubt, the Jays will be out for blood in the Championship Series. Benches will be cleared many times in the 7-game series, and in-series suspensions may even be handed out. In the midst of a hostile environment, however, the Blue Jays will deliver the knockout punch to Kansas City’s dreams of returning to the World Series.
For much of the season, the Achilles’ heel of Toronto has been their pitching, both in the rotation and in the bullpen. With the best trade deadline moves in the past 30 years, however, the Jays added former Cy Young winner David Price, as well as veteran relievers LaTroy Hawkins and Mark Lowe.
With no weaknesses left, and a parade of runs scored, the Blue Jays will provide the sweetest revenge possible: a 7-game series victory over the Royals.
World Series: Toronto Blue Jays (7)
The pattern is obvious. The Blue Jays will establish themselves in the 2015 postseason as the team that keeps on fighting. Pushed to the elimination game in every series, Toronto rallies with a country’s heart and declares, “We The North.”
The Cardinals have indeed played like the best team in the National League all season long. The Redbirds have not played against the Bluebirds this season, however, and matched up against the Toronto Blue Jays, St. Louis will fall victim to the Senior Circuit’s All-Star Game defeat, and lose in the deciding game in The Six.
When all is said and done, the first six games will be evenly split between both teams, forcing the Battle of the Birds to a seventh game. Led by new acquisition, David Price, Toronto will likely bat against a returning Adam Wainwright, or interim ace Michael Wacha. Both teams will once again be evenly matched heading into the final inning of the game, setting up a dramatic finale.
The last time the Blue Jays were in the postseason, they won it all – on the legendary walk-off home run by Joe Carter. How fitting would it be that, after a devastating 22-year drought, the Jays return once more to claim the trophy on a walk-off hit?
It may be a pipedream, but day-by-day, it seems less and less delusional. 29 teams play south of the border, but the champion will reside in the North, and “if that makes us outsiders… we’re in.”
And we’ll touch ‘em all, Tom.