It’s finally happening! A day 5 months ago we thought would never happen! The 2020 postseason is right around the corner, and I am as excited as ever! Of course, with the shortened 60 game season, the postseason has changed this year quite a bit. Without further ado, let’s get right into it.
The 2020 playoff seedings are actually very unorthodox. They are more similar to basketball than baseball this year.
The Postseason starts September 29th at 12:08 PM Mountain Time. It’s the top 8 teams from the American League and the National League based on win percentage. The very strange part of it all is; there are a few teams right at .500 (have roughly the same amount of wins as losses) that are actually in the playoffs this year. The rankings go as follows in the AL 1-8 in this order; Rays come 1st, then the Athletics,Twins, Indians, Yankees, Astros, White Sox, and the Blue Jays. Then in the NL, the Dodgers of course take 1st place, then comes the Braves, Cubs, Padres, Cardinals, Marlins, Reds and Brewers. The 1 will take on the 8, the 2 plays the 7, the 3 plays the 6, and 3 and 4 face off. Usually, only the best teams that have roughly a 700%-600% win percentage make the playoffs. But this year, the seedings are more generous. Jimmy O’Brien used a great analogy to describe the National League “mess” Jimmy claims, “I feel like a mom, and the playroom is like, a mess, and she tells the kids to clean it up. And the kids keep calling her into the room and they’re like, “mom mom, do you want the books to go here? Do you want the toys to go here? Do you want me to roll up the carpet?” And the mom says, “I don’t care how it is, but the next time I come back, it better be clean. That’s where I am at with the National Legaue”.
The rankings go as follows in the AL 1-8 in this order; Rays come 1st, then the Athletics,Twins, Indians, Yankees, Astros, White Sox, and the Blue Jays. Then in the NL, the Dodgers of course take 1st place, then comes the Braves, Cubs, Padres, Cardinals, Marlins, Reds and Brewers. The 1 will take on the 8, the 2 plays the 7, the 3 plays the 6, and 3 and 4 face off.
Don’t come near my bubble!
Much like the NBA and NHL, the MLB has decided to use playoff bubbles to ensure the players safety. In the National League the 1,8, 5, and 4 seed will play in Arlington. Down south, the 6, 3, 7, and 2 seed will face off in Houston. The first round will be broadcasted on Fox Sports 1 and MLB Network.
After the first and second rounds are done, then comes the NLCS, which will be played in Arlington, Texas
In the American league we head to California where the 1, 8, 5, and 4 seed will play in San Diego.
Meanwhile, the 6,3 7, and 2 will square up in Los Angeles.
The ALCS will be played in San Diego. Then comes the biggest stage of all, the World Series. It will be played in Arlington.
One thing I found interesting was commisioner Rob Manfred wants fans in the stands. Yes, some would argue that the point of the bubble is to not have any fans in the stadium. But I am sure that the MLB would have precautions to keep the players safe.
The number of fans would be somewhere in the 5,000 area. They would probably tape off the first 5 rows by the dugouts above it and to the sides of it. Every other seat would be marked off. Plexiglass on all of the concessions, masks are mandatory, stuff like that. I like the idea. Why? If you rewatch the 2018 World Series in Los Angeles, the crowd would go absolutely nuts over small things. Foul balls, big at bats, stuff like that. Why? It’s the World Series! You want to do everything you can to help your team win. With the 2020 World Series, it’s not the same. I think we should have fans in the stands. Now, I would also think that the stadiums would use the fake crowd noise to simulate real fans, because let’s be honest, 5,000 fans aren’t anywhere as loud as 55,000 screaming at the top of their lungs. So that covers playoff bubbles.
Of course, everyone’s favorite world series prediction was going to be the Yankees vs Dodgers. But, as soon as half the Yankees squad got injured and went 5-18, the more likely team to win the AL, are the White Sox, the Rays, and the Athletics. In the NL, the most likely to win of course is the Dodgers. But the Braves, Padres, and Cubs are right on their trail. Former player Trevor Plouffe, at the beginning of the season said, “Honestly, there are really only 4 teams that genuinely want to win this year”. That number is roughly around 6, 3 from each conference. My personal pick for the world series is the Dodgers VS the White Sox.
Letdowns: the teams we all thought would do better than they finished
Astros: I’m pretty sure we all thought the Astros had a chance to go to their 3rd World Series in 4 years. Yes, they may have lost Gerrit Cole to the Yankees, but they still were going to be really good. They had their extremely good lineup, and a solid rotation. After the first couple of weeks, it all fell off.
Justin Verlander, their Hall of Fame ace, went down on injury. 2 months later he made the decision to undergo Tommy John surgery. The rest of the Astros lineup has kind of cycled through injury. Each of their best players have gotten injured at some point of this year. Yes, I know that they are in the postseason this year. But 6th? C’mon, ya cheaters.
Yankees: Although the Yankees weren’t a total failure, they 100% should have finished higher than they did.
Of course, they had Luke Voit who as of now isleading the league in home runs. He has been an absolute monster for the Bronx Bombers. Aaron Judge made some noise at the beginning of the year by hitting 6 home runs in 5 games. Soon after he would be injured for a few games, but then come back. It happens every year witht the Yankees. They get these big outfielders that can hit balls 450 feet every other at bat. But their big bodies break down quickly. Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Luke Voit, Gary Sanchez, etc. Speaking of Gary Sanchez, did you know that he is hitting.147 with a .608 OPS?? Yeah, he stinks this year.
Meanwhile, the Yankees rotation has had some big injuries as well. Luis Severino, presumably the 2nd pitcher went down with Tommy John surgery, as well as James Paxton, who was set to be the 4th or 5th also went down on TJ. Everybody’s getting Tommy John this year.
Reds: The Reds have been TERRIBLE this year.
In the offseason, the Reds made some good moves. They brang Nicholas Castellanos in, who had been red hot with the Cubs in the 60 games he played with them. He’s been an… eh, piece for the Reds. They also brang in Mike Moustakas, the Moose, who was an All Star with the Brewers. Moose has not been getting it done for the Reds, hitting roughly .210 this year. They brang in Trevor Bauer, who right now is most likely going to win the NL Cy Young this year They brang in the veteran shortstop Jose Iglesias, who has been pretty good for them. Michael Lorenzen is doing better, but he has not been good this year.
Jimmy O Brien read a stat that said the Reds have only won like 4 series the whole year. With their complete lineup, plus the 3 headed monster in the rotation in Bauer, Sonny Gray, and Luis Castillo, they have been decent, with a combined ERA of 2.88. Yes, they are in the 5 spot this year, but they should be finishing at least top 4. Now I will say, the Reds have bounced back a little bit this year, they’ve won like 3 series in a row. But other than that, it’s been disappointing. The Reds have really let us down this year.
Cardinals: The Cardinals were supposed to be the 2nd best team in the league going into 2020. That’s not the case this year. Yes, they made the playoffs, but they should be WAY higher up.
They had the phenom known as Jack Flaherty, who made history during the second half of 2019. He looked like the 2019 Shane Bieber. Flaherty has not been the best, rocking a 4.84 ERA. Last year’s second half was an ERA of…drumroll please…..0.84. That’s the closest any pitcher has been to untouchable. Then of course, there’s the defense, which has been SPECTACULAR this year.
The Cardinals are on top of literally every team defensive stat this year. Part of that comes from the brilliant managing and coaching, but that’s beside the point.
It’s the offense and pitching that has let them down this year. The Cardinals team hitting stats go as follows: .236 BA, .327 OBP, .347 SLG, and a .701 OPS. That is not good at all! Not to mention the Cardinals pitching has an ERA of 4.00l, which is roughly average. But playing against high offense teams in the playoffs, a 4.00 ERA isn’t going to cut it. Some teams can triple that ERA, like the Dodgers, White Sox, and Yankees. They can drop 12 runs in 4 innings if and when they want to. Anyways, the Cardinals aren’t worth the hype.
Surprises: the teams that surprised us this year
Marlins: The Miami Marlins have actually been surprisingly good this year. They finished 5th in a stacked NL conference, and had a couple players that shine really bright.
Miguel Rojas made headlines the first couple weeks by hitting roughly .700 to start the year. Then the whole COVID-19 controversy happened. But after that, the Marlins bounced back well. They called up prized pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez, and he has been lights out. He has a nasty 2 seam fastball that can top out at 100mph, as well as a complimentary curveball and changeup. He kind of reminds me of a better version of Michael Pineda. Another pitcher that has stepped uo his game this year, is Pablo Lopez. You’ve pablobly…(get it)…never heard of this guy He has quietly dominated his position and deserves a lot more credit for what he does. This dude has a .361 ERA with a WHIP at just over 1.
A lot of these below average players really stepped up their game and became average. That has helped their team win a lot of games, even with the 6 game break due to the COVID-19 outbreak they had in that clubhouse. The Marlins might be a good team to watch in the playoffs.
Padres: The Padres have been pumping out studs like it’s their jobs. Which, it essientally is, but. This team is giving the Dodgers a run for their money.
This team is not only an offensive force to be reckoned with, their defense is solid as well. And I can’t leave out that pitching. Dinelson Lamet, the rookie is the ace of this rotation. Followed by him is Mike Clevinger, who is one of the best pitchers we’ve seen in this 2010 decade. After him comes Chris Paddack, last year’s breakout star. Then comes a few other names. The Padres are good this year, and they’re only going to get better.
Blue Jays: This team really came from absolutely nowhere, to being the wildcard team in the AL. The were the 25th worst team, to the top 16, over the course of one offseason.
Yes, during last season, they traded away their ace, Marcus Stroman, the Stro Show, for two pitching prospects, which stinks because Marcus was the heart of this team. He was bringing the hype of baseball to Canada. Who did they replace him with? They brang the runner up Cy Young award winner in Hyun Jin-Ryu on a 4 year $80 million dollar deal. And, maybe it played out well, as Stroman has decided to sit ou the 2020 season.. They called up big pitching prospect Nate Pearson, who was #19 on Baseball Prospectus’s 101 top prospect list. They also brang in a few inning eater starters that have been…eh.
But of course, the reason we all actually care about the Baby Jay’s existence is the young talent they have. Starting with Vladimir Guerrero Jr the son of hall of famer Vladimir Guerrero. Sons of former players also on this team include Cavan Biggio, and Bo Bichette. They also have a few solid everyday players, in, Randal Grichuk, Rowdy Tellez, Danny Jansen, and others. Most of these guys are young and have a lot of time to develop and grow, meanwhile some have been in the league for 5 years and have experience which can help the younger players. This team has a lot of upside, and I am so excited to see the pieces of the puzzle all come together.
White Sox: The Chicago White Sox are arguably the best team in the American League right now. This is my personal favorite team. The White Sox are really good at really every aspect of the game right now.
They’re the most dangerous offense in the league. When you look at this lineup, there is no weak link. Tim Anderson leads off, who is looking to win back to back batting titles. Then there’s Yoan Moncada, who has the best swing in baseball history, and when he’s right, he’s an absolute cheat code. After him is Yasmani Grandall, a top 3 catcher in the game. Then comes Jose Abreu, who leads the league in RBI’s with 57 and is also looking to take home the AL MVP. He’s playing out of his mind. Following suit is the red hot rookie Luis Robert, who looks to be the AL Rookie of the Year. Then comes Eloy Jimenez, Edwin Encarnacion, Nomar Mazara, and rounding it off is Nick Madrigal. The Sox LOVE Nick. They think he has potential to hit .350 every year and just be an on base machine.
Next up is Sox Pitching. The White Sox have some very good stuff in their rotation. Lucas Giolito is the face of the rotation, who is having a great year, rocking a 3.48 ERA and a WHIP JUST above 1 and 1.037. Giolito also threw a no hitter this year against the Pirates. Next up is Dallas Keuchell, former Cy Young award winner. He has a lot of veteran exerience and has a very good ground ball rate, top 5 in the league. Keuchel has had one heck of a season, with a 1.99 ERA and a 52.8% GB rate. That means every other batter grounds out versus him. Then comes the young guns, Reynaldo Lopez, Dylan Cease, and Garret Crochett. All 3 of these guys have really good potential right now and iun 5 years they could be the Aces on a lot of teams. This White Sox team has a TON of potential, and we are only seeing a little bit of it.
