We’ve reached arguably the most intense time of the baseball season: the Championship Series. Only four teams remain after two rounds of some of the most grueling matchups fans have seen in years. Before predicting who will win these series and beyond, it’s important to recap how each ball club got to this point.
Wild Card Round
Detroit Tigers win 2-0 versus Houston Astros
Well, this was unexpected.
The Detroit Tigers were a fun story, coming back from a 0.2 per cent chance of making the postseason in August to punching their ticket to the Wild Card series in September. The “Gritty Tigs” were a fun team led by the best pitcher in baseball, Tarik Skubal, but nobody expected them to make it out of Houston alive. The Tigers shocked everybody by putting an end to the Houston Astros’ reign of terror, marking the first year they have missed the American League Championship Series (ALCS) since 2016.
Kansas City Royals win 2-0 versus Baltimore Orioles
While it had the makings of a really fun series, the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles affair was fairly dull, all things considered. The shortstop showdown of Gunnar Henderson and Bobby Witt Jr. was underwhelming, as Henderson failed even to record a hit and Witt didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, outside of a sixth-inning RBI single. The main stars of the series were on the pitching side as the Royals’ Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo duo took care of business. The superstars’ arms provided the final nail in the coffin for the most disappointing season in recent Orioles history.
San Diego Padres win 2-0 versus Atlanta Braves
After securing their spot by winning the second game of one of the most intense double-headers in baseball history, the Atlanta Braves came to San Diego hobbled. Their Cy Young candidate pitcher, Chris Sale, was the latest injury on a long list that includes superstars Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider.
The San Diego Padres were in the opposite boat, as they peaked at the right time and were ready to ride that wave of momentum into the playoffs. Led by instant-classic performances from megastar Fernando Tatis Jr. and ace Michael King, the Padres dismantled the Braves, setting up a date with their arch-rivals.
New York Mets win 2-1 versus Milwaukee Brewers
The New York Mets started the year looking completely hopeless. Then, the unimaginable happened. The team rallied around a fast-food mascot and the summer hit song “Omg” by Candelita (who just so happens to play second base for the team). Many wondered if this magic would carry into the postseason, and after this wild card series in Milwaukee, there was little doubt that something special was brewing.
The Milwaukee Brewers played hard in the series, even mounting an eighth-inning comeback to win Game 2. However, the Mets overshadowed this with a comeback of their own, when one ninth-inning swing by Pete Alonso against the deadliest pitch in baseball forever cemented his place as a Queens legend.
American League Divisional Series
New York Yankees win 3-1 versus Kansas City Royals
If the New York Yankees wanted to make it to the World Series, they had to show they can take care of American League Central teams. So far, they’ve done that with the Kansas City Royals, knocking them out in their home ballpark to move on to the ALCS.
The Royals were a scrappy bunch who made the series close, with Maikel Garcia in particular being a tough out for the Yankees. Unfortunately, Witt Jr. did not pull his weight and the pitching staff issued walks at an incredibly underwhelming rate, ultimately sealing their fate.
The big question for the Yankees is whether Aaron Judge will show up. He was great in the clinching game, but for the most part, we haven’t seen his elite power. He still had an impressive on-base percentage of .389 across the four games, but it’s Judge — we expect more from the best hitter since Barry Bonds.
Cleveland Guardians win 3-2 versus Detroit Tigers
This series didn’t necessarily have the star power or the bad blood that the others did, but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t keep fans on the edge of their seats.
The Cleveland Guardians took the opening matchup in a blowout win, but the Tigers bounced back in the next game. Kerry Carpenter hit a three-run homer off of closer Emmanuel Clase, who only gave up five earned runs in the regular season. The Tigers continued being agents of chaos by winning Game 3, and they looked on track to win Game 4. Fortunately for Cleveland, David Fry hit a two-run shot to take the lead in the seventh inning and they didn’t look back.
The stage was set for a thrilling Game 5. Detroit played their trump card by sending Skubal to the mound, while Cleveland turned to Skubal’s former mentor in Matthew Boyd. The teams, as usual, went back and forth, with the defining moment being Lane Thomas’ grand slam off of the usually untouchable Skubal. The Tigers tried to claw their way back into the game but this time, the deficit was finally insurmountable.
National League Divisional Series
New York Mets win 3-1 versus Philadelphia Phillies
The seemingly annual NLDS matchup between two National League East teams is always electric. Two years ago, we got the Rhys Hoskins bat spike, last year we got the “Atta Boy Harper” revenge game and in 2024 we got perhaps the best series yet.
This looked like the year of the Philadelphia Phillies, and the series seemed like it was going to start that way. Zack Wheeler put up one of the best stat lines of all time in Game 1, recording thirty swings-and-misses on his pitches, leaning primarily on the best fastball in the game. However, the Mets came back in a huge eighth inning, again showcasing their mastery in the clutch. The Phillies responded with a tying Game 2 walkoff win, showing they wouldn’t go down without a fight.
However, as the series went back to New York, the Mets didn’t give up. They handily won Game 3 with a great performance by ace Sean Manaea, which set the teams up for an all-time thriller in Game 4. While the Mets were down by a run for most of the pivotal game, their superstar Francisco Lindor plated four runs with the most important grand slam of his life, giving the Mets a lead that the Phillies could not overcome.
The Mets are must-watch television, as they’ve scratched and clawed their way to a deep postseason run.
Los Angeles Dodgers win 3-2 versus San Diego Padres
This matchup felt like destiny for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Padres. Both teams have been intertwined in each others’ stories this decade, with player feuds and bad blood between the cities contributing to one of the most heated rivalries in the game.
Game 1 set the tone for the series, as both teams saw their aces get shellacked early on. A monster home run from Shohei Ohtani proved to be the difference though, as the Dodgers pulled off a 7-5 victory. Game 2 saw the tides shift, as the Padres kept tacking on runs and getting under the skin of both Dodgers’ players and fans in what proved to be one of the most testy games in years. Game 3 in San Diego looked like a death blow to the Dodgers, as while they tried to mount a comeback, the Padres seemed to have the edge.
In Games 4 and 5 though, the Dodgers pitching locked it down. The Padres couldn’t get anything going, putting up big zeroes in the two most important games of the year. It wasn’t pretty, but the Dodgers pulled through, putting an end to their adversary’s season.
Predictions: American League Championship Series
The last time we saw a Yankees-Guardians postseason matchup was in the 2022 ALDS, where the teams went the distance in an epic back-and-forth battle.
Now they meet again, representing their divisions in the final round before the World Series. The difference between the makeup of these teams is staggering, as the Yankees’ payroll is over $200 million more than the Guardians. This makes for an uphill battle for Cleveland, but they’ve proven that they have a lot of fight in them. There’s a different hero every night for the Guardians —something that makes their games extra exciting.
That said, the Yankees are going to take this one in six games. This is a huge opportunity for the Bronx Bombers, as they’re the favourites to take home their 28th title.
Predictions: National League Championship Series
We are guaranteed to get at least one Los Angeles-New York matchup this postseason. The Mets-Dodgers matchup is an incredibly interesting one. While both are big-money teams, one is chock-full of Hollywood glitz and glamour, while the other is a scrappy underdog fuelled by superstition.
This postseason has been hitting-driven thus far, as the teams with notable pitching groups have been sent home. This makes it easy to want to pick the Dodgers here with their heavy-hitting lineup. However, something is intriguing about the way Manaea, Luis Severino and Jose Quintana are pitching right now. This series will be close, but the Mets will kick and scream their way to a Game 7 victory.
Predictions: World Series
If our predictions hold up, we will be getting a Subway Series World Series!
The first time this happened was in 2000, with the Yankees taking the series in five games. While it would probably be the safe pick to choose them to win again, it might not be that cut-and-dry. The Mets have played excellent baseball for the past few months, showing more heart and fight than we have seen from any team in years. It might sound crazy, but the Mets will pull this off to win what will be an all-time classic seven-game series.
Featured photo by Chanan Greenblatt via Unsplash
