by Brian Abate, Chris DiGeronimo, Gianluca Milea
"It ain't over til it's over" - Yogi Berra
It has been anything but a traditional baseball season, and it will be far from a traditional postseason as things kick off on Tuesday. This year especially, with the expanded format there are some surprises that enter the hunt in October. Teams like the Marlins are ending long playoff droughts, while teams like the Yankees and Dodgers have been here regularly.
The best of 3 wild card round will prove that indeed no one is safe. After a 60 game regular season, it all comes down to 3 games. Some teams like the Indians and Rays seem a bit better prepared for this format, with three incredible arms to shut down opposing lineups. It remains to be seen what will unfold, but we can guarantee it will be far from expected.
To celebrate the beginning of the long awaited MLB playoffs, we decided to breakdown some of the favorites in October and their "major keys" if they are going to have any success down the stretch.
Tampa Bay Rays
Major Key: Bats
The Rays are the best team in the American League because of their starting pitching. Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Charlie Morton should be more than enough to lead them past the Blue Jays and out of the Wild Card round. If the Rays have any chance of making a deep run into October, it will be because of their bats. A team .238 batting average in 2020 was good for 21st in the league. Young shortstop Willy Adames and others will need to step up their game in order to support their elite starting pitching. I would expect a lot of low scoring games with the Rays this postseason. It will be interesting to see if they can live up to the #1 seed hype.
San Diego Padres
Major Key: Health
The Padres are an electric factory. The team has a plethora of talent including the likes of Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Eric Hosmer, Trent Grisham, and others. The biggest issue here is the teams’ health heading into October. San Diego had some bad luck when top two starting pitchers Mike Clevinger and Dinelson Lamet left starts with injuries. It is still unclear if either will be ready for Game 1 against the Cardinals. Should both Clevinger and Lamet sit out Game 1, Zach Davies and Chris Paddack would likely be in line for the start. However, with healthy starting pitching and that lineup clicking on all cylinders, the Padres are a team that you want to avoid this postseason.
New York Yankees
Major Key: Consistency
The Yankees season has been anything but consistent. They started out looking like one of the top 2 teams in the league. The team was hitting well, Gerrit Cole was pitching up to his contract and all was good in the world. However, the team was once again derailed with injuries. Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez, Gleyber Torres, James Paxton all went down with injuries. While the team went on a slide, they were able to salvage the season and sneak into the expanded postseason as the 5 seed. The losses of Paxton and Severino really hurts this team as they likely would have been the team’s no. 2 and 3 behind Cole. Now the rotation for the Wild Card round will likely be Cole, Tanaka, and either J.A. Happ or Deivi Garcia. While Tanaka and Cole show up in big games, the offense is going to need to find its groove quickly. This team is notorious for exploding and then having difficulty salvaging a run the next game. Aaron Judge, D.J. LeMahieu, and Luke Voit will definitely show up. The bats that the Yanks will need consistency out of are Gleyber Torres, Aaron Hicks, Giancarlo Stanton and especially Gary Sanchez if he sees the field. The Yanks will be starting Kyle Higashioka in Game 1, which shows the lackluster season Sanchez had. It will be interesting to see if the supporting cast will be able to get it together and propel this team to the preseason expectations of making a deep run into October.
Minnesota Twins
Major Key: Pitching
The Twins have been good for a while and it is time they get the respect they deserve. The AL Central Champions come into the postseason winning five of their last seven and are looking to do more damage. The Twins have the ability to score runs behind the ageless Nelson Cruz, but it is going to be their rotation that gets them over the hump. Minnesota finished the regular season with a 3.58 team ERA which was 4th best in the league, while also giving up the third least earned runs only behind the Dodgers and Indians. They were also 4th best in WHIP and 7th best in opponent average with a 1.20 WHIP and .232 AVG. respectively. If this dynamic staff led by Kenta Maeda and Jose Berrios can keep this dominance up in the postseason, the Twins should have a good chance at making a deep run.
Chicago Cubs
Major Key: Hitting
The Cubs fought their way to the top of the highly competitive NL Central where a whopping 4 teams made the playoffs. This was no easy feat but they took what was rightfully theirs and now they will look to get another championship while their young core is still intact. The main aspect of this successful season was the pitching performances of Yu Darvish and Kyle Hendricks. Darvish has been the ace and will garner a ton of CY Young votes as he pitched to a 2.01 ERA and an NL-leading 3.0 WAR. Hendricks, on the other hand, was dominant as well as he pitched to a 2.88 ERA with 6 wins in 81.1 innings. The Cubs offense was not as dominant and could play a factor in the postseason. Overall, the Cubs hit .220/.318/.387 as a team and ranked 14th in the NL in contact rate and strikeout rate due to the struggles of Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, and Kyle Schwarber. If these three can start to get hot it brings a different dynamic to the team to go along with a strong top of the rotation. If their bats come alive, the Cubs can be serious contenders.
Cleveland Indians
Major Key: Winning Bieber's Starts
The Cleveland Indians made a late season push to secure their spot in the postseason, and now they will look to use that momentum going into the first round. The Indians have been led by likely AL CY Young winner, Shane Bieber, who has proven to be one of the most dominant pitchers in the game. Bieber went 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA and a league leading 122 strikeouts in 12 starts. He also led the majors in ERA+, FIP, H/9, and K/9. On the offensive side Cleveland has been led by AL MVP candidate Jose Rameriez, who also caught fire late in the season. Rameriez batted .292 with 17 home runs, 46 RBI, and 10 stolen bases. The Indians also offer the formidable bats of Fransico Lindor, Franmil Reyes, and Carlos Santana and will need them to contribute as much as possible at the plate to keep the momentum going. Cleveland’s pitching will always keep them in the game, but they need the offense to keep scoring runs and help the starters out. If Cleveland’s offense comes to play, they should put up a good fight in the early rounds.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Major Key: Handling the pressure
The Dodgers are massive favorites to win the World Series this year as they have talent and depth in every aspect of the game. However, many of their star players have been notorious for struggling in the postseason. Clayton Kershaw is 9-11 with a 4.43 ERA in the playoffs. Mookie Betts is hitting .227 with four RBI’s in 21 games. Cody Bellinger is hitting .178 with 13 RBI’s in 36 games. Those three stars will all have to break out of their postseason funks in order for the Dodgers to finally get it done and win the World Series. The pressure will be on but they have the most talent of any team this postseason and simply need their stars to play the way they do in the regular season in order to replicate that success in the postseason.
Atlanta Braves
Major Key: Starting rotation after Fried
Pitching wins championships may be a cliche but it certainly proved to be true for The Nationals last season. The Braves have a stellar lineup and have a true ace in Max Fried (7-0 with a 2.25 ERA) but the rest of their rotation has been dreadful. With no days off between games, they will need at least a four man rotation to make a deep run. Rookie Ian Anderson has been excellent in his six starts this season (with a 1.95 ERA) but the Braves will need at least one other starter to step up as well. Perhaps highly touted prospect Kyle Wright can find his groove in the postseason or crafty veteran Mike Tomlin can do what Anibal Sanchez did for the Nationals, when he stepped up last postseason. Either way, the Braves will need their other starters to step in up to make a run this postseason.
Oakland Athletics
Major Key: Bullpen
The Athletics haven’t had great starting pitching this season but have had arguably the best bullpen in baseball. However, with no days off between games it will become tougher for the A’s to rely on that stellar bullpen. They key for them will be getting some length out of their starters, and winning a few blowouts in order to rest that incredible bullpen, which includes Yusmeiro Petit, Jake Diekman and Liam Hendriks. The A’s have struggled in recent postseason appearances but if they can keep their bullpen fresh, their bullpen can carry them to a deep postseason run.
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