MLB World Series 2019

Well, its that time of the year again the leaves are turning brown and all attention – well for Baseball fans anyway, turns to the fall classic and the race to be crowned World Champions.  Even non-baseball fans (well in some countries) will be taking more than a passing interest in. This year’s Baseball World series has some compelling matchups to look forward to, starting with the Wild Card games this week.

There are 25 possible combinations for the World Series and for the Neutral there is probably one pairing that stands out. Will we see it? well ask us again come 21st October, but till then here is our predictions for the rounds and the World Series.

American League

AL Wild-Card Game: Tampa Bay Rays @ Oakland Athletics

Winning 96 & 97 games respectively is quite an achievement for both teams and their totals would have been enough to seriously challenge in a couple of the NL Divisions.  Shame its sudden death as we would have liked to see a bit more of both. Whatever this should be a pitching duel with Sean Manaea set to open for the As while the Rays will send Charlie Morton to the Mound.  Should be fun to watch and will probably be close.

Prediction Oakland

AL Divisional Series:

Houston Astros v Oakland Athletics

The big clash of these two divisional rivals and the Athletics (if they win) will go into this with some momentum given they have beaten the Astros in their last two series – including that crazy 21-7 win on the 11th of September (Ok now you know I am an As Fan). Can they win when the pressure is on though? I am going with my head rather than my heart on this one.

Prediction Houston 3-1

New York Yankees v Minnesota Twins

Two 100 win+ teams and in the Twins case a bit of a surprise package. We had Cleveland down to win the division preseason and thought the Twins were still a year away from competing. We still blink a little when we see 101 wins in that column.

The Yankees after a few indifferent years got to the Divisional round via the playoffs last year but were outclassed by the all-conquering Boston Red Sox. They have looked a whole lot better this year and with a 103 record, they will benefit from getting game five at home (if needed). We don’t think they will.

Prediction New York 3-1

 

AL Championship Series:

Houston Astros v New York Yankees

This assuming to materialises should be a classic with the Yankees bats facing one of the best pitching rotations in MLB. Houston will likely lead their first three games off with Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole & Zack Greinke on the mound – that’s some pitching line up, however, if the Yankees can take one of these games the rotation gets considerably less frightening.

NY Yankees 4-3

 

National League

The National League was a lot more competitive than the AL this year, with 9 of the 15 teams finishing at least 50-50 and only one team running away with their division. The Dodgers managed 106 wins, but as for the rest, well they struggled to match the wins amassed by the AL wild-card teams. So with so much parity are we likely to see a surprise team in the World Series? Probably not, and this is how we see it going

NL Wild-Card Game:

Milwaukee Brewers @ Washington Nationals

The Brewers came oh so close to reaching the World Series in 2018, falling in game seven to the Dodgers, and although they have not looked as good in 2019, they have edged into the final Wild Card slot. They will meet the somewhat luckless Washington Nationals, who seem to choke every time they make the postseason. They have lost in the first round of all of their previous postseason appearances (They were the Montreal Expos back in 1981) and they have been far better this year than we expected although we did have them having a winning record. Both come into this game with decent streaks – the brewers are 7-3 and the Nationals 9-1. So with home-field advantage and more momentum, we think the Nats can finally lay their postseason hoodoo.

Prediction Nationals 

 

NLDS: LA Dodgers v Washington Nationals

Assuming we are correct with the above prediction, Washington will finally have a postseason series win (of sorts) to their name, however getting past the Dodgers will be a whole lot harder. Last years World Series runners up LA finished with 106 wins and had the luxury of being able to ease off a bit in the closing weeks as they had already sewn up the division and the no one seed. We are not sure this will even be close.

Prediction LA Dodgers 3-1

 

NLDS St. Louis Cardinals v Atlanta Braves

The cardinals were our pre-season tip for the NL Central and they duly obliged, although they had the lowest win total of any of the other division winners and two less than the Washington Nationals! The Braves were in the ultra-competitive NL East where the fourth-placed Phillies ended up with an 81-81 record, so they should be battle-hardened. Both teams have strong batting line-ups but slightly less impressive pitching rotations. This one should go to five and we think Atlanta might just edge it and end their playoff slump which has seen them lose nine consecutive postseason series stretching back to 2001 when they beat the then NL Houston Astros.

Prediction Atlanta 3-2

 

NLCS: Atlanta Braves  v LA Dodgers

The Braves should be no match for the Dodgers pitching rotation in a seven-game series and we don’t think it will get that far.

Prediction LA Dodgers 4-2

 

World Series

So we are predicting the World Series that every neutral wants Baseballs two glamour franchises facing off for the first time since 1981 when LA got revenge for back to back losses to the Yankees in the 1970s. So assuming this comes to pass who wins the 12th meeting between them (including as the Brooklyn Dodgers)?

LA Dodgers v New York Yankees

This would be a classic battle of batters v pitchers as the Dodgers probably have the best rotation in MLB Kershaw, Buehler, Ryu, Hill & Gonsolin. Good luck scoring runs against that lot. Still outfield wise the Yankees have the players who could so it should be fun watching. The Dodgers have lost in the finals of the last two World Series so assuming they get there we are predicting it will; be 3rd time lucky.

Prediction LA Dodgers 4-2

Check back in late October and see how we fared.