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With a tie-breaking double tie on ESPN on Monday, the post-season shot is not quite over yet. But as we approach the stakes of match # 163 for four teams and the overall view of the playoffs beyond, we asked our ESPN analysts what they 've done. are waiting to disappear Monday – in the wild-card games and in the rest of the month of October action.
What are your predictions for the tiebreaker games?
David Schoenfield: Brewers 4, Cubs 3. The Brewers will be looking for six or seven innings of Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader, Corey Knebel and Jeremy Jeffress. And Christian Yelich will be partying because that's what he does.
The baseball playoffs start with a shot with an unprecedented double-header. Here's what you need to know about the Brewers-Cubs and the Rockies-Dodgers.
Which teams will win the NL West and Central, and which will be the wild cards? He's still in the air after 162 games and that means we'll have a day of baseball bonus for the pennant race.
From the wild card to the World Series, check the play and playoff schedules for the playoffs.
2 related
Dodgers 5, Rockies 2. Walker Buehler earned an average of 1.70 and an average of .167 over his last 11 starts. The Rockies are struggling to score points on the road. And the Dodgers are not the Phillies.
Sam Miller: Even in a genre as irresponsible as the round table on post-season forecasting, I can not go as far as predicting the outcome of matches in a match between two identical teams by definition, playing in an extremely format. emotional. I will only go so far as to predict this: at least one manager will do something that any other day of the year would go unnoticed, but that day will be obsessed with all of us, especially if it does not work. .
Bradford Doolittle: The Dodgers faced the Rockies the last time they were in LA and are the best team. It is therefore difficult to choose them. This is especially true with the extended liners that will allow Dave Roberts to dictate the matches.
I'm going to go with the Cubs on the Brewers, mostly because it's in Wrigley. I like the early matchups between the Cubs hitters and the Milwaukee starter. But if it becomes a game of tinker, the clock goes in the direction of the brewers. Cubs and Rockies are better placed for long outings with beginners recovering their use of the pen.
To what extent will the decisive game have an impact on the chances of each team in the playoffs?
Schoenfield: This could have a huge impact. Note that out of the previous seven teams to be tied at the time of the generic cards, only the 2007 Rockies reached the World Series. It may mean that the Braves will win the National League.
Miller: It's obviously hard to say, but given the pitching assignments – at least the ones we know – the best answer is: probably not much. The playoff rotations will not be disrupted for the winners of match 163 (again, except for the Brewers), and the two days of rest before the start of the National League Division play on Thursday and the other extra days taking place in the playoffs. calendar, should allow quick resets. It's worse for the losers of the 163 game, as three of the teams (including the Brewers) could burn their favorite starters from the wild card game in Match 163, the fourth, the Cubs, being already exhausted. by one of the most grueling schedules of September in recent memory. But this disadvantage is due to the fact that the two joker teams will be in the same boat playing the extra game.
Doolittle: The most important impact concerns brewers because of their dependence on their paddock. Playing a game before the LNDS, let alone two, makes it even more difficult to handle the workload of Josh Hader and Jeremy Jeffress for Craig Counsell. After that, I would have the biggest concern about the Dodgers, who have to keep Kenley Jansen standing during the World Series.
Who would you start in this card game with the Yankees and the A's?
Schoenfield: If I'm A, I'm totally in charge of this game. For them, it seems that Liam Hendriks is their "opener", so it works for me. If I'm Aaron Boone, I save J.A. Happ for two starts against the Red Sox (who were worse against lefties), so I'm going with Masahiro Tanaka. He has been very good these last two months, he has already played well in the playoffs and you will still rely on your marker. It seems that Luis Severino is more likely to take a bad start given his fragile second half.
Miller: This becomes a less relevant issue each year because the weight of 27 outs – especially in a "series" at a match with rest days dabbing each side – is no longer primarily on the shoulders of the starting pitcher. The pitching decisions of each team will be fluid and quick, and if the starting pitcher is turned on or off that day, it will probably be released as soon as possible. That said: Masahiro Tanaka started well this month, started a wild-card game before and played well in Yankee Stadium during his career. Happ. The A's do not really have the right-handed pitcher, right-handed, with a bullet in the ball, what the situation requires, so I'd probably go with Yusmeiro Petit for just three outs, followed by a baseball game.
Doolittle: Luis Severino started his last time well that I would feel good with him. He is the best of the Yankees and most likely to stop the A for four or five innings before the foreman takes over. I'm not sure that the fact that the A goes does not matter who, the leash will be very short.
What is the game you hope to see in the playoffs (whether it is a pitcher or a team against the other, depending on your choice)?
Miller: In general, I can not handle Coors Field – the effect of altitude on baseball usually gives me the impression of being unbalanced and slightly irritating. But I would like to see Mookie Betts play at Coors Field. This is not a player whose size is confined to the moment of contact in the batter's surface; it flourishes when it has space to move, run, turn and accelerate. Coors Field just has a lot of space, and I think Betts will color it like a roller brush.
Doolittle: Call it a geographic bias, but I'd like to see a clash between the Brewers and the Cubs. It would be a chance for the brewers to attract one of the dazzling projectors of the Cubs. Moreover, these teams do not really like each other. We do not have enough of that kind of baseball stuff these days.
According to you, who will be the star of this month of October?
Schoenfield: Alex Bregman is already a World Series champion and has had a stellar regular season, but he is able, like Jeter, to win the jackpot in the clutch. If he's already a star, how about Walker Buehler? Maybe the rookie is wearing the Dodgers instead of Clayton Kershaw.
Miller: Anyone I name is just as likely to score a goal against 12 in a three-part sweep or give up five points on his own start. Baseball does not stop being baseball. But the only thing that changes in baseball in October, is that the best relievers will be used much more – and in situations so tense and unprecedented after the regular season that their performances will end up in our head. So: Brad Hand or Adam Ottavino or Josh Hader or Chad Green or Collin McHugh or Carl Edwards are good guesses.
Doolittle: The movement of Christian Yelich continues to grow. Could he play better at the dawn of the playoffs? This is not a researcher of attention, which should make it even more attractive on the national scene.
After stumbling into stretching, do you still think the Cubs and Dodgers are the teams to beat in NL?
Schoenfield: Dodgers, yes, but the Cubs have some minor problems with Kris Bryant's health and lack of power on any extent and possible concerns about the pen (although Jesse Chavez may be the secret weapon).
Miller: If they do the NLDS, the Dodgers probably are, but to be clear, being the favorite in a five-team race means most likely losing. The record of the Dodgers does not reflect it, but they beat and launched better than any other team in the NL this year. Their record does not reflect it because they have hit terribly in situations of clutch and games in relief, and it is a lock that the team that wins the NL will hit well in situations of clutch and not matches embossed this month. The big question is whether these things are innate in the 2018 Dodgers or if it is only a phase they have gone through during part of the regular season.
Doolittle: Sure. The two teams have sometimes been disconcerting this season, but here they are. They still have the most talented lineups in the league and the biggest playoff experience. There is no compelling reason to consider anyone else as the favorite. I still think the Dodgers are probably the best club on paper, and they played very well. It's just that the Rockies have stopped losing for more than a week.
Which team do you think will win 100 goals: Boston or Houston?
Schoenfield: The shoulders and velocity of Chris Sale seem to be a sufficient point of questioning for me to say the Astros. Houston's pitching team is the best and most capable team on the team – the office is loaded this year – and we saw what the offensive could do in October.
Miller: There is no real and significant distinction between them, and it is particularly difficult to say without knowing who will be the first round opponent of the Red Sox. The measurable difference between these teams could actually be smaller than the only extra benefit that the Red Sox would have gotten during a home meet at an ALCS meeting between the teams. That said, later in this round table, I think I will choose the Astros to win everything, so …
Doolittle: Houston. I know it sounds like the year of Boston, but the Astros are the most complete team and Chris Sale's injury problem is a major X factor for Boston. In addition, the Astros were obviously present.
Who is the most under pressure player who enters the playoffs?
Schoenfield: Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale.
Miller: There will always be a case for the Indians – the longest active championship drought and the shortest window that even a small smart market team usually has – but for me, it seems clear that it's the Dodgers. Until they win a world series, they are just that team that outperformed all other baseball players for six years (and who counts) and who could not win the Big One. Kershaw, the best thrower of his generation, carries the same luggage. And while it's been around 40 years since Cleveland won the World Series, it's been an entire generation for the Dodgers, who is functionally almost as psychologically scarred.
Doolittle: Probably Kenley Jansen. He has had a season from top to bottom, but he remains the only irreplaceable player on this deep list. The Dodgers need him to do what he always does in the playoffs, and there are 30 years of baggage that weighs down this franchise.
Who is your choice of World Series (and why)?
Schoenfield: Astros on Dodgers. I will stay with my pre-season choice. A revenge that would be worth it.
Miller: I think the Astros are probably the best baseball team at the moment, but the simplest prediction is that the director of the hot flying team wins, and I would never try to predict four weeks of relief shots.
Doolittle: Astros on the brewers. Houston's pitching staff are so busy and the batters seem to be well placed at the start of the playoffs. All my settings refer to Astros as favorites, and I can not think of a good reason to take them. Choosing Milwaukee to win the National League is just a snap to the season's madness in the senior league. Well, it's more than that. The Brewers shoot at full throttle and now have the power to team up with Cubs and Dodgers.
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