As a New York native and Yankees fan, I was very disappointed in the team’s showing last weekend. The valiant effort of the Yankees proved insufficient to beat the Astros. Overall, the MLB playoffs this year have been impressive and surprising.
Starting off with the Wild Card round, the Nationals squeezed away with a late eighth inning comeback, solidifying the victory to move on to the National League Division Series (NLDS). The Rays also looked strong, winning 5–1 with impressive performances from Morton and Diaz.
During the Divisional Series, the Yankees faced off against the Twins and the Astros faced off against the Rays in the American League. In the National League, the Cardinals faced off against the Braves, and the Dodgers went up against the Nationals. The Yankees took care of business, sweeping the Twins. The Rays caught up to the Astros after being down 2–0 early in the series, but the Astros eventually moved on with a decisive Game 5 victory.
The most intriguing matchups came in the National League. The Dodgers looked strong all season, finishing with an impressive 106–56 record led by Cody Bellinger, Max Muncy, and Clayton Kershaw. They were up early in the series 2–1, but the Nationals clawed back, taking Game 4 with a dominant pitching performance by Max Sherzer.
In Game 5, the Dodgers were rolling until Kershaw came in and let up back-to-back home runs, the latest in a string of postseason failures for the vaunted lefty. Nationals fans rejoiced as the team advanced to the NLCS.
The other NL series was similarly competitive, until the Cardinals destroyed the Braves in Game 5 by a score of 13–1. The NLCS series saw the Nationals blow away the Cardinals in four straight games. Some of the most impressive performances came from Stephen Strasburg, Howie Kendrick, and Sherzer.
The Yankees-Astros series was surprisingly not highlighted by much offense, but home runs proved definitive in each game. The Yankees went down 3 games to 1 in the series, then came back in game five, but were eliminated in Game 6 due to clutch hitting from Jose Altuve, who hit a walk-off bomb in the bottom of the ninth to send Houston to its second World Series in three years.
Finally, we have the World Series. An exciting matchup between the Astros and the Nationals awaits, with the Astros trying to add another ring to their collection after their 2017 victory. Meanwhile, the Nationals will try to cap off an improbable run to a championship just one season after losing their best player, Bryce Harper. Both teams have big bats and strong pitching.
Supporting the Nationals is a red-hot Howie Kendrick along with potential MVP candidate Anthony Rendon. The Astros also have powerhouses at the plate including Altuve, Carlos Correa, Michael Brantley, and most notably, another MVP candidate in Alex Bregman.
Big bats aside, this series will come down to pitching. The Astros have Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander, who have both looked strong in the regular season and postseason.
The Nationals pitching has peaked at just the right time, as their postseason run has been highlighted by elite performances from Strasburg and Scherzer. If the Nationals continue trending in the direction of shutdown starting pitching, they have a good shot at the title this year.
I also have to mention that while the Nationals have enjoyed extra time off after sweeping the Cardinals, but they do not have home field advantage comes a potential game seven. Given that the Astros just came off a huge win and was lights out at home during the regular season, this advantage could prove to make the difference in the series
Both teams will look to their starting pitching and bullpen to preserve leads, which benefits the Nationals staff after their extra days off. The Nationals have nothing to lose and are playing like it; if they can continue to find success with their high-energy style of play they will be hard to stop, underdogs or not.
This being said, the Astros are the heavy favorites, and are motivated by the prospect of a second title within three years. They were arguably the best team in the Majors this season, and now they have one final series to prove it.
I think the Astros’ roster is too stacked for the Nationals to contend with in a 7-game series. That said, it will be close. I predict the Astros will win the World Series, 4 games to 3.
