As we near the middle of August, two major things are trending in the world of sports; the National Football League preseason and the approach of Major League Baseball’s playoffs.  We’re going to talk about the latter.  In the second year of MLB’s new playoff format (two Wild Card teams from each league facing off in a one game playoff), what can we expect from veteran clubs and teams trying to make a name for themselves?  It’s the middle of August, and it’s time for Major League Baseball playoff scenarios and predictions.

Wild Card Round

In the American League, I think we’re going to see the Texas Rangers face off against the Tampa Bay Rays in a one game winner-take-all scenario.  Theoretically, this would be a heavyweight matchup of David Price against Yu Darvish.  In a game where each pitcher could strike out 15 opposing batters, I would have to give the edge to the Rangers.  At this point in the season, Texas has won eight straight games, while Tampa Bay has lost five in a row.  While I know it’s still August, these trends could definitely be an indicator of things to come.

Meanwhile, in the National League, I can’t think of any playoff scenario which doesn’t include three teams (for the first time ever) from the same division.  I’ve got the Pittsburgh Pirates facing off against the St. Louis Cardinals in this Wild Card matchup.  This division race is going to be INCREDIBLY tight coming down the home stretch, and these are the two teams I think have the best chance at NOT winning the division.  It’s a tough call in this game, but I see Adam Wainwright out-dueling Francisco Liriano and the Cardinals advancing to the NLDS.

American League Division Series

After beating the Rays in the Wild Card game, I think the Rangers will face off against the overall #1 seed in the American League; the Detroit Tigers.  This series is honestly not very hard to pick for me.  In a five game series, it’s all about the pitching, and the Tigers win that battle every day of the week.  With a one-two punch like Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, it’s the Tiger’s series to lose.  The Rangers counter with Yu Darvish and Matt Garza, but at the end of the day, Jim Leyland’s squad has a better pitching staff and a significantly better offense than the Rangers.  The Tigers take this series 3-1.

This leaves the Oakland Athletics (winners of the AL West) to play the Boston Red Sox (winners of the AL East) in a best of five series.  The A’s are struggling right now, but they have been very impressive all season long.  On the flip side, the Red Sox are contending for a division title; something they weren’t supposed to do.  This matchup is almost a battle of the preseason underdogs (even though Oakland won the division last year and should never have been analytically behind the Angels in the first place, who are a modest 15 games back).  I believe the A’s win this series 3-2 just because their team this year seems to always find ways to win and possess the “refuse to lose” attitude.

National League Division Series

With the Cardinals winning the Wild Card game, they would face the overall #1 seed in the National League; the Atlanta Braves.  This would be a rematch of the controversial 2012 Wild Card game, where a debatable infield fly call halted a potential rally for the Braves.  The Cardinals went on to win the game, something the Braves will make sure won’t happen again this season.  Atlanta is 3-0 against St. Louis this year, but they still have three games to play under the Arch.  You’ve got to think the Braves have a chip on their shoulder this year and with that in mind, they take the NLDS 3-1.

I’ve got the Cincinnati Reds winning the NL Central and playing the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers in a best of five series.  After capping a remarkable comeback season, rookie sparkplug Yasiel Puig and the Dodgers look to advance to the National League Championship Series for the first time since 2009.  However, I think Mat Latos and Bronson Arroyo step up for the Reds and pitch their way past the Dodgers.  The Reds will be able to win two games at home and steal one from the Dodgers in the City of Angels.

American League Championship Series

The Detroit Tigers against the Oakland Athletics in a best of seven series is going to be entertaining to say the least.  The Tigers are a brute force offense with dominant starting pitching, while the A’s play small ball and find ways to manufacture runs and wins.  A majority of the time, a seven game series comes down to who can get a win on the road.  The interesting thing about this series is that both teams have very similar records at home and on the road.  I have to go with my gut here and say that Verlander and Scherzer will win the first two games at Comerica Park.  I’ve also got to believe that the Tigers offense can take one away from the A’s at the Coliseum.  This thought process leads me to believe that Detroit advances to the World Series by defeating the A’s 4-2.

National League Championship Series

The series between the Braves and Reds has seven games written all over it.  The Braves bring a top tier pitching staff against a middle of the road offense, while the Reds also have a very good staff to throw against a Braves offense that is only a tad more efficient than the Reds.  The Braves will have home field advantage, which works in their favor, seeing as they have the most home wins (41) of any team in the majors.  I think this series is going to be all about the pitching matchups.  The Reds will throw Mat Latos against Mike Minor in what will almost undoubtedly be a very low scoring game in the first game of the series.  As for the rest of the series, I’ve got to give the edge to the Braves, mostly because of their bullpen, which has the best earned run average in baseball at 2.39.  Timely hitting with runners in scoring position and clutch outings from relievers will earn the Braves a berth in the World Series with a 4-3 NLCS win over the Cincinnati Reds.

World Series

I love how Major League Baseball calls this the World Series, although it’s at best the ‘North American Series’.  It’s just another maneuver in asserting dominance over the major sports world by the United States; I’m on board.  With that being said, the 2013 World Series will be a vicious cockfight between the Atlanta Braves and the Detroit Tigers.  Due to the outcome of the All-Star Game at Citi Field in New York, the Tigers hold the all-important home-field advantage over the Braves. 

I think the dynamic of the Braves’ pitching staff could slightly change during the World Series.  If Paul Maholm returns to the rotation and continues to pitch well, it could send either Kris Medlen or Alex Wood to the bullpen.  In my opinion, Medlen would be better served in the starting rotation with Wood coming in as a long reliever should any of the starters get into trouble.  On the other side of the diamond, the Tigers will also be relying heavily on their starting rotation, which ranks seventh in the majors in earned run average at 3.56. 

When it comes to closers, I have to give the advantage to Craig Kimbrel, although Joaquin Benoit is equally intimitading.  Kimbrel’s 1.17 earned run average and 37 saves tops Benoit’s 1.53 earned run average and 14 saves.  The discrepancy is mostly likely due to the fact that Kimbrel’s ability to effectively utilize his off-speed pitches for strikes far outweighs Benoit’s.  Kimbrel’s strikeout total of 73 also dwarfs Benoit’s total of 55 in the same amount of appearances (47).  I would take Kimbrel over Benoit any day of the week, and especially in the World Series.

Detroit is batting a ridiculous .289 with runners in scoring position, making the Braves look like underachievers at .256.  If that trend continues in the series, it will be very hard for Atlanta to overcome it as batting with runners in scoring position in pivotal in the playoffs.  I’m very curious as to how the replacement of Dan Uggla (LASIK eye surgery) with Tyler Pastornicky will play out in the playoffs, as Pastornicky will likely be slotted in Uggla’s normal sixth spot in the lineup, which is a position to drive in runs. 

Detroit holds the advantage in runs scored, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage, while the Braves hold the advantage in earned run average, walks and hits per innings pitchers, and batting average against.  This series is so incredibly even that I think it comes down to home field advantage.  I predict the Tigers take the World Series from the Braves in a 4-3 series victory.
 

I would like to thank whoever pointed out my (pretty large) error in the first publication of this article.  I didn’t catch your name by your Facebook post, but thank you very much for bringing it to my attention.