The Postseason has officially kicked off with the Nationals late-game heroics to take the Wild Card game 4-3. That officially sets both National League Divisional Series matchups.
The DS kicks off between the NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals (91-71) going up against the NL East champion Atlanta Braves (97-65). The Braves have home-field advantage, so the first two games will take place at SunTrust Park.
The Cards pride themselves on their defense (MLB ranked 3rd in DRS) and pitching (112 ERA+/MLB ranked 5th). Their rotation is led by 3rd-year starter Jack Flaherty (led MLB starters with a 0.91 ERA in the 2nd half) and the bullpen by converted starter Carlos Martinez (3.17 ERA/2.86 FIP). The offense took its time to awake but turned out to be one of their stronger traits in the 2nd half of the season.
The Braves haven’t had much trouble scoring runs. They sat within the top 10 of most offensive statistics throughout the year. The rotation began the season as a below-average unit but after the break posted the 5th lowest ERA in the NL. Their bullpen has been the weak link. Even with the acquisitions of Shane Greene, Chris Martin, and Mark Melancon midway through the season, the BP has been mediocre at best.
The 2nd matchup is between our favorite Los Angeles Dodgers (106-56), winners of 7 consecutive NL West titles, and Washington Nationals (93-69) with the first 2 games taking place at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers have arguably the best rotation and offense in all of baseball. Kershaw, Ryu, and Buehler have been a handful of games short of being perfect. The offense averaged 5.5 runs per game, 5th best in baseball and sit near the top of almost all offensive categories. At the beginning of the season, the bullpen, sans Pedro Baez, was a dumpster fire. They completely turned it around (for the most part) after the all-star break, posting the 2nd lowest ERA for the latter half of the season.
The Nats headline their rotation with Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin. With the help of those 3, Washington’s rotation posted the highest fWAR in all of baseball. But they may be limited since both Max and Strasburg were used in the WC game against the Brewers. They have the reinforcements on the offensive end to make up for it, especially late in games wherefrom the 7th to the 9th innings, they racked up the 3rd most runs in baseball, just behind the Braves and Dodgers. The Nats bullpen has been terrible. Whether in the 1st half or 2nd, they’ve sat either below average or worse in ERA and wOBA against.
So, now it’s time for our predictions. I asked the team for the winner of each series and how many games it will last.
Dodgers in 5 / Braves in 4
Dodgers in 3 / Cardinals in 4
Dodgers in 5 / Cardinals in 4
Danielle
Dodgers in 4 / Braves in 5
Dodgers in 3 / Braves in 4
Dodgers in 4 / Braves in 4
Dodgers 5 / Braves 5
This postseason should be fun…and filled with anxiety. I’ll have my Tums at the ready. I’ll be back with the ALDS predictions on Friday.
Oskar is a contributor to Dodgers-Lowdown. Follow him on Twitter @2rawsko94. You can follow the rest of the team that have Twitter accounts by clicking on their name.