Which AL Post Season Team Has The Best Chances To Reach The World Series?
The MLB Post Season is almost here, and teams are gearing up for the road to October. The American League playoff is basically set. The Yankees will square off against the A’s in the play in the game. The winner will play the Red Sox in the ALDS. The Indians and defending World Series champion Astros will also face off in the first round. In this post, I want to go over each teams chances of making it to the coveted World Series.
Oakland A’s
Baseball or football at the Coliseum? @Athletics put up 21 runs on @Angels, tie second-most in Oakland historyhttps://t.co/I1V8Ksrh6S pic.twitter.com/FGZ2PqdvD3
— A’s on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) September 20, 2018
The A’s are the team that just doesn’t give up. They have battled it out all season, and have deserved the chance to get into the postseason. I’m betting that most people couldn’t tell you anything about this A’s team. Their left fielder Kris Davis leads the American League with 43 home runs. However, their offense ranks last compared to the other teams that will make the playoffs. The A’s statistically have the sixth best pitching staff in the AL. With all this being said, this means nothing to the A’s. They were one of the hottest teams in baseball during the month of August. The thing that hurts them is the one game play in. Can they take down the all mighty Yankees in NY?
Chance of reaching the World Series: 7%
New York Yankees
Will the @Yankees set a new HR record? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/yPvP6Z8RdP
— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) September 20, 2018
The Yankees have the third best record in all of baseball, but yet they find themselves in the wild-card game. When Stanton singed with the team last winter, everyone jumped on their bandwagon. The Yankees seemed as if they would be unstoppable. Their hitting has gone quiet at points during the season. The Yankees ace Severino has a dumpster fire August. However, he shut down the Red Sox last night going 7 innings yielding one run. The Yankees need Severino pitch like the Cy Young he’s capable of being. Aron Judge is also back in the lineup after being injured for the past two months. The rest of the AL needs to watch out because the Yankees are starting to heat up.
Chances of reaching the World Series: 22%
Cleveland Indians
OPEN THE FRIDGES!#RallyTogether pic.twitter.com/m9entYuP2g
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) September 21, 2018
The Indians might be the have the worst record out of the teams making the playoffs, but don’t let that fool you. Ace Core Kluber is capable of carrying a team to the promised land ( 19 wins/ 2.93 ERA). The Indians line up is just ranks third in all of baseball. Star players like Jose Ramirez (39 home runs) and Michael Brantley (.304 avg.) are poised to have amazing performances. As much as I love this all around talented Indians team, they have to play the Astros in the first round. This highly lessens their chance of reaching the World Series.
Chances of reaching the World Series: 14%
Houston Astros
Game time! #NeverSettle pic.twitter.com/9pjZFFrDV6
— Houston Astros (@astros) September 20, 2018
The reigning World Series Champions are ready to defend their title. As of right now, they have the best pitching staff in the AL ( 3.15 ERA, 478 ER on the season). To be honest, no team in the AL is close to them when it comes to pitching. In the Playoffs, pitching matters. This may be obvious, but the team that gives up the less amount of runs wins the game(s). The Astros are almost the same exact team as last year which is scary. Getting to the World Series back to back seasons is hard, but if I had to pick a team to do it, Id choose the Astros.
Chances to reach the World Series: 30%
Boston Red Sox
AL East Champ looks good on you, @mookiebetts! pic.twitter.com/tou1IrPJmk
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) September 21, 2018
The Red Sox have the best record in all of baseball. Last night Boston clinched the AL and can now get ready for the Post Season. At times this summer, they looked unbeatable. This Sox line up is an absolute juggernaut, leading every single offensive statistic in the AL. The question is, can their pitching get the job done? I’m not talking about their starters. The Sox bullpen is garbage right now. IF the Price, Sale, and Porcello can all have stellar postseason performances, then the Sox have to be the favorite. I just don’t see this happening since they seem to struggle against the Yankees and Astros. However, I am sky high on this offense. Mookie, JD, Bogaerts, Tendies, and Moreland are monsters at the plate. They should keep the Sox in almost every game, no matter how many runs they are trailing.
Chances to reach the World Series: 27%
Connor Strayer (@CouchGuyBigC)
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