Calvin Scott is a third-year media major. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the Ball State Daily News.
The MLB Postseason is right around the corner and the playoff picture is heating up. The course of the season has led up to the point we’re at right now with teams like the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers showing pure dominance throughout the regular season led by MVP candidates Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani.
Each league's top two division winners will receive byes to the Division Series. The other four teams in each league will play best-of-three series in the Wild Card round, with the higher seed hosting all three games.
The American League(AL)’s top two division winners will be the Yankees as they look to extend their World Series record to 28, and the Guardians, who are trying to win their first World Series in 75 years.
The Houston Astros will be the third-division winner of the American League. They’ve done a complete 180 after starting the year off 25-33 and going 63-40 since June.
The fourth and fifth-seeded American League teams coming out of the wild card will face off to kick off the playoffs. Those teams are the Baltimore Orioles placing fourth and the Kansas City Royals coming in fifth.
That last-seeded wildcard team in the American League will be an up-and-coming young club the Detroit Tigers. They have been red hot going 34-19 since August.
On the other side of the seams is the National League(NL). I have the top two division winners being the Philadelphia Phillies as they look to get back to the World Series after losing to the Astros two years ago, and the Dodgers who are looking to win their second World Series in the last five years.
The third-division winner will be the Milwaukee Brewers, who dominated the central division, leading by eleven games led by outfielder Christain Yelch, catcher Willson Contreras, and first-year skipper Pat Murphy.
The San Diego Padres will hold the fourth seed as they prepare for the face-off with the fifth-seeded wild-card team currently in a close race between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves are both tied as they go into a doubleheader on Sept. 30 in Atlanta that will determine their future, along with the future of the odd team out, the Arizona Diamondbacks.
If the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves split game one and game two, then they both will get in with the Braves being the fifth seed and the Mets being the sixth seed no matter the outcome. If either team wins both games then said team will become the fifth seed, the other will be out of the race completely and the Diamondbacks will become the sixth seed with
I like the games to be split even though the Braves will be the fifth-seeded team against the Padres, and the sixth seed will be the Mets as they’ll face off against the Brewers.
For the American League wild-card round, I will take the Astros over the Tigers and the Orioles over the Royals.
The American League Divisional Series (ALDS) will feature the first and second-seeded division winners as I have the Yankees defeating the Orioles and the Astros going on to beat the Guardians.
The American League Championship Series (ALCS) will be one for the ages as the Astros, who have won the AL Pennant four out of the last seven years, will face off against the Yankees, who haven't been to the World Series since 2009.
I like Aaron Judge and Juan Soto to lead New York into October with the AL Pennant.
The National League’s wild-card matchups will end with the Brewers beating the Mets and the Padres getting the better of the Braves.
For the National League Divisional Series (NLDS), I have the Dodgers trouncing the Brewers along with the Phillies beating the Padres in a best-of-five series.
The National League Championship Series (NLCS) will see the two powerhouses of the league go toe-to-toe in a best-of-seven series for the NL Pennant and I like Bryce Harper and Trea Turner to help the Phillies get back to the World Series.
Lastly, for all the marbles, I like the Yankees to finally get over the dreaded hump and claim their 28th World Series, cementing legacies for younger players such as Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, and seasoned veterans such as Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo. In addition to the seven-year manager Aaron Boone finally winning his first World Series. The World Series MVP will be Judge.
As far as the awards go I think it’s a no-brainer who should win the MVP for the AL and NL with it unanimously being Aaron Judge as he leads the league in home runs, runs batted in (RBI), and on-base plus slugging (OPS), and Shohei Ohtani who recently became the first player reach 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases.
The Cy Young Award for the NL is easily going to be the Braves ace Chris Sale who will also be the first pitcher in the NL to win the Triple Crown since Clayton Kershaw in 2011. In the AL, I have no choice but to side with Tarik Skubal of the Tigers as he falls in second in every major pitching category behind the 35-year-old Sale.
My Rookie of the Year picks include Yankees catcher Austin Wells for the American League, and Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes representing the National League.
Lastly, AL Manager of the Year should go to Matt Quatraro after turning the Royals around from going dead last in the AL Central a year ago to leading them to being a great wild-card contender for October. The NL Manager of the Year is going to be Pat Murphy, who replaced longtime manager Craig Counsell and later helped the Milwaukee Brewers dominate the NL Central and easily earn a spot in the playoffs.
Contact Calvin Scott via email at calvin.scott@bsu.edu or on X @CalvinAJScott.
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