NLDS Preview

It's Time. The National League Divisional Round is here, and we have four talented teams left standing from the Senior Circuit. Four teams remain standing, out of the fifteen that started this journey six months ago. All four teams left in the chase have won at least one World Series. St. Louis leads the way with 11 titles (last coming in 2011), the Dodgers are next, with six titles (last coming in 1988) and the Mets and Cubs come in with two each (Mets in 1986, Cubs in 1908). Three of the four teams are trying to get back to former glory, while the other is trying to maintain a level of success come the fall. Every team has the dream when Spring Training starts, to become World Series Champions. The drive to a title really gets underway in the divisional round. Lets get into the meat and potatos and break down the two divisional rounds in the National League.

First up is the National League Central Champions, the St Louis Cardinals, taking on the Wild Card winners the Chicago Cubs. St. Louis finished the year with a 100-62 record, a full two games ahead of the 2nd place Pirates. This marks the 2nd straight year that the Cards have won the Central (the 10th time in history they have done so) and the 4th straight year the Cards are in the playoffs. St. Louis is 145-135 lifetime in the post season. In their 19 trips to the fall classic, the Cards have won it 11 times. As for the Chicago Cubs, they come in after knocking off the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Wild Card game. Chicago finished with a 97-65 record, three games back of the Cardinals in the Central. This years trip to the playoffs marks the first postseason appearance for the Cubs and the first winning season the team has had since 2009. Those 97 wins are the most the Cubs have had in a year since 2008. Chicago is 28-55 lfietime in the playoffs, winning two World Series titles (last win coming in 1908). This marks the first meeting ever in the playoffs between the two rivals. St Louis went 11-8 during the regular season against the Cubs.

Here are the date and times for every game in this series:
October 9 Chicago Cubs @ St. Louis Cardinals Busch Stadium 6:30 PM
October 10 Chicago Cubs @ St. Louis Cardinals Busch Stadium 5:30 PM
October 12 St. Louis Cardinals @ Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field TBD
October 13† St. Louis Cardinals @ Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field TBD
October 15† Chicago Cubs @ St. Louis Cardinals Busch Stadium TBD

This series is going to be tough to try and predict, because the teams seem so even with eachother. With Yadier Molina still batteling injury, it has to make you wonder how the Cards are going to handle it. They have done it before, they are a deep enough team to take the pressure off not having their catcher and captain in the lineup. Reports are he's going to play game one with a splint on the injured thumb, so we will see how effective he's going to be with that. What really sticks out from a Cubs perspective is the lack of use of Jake Arrieta in this series. Because he started, and went the distance, in the Wild Card game against the Pirates, he won't be available until game three in Chicago. Without him, Chicago is going to go with Jon Lester (11-12, 3.34 ERA in 32 starts) and Kyle Hendricks (8-7 with a 3.95 ERA) to start the Series. This is where the Cards have a distinct advantage. Don't get me wrong the Cubs pitching staff has been good, not quite to the same level as Arrietta. Looking at the starters the Cards are going with in this series, John Lackey, Jaime Garcia, Michael Wacha, and Lance Lynn gives you a lot more confidence than that of the Cubs. Now if Arrieta was able to start game one, and game five should it get there, I'd feel more confident in the Cubs. I don't though. Cards have the better pitching.

From an offensive perspective, Chicago has their two big bopprs, Kris Braynt (who's probably going to win Rookie of the Year 26 Homers 99 RBI) and Anthony Rizzo (31 Homers 101 RBI. Chicago does have a decent offensive attack behind those two, but there is one minor knock against the team. Chicago has a high strikeout rate. Six of their everyday players have over 100 strikeouts on the season, something that I'm sure the Cards pitchers have made note of.. Now with the Cards, Matt Carpenter leads the power department, with 26 homers and 86 RBI. At the same time, Carpenter also leads the Cards with 151 strikeouts. He's one of only three cards everyday players with over 100 strikeouts, Jhonny Peralta (111) and Mark Renolds (121) are the only regulars for the Cards who have hit triple digits in strikeouts. What really separates the teams is the strikeout department. St. Louis is down in terms of their hitters striking out. St Louis has experience come this time of year and I think that's going to be an advantage factor in this series

This could be an upset in the making, but might not happen. Don't get me wrong I think the Cubs are going to make a great series out of this one. Its going to go the full five games. Chicago does have a chance to pull off the upset. It does pain me to say what I'm about to say, because I do want the Cubs to be there. They have been a long suffering franchise and are on the brink of something great. Just not quite yet. St Louis has too much experience and is deeper in the rotation where it matters a little more.

Pick: St. Louis Cardinals in 5!

Next up is the National League West winners the Los Angeles Dodgers taking on the National League East Champions the New York Mets. Los Angeles won the West with a 92-70 record, finishing a full 8 games ahead of the 2nd place Giants. This marks the 3rd straight year that the Dodgers are playing October baseball, having won the division each of the last three seasons. Winning 92 games this year marks the third year in a row for the Dodgers winning 90 or more games. Los Angeles is looking to get to the Fall Classic for the first time since their last World Series win back in 1988. Los Angeles is 70-86 all time in the Playoffs. As for the Mets, they come in with a record of 90-72, a full seven games ahead of the 2nd place Nationals. New York is making its first playoff appearance since 2006, the last time they won the NL East. Collecting 90 wins this year are the most games the Mets have won in a season since winning 97 games in 2006. New York is looking to get back to the World Series since its loss to the Yankees in 2000. IN their history, the Mets have a 43-31 record in post season play. These two teams have met twice before in the postseason, the Dodgers winning in 1988 and the Mets winning in 2006. During the regular season, New York won four of the seven meetings.

Here's the Date and times for games in this series:
October 9 Mets vs Dodgers Dodger Stadium 9:45 PM
October 10 Mets vs. Dodgers Dodger Stadium 9:00 PM
October 12 Dodgers vs. Mets Citi Field :30 PM
October 13† Dodgers vs. Mets Citi Field 8:00 PM
October 15† Mets vs. Dodgers Dodger Stadium 8:00 PM

Starting with pitching, the Dodgers have the depth at the top of the rotation, with Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. Both of whom are extremely talented, if you didn't know that already. Its after those two guys that have to make Dodgers fans worry. Brett Anderson and Alex Wood are not at the same talent level as Greinke and Kershaw. Don't get me wrong they are both good pitchers, but they aren't at the same level as the top two starters. Here's the thing that will always stick with me about Kershaw. His postseason record. He's 0-4 with a 7.14 ERA. Granted, most of those whoopings were handed to him by the Cardinals, but still, he hasn't pitched anywhere close to the same level in the playoffs that he does during the regular season. New York, in all honesty, has the more balanced rotation going into the playoffs. Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey and Steven Matz, while having no playoff experience at all in that rotation, still give me a lot more hope of steady starters than those of the Dodgers. Sure LA has the better top half of the rotation, but its the depth of the rotation that favors the Mets.

Now from the offensive perspective, the Dodgers may have a slight edge in the power department. yes the Mets get power from Lucas Duda (27 homers) and Curtis Granderson (26 homers) had 20 dingers. Then throw in the 17 late from Yoenis Cespedes. Joc Pederson hit 26 and Adrian Gonzales hit 28, the only two Dodgers who hit more than twenty. Gonzales is the only Dodger to drive in more than 70 runs(he drove in 90). To be fair, no Mets hitter drove in more than 75 runs (Duda and Granderson lead the team with 73 each). New York seems to have more of a balanced attack than the Dodgers do, but its not really by much.

I still think that pitching is going to win out at the end of the day. Los Angeles does have one of the top pitching tandems. Kershaw and Greinke are the top one-two punches in baseball. After that, LA has an average pitching staff at best. New York can counteract that with one of the most balanced bitching staffs in the game. Ever since the trade deadline, the Mets have had the highest scoring offense in all of the National League and I don't really see that slowing down now.

Pick: New York Mets in 4!

(Authors Note: All predictions were made BEFORE start of series)