Starting Friday, the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies will clash for the Commissioner’s Trophy in a meeting of one league’s favorite and the other league’s biggest underdog.
Under MLB’s new playoff format, the Phillies entered as the sixth and final seed in the National League but advanced all the way to the Fall Classic, while the American League’s No. 1 seed, the Astros, rolled over the rest of the Junior Circuit.
What has October taught us about each of these teams? What do they need to do to come out on top? And which players could be the difference-makers on both sides? ESPN MLB experts Jeff Passan, Joon Lee, Jesse Rogers and David Schoenfield break it down.
What’s the most impressive thing about the Astros this postseason?
Passan:Everything is a thing, right? Fine. If a single thing defines the Astros, it’s their pitching depth. They have Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez, both frontline starters, at the top of their rotation. They follow with Cristian Javier and Lance McCullers Jr., each of whom would be a frontline starter on most teams. As good as their starting pitching is, the sheer amount of relief talent in their bullpen — from closer Ryan Pressly to Rafael Montero to Ryne Stanek to Bryan Abreu to Hector Neris to Hunter Brown — makes any lead feel comfortable. The Astros are excellent at everything, but their pitching is why they remain undefeated this postseason.
Lee: The depth across Houston’s roster. If you had told the Yankees heading into the American League Championship Series that through three games, Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve would have just one hit apiece, New York would have been ecstatic. Instead, the rest of the Astros have led the way, from Yuli Gurriel to Alex Bregman to Chas McCormick to Jeremy Pena to Martin Maldonado. This Houston team can beat you in so many different ways, from its incredibly deep pitching staff to its lineup, which can knock you out with the long ball or beat you into the ground with singles and doubles. On top of that, it’s the consistency. Depth and consistency usually play well in October, and Houston has proved that against both the Mariners, in the AL Division Series, and the Yankees.
Why will it (or won’t it) work against the Phillies in the World Series?
Passan: Certainly the Phillies’ lineup, the way it’s hitting right now, poses a greater challenge than the Mariners or Yankees did for Houston. But as long as Dusty Baker manages with proper urgency and uses his bullpen as he can — mix and match and do not allow Kyle Schwarber, Rhys Hoskins, J.T. Realmuto and Bryce Harper third looks unless the starter is truly cruising — Houston has the goods to neutralize Philadelphia’s offense similarly to how it did Seattle’s and New York’s.
Lee: The Astros are the better team on paper, but being underdogs hasn’t stopped the Phillies so far in the postseason, after coming in as a third-place team from the NL East and beating the Cardinals, Braves and Padres on their path to the World Series. There’s also something to be said about that October magic, and getting hot at the right time. We’ve seen this run out for teams in the past, but Philadelphia has taken a cue from last year’s Braves and gotten scorching hot when it counts the most. Harper’s go-ahead homer in the National League Championship Series clincher was a sports moment too on-the-nose for the movies, but it felt written in the stars by the baseball gods.
Who is the one player who must deliver for the Astros to be champs from here?
Passan: Considering the Astros have gotten to the World Series with him practically nonexistent, perhaps Jose Altuve is a foolish answer. But to derail a hot and confident Phillies team, Houston needs production from the top of its order, and an Astros lineup with Altuve getting on base takes an engine that’s already spitting out plenty of horses and turbocharges it.
Lee: Pena has been Houston’s X factor so far in October. When Altuve and Alvarez have struggled, the previously unheralded rookie has come through and been a star for the Astros. If Altuve and Alvarez continue to struggle, guys like Pena, McCormick, Trey Mancini and Gurriel will need to help carry Houston to a World Series title.
What’s the most impressive thing about the Phillies this postseason?
Rogers: They instantly became the team everyone in the organization thought they could be, one with great starting pitching and massive power — enough in both areas to overcome any defensive flaws or bullpen unevenness. Harper, Schwarber and Hoskins aren’t missing mistakes and are playing with the most confidence they’ve had all year.
Schoenfield: The stars are hot — not just the sluggers, but also Zack Wheeler, who has a 1.78 ERA in his four starts. He could start Game 1 on full rest, but it might make sense for the Phillies to go with Aaron Nola and then Wheeler in Game 2 given that Wheeler started to tire around the 80-pitch mark in both of his starts against the Padres. An extra day of rest might help. But let’s mention something else: The Phillies’ bullpen has kind of figured things out a little bit, and manager Rob Thomson has done a great job adjusting on the fly and going with the hot hand. Seranthony Dominguez has allowed just one run in 7 2/3 postseason innings with 15 strikeouts and no walks — and that one run was in part a result of the wet conditions on Sunday. Jose Alvarado is throwing heat from the left side, and David Robertson has plenty of postseason experience. Thomson was even willing to use starter Ranger Suarez to close out Game 5 of the NLCS.
Why will it (or won’t it) work against the Astros in the World Series?
Rogers: The Phillies’ mojo will keep the Astros from winning in a short series, but eventually all that pitching will win out for them. The longer it goes, the better it is for Houston, as Philadelphia can’t match the Astros arm for arm. A best-of-seven usually isn’t won at the plate but on the mound. That’s where Houston prevails.
Schoenfield: The bullpen depth is still a little questionable — although Connor Brogdon had a clutch seven-out effort against the Padres in Game 4 and Andrew Bellatti has pitched well enough in his five appearances and could be a good matchup against Houston’s righty-heavy lineup (he allowed a .608 OPS against righties, but .866 to lefties). But what if Brad Hand has to face the Alvarez/Bregman/Kyle Tucker part of the order? And Thomson has been careful in his usage with Dominguez, who is in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery. He pitched just 11 times on back-to-back days in the regular season and has had days off between all six of his postseason appearances — at least two days in five of those. At some point, he’s going to have to go back-to-back days and maybe for a longer stretch of pitches.
Who is the one player who must deliver for the Phillies to be champs from here?
Rogers: It might be cliché to pick Harper, but he’s the guy. The Phillies’ heartbeat runs through him. They’ll be underdogs, deservingly, and they’ll need an extra special series to beat Houston. Who better to energize them once again than Bryce Harper? He’s already having a great postseason. As he goes, so goes the Phillies’ offense, which could shock the world by getting to a dominant Astros staff. It starts with Harper.
Schoenfield: I’m banking on another big series from Harper, but my key guy is Nola. Wheeler has the potential to dominate in his outings. The Astros are going to have the starting pitching edge in the games Suarez or Bailey Falter (or Noah Syndergaard) starts. Nola had two great postseason starts — 6 2/3 scoreless innings against the Cardinals and then one unearned run against the Braves. Against the Padres, however, he had a 4-0 lead but allowed back-to-back home runs in the second and then four runs in the fifth. Nola is also extra vital because if he can go deep, that means more fresh arms for the Suarez and No. 4 starter games. Oh, one reason to start Nola in Game 2 instead of Game 1: He had a 3.84 ERA in the regular season on four days of rest (14 starts), but 2.79 on five days (13 starts). If he starts Game 1, he would go again in Game 5 on four days of rest, but if he goes in Games 2 and 6, he gets five days of rest. The Phillies have an interesting decision on how to align their rotation.
Seventy minutes after hitting the most important home run of his life Sunday, a two-run blast that won the Philadelphia Phillies the National League Championship Series, Bryce Harper was at the center of the clubhouse, surrounded by his teammates as beer and champagne soaked anyone within spraying range.
“Give me all of it, give me all of it,” the series MVP shouted to his teammates. His wish was instantly granted, as beer poured down on him from every direction.
Harper’s place in the middle of the celebration was only fitting, as was the fact that he manufactured the moment that sent his Phillies to the World Series. He has been the face of the franchise since the 2019 day he committed to the city for 13 years after owner John Middleton wrote a $330 million check to bring him to Philadelphia.
Despite plenty of moments when he might have doubted he made the right choice in leaving Washington for Philadelphia as a free agent, Harper has always embraced his new home. Even when his old team, the Washington Nationals, won the World Series in 2019. Even when Philadelphia changed GMs and managers more than once during a turbulent first four years with the franchise — including when Rob Thomson took over for Joe Girardi after a 22-29 start this season.
“I don’t like looking back,” Harper said after the game, with his MVP trophy sitting next to him. “I like looking forward and moving forward. This game is ‘what have you done for me lately?’”
He never lost faith, always believing what Middleton had promised him: The organization would always put winning above all else.
Not long after the Sunday home run, owner and star met on the field amid celebratory chaos. Their hug lasted longer than the flight of the ball — which left the playing field at 108.9 mph. Middleton was asked if the embrace meant something extra special.
“You bet it did,” he said. “$330 million later, and mutual promises of being committed to winning and doing whatever it took to win. He did that.”
The home run that sent Philadelphia back to the World Series for the first time since 2009 justified the Phillies’ spending on Harper, as well as the free agent deals this spring that brought in Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos — both of whom had front-row views of Harper’s blast; Schwarber from the dugout, and Castellanos from the on-deck circle. “It looked like I was having an exorcism on the dugout rail,” Schwarber said in a beer-soaked locker room. “Man, he’s nasty.”
Castellanos marveled at how different the celebration felt from when Harper had hit a walk-off home run against Castellanos’ Cubs three years earlier.
“The way he ran around the bases [in 2019] was crazy and energetic,” Castellanos said. “Tonight, he was the calmest person in the stadium. I think that’s a lot of growth on his part.
“Watching him [tonight] was a big lesson for me. The way he was able to immerse himself in the moment and stay focused and calm was f—ing incredible. Please use those exact words.”
This clubhouse littered with empty bottles of Budweiser and champagne was always the goal when Castellanos and Schwarber signed with Philadelphia within days of each other after the lockout, giving Harper some much-needed thump around his own power bat in the lineup.
For Castellanos, this is the winning team he has been on a mission to find ever since being drafted by Detroit in 2010. After going 10 major league seasons without winning a postseason series, he has enjoyed three champagne celebrations just this month.
“We both want to win so bad,” Castellanos said when asked what he learned of Harper this season. “That’s one thing we have in common.”
For Schwarber, winning has never been an issue. He has done it everywhere he’s been his entire career. Praised as the ultimate glue guy in the Phillies clubhouse throughout this postseason, Schwarber has appeared in six league championship series for three different teams. But he was hurt for the only pennant-clinching win of his career, when the Chicago Cubs won it all in 2016. He never got the full playoff experience until now.
“It was cool for me,” he said Sunday between puffs of a cigar. “To be with them the whole year, from day one, has been awesome. Last time [in Chicago] I was down for the whole year.”
This was also a first for the longest-tenured Phillies position player, first baseman Rhys Hoskins. Hoskins had four home runs in five games this series and might have been named MVP if not for Harper’s heroics — but couldn’t bring himself to care about that while he celebrated his first pennant win.
“It’s a dream,” Hoskins said, wide-eyed on the field afterward. “This organization is the one that believed in me and gave me an opportunity to impact the city of Philadelphia in any way I could.”
Harper’s arrival signaled to Hoskins that the organization was serious about winning after years of frustration. Until this season, Hoskins had never played in a postseason game, instead having to hear stories of glory about teams from the past. Every time he looked up at the video scoreboard during this series, there was another Phillies great looking down from the stands: Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino — all members of the team’s 2008 World Series-winning squad.
The dream of joining those former players as champions became realistic once Harper arrived. Hoskins wasn’t surprised that it was Harper who delivered the big play that finally got him there.
“It’s probably something that he’s had in his head since the time he picked up a bat,” Hoskins said. “It’s been a while. He changed cities and had to get used to a new organization. For him to come through in that moment is storybook stuff.”
Later, in a hallway underneath the stands behind home plate, Harper shared a moment with actor Miles Teller, a huge Phillies fan, while still clutching his MVP trophy. He sat in the media room and said all the right things: The team isn’t satisfied with just winning the pennant and has four more games to win from here. But Harper looked most comfortable back in the clubhouse, allowing beer to be poured on him while sharing a victory that ended the series — instead of packing up to head across the country for Game 6.
“I didn’t want to get back on that flight back to San Diego,” he said. “I just didn’t want to get on a 5½-hour flight. I wanted to hang out at home and enjoy this at home with these fans and this organization and this fan base.”
The Phillies are headed to the World Series because of Harper. This is his team and now his city — and it was his heroics that allowed his home fans to celebrate the win in their ballpark.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper broke up the Phillies postseason party on the mound and directed his team to where the true revelry was about to begin for the National League champs.
“C’mon, let’s go inside! Let’s go!” he ordered.
With that, Harper in his backward cap walked toward the dugout and raised his arms in jubilation to the soundtrack of Phillies fans screaming “MV3! MV3!” The Phillies soon scrambled inside for the boozy bash that awaited in the clubhouse.
Harper made the scene possible because he rose to the moment Philly demanded of him from the time he signed the richest free-agent deal in baseball history. Harper has made the monumental feat of hitting a baseball look so easy in the postseason and with the NL pennant at stake, he delivered with easily the defining moment of his four-year Philadelphia career.
Harper slugged his fifth homer of the postseason, a two-run blast in the eighth inning that turned Citizens Bank Park into a madhouse, and the $330 million slugger powered the Phillies past the San Diego Padres 4-3 on Sunday and into the World Series for the first the time since 2009.
One swing. One opposite-field shot. One game-winning home run that about seemed destined from the moment he came to the plate in the eighth inning with the Phillies and their fans beckoning Bryce to deliver in the clutch just one more time.
“I hit the ball, and I just looked at my dugout and kind of it’s for all of them,” Harper said. “It’s for this whole team. It’s for this whole organization.”
Rhys Hoskins also hit a two-run homer in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series to spark Philadelphia’s improbable run to the pennant and a shot at its first World Series championship since 2008.
Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts after hitting an RBI double in the fifth inning of Game 4 of the NLCS between the San Diego Padres and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday, October 22, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Daniel Shirey via Getty Images
Harper, Hoskins & Crew are coming for a most improbable World Series championship.
Houston held a 3-0 lead over the New York Yankees in the ALCS. Game 4 is Sunday night in New York. The World Series will begin Friday night at the home of the AL champion.
Harper was named NLCS MVP, and he as parked the trophy on a dais, he made it clear he wanted so much more.
“I don’t really care about this but MLB is making me do it,” Harper said.
Philadelphia trailed 3-2 when J.T. Realmuto began the eighth with a single off reliever Robert Suarez. Harper then lined a 2-2, 98 mph sinker the opposite way, into the left-field seats as another sellout crowd of 45,485 shook the stadium.
Harper hoped the homer set the stage for other highlights on deck in the next couple of weeks.
“We’ve got four more,” Harper told the fans during an on-field celebration, and they roared again.
The lefty-swinging Harper connected off a righty — the Padres had left-handed closer Josh Hader warming in the bullpen, but didn’t bring him in.
“It’s a thought at this point, but that wasn’t what we were thinking,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “We were trying to get to four-out position for Hader, and we had a lot of confidence in Suarez.”
The Phillies felt the same way about Harper.
“Pure chaos, right? I don’t think anybody was surprised,” Hoskins said. “This guy has a knack for coming up in the biggest moments. It’s just what he’s done his whole career, and we’ve seen it plenty of times.”
Remember, too: When Harper’s thumb was broken by a pitch from San Diego’s Blake Snell in late June, there were some concerns that he might not return this season.
Instead, the star who signed a 13-year contract to play in Philadelphia delivered — in this season, in this game.
“I think we always believed,” Harper said.
Even after Harper’s homer put them ahead, it wasn’t an easy ending for the Phillies.
Reliever David Robertson was pulled after a pair of one-out walks in the ninth. Ranger Suárez made his first relief appearance of the season and retired Trent Grisham on a bunt and got Austin Nola — brother of Phils ace Aaron Nola — on a routine fly to finish it for a huge save.
Then it was time to party. The Phillie Phanatic swayed a National League champions flag as the postseason banger “Dancing On My Own” blared throughout the stadium. Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos stripped off their shirts and danced in the clubhouse. Cigars were let. Cheap beer was sprayed. The alcohol puddles on the carpet rivaled the ones caused by the rain on a sloppy, gusty Game 5.
This sixth-seeded Phillies — yes, that is a thing this season — feel they’re just getting started.
Harper, who turned 30 last week, is batting 439 (18 for 41) with six doubles, five homers, 11 RBIs and 10 runs scored over 11 postseason games. He has hit in 10 straight and has reached base in 11 straight.
And the feared designated hitter can keep those streaks alive when he plays in his first World Series.
“To a certain degree, it’s getting overlooked because of who he is and the star that he is,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s a guy that’s a big star that’s delivered. Can’t say enough about that.”
Philadelphia finished third in the NL East at 87-75, a full 14 games behind the 101-win Braves this season, and were the last club in the majors to make the 12-team playoff field. After a 2-0 sweep of NL Central champion St. Louis in MLB’s newly created wild-card round, the Phillies needed only four games to knock out Atlanta, the defending World Series champs.
Now they’ll try to become the first team that finished in third place to win a World Series.
The Padres took a 3-2 lead in a sloppy seventh inning as rain pounded Citizens Bank Park and turned portions of the infield, notably around third base, into a mud pit.
But it was Phillies reliever Seranthony Dominguez’s slippery grip that cost the Phillies.
Starter Zack Wheeler was fantastic again and struck out eight over six innings. He was lifted with a 2-1 lead after Jake Cronenworth hit a leadoff single in the seventh and tipped his cap as he walked off the mound to a standing ovation.
Dominguez couldn’t find his feel with the ball as the rain picked up, puddles formed near third base and the infield dirt turned to mush. He threw one wild pitch and Josh Bell lined a tying RBI double to right that made it 2-1. Dominguez recovered to strike out the next two batters with pinch-runner Jose Azocar on second base.
Azocar moved to third on a wild pitch and scooted home for the 3-2 lead on Dominguez’s third wild pitch of the inning. The righty reliever threw only three wild pitches in 51 innings all season ― then uncorked three in the seventh.
Hoskins, Harper, Wheeler have left a trail of indelible moment at Citizens Bank as they improved to 5-0 at home, where they will play World Series Games 3, 4 and 5.
Game 5 of the NLCS was no exception.
The Phillies caught a break when in the third after Kyle Schwarber was called out a two-out stolen-base attempt. Schwarber never budged off the base, adamant that second baseman Cronenworth never tagged him. Phillies fans howled in delight as the replay on the big screen showed repeatedly that Cronenworth whiffed on the tag attempt. The call was overturned on replay, and the Phillies had new life.
Hoskins, who came hitting a quite memorable .171, smashed one into the left field seats off starter Yu Darvish as the crowd went wild. He hopped down the line as he mouthed some words to his teammates in the dugout and twirled his bat ― not unlike the steadily-spinning rally towels ― as he gave them a 2-0 lead.
Wheeler gave up Soto’s solo homer in the inning that made it 2-1. Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove snapped a Polaroid photo of Soto in the dugout.
Try as they might, the Padres weren’t ready for their close up.
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Bryce Harper slugged his fifth homer of the postseason, a two-run blast in the eighth inning that turned Citizens Bank Park into a madhouse, and the $330 million slugger powered the Philadelphia Phillies past the San Diego Padres 4-3 on Sunday and into the World Series for the first the time since 2009.
Rhys Hoskins also hit a two-run homer in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series to spark Philadelphia’s improbable run to the pennant and a shot at its first World Series championship since 2008.
Harper has made the monumental feat of hitting a baseball look so easy in the postseason and he delivered with easily the defining moment in his four-year Phillies’ career.
J.T. Realmuto began the Phillies eighth with a single off reliever Robert Suarez and Harper lined a 2-2, 98 mph sinker the opposite way, into the left field seats as another sellout crowd of 45,485 fans shook the stadium.
“I knew he was going to come with his heater,” the two-time NL MVP said during a TV interview. “Just tried to take the best swing I could and was able to do damage with it.”
The lefty-swinging Harper connected off a righty — the Padres had left-handed closer Josh Hader warming in the bullpen, but didn’t bring him in.
Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a two-run home run during the eighth inning against the San Diego Padres in game five of the National League Championship Series at Citizens Bank Park on October 23, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Getty Images
“We call him ‘The Showman.’ He’s always had a knack for those moments,” Hoskins said of Harper.
Harper’s hitting earned him the NLCS MVP award. And maybe other highlights on deck in the next couple of weeks.
“We’ve got four more,” Harper said, and the crowd roared.
Remember, too: When Harper’s thumb was broken by a pitch from San Diego’s Blake Snell in late June, there were some concerns that he might not return this season.
Instead, the star who signed a 13-year contract to play in Philadelphia delivered — in this season, in this game.
“I think we always believed,” Harper said.
Members of the Philadelphia Phillies pose for a team photo after defeating the San Diego Padres in game five to win the National League Championship Series at Citizens Bank Park on October 23, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Houston held a 3-0 lead over the New York Yankees in the ALCS. Game 4 is Sunday night in New York. The World Series will begin Friday night at the home of the AL champion.
Even after Harper’s homer put them ahead, it wasn’t an easy ending for the Phillies.
Reliever David Robertson was pulled after a pair of one-out walks in the ninth. Ranger Suárez made his first relief appearance of the season and retired Trent Grisham on a bunt and got Austin Nola — brother of Phils ace Aaron Nola — on a routine fly to finish it for a huge save.
The Phillies mobbed each other in the infield as the Phillie Phanatic and swayed the “NL Champions” flag as the official postseason anthem “Dancing On My Own” blared throughout the stadium.
Harper, who turned 30 last week, is batting 439 (18 for 41) with six doubles, five homers, 11 RBIs and 10 runs scored over 11 postseason games. He has hit in 10 straight and has reached base in 11 straight.
And the feared designated hitter can keep those streaks alive when he plays in his first World Series.
“To a certain degree, it’s getting overlooked because of who he is and the star that he is,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said before the game. “He’s a guy that’s a big star that’s delivered. Can’t say enough about that.”
Philadelphia finished third in the NL East at 87-75, a full 14 games behind the 101-win Braves this season, and were the last club in the majors to make the 12-team playoff field. After a 2-0 sweep of NL Central champion St. Louis in MLB’s newly created wild-card round, the Phillies needed only four games to knock out Atlanta, the defending World Series champs.
The Padres took a 3-2 lead in a sloppy seventh inning as rain pounded Citizens Bank Park and turned portions of the infield, notably around third base, into a mud pit.
But it was Phillies reliever Seranthony Dominguez’s slippery grip that cost the Phillies.
Starter Zack Wheeler was fantastic again and struck out eight over six innings. He was lifted with a 2-1 lead after Jake Cronenworth hit a leadoff single in the seventh and tipped his cap as he walked off the mound to a standing ovation.
Dominguez couldn’t find his feel with the ball as the rain picked up, puddles formed near third base and the infield dirt turned to mush. He threw one wild pitch and then Josh Bell lined a tying RBI double to right that made it 2-1. Dominguez recovered to strike out the next two batters with pinch-runner Jose Azocar on second base.
Josh Bell #24 of the San Diego Padres reacts after hitting a double in the seventh inning during Game 5 of the NLCS between the San Diego Padres and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday, October 23, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images
Azocar moved to third on a wild pitch and scooted home for the 3-2 lead on Dominguez’s third wild pitch of the inning. The righty reliever threw only three wild pitches in 51 innings all season — then uncorked three in the seventh.
Hoskins, Harper, Wheeler have left a trail of indelible moment at Citizens Bank as they improved to 5-0 at home, where they will play World Series Games 3, 4 and 5.
Game 5 of the NLCS was no exception.
The Phillies caught a break when in the third after Kyle Schwarber was called out a two-out stolen-base attempt. Schwarber never budged off the base, adamant that second baseman Cronenworth never tagged him. Phillies fans howled in delight as the replay on the big screen showed repeatedly that Cronenworth whiffed on the tag attempt. The call was overturned on replay, and the Phillies had new life.
Hoskins, who came hitting a quite memorable .171, smashed one into the left field seats off starter Yu Darvish as the crowd went wild. He hopped down the line as he mouthed some words to his teammates in the dugout and twirled his bat — not unlike the steadily-spinning rally towels — as he gave them a 2-0 lead.
Wheeler, who took a comebacker off his right leg to close the fourth, made a rare mistake when he gave up Soto’s solo homer in the inning that made it 2-1. Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove snapped a Polaroid photo of Soto in the dugout.
Try as they might, the Padres weren’t ready for their close up.
The Philadelphia Phillies have advanced to the World Series after defeating the San Diego Padres four games to one in the National League Championship Series. The Phillies won Sunday’s decisive Game 5 by a score of 4-3.
The Phillies trailed in the eighth inning of the game before slugger Bryce Harper hit a two-run home run, his fifth of the postseason, to put Philadelphia in front. Harper was named NLCS most valuable player after racking up eight hits, five RBIs and two home runs in the series.
Philadelphia advances to its first World Series since 2009 and looks for its first championship since 2008.
The Phillies await the winner of the American League Championship Series between the Houston Astros and New York Yankees, which the Astros lead three games to none.
Philadelphia entered the postseason as the National League’s final wild card team after finishing third place in their division with a regular season record of 87-75.
Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Bryson Stott treated a superfan who lost his father to cancer to free National League Champion Series tickets.
Geoff Crawley, a long-time Phillies fan, couldn’t afford tickets to see the team play in Philadelphia, WCAU-TV reported. But he was determined to watch the team play – so he used airline miles to book a flight from Washington, DC, to San Diego.
Crawley’s passion for the Phillies started with his father, Skip, who died of cancer in July, according toWCAU. He brought a sweatshirt with a picture of his father to the San Diego game and placed it on the seat beside him.
And when WCAUreporter John Clark posted a picture of the fan with his touching tribute to his father to Twitter on Wednesday, the story quickly took off, eventually making it to at least one member of the team.
“I mean I hate cancer,” Stott said, according toWCAU reporter John Clark. “Cancer is the worst thing on the planet. For (Geoff) to cheer us on all the way in California and honor his dad was pretty cool.”
On Twitter, Crawley expressed his gratitude for the shortstop’s kind gesture – and asked Phillies fans to use the hashtag #WinItForSkip to honor his late father.
“Thanks so much for all the love,” he wrote on Wednesday.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed reporting by WCAUreporter John Clark.
PHILADELPHIA — In a sport that often defies logic, Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos had a simple explanation for the Phillies’ comeback from a disastrous top of the first inning Saturday in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series: “It’s tough to play in the jungle, man.”
After the San Diego Padres roared out of the gate with four runs in the first, the Phillies roared right back with three runs in the bottom of the first — on their way to a four-homer outburst in a 10-6 victory that put the Phillies one win away from reaching their first World Series since 2009.
“We knew the crowd was going to be a factor,” first baseman Rhys Hoskins said as the Phillies improved to 4-0 at Citizens Bank Park in the postseason while scoring 31 runs and hitting .313 — in a postseason where runs have otherwise been scarce. “We’re confident in that. We saw that in the NLDS. And we feel like it’s a big part of when you get those innings rolling, you get a couple guys on, it gets a little louder. You get the one big hit, it gets louder, and that’s where you can really snowball things.”
The top of the Phillies’ lineup was locked in all game long. Their top five hitters delivered big nights as they each got at least two hits or scored at least two runs, going a combined 9-for-18 with seven extra-base hits and all 10 runs scored. The biggest hero was Hoskins, who hit two crucial two-run home runs for a four-RBI game.
Hoskins’ first home run followed Kyle Schwarber‘s leadoff single in the bottom of the first, after the Padres had struck for a four-run outburst off Bailey Falter. Hoskins worked the count full against Padres starter Mike Clevinger, who threw a 94-mph fastball right down the middle that Hoskins drilled 384 feet to left-center.
“A lot of us said ’27 outs’ after the top of the first inning,” Hoskins said. “We’ve been down before. We knew with a bullpen game, the possibility of multiple guys having to be put in positions that they’re not used to being in, that we were going to have to slug. We did that tonight.”
His second home run was even more impressive. Padres left-hander Sean Manaea was on in relief, making his first appearance of the postseason. With the Padres leading 6-4, Schwarber worked a one-out walk and Padres manager Bob Melvin left in Manaea, who had a 6.44 ERA in the second half, to face the right-handed Hoskins.
With the count 1-1, Hoskins crushed a sinker at the knees, 417 feet with a 108.4-mph exit velocity to a similar area of the left-center stands. The home run tied the game and Citizens Bank Park exploded in a frenzy.
“There’s nobody on the team that deserves those moments more than Rhys,” Castellanos said. “He’s been here from the beginning, he’s been through a lot of losing here, he’s been through the hard times, so to be on this stage and to come through like this, I couldn’t be happier for him.”
It was the eighth two-homer game in Phillies postseason history and the first since Chase Utley in Game 5 of the 2009 World Series. While Hoskins said he appreciates baseball history — especially Phillies history and being mentioned alongside Utley and other greats from the team — in the past he has said he’s tired of hearing about the 2008 World Series champion club. He wants to make his own history.
Now he’s learning what 2008 was like.
“It feels like we’re living it, yeah. The red towels, it’s deafening loud, right? Like, yeah, just the whole scene. And as soon as you step on the field, really in batting practice, you can just kind of feel the electricity building,” he said. “I need some more. I need some more of it.”
For the Padres, Clevinger’s short outing — 15 pitches and no outs — left Melvin needing to get nine innings out of his bullpen.
“This was probably one of the worst days of my life,” Clevinger said. “That sums it up. It sucks.”
Nick Martinez pitched three perfect innings before Manaea entered in the fourth and allowed a run. He came back for a second inning of work in the fifth. After Hoskins’ home run tied the game, J.T. Realmuto walked and Bryce Harper lashed a ringing double to left-center to score Realmuto with the go-ahead run.
“I was going to try to get [Manaea] one time around the lineup,” Melvin explained. “I thought his stuff was better. He had 95. He had swings and misses when he got into the zone, but he couldn’t locate it. The second inning, four batters, five batters, it happened pretty quickly.”
The Phillies are careful not to get ahead of themselves, but they are oozing with confidence — especially with ace Zack Wheeler going in Game 5 and coming off a masterful outing in Game 1 when he allowed just one hit over seven scoreless innings.
“I’ve said this a couple times in the last couple of I days, and I’m sorry it’s getting redundant,” Hoskins said. “You can’t write it better for the guys in that room, for the staff, for everybody in this organization, but I think most importantly for the city. Yeah, you can’t write it better. I can’t imagine what tomorrow is going to be like.”
The Phillies have been one of the biggest surprise teams of the MLB postseason. They got into the playoffs then promptly swept the St. Louis Cardinals and then pummeled the reigning champion Atlanta Braves. Philadelphia has lost one game this postseason and is outscoring opponents by 3.5 runs in wins.
The winning continues in football. After beating the rival Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles are the lone remaining undefeated team in the NFL. Quarterback Jalen Hurts is eighth in the league in passing and, according to ESPN Stats and Information research, he is the fourth-youngest quarterback to start 6-0. The Eagles are also the fifth team in the past 35 seasons to not trail in the second half of their first six games. Two of the prior five teams to do that won the Super Bowl.
And, in hockey, the Philadelphia Flyers have started the season 3-0. They most recently defeated the Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Gritty, the Flyers’ mascot, has crowned the city as the best in sports.
Absent from all the winning is the Philadelphia 76ers. They lost to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday in their first game of the season. On the bright side, James Harden looked super cozy in his pregame attire, and the city’s MLS team — the Philadelphia Union — is atop the league standings.
Eight teams started Saturday still in the 2022 postseason. After today’s league division series games, that number shrank considerably.
The Philadelphia Phillies eliminated the Atlanta Braves with an 8-3 National League Division Series Game 4 victory that had Philly’s Citizens Bank Park rocking.
The American League Division Series matchup between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians was split after the first two games in the Bronx. But the Guardians pushed the 99-win Yankees to the brink of elimination with a walk-off win in Game 3.
The Padres have slayed the “dragon up the freeway,” to borrow a phrase from their owner, Peter Seidler. They won three consecutive NLDS games to eliminate a star-studded Dodgers team that dominated them throughout the regular season, and they seem to be operating at a completely different level at this juncture. They’re getting solid-to-great starting pitching and playing stellar defense behind it. The back end of their bullpen is dominating. And they’re stringing together timely hits, never more so than in the five-run seventh inning that produced an epic comeback on Saturday night.
Perhaps just as important — they’re playing with an extreme level of confidence. Eliminating the Mets and Dodgers, two teams that combined to win 212 games during the regular season, will do that. Now they’ll have the home-field advantage in an NLCS showdown against the similarly hot Phillies. And given the energy at Petco Park these last two nights, that could be a major lift. — Alden Gonzalez
It might seem impossible to win without going big on offense in the postseason, but don’t tell that to the plucky Cleveland Guardians. The New York Yankees hit three homers, including a 449-foot moon shot by formerly struggling slugger Aaron Judge. But the Guardians just keep blooping pitches into the outfield and looping little liners to the opposite field — and before you knew, it added up to some real offense. The Yankees tried to close it out with a combination of Wandy Peralta and Clarke Schmidt, but Cleveland kept blooping and looping until the bases were loaded for frequent postseason hero Oscar Gonzalez, who singled softly through the middle, scoring two runs for a walk-off win in the ninth inning as a sell-out crowd at Progressive Field set the grandstand shuddering. It turns out a slingshot offense actually can get it done in October, and when it does, it’s awfully fun to watch. — Bradford Doolittle
Aaron Judge‘s first hit of the postseason is a game-tying two-run homer. Prior to that, Judge had been 0-9, with eight strikeouts this postseason. According to ESPN Stats & Information, that was Judge’s 12th career postseason home run, which broke a tie with Bernie Williams for the third most by a Yankee through the age-30 season. Judge trails only Mickey Mantle (14 home runs in 54 games) and Derek Jeter (14 HRs in 110 games).
The game that felt like it might never end finally did, at 7:31 p.m. local time — 6 hours, 22 minutes after it started, 18 innings deep, on account of one bad pitch.
In a game that had as many pitchers as hits (18), with a postseason-record 42 strikeouts, no errors and incredibly clean baseball, the Astros advanced to their sixth consecutive AL Championship Series, sweeping their division rivals and illustrating again that whether it’s a slugfest or a pitching duel, they’re as equipped as any team to triumph. — Jeff Passan
Houston completes the sweep
FINAL in 18: Astros 1, Mariners 0
Jeremy Peña’s solo home run to lead off the top of the 18th sends Houston to its sixth straight ALCS.
Seattle’s first home playoff game in 21 years goes as long as any in postseason history. Amazing atmosphere. Wonderful season. Tough ending.
Astros-Mariners is going to the 16th inning. Here are the numbers so far.
– Hitters are 14 for 101 – Of those 14 hits, 12 were singles and two doubles – Pitchers have struck out 37 hitters and issued three walks – There have been 425 pitches thrown – Total runs scored: zero
Once again, Major League Baseball will not have a repeat World Series champion after the Phillies bounced the Braves from the postseason with a resounding 8-3 victory in Game 4 of their NLDS.
Just as they did in all three of their wins in the series, the Phillies jumped to an early lead that had Atlanta playing chase pretty much from the beginning. And for the second day in a row, it was a party from start to finish at a raucous Citizens Bank Park.
Instead of a bat-spike home run celebration providing the signature moment like it did in Game 3, the highlight on Saturday was a spring around the bases. In the third inning, J.T. Realmuto became the first catcher in postseason history to hit an inside-the-park home run, one inning after Brandon Marsh ignited the crowd with a three-run blast.
Two things are clear no matter who Philly faces in the NLCS: This team that found new life earlier in the season when manager Rob Thomson took over won’t be an easy out for anyone; and when the Phillies take the field at home in an NLCS for the first time since 2010 on Friday, it’s going to be quite a scene in Philadelphia. — Jesse Rogers
According to ESPN Stats & Information, that is the first inside-the-park home run by a catcher in the postseason and the first time any Phillies player has done it in the playoffs.
I think I’m appropriately dressed for today’s big day…..you PHEEL-EASE?!! 🤣🤣🤣 Philly we ready?!! Then let’s goooooo @Phillies! Our time! pic.twitter.com/8ceNVTiaNU
We’re down to eight teams in the 2022 postseason after four were eliminated this past weekend in MLB’s first-ever wild-card series weekend. Now it’s on to the league division series: four series, best-of-five, first team to win three advances.
The Dodgers have continually talked up the depth and talent of their bullpen, regardless of the uncertainty at the back end — and that confidence was validated in their postseason opener. The Padres trimmed a five-run deficit to two with a big fifth inning against Julio Urias, but then four Dodgers relievers — Evan Phillips, Alex Vesia, Brusdar Graterol and Chris Martin — kept the Padres scoreless over the last four innings for a Game 1 victory.
The usage offered an early peek at the Dodgers’ bullpen strategy. Manager Dave Roberts used Phillips, their most effective reliever this season, in the sixth inning because the best part of the Padres’ lineup was due up. Vesia, a lefty, came back out to face the left-handed-hitting Juan Soto. And for the final four outs, it was Graterol and Martin. The order will undoubtedly change throughout the postseason, with Tommy Kahnle and, perhaps eventually, Blake Treinen pitching in high leverage situations. But the Dodgers clearly feel good enough about their depth. — Alden Gonzalez
Out of a jam
With the Padres on a roll in the sixth inning, Phillips got Wil Myers to ground into a double play, ending the threat.
Myers’ 376-foot home run just made it over the wall to give the Padres their first run of the night. Runs by Jake Cronenworth and Ha-Seong Kim cut the Dodgers’ lead to two.
In the bottom of the third, Will Smith hit a ball deep into left field for a double that brought home Trea Turner home and extended the Dodgers’ lead to three. After a Max Muncy single, L.A. added another run courtesy of a Gavin Lux double that brought Smith home.
A walk with the bases loaded along and a Padres error helped bring in two more runs and increased the lead to 5-0 for Los Angeles.
The Yankees needed Gerrit Cole to be on top of his game and he delivered. Over the course of 6 1/3 innings, Cole allowed just one run on four hits — a home run to Steven Kwan — while walking one and striking out eight. The game nearly fell apart on Cole in the third inning after Cleveland loaded the bases with one out following Kwan’s home run, but Cole managed to get out of the inning unscathed.
Meanwhile, at the plate, the Yankees relied on a solo homer from Harrison Bader to tie the game, a Jose Trevino sacrifice fly to take the lead and an Anthony Rizzo two-run shot into the second deck of right field to extend the lead to 4-1. That provided a cushion for the bullpen, which was held together on the backs of Jonathan Loaisiga, Wandy Peralta and Clay Holmes. — Joon Lee
Rizzo rips one
It wouldn’t be a game at Yankee Stadium without a lot of home runs. Speaking of that, Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run dinger to add to New York’s lead.
Josh Donaldson thought he had a go-ahead home run … and was caught out between first and second base when it turned out that the ball had instead bounced off the top of the wall. Replay confirmed it, and the Yankee faithful were less than enthused. Fortunately for the Bronx Bombers, an Oscar Gonzalez misplay off the right-field wall led to a sacrifice fly, and a tenuous lead.
The Mariners were on their way to stealing home-field advantage in their ALDS, and then the Astros did what the Astros always seem to do in October. Bottom nine. Two on. Two out. Yordan Alvarez at the plate. And in came Robbie Ray, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, the $115 million free agent prize of Seattle’s offseason, to get the lefty-on-lefty matchup. Alvarez fouled off a fastball. He didn’t miss the next one. And 439 feet later, a 117-mph rocket landed in the right-field bleachers and propelled the Astros to an 8-7 victory in Game 1. Down 7-3 after Justin Verlander‘s worst-ever playoff start, Houston looked done until it wasn’t. And it continued a trend that has proven awfully fruitful in years past: Six straight postseasons, six straight victories in Game 1 of the ALDS. — Jeff Passan
Postgame trolling
The Astros used the most brutal weapon possible in trolling the Mariners: math.
The Astros’ first score came in the third inning, courtesy of a Yordan Alvarez double that drove Jose Altuve and Chas McCormick home. Yuli Gurriel mashed a 373-foot home run for their third run of the game, cutting Seattle’s lead tp three.
Julio Rodriguez drew a leadoff walk from Justin Verlander to begin the game. Ty France’s hit sent him to third, and Cal Raleigh‘s RBI single allowed Rodriguez to score the game’s first run.
The Phillies’ offense has emerged during the playoffs with a different feel than the long ball-or-bust version we saw most of the season. In Tuesday’s NLDS Game 1 win, they peppered Braves pitching with 10 hits — Nick Castellanos had three of them — and seven runs in the first five innings without hitting a home run.
When they weren’t filling the bases via singles and doubles, Philadelphia played small ball, attempting three sacrifice bunts, including one each from sluggers Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber. Two of those bunt attempts were successful, leading to two more small-ball moments: sacrifice flies by Alec Bohm in the third inning and Matt Vierling in the fifth. And it all added up to just enough for the Phillies to hang on for a 7-6 victory after the Braves made it interesting with a three-run ninth inning.
It’s not something you can find in the box score, but the Phillies’ fast start — coupled with the Mariners getting to Astros ace Justin Verlander early in their own division series opener — makes it worth wondering if there’s a rest-vs.-rust advantage to coming in hot off a wild-card-round win against a team that hasn’t played for nearly a week. — Jesse Rogers
Lockdown defense
Nick Castellanos makes a diving catch for the second out of the ninth inning en route to a Philly victory.
Matt Olson hits a three-run blast with one out in the ninth, cutting the Phillies’ deficit to just one run — and giving the Braves some late-game hope.
Travis D’Arnaud earned his second and third RBIs of the game with a double that drove home William Contreras and Olson — making him responsible for all of Atlanta’s first three runs.
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias throws to the plate during the first inning of a … [+] baseball game against the Colorado Rockies Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
It’s on to Round 2 of Major League Baseball’s four-tiered postseason.
The Division Series round begins Tuesday with four best-of-five series. That comes on the heels of last weekend’s Wild Card round.
It will be the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres squaring off and the Atlanta Braves facing the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League. In the American League, it will be the Houston Astros against the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees versus the Cleveland Guardians.
Here is a look at one key player from each team involved in the NLDS.
JULIO URIAS, DODGERS
The left-hander gets the start in Game 1 against the Padres. That is all you need to know about how much the Dodgers value the bespectacled 26-year-old.
Urias was 17-7 in the regular season with a 2.16 ERA in 31 starts. He led the NL in ERA and was second in wins behind the Braves’ Kyle Wright, who had 21. Urias also had a sparkling 0.960 WHIP while striking out 175 batters in 166 innings.
Despite his age, Urias also has plenty of postseason experience with five career starts and 17 relief appearances. He has a solid 3.52 ERA and 0.988 WHIP over 53 2/3 innings.
Urias can become a free agent at the end of next season. It seems likely the Dodgers will try to sign him to a long-term contract extension this coming winter.
San Diego Padres’ Yu Darvish, right, celebrates with Jorge Alfaro following a baseball game against … [+] the Chicago White Sox after clinching a wild-card playoff spot Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
YU DARVISH, PADRES
Darvish will likely make only one start against the Dodgers after winning Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series against the New York Mets. He is scheduled to pitch Game 2 against Clayton Kershaw and it will be a chance for redemption for the veteran right-hander.
In 2017, Darvish started Game 7 of the World Series and got hit hard by the Houston Astros. He was tagged for five runs in 1 2/3 innings and took the loss.
The Padres will look for Darvish to pitch like he did against the Mets when he allowed only one run on six hits in seven innings. That followed a regular season in which he was 16-8 with a 3.10 ERA in 30 starts.
Darvish’s six-year, $126-million contract he signed with the Chicago Cubs expires after next season. He will be 37 then but could still land a significant contract.
Atlanta Braves’ Dansby Swanson warms up before a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, … [+] Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
DANSBY SWANSON, BRAVES
The shortstop is eligible to file for free agency five days after the World Series. However, the Braves have been very public about their desire to sign Swanson to a long-term extension.
The 28-year-old had arguably the best of his seven seasons in the major league this year. He played in all 162 games and hit .277/.329/.447 with 25 home runs and 18 stolen bases. Swanson was also a plus defender with nine defensive runs saved.
The one knock on Swanson, though, is he did have a swoon after the All-Star break. He hit .294/.353/.481 in the first half but .254/.298/.404 in the second half.
Regardless, he will command a large contract if he reaches the open market.
Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Zack Wheeler throws during the first inning of a baseball … [+] game against the New York Mets, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022, in New York. The Mets won 6-0. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
ZACK WHEELER, PHILLIES
The Phillies raised some eyebrows when they signed the right-hander to a five-year, $118-million contract as a free agent during the 2019-20 offseason. Wheeler’s lifetime record at that point was 44-38.
However, the Phillies clearly knew what they were doing. After finishing second in the NL Cy Young Award voting last season, Wheeler went 12-7 with a 2.82 ERA in 26 starts this year despite being slowed by forearm tendinitis.
Wheeler worked 6 1/3 shutout innings and allowed just two hits against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of their NL Wild Card series. The 32-year-old from the Atlanta area is 10-7 in his career against the Braves with a 3.16 ERA in 24 starts.
Eight teams remain in the Major League Baseball playoffs after the Wild Card series wrapped up this weekend. John Dickerson speaks with Matt Snyder, who covers all things baseball for CBS Sports.
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After an action-packed Wild Card to get the 2022 MLB playoffs going, there are eight teams left battling for World Series glory entering the division series round.
With an extra round to begin the postseason and the possibility that this year’s Fall Classic extends to a Game 7 on Nov. 5, it was a very short October stay for some — and we could ultimately see the latest championship celebration in MLB history for the last squad standing.
Will the favored Los Angeles Dodgers rule the National League or will the repeat-minded Braves make another deep run? Can anyone in the American League keep the New York Yankees and Houston Astros from squaring off in the ALCS?
MLB experts Bradford Doolittle, Alden Gonzalez and David Schoenfield get you ready for it all with everything from odds for every matchup and a predicted date of each team’s last game to the best- and worst-case scenario for all eight remaining World Series hopefuls.
Note: World Series and matchup odds come from Doolittle’s formula using power ratings as the basis for 10,000 simulations to determine the most likely outcomes.
How they could stay around longer: Refuse to Lose. Anything Can Happen. True to the Blue. Believe. Hey, after Cal Raleigh clinched Seattle’s playoff spot and ended the franchise’s 21-year-old playoff drought with a dramatic pinch-hit, two-out, bottom-of-the-ninth, 3-2 count, walk-off home run — and then Seattle pulled off the comeback of all postseason road comebacks to eliminate Toronto on Saturday. Maybe destiny really is on the Mariners’ side. If you want a baseball reason, the bullpen is deep and built for October. But they’ll need to score some runs and to do that, how about a dream scenario: Rookie sensation Julio Rodriguez returns from the sore back that sidelined him at the end of September and has a postseason for the ages. — Schoenfield
What could send them home soon: The pitching will need to carry them, but it also looked a little fatigued at times down the stretch. Luis Castillo had three rough September starts when he suddenly lost it in the middle innings. Rookie George Kirby had been a model of consistency until a recent bad outing (and is well beyond his innings total from 2021). Robbie Ray had two scoreless starts in September mixed in with three mediocre ones. The bullpen was pushed hard throughout the season and closer Paul Sewald has been homer-prone of late. The Mariners don’t score enough runs to leave much margin for error, so the entire staff will need to bring it. — Schoenfield
One thing they do that could take down the Astros: The Astros won 12 of 19 games against the Mariners, but they outscored Seattle by only eight runs. In the six games started by Justin Verlander, however, the Astros outscored their division rivals 30-11. Houston won five of those starts. In his past three outings against Seattle, Verlander allowed three runs in 21⅔ innings. In other words — it’s going to be crucial for Seattle to take advantage on the days Verlander doesn’t pitch. Jose Urquidy, Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier have a 5.40 ERA in 48⅓ innings against the M’s this year. — Gonzalez
Wild-card opponent: Yankees (37.7% chance of advancing)
World Series odds: 2.9% | Caesars odds: +3500
Predicted date of their last game: Oct. 17
How they could stay around longer: The Guardians have drawn comparisons to the 2014-15 Royals for their style of play: Contact hitting, speed, defense … and a dominant bullpen. Emmanuel Clase is as good as any closer this side of Edwin Diaz and the top three setup relievers in front of him — James Karinchak, Trevor Stephan and lefty Sam Hentges — have all been outstanding. They’re hard to hit, they strike batters out and all four are stingy with the home run. The pen has been even better since the beginning of July, with the second-best ERA in the majors behind the Dodgers. Get a lead through five or six and the Guardians almost always hold it. October baseball has become more and more about the bullpens and Cleveland can match up with any team. — Schoenfield
What could send them home soon: Lack of power. The Guardians have the fewest home runs of the playoff teams and you win in the playoffs by hitting home runs. Don’t buy that? In last year’s postseason, the team that hit more home runs went 25-2-10 — that’s 25 wins, two losses and 10 games where the teams hit the same number. No, the Royals didn’t hit a lot of home runs in 2014 or 2015, but they did hit them in the playoffs (and that was an era with fewer home runs in general). It certainly would be fun to see the Guardians scratch and claw their way to the World Series, but more likely they’ll have to power up. — Schoenfield
One thing they do that could take down the Astros: The only AL team that put the ball in play more often than the Astros was the Guardians — by a pretty sizable margin. Cleveland also stole the third-most bases in the majors and led the sport in going first to third on a single. Putting the ball in play and running the bases both effectively and aggressively is the Guardians’ recipe for success in October, not just against the Astros but against everyone. The Astros are the second-best defensive team in the postseason field, according to outs above average. But Martin Maldonado was below league average in caught-stealing percentage this season. The Guardians need to get on base and they need to run — and just hope the series doesn’t turn into a slugfest. — Gonzalez
ALDS opponent: Guardians (62.3% chance of advancing)
World Series odds: 15.6% | Caesars odds: +500
Predicted date of their last game: Oct. 25
How they could stay around longer: Maybe it’s unfair, but it feels like so much is riding on Gerrit Cole’s performance, especially since Frankie Montas wasn’t the big rotation addition the Yankees expected. When Cole bombed out early in the wild-card game against the Red Sox last season, the Yankees went home. He’s still striking out a ton of batters, but he also led the American League with 33 home runs allowed — 16 of them off his four-seam fastball. Cole was especially homer-prone in September with 10 in 36 innings and in his four career postseason starts with the Yankees he has allowed six in just 20⅓ innings. He has to figure out how to keep the ball in the park. — Schoenfield
What could send them home early: Opponents pitch around Aaron Judge and the rest of the lineup fails to knock him in. When the Yankees struggled with a 10-18 record in August, they averaged just 3.61 runs per game — even as Judge hit nine home runs and drove in 22 runs. But as he continued mashing throughout the season, teams started walking him more often: 13 times in May, 15 in June, 17 in July, 25 in August and 30 in September. The Yankees led the AL in runs, but they can’t expect one man to carry them for an entire postseason. It’s worth noting that in seven games against the Astros they hit just .151. — Schoenfield
One thing they do that could take down the Astros: The Astros famously got the best of the Yankees during the regular season, winning five of seven. The encouraging news if you’re a Yankees fan: All seven games were decided by three runs or fewer. The not-so-encouraging news: The Yankees didn’t throw a single pitch with a lead. Both of their victories came as a result of come-from-behind rallies followed by walk-off hits from Judge. But the Astros were one of few teams that were actually able to keep Judge mostly in check, holding him to a .148/.258/.370 slash line. Needless to say, Judge’s bat needs to come alive in this potential heavyweight matchup. And the Yankees will have to play a clean, mistake-free brand of baseball. — Gonzalez
ALDS opponent: Mariners (63.8% chance of advancing)
World Series odds: 18.2% | Caesars odds: +380
Predicted date of their last game: Nov. 2
Why they are the AL’s team to beat:Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman, the two veteran holdovers from the 2017 World Series champions who continue to get booed around the league, do serious damage at the plate. Altuve quietly had one of his best seasons, with an OPS+ that matched his MVP season in 2017. Bregman, meanwhile, had a big second half, the best he’s hit since 2019. Altuve has been outstanding in his postseason career (.286/.361/.567, 23 home runs in 79 games) while Bregman less so (.226/.339/.400, 12 home runs in 73 games), but if they’re getting on base in front of Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker, good things can happen. — Schoenfield
What could send them home early: The bottom of the lineup fails to contribute. The Astros don’t get much from their catchers, Martin Maldonado and Christian Vazquez (who hasn’t homered for Houston since coming over from Boston at the trade deadline). Yuli Gurriel had a rough season. Trey Mancini, the other trade acquisition, has hit under .200 for the Astros. Rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena has seen his numbers drop in the second half. This lineup simply lacks the depth of some other Houston teams of recent vintage. If the big four don’t click, it could be a quick exit — no matter how dominant Justin Verlander and the rest of the rotation is. — Schoenfield
Their biggest advantage if MLB’s two best teams meet in November: Most of the Dodgers’ postseason pitching plan remains a mystery, but one thing has already been declared by manager Dave Roberts: Julio Urias, Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Anderson will make up three-fourths of their postseason rotation. What do they all have in common? They’re all lefties. And the Astros — with a right-handed-heavy lineup headlined by Bregman and Altuve — feasted on left-handed pitching this season. Their best hitter, the left-handed-hitting Alvarez, was elite against lefties, too. In a matchup of two teams that are pretty closely matched, it could make the difference. If the Astros can make a habit out of scoring early, they could claim their second World Series title against the Dodgers — and their first without a cheating scandal. — Gonzalez
How they could stay around longer: The bullpen falls into place. Philadelphia has a 5.04 bullpen ERA since the beginning of September, a big contributor to Philly’s near-collapse down the stretch. Injuries have included Corey Knebel (done for the season) and Brad Hand (question mark for the playoffs). David Robertson will be a part of the high-leverage mix. Other solutions have emerged: converted starter Zach Eflin has flourished out of the bullpen, and Jose Alvarado has been as hot as any reliever. Struggling Seranthony Dominguez regaining the dominant form he flashed before an August injury might be enough to push the Phillies over the hump. — Doolittle
What could send them home soon: .The Phillies own MLB’s third-highest homer rate and while they aren’t the most longball-dependent offense in the postseason, they aren’t far off. Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Rhys Hoskins & Co. need to combine for two or three bombs per game or the Phillies will have a hard time turning the scoreboard. — Doolittle
One thing they do that could take down the Dodgers: The 2019 Washington Nationals proved you don’t need to be incredibly deep or even well-rounded to defeat the Dodgers in a short series. Sometimes, if the top of your roster is elite, you just need your best players to perform to their capabilities. Harper and Schwarber combined for a 1.315 OPS in 54 plate appearances against the Dodgers this season, but Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler combined to allow nine runs in 17⅔ innings. In those four — and catcher J.T. Realmuto — the Phillies boast upper-echelon talent. They’ll need them to do most of the heavy lifting to defeat L.A. — Gonzalez
NLDS opponent: Dodgers (24.8% chance of advancing)
World Series odds: 3.5% | Caesars odds: +2800
Predicted date of their last game: Oct. 16
How they could stay around longer:Juan Soto goes off. Soto went into a funk not long after the monumental midseason trade that sent him to San Diego. While his overall San Diego numbers are down even from his subpar pre-trade numbers in Washington, Soto has quietly been trending up over the past couple of weeks. And let’s not forget that when the Nationals won the World Series in 2019, Soto’s huge postseason as a 20-year-old had a lot to do with it. All the hand-wringing over Soto’s post-trade play would be forgotten if he has a big October. — Doolittle
What could send them home soon: The Padres’ rotation, especially Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove, carried them into the playoffs down the stretch. That success needs to continue, but it wouldn’t have mattered had closer Josh Hader not straightened himself out. After a catastrophic start to his Padres career, Hader finished strong — making his midseason slump all the more bewildering. What happens if the bizarro Hader returns? San Diego will be done, that’s what will happen. Sure, you can say the same thing about every team that leans on a primary closer — but not every team saw its relief ace pitch like Hader did in August. — Doolittle
One thing they do that could take down the Dodgers: The Padres struggled mightily against their Southern California rivals this season, losing 14 of 19 and getting outscored by a combined62 runs. To beat L.A., they’ll need to make sure Yu Darvish pitches as often as possible and Sean Manaea doesn’t pitch against the Dodgers at all. They’ll need Soto and Manny Machado to be at their best. They’ll need Hader to be the lockdown closer they thought they were getting at the start of August. And they’ll need contributions from several others. Most of all, perhaps, they’ll need to summon some confidence. — Gonzalez
NLDS opponent: Phillies (61.2% chance of advancing)
World Series odds: 13.2% | Caesars odds: +600
Predicted date of their last game: Oct. 24
How they could stay around longer: If the bullpen falls into place like it did last October, look out. The Braves’ are entering the playoffs with a more stable rotation outlook than a year ago, so Brian Snitker shouldn’t need to lean quite as heavily on his fireman as he did en route to the 2021 title. But even if he does, the Atlanta bullpen as a group has been smoking hot of late — led by trade acquisition Raisel Iglesias, who has allowed one earned run in 27 outings since he joined the Braves. Kenley Jansen has been very good, as have Collin McHugh, A.J. Minter and Dylan Lee. If Tyler Matzek can find last season’s consistency, there might not be a bad lever for Snitker to pull. — Doolittle
What could send them home early: A couple of lifeless cutters in the wrong situation by Jansen. This isn’t to pick on Jansen. He’s had an excellent first season in Atlanta. He leads the NL in saves and is on a pretty good roll entering the playoffs. But he still isn’t the shutdown hammer he was during his prime, and the Braves are such a complete team that there isn’t much else that might be a glaring issue. — Doolittle
One thing they do that could take down the Dodgers: The Braves and Dodgers have met in back-to-back NLCS, splitting the two series, and they seem poised square off again. Outside of the Astros, the Braves might be the closest to matching the Dodgers’ depth and balance. Their separator could be in the bullpen. The three guys who entered this season as the Dodgers’ most important back-end relievers are either lost for the year (Daniel Hudson), pitching in low-leverage situations because of ineffectiveness (Craig Kimbrel) or recovering from injury (Blake Treinen). The Braves are as deep as ever in the back end of their bullpen, and this is a clear advantage for them. — Gonzalez
Why they are the team to beat in all of MLB: During the regular season, depth is what jumps to mind. L.A. has a roster and system of processes with so much quality redundancy built in that it’s hard to remember a time when we didn’t simply pencil the Dodgers in for a playoff spot before a season began. Depth isn’t irrelevant in the playoffs, but it’s clearly not as big a factor with the possible exception of the back of the bullpen. The thing is, the Dodgers aren’t just about depth. They are about all of the things, and a team with star power like this has a talent edge on everyone. And, oh yeah, they just won 111 games with the run differential that suggests they were actually a little unlucky. — Doolittle
What could send them home early: The term “Achilles’ heel” has become such a sports cliche. If the Dodgers falter, maybe we’ll have to update it to “L.A. closer.” Like in the NFL, you might say, “They have an airtight defense but their L.A. closer is the lack of a quality third corner.” The Dodgers have run roughshod over the majors all season and have such a depth of impact talent in the organization that it’s dizzying. And yet they enter the playoffs with an uncertain end-of-game situation because of the struggles of Craig Kimbrel. It’s hard to fathom. — Doolittle
Their biggest advantage if MLB’s two best teams meet in November: First, a tangible one: Mookie Betts, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman. The Dodgers’ dynamic top-of-the-lineup trio is what separates them from everyone, even the most elite. No team can boast the combination of bat-to-ball skills, power and baserunning that those three possess in abundance. –
Now, an intangible one: Revenge. Betts, Turner and Freeman were not with the Dodgers when they lost the 2017 World Series to an Astros team that was later found to have illegally stolen signs. But a few others — Clayton Kershaw, Justin Turner, Chris Taylor, Cody Bellinger and Austin Barnes — were. And beating the Astros on this stage would qualify as the ultimate payback, no matter how much these rosters have changed over the last five years. — Gonzalez
The regular season is officially in the books (OK, maybe there is still a game or two trickling slowly to its finish as you read this) and the 2022 MLB playoffs are set to start Friday — and this year’s postseason could be epic.
In addition to a new format that features 12 teams and a three-game wild-card round that is guaranteed to bring drama to October from the very start, there are so many storylines to follow throughout that it has a chance to be an all-time great month of baseball.
Below, we highlight the 12 themes that will dominate the entire sport as the new 12-team format begins.
I think baseball finally nailed it. Yes, there are those who will always favor the old setups of two pennants or four division winners, but the 12-team arrangement is an improvement over 10 teams (which had been the norm for the past decade). The do-or-die wild-card game, which had been around since 2012, never felt right and, frankly, never really turned into the must-see drama that the sports world stopped everything to watch anyway.
As we saw with the temporary 16-team bracket in 2020, these quick, three-game series are fun. They’re still plenty pressure-packed, but they feel more like baseball than a winner-take-all matchup.
Crucially, this format still rewards the best teams with a first-round bye and the opportunity to rest a pitching staff and line up a rotation. My only nit with where baseball landed this year is that a seven-game division series would be better than five — maybe next year, when the start of the season won’t be delayed by a lockout.
2. There’s a 111-win superteam and nobody is sure what to make of its World Series chances
The Los Angeles Dodgers won 111 games — the most ever for a National League team in a 162-game season and a total topped only by the 2001 Seattle Mariners and 1998 New York Yankees. If they win it all, they go down alongside that Yankees team as one of the greatest of all time; if they don’t win it all, they’re relegated to the back pages of history alongside those Mariners.
Since 2017, the Dodgers have had four 104-win seasons, a remarkably long period of domination … but just one World Series title. Their sole championship came in the shortened 2020 season, with playoff games played in front of empty stadiums or at neutral sites. It counts — or as a friend of mine who is a longtime die-hard Dodgers fan told me, it counts as one-third of a title. And don’t forget that teams were allowed to play with 28-man rosters that postseason, which allowed the Dodgers to use starters as relievers and relievers as starters and do things they might not have been able to do with a 26-man roster.
Alden Gonzalez had a good breakdown of the pressure the Dodgers face this October. In a sense, they’re playing for two championships: 2022 and a validation of 2020. While manager Dave Roberts told ESPN he “absolutely” considers the Dodgers a dynasty — and four 104-win seasons certainly back that claim up — two titles would definitely secure their place in history as one of the greatest teams of all time.
3. We’ve got a real chance of a repeat
After winning the World Series in 2021, the Atlanta Braves lost Freddie Freeman to the Dodgers — and got younger and better, winning 101 games and their fifth straight division title. No team has repeated as World Series champs since the Yankees won three in a row from 1998 to 2000; the Braves have the power, the pitching and the momentum — after stealing the NL East in the final week with a three-game sweep of the New York Mets — to do it.
And it’s not just a repeat, the Braves might be on their way to a dynasty here. Their turnaround from a 10½-game deficit to the division title began when they called up Michael Harris II to play center field in late May and moved Spencer Strider to the rotation. From June 1 — the first win in a 14-game winning streak — to the end of the regular season, they went 78-34. Strider’s injured oblique might keep him out of the playoffs, but they still have Max Fried, 20-game winner Kyle Wright and October hero of the past Charlie Morton, plus a lineup that led the NL in home runs.
4. Speaking of dynasties … what do we make of the Houston Astros?
You might have noticed by now, but there are a lot of good teams at the top of this year’s playoff bracket. We have four 100-win clubs in the Dodgers, Astros, Braves and Mets, with the Yankees finishing at 99 wins. The you-can’t-predict-baseball nature of the postseason doesn’t guarantee we’ll see two of these teams in the World Series, but if we do, there’s a good chance we’ll see a classic series. The last matchup of 100-win teams in the World Series was 2017, when the Astros beat the Dodgers in seven thrilling games. Before that, you have to go all the way back to 1970 to have two 100-win teams in the World Series.
The Astros also have four 100-win seasons since 2017, including 107 in 2019 and 106 this season. Sign-stealing scandal or not, if they win the World Series, perhaps they go down as the dominant franchise of this era. And an added bonus? After 25 years of managing in the big leagues and making his 12th trip to the postseason, manager Dusty Baker is hoping to finally win that final game of the season.
To make matters more interesting, the Astros appear on a collision course to meet the Yankees in the American League Championship Series for the third time since 2017. Remember the war of words in the spring between Astros owner Jim Crane and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman after Cashman cried that the only thing that had stopped the Yankees in previous seasons from reaching the World Series was “something that was so illegal and horrific.” A Yankees-Astros ALCS would be an epic battle — even if it is one Evil Empire versus another.
5. New York baseball is B-A-C-K
This is now the Yankees’ 13th season since last appearing in a World Series in 2009 — an unacceptable length of time for baseball’s richest and most historically successful franchise with 27 titles in a sport where the wealthiest teams have a decided advantage. Longtime fans will note the Yankees are closing in on the infamous World Series drought from 1982 to 1995, the reign of terror era under George Steinbrenner when he cycled through 13 managers and seven general managers.
On the other side of town: The Mets won 100 games for just the fourth time in franchise history and first time since 1988, but they enter the postseason with the bitter taste of defeat after losing that final series to the Braves. Everyone knows that Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer can carry a team through a postseason — but deGrom allowed 14 runs and six home runs in 21 innings over his final four starts, so the Mets will need him to find that groove where he posted a 1.66 ERA over his first seven starts after returning in August. Still, this is hardly a two-man team: Pete Alonso led the NL in RBIs, Francisco Lindor might finish in the top 10 of the MVP voting, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker are solid 3-4 starters and Edwin Diaz has been a lockdown closer. The Mets have had their moments since that run of success in the 1980s, including two World Series appearances, but it’s been 36 years since their iconic 1986 team won it all.
6. Did you really think we forgot about Aaron Judge?
Yes, both teams have made New York baseball interesting all season, but nobody has been more at the center of that than the man who just finished up a 62-home run campaign — and has fans of both New York teams envisioning his free agency will end with him signing with their club.
Now, we have Judge trying to cap off what might be arguably the greatest season of any player in history — by that, I mean a historic regular season, a great postseason and a World Series title. Ted Williams in 1941? Didn’t even win the pennant. Carl Yastrzemski in 1967? The highest single-season WAR for a position player other than Babe Ruth, but the Red Sox lost the World Series. Bob Gibson in 1968? A 1.12 ERA and a record 17 strikeouts in one World Series game, but he lost Game 7. Dwight Gooden in 1985? The Mets missed the playoffs. Pedro Martinez in 1999? The Red Sox lost in the ALCS. Barry Bonds in 2001? The Giants didn’t make the playoffs. Bonds in 2002? He had a great postseason, but the Giants lost Game 7 of the Fall Classic. Mookie Betts in 2018? A 10.7-WAR season that matches Judge and the Red Sox won the World Series, but Betts had a lackluster postseason (.210/.300/.323).
7. Can the GOAT go out on top?
Let’s not forget the other slugger who made home run history this season — Albert Pujols. Every player would love to go out on top, either still playing well or with a dogpile on the field. Almost none of them do. Pujols and Yadier Molina have a chance to do that — and maybe Adam Wainwright joins them in retirement as well (he’s yet to officially announce his status for 2023).
The three St. Louis Cardinals legends reunited this season when Pujols returned after a 10-year exile, and all three will play a key role in what happens to the club in October. As will Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, two of the greatest players of their generation who will likely finish 1-2 in the MVP voting in the NL — and who both seek their first trip to the World Series.
8. The playoff drought-busters
While the Cardinals come into this postseason with loads of October experience, there are two franchises about to get their first taste of the playoffs in a long, long time. The Seattle Mariners and Philadelphia Phillies ended the sport’s two longest playoff droughts in securing wild-card spots, although both teams will be on the road for the first round — Seattle at Toronto, Philadelphia at St. Louis.
When Cal Raleigh hit his pinch-hit walk-off home run to clinch a wild-card spot, the Mariners celebrated like they had won the World Series. Can you blame them? Twenty-one years is a long time between playoff appearances. Sure, they had plenty of terrible teams along the way, but also several near misses: 93 wins in 2002 and 2003, 88 wins in 2007, one win short in 2014, three short in 2016, alive until the final day last season. They aren’t even guaranteed a home playoff game if they don’t beat the Blue Jays, although you can bet the watch party at T-Mobile Park will have a playoff-like atmosphere.
The good news is Julio Rodriguez returned from his back problem to play a couple of games at the end of the regular season (and homered in the season finale). The bad news is second-half spark plug Sam Haggerty and outfielder/DH Jesse Winker both just landed on the injured list. The rotation and bullpen are healthy, however — Luis Castillo looks like a legitimate ace when he’s on, while Logan Gilbert had a 2.00 ERA in September, allowing one run or less in five of his six starts. If you like a good underdog story, believe in the Mariners.
Meanwhile, the Phillies had the majors’ second-longest playoff drought, making it for the first time since 2011. They have Bryce Harper, back in the postseason for the first time since 2017, and power-hitting Kyle Schwarber, who led the NL in home runs. Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler and Ranger Suarez (2.95 ERA since July 16) are a strong rotation trio. I wouldn’t bet on them in the tough NL, but there are similarities here in roster construction to the 2019 Nationals, who went from the wild card to World Series champs.
9. The World Series curses we don’t talk about enough
The Cleveland Guardians are trying to win their first World Series since 1948. The San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays are trying to win their first one, while the aforementioned Mariners remain the only franchise never to play in a World Series.
The Guardians’ World Series drought has never received as much attention as the ones for the Red Sox and Cubs did, but it’s now been 74 years since the Cleveland franchise won it all — longer than the 1986 Red Sox had gone (68 years) when they lost to the Mets. How about winning it all in the first season with the new nickname? They might make a movie out of that given this list of Cleveland’s postseason heartbreaks:
1995: The best team in baseball that year, but they lost the World Series to the Braves.
1997: Blew a ninth-inning lead in Game 7 of the World Series to the Marlins and lost in extra innings.
2007: Lost the ALCS to the Red Sox after being up 3-1.
2016: Were up 3-1 on the Cubs in the World Series and lost Game 7, again, in extra innings.
2017: Lost the division series to the Yankees after being up 2-0.
And then there’s the team that’s been around since 1969 — and never won it all. The Padres made World Series appearances in 1984 and 1998, but this is just the seventh postseason trip in franchise history.
But these aren’t your older brother’s Padres. This is a team that has spent the past three seasons acquiring an All-Star squad of talent while playing with a brash style that could make it very popular this postseason — if the Padres can stick around long enough for national fans to get familiar with their stars. They’ve gone all-in to dethrone the Dodgers in recent seasons — only to fall well short. But they squeaked in, and anything can happen in the playoffs, right? Especially with Manny Machado and Juan Soto and Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish and a suddenly rejuvenated Blake Snell (1.76 ERA over his final seven starts). The Mets-Padres wild-card series is the one to watch — with the winner facing the Dodgers in a colossal division series showdown.
10. The redemption stories
Let’s see here. We’ve got Justin Verlander, who after missing 2021 with Tommy John surgery, came back and went 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA while leading the American League in wins, ERA, WHIP and lowest batting average allowed. His status as future Hall of Famer is secure, but with a big October and another World Series championship for the Astros, his legacy becomes that of an inner-circle Hall of Famer. DeGrom and Scherzer missed some time, and deGrom sputtered at the end of the season, but that dynamic pair could carry the Mets to their first title since 1986. And then of course, there is Clayton Kershaw. Yes, he got his ring a couple of years ago, but he was injured last October, and he hasn’t won a ring in a full season with a normal postseason. How will he perform?
11. The October introduction of some legit young stars
As my colleague Kiley McDaniel pointed out recently, this is the best rookie class since Pujols and Ichiro Suzuki debuted in 2001 — and most of the biggest names will be playing in the postseason (sorry, Adley Rutschman). We’ve got Rodriguez leading the Mariners and Harris and Strider on the Braves.
But it’s not just the rookies who will remind us how bright the future of baseball is this postseason …
While we often think of the Rays as a parade of bullpen arms, they also have two budding young superstars in Wander Franco and Shane McClanahan who could power another small-market success story this postseason. And across the AL East, Alek Manoah, Alejandro Kirk, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. form a young core that makes the Blue Jays a team nobody wants to face this postseason. Of course, the question we’ll all be waiting to see answered is how these young stars will handle the bright lights of October … or should we say November.
12. It’s an October so great — it could take part of November to finish it
That’s right, thanks to the combination of the new format and the MLB lockout pushing back the start of the season, Game 7 of the 2022 World Series would take place on Nov. 5, the latest date of a playoff game in MLB history.
If every series goes the distance, we’ll get 53 postseason games with all of these incredible storylines fueling the possibility that any given night can become a must-see moment for baseball fans. Of course, in the end we need great games to have a great postseason.
That’s what still makes 1986 the gold standard for all postseasons. There were just 20 playoff games that October — the seven-game ALCS between the Red Sox and Angels, the six-game NLCS between the Mets and Astros, then the seven-game World Series when the Mets beat the Red Sox. Five of the 20 games went extra innings. Eight were decided by one run. Several are all-time classics, including Game 5 of the ALCS; Games 3, 5 and 6 of the NLCS; and Games 6 and 7 of the World Series.
The stage is set. I’m going with the Dodgers over the Astros. I’ll take Kershaw versus Verlander in Game 7 of the World Series, thank you very much.
The Philadelphia Phillies grabbed baseball’s last playoff ticket on Monday, and Bryce Harper and company partied into the night. “ We’re in! We did it! We did it! ” slugger Rhys Hoskins yelled as the celebration kicked into high gear.
It’s the first playoff appearance for Philly since 2011, and no one seemed to care that it arrived via one of three NL wild cards.
It’s the first year for the majors’ new playoff format — part of the negotiations that resulted in the March labor deal that ended a 99-day lockout. Each league has three wild cards, taking the postseason field from 10 to 12 teams.
Philadelphia clinched its spot after Seattle secured an AL wild card on Friday night for its first playoff berth in 21 years. The other wild-card teams are Toronto and Tampa Bay in the AL, and San Diego and the New York Mets in the NL.
“For us it was to end the drought so it gave us an extra opportunity,” Mariners infielder Ty France said. “But I think it’s a cool, cool structure they have and setup they have.”
The new-look October has erased some of the usual tension from the final few days of the regular season. But there is still valuable positioning at stake for the playoff teams.
The top two division winners in each league get first-round byes, and the remaining four qualifiers play best-of-three series in the wild-card round on three consecutive days. The third division winner is the highest seed in that group, with other clubs sorted by their records. The top seeds in each matchup host the entire series.
Gone are the days of the win-or-go-home wild-card games in each league.
“It has felt as a wild-card team, just to play one game and have an entire season come down to one game, never felt right,” said Chris Antonetti, the president of baseball operations for the Cleveland Guardians. “So having some additional games in the wild-card round makes sense.”
The playoffs expanded to 16 teams for the pandemic-delayed 2020 season as part of an agreement between Major League Baseball and the players’ union. But the field went back down to 10 when the majors played a full season last year.
Looking for more TV revenue, Major League Baseball proposed 14 playoff teams during the recent labor talks. But it settled on 12 after the players resisted.
“It’s not worth it, understanding the reasoning is TV money, and that doesn’t make sense for the guys that are playing,” said New York Yankees reliever Zack Britton, who serves on the union’s executive subcommittee. “We know exactly what teams would do if you continue to add more and more teams to the playoffs. There’s no incentive to win.”
It is hard to tell if the 12-team format had any effect on the postseason race. The Guardians, champions of the mediocre AL Central, are the only playoff team that didn’t make multiple deals in the runup to the trade deadline.
“I think that it’s kept more teams in it,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. “And you talk about rebuilds or teams getting aggressive with getting young players up, too. I feel like it stayed very competitive. If it has changed, it’s been a positive.”
Going for its first playoff appearance since 2016, Baltimore brought up touted prospect Gunnar Henderson on Aug. 31. The New York Mets promoted catcher Francisco Álvarez from the minors on Sept. 30, giving their top prospect a chance during a pennant race.
The Orioles would have made a 14-team playoff field, along with the Brewers in the NL. Depending on the results in the final days of the season, a 14-team field might have included every big league team that finished above .500.
“I think that would have been too many teams,” Mariners pitcher Robbie Ray said. “You don’t want teams that are limping in with close to a .500 record. I think still you should still be close to 90 wins to be able to get in.”
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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum, and AP Sports Writers Tim Booth, Kristie Rieken and Tom Withers contributed to this report.
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Jay Cohen can be reached at https://twitter.com/jcohenap
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
