Aaron Judge plays for the New York Yankees; Licensed by CC 2.0
The MLB postseason is currently underway, as I’m sure many of you are excited about. This year’s field consists of the teams we’ve come to expect here, but there are a few surprises like the Tigers and Royals who advanced to the ALDS. Although the Wild Card round has already begun, I wanted to take the time to rank the top two players in the league and see where they stack up against each other and discuss their strengths and weaknesses, so let’s dive right in.
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Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers are the best team in baseball and have arguably the best player in baseball in Shohei Ohtani. They secured the No. 1 seed in the National League and have the best record in baseball at 98-64, winning the NL West. While the Dodgers pitching staff isn’t perfect, their offense is simply overwhelming. Shohei Ohtani recently hit 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the regular season and posted the second-highest wRc+ behind only Aaron Judge. Ohtani isn’t the only star when it comes to this Dodgers offense. They also have Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez to name a few. The Dodgers lead the MLB with an impressive .337 team wOBA and 118 wRC+. They also have the highest run differential in MLB at +156. None of them jump off the page, but Jack Flaherty was picked up by Los Angeles at the trade deadline and has been a bright spot for this battered Dodger pitching staff, and he looks like a huge part of the Dodgers. postseason run. They will need him to perform if they want to win big games this postseason. The Dodgers are the most consistent team in the playoffs with their strong offense, and they will be successful if their pitching can hold other great offenses.
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Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies have the second-best record in MLB by just three games behind the Dodgers, 95-67, to win the NL East. This team is hungry for a World Series win, especially after being swept by the Diamondbacks last year. They have a lot of experienced, veteran guys like Bryce Harper, JT Realmuto and Trea Turner. The Phillies pitching staff is strong, with names like Aaron Nolan and Zach Wheeler. Wheeler has the third-best ERA in baseball at 2.57. Their bullpen is impressive and also has the third-best K/9 at 9.71. This group appears to be the most complete with a fully healthy team, they also know what it takes to be in this position the last two years and make the World Series in 2022. at .325. Bryce Harper is having another great year at the plate, posting a .145 wRC+ and .380 wOBA while hitting 30 home runs. Kyle Schwarber, another big piece of this offense, leads the Phillies in RBIs with 104. With this entire Phillies team healthy, they are hoping to have all of their units firing on all cylinders to make another run at the World Series.
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New York Yankees
The Yankees have arguably the best one-two punch in all of baseball with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. The Yankees won the AL East, 94-68. The Yankees have bounced back from last year’s disappointing season in which they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The Yankees are looking to make their first World Series since 2009, and they definitely have what it takes, but they always seem to fall short. The Yankees offense is led by AL MVP Aaron Judge. Judge had an incredible season, leading the MLB in multiple offensive categories including home runs, RBIs and OBP. The Yankees’ offense leads MLB in home runs as a team with 237. The Yankees pitching staff has a combined 3.76 ERA, which ranks 8th in MLB. Star Gerrit Cole should continue to perform as he has in the last half of the regular season. Starter Luis Gil has been another impressive arm in this Yankees rotation with 15 wins and 171 strikeouts. Their defense has given them problems at times, but hopefully they can play clean this postseason. The Yankees will need continued success from their offense and big games out of their not-so-great bullpen to make a deep playoff run. For many Yankees fans like myself, we are hoping to see them in the World Series for the first time since 2009.
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Cleveland Guardians
If you’ve been following baseball this season, you know that Cleveland’s bullpen has been great. They have a combined bullpen ERA of 2.57 and the next team behind them at 3.11 is Milwaukee, another playoff team. Their bullpen also posted 42 wins (4th) and 53 saves (2nd). As for their starting pitching, it’s definitely not that impressive, ranking 24th in team ERA at 4.40. Their offense got a boost at the trade deadline in Lane Thomas from Washington. He wants to add depth and strength to this lineup. Speaking of power, this offense also has Jose Ramirez, who we all know is an All-Star. Ramirez smashed 39 home runs and posted a 141 wRC+. They need him at the plate this postseason. Stephen Kwan and Josh Naylor have also been a part of Cleveland’s success this season. If they can make a comeback in the first half, this offense will cause problems for opposing players. Cleveland will be counting on their bullpen to continue their success and return to the World Series for the first time since 2016.
A lot of things have to go right for a team to reach the World Series and win, and these teams certainly have their strong suits, but can any of them do it, or will we have more upsets like we’ve already seen? in the wild. Card round? We’ll just have to wait and see how this postseason pans out, but I’m sure it will be fun to watch all of these talented teams on their way to glory.
