2024 MLB Playoffs Beginwith an Exciting Wild Card Round
The stage is set. 12 teams – six from the American and six from the National League – begin their chase for the elusive Commissioner’s Trophy. The first round of playoffs is called the Wild Card Series, and the format is as follows: A best of three game series hosted by the higher seed. Games start Tuesday October 1 and will end Thursday the 4th at the latest.
In the American League, the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians are watching and waiting for the winners sincde they secured first round byes. New York is the number one seed in the AL and has home field advantage until the World Series, while Cleveland occupies the two seed. To start the playoff festivities the number three seeded Astros host the number six seed Tigers in Houston. I think the Houston-Detroit matchup is the most exciting to watch for a multitude of reasons. The first is the manager storyline. AJ Hinch, the current Tigers manager, used to manage the Houston Astros. Hinch was at the center of the Astros sign stealing scandal of which he served a one year suspension for. Going back to his former home for the first time in the playoffs will make for an interesting dynamic. Secondly, the Tigers have the presumptive Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and are the hottest team in baseball. They came barnstorming into the final playoff spot and usurped their division rival Twins in the final week of the season. While Houston may have a better roster on paper, playoff baseball is all about who gets hot at the right time, and the Tigers have plenty of fuel. Detroit wins 2-1 and ships off to play the Guardians.
The second matchup has the number four seed Orioles hosting the number five seed Royals in Baltimore. The Royals are riding the back of Bobby Witt Jr, their shortstop and MVP candidate, but I fear as though the Orioles depth of lineup and pitching will be too much for the Royals. The Orioles win 2-1 and move on to face New York
As for the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies secured first round byes. LA is the number one seed in the NL and has home field advantage until the World Series, and the Phillies sit pretty in the two seed. For the Wild Card matchups, the number six seed Mets travel to Milluwake to take on the number three seed Brewers. Both these teams have had a much different path to the playoffs. The Brewers won their division by 10 games, and clinched their division a week and a half before the season ended. The Mets on the other hand, clinched on the final day of the regular season after splitting a doubleheader with the Braves. The Mets have been playing good baseball down the stretch and are hot. This matchup has a lot of similarities with the Tigers – Astros one. A division winner hosting a six seed that is riding the high of a late season playoff push. The Mets proved me wrong, as I thought they would collapse at the end of the regular season and miss the playoffs in classic Mets fashion. While betting on the Mets is a danger no man should subject himself to, I will bravely do it. The Mets win 2-1 and move on to face Philadelphia.
The other National League matchup is by far the least enticing as the Atlanta Braves travel to Petco Park to face the San Diego Padres. The fact that the Braves are even here is quite impressive. They lost their best player Ronald Acuna Jr. early on in the season and things looked bleak. However, baseball is not a game played on paper and they managed to win 89 games and limp into the postseason. They have the task of dealing with an exciting Padres team, who are poised to make a deep postseason run with a lineup that can explode for a crooked number at any point. The Braves will also be without their ace Chris Sale, who is favored to win the NL Cy Young award and was a pivotal part of their success. I think the Braves are out of their depth with the Padres, and I see San Diego sweeping the series 2-0.