The New York Yankees unexpectedly defeated the Cleveland Indians, a favorite pick as the World Series champions this season. The Indians are 3-17 in the last 20 elimination games. They were ahead of the Yankees 2-0 going into game three of the ALDS and the Yankees won 3 in a row to steal the series and move on to play the Houston Astros. The Yankees’ win over the Indians was impressive, as the Indians finished the regular season with a record of 102-60, the second best in the MLB, behind the Los Angeles Dodgers who had a record of 104-58.
Key players are Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge, and Gary Sanchez. Brett Gardner plays left field and is their lead-off hitter. Gardner’s strengths are that he is a patient hitter and he is quick on the bases and in the field. Another impressive skill is his ability to fend off pitch after pitch while hitting. This is important because it tires out pitchers by increasing their pitch count and it gives Gardner seemingly endless chances to get a good pitch to hit. His most notable weakness is a poor throwing arm.
Right fielder, Aaron Judge, is a key player because of his batting power at the plate. He won the Homerun Derby with ease earlier this season. Throw him a high fastball and he’ll crush it out of the park, undoubtedly. However, his weakness as a young batter playing his rookie year is his difficulty hitting the curve ball. Especially in the playoffs, pitchers study his weaknesses and attack them when pitching to him. Instead of feeding him high fastballs, they trip him up with low and away curve balls.
Gary Sanchez, the catcher, also participated in the homerun derby this season because of his exceptional hitting power. Another one of his strengths is his arm; however, defensively he is adequate. He can throw well, but he is not exceptionally strong at catching and is an average defender.
The Houston Astros ended the regular season with the third best record in the MLB, with 101 wins and 61 losses. They had an impressive season overall, because they consistently showed up to every game ready to play, and they never went through a long-lasting slump.
Key players include Jose Altuve and Justin Verlander. Altuve’s strengths seem to include just about everything. He is a five tool player who hits for power and average, has remarkable fielding abilities, an impressive throwing arm, and is as fast as a bullet on the bases. He ended the regular season as the American Leage batting champ, with an average of .346 and 24 home runs. If there’s one player you should want on whatever team you’re cheering for, it’s Altuve.
Justin Verlander’s primary strength is that he is a dominant starting pitcher. He consistently throws strikes to batters and when he sees weaknesses in his opponent his is able to challenge those weaknesses. For example, he delivers curve balls to batters that he knows struggle with hitting successfully against that pitch, such as Judge. This skill that he has worked on mastering illuminates his impeccable command.
Key players for the LA Dodgers include Cody Bellinger, Clayton Kershaw, and Justin Turner. Bellinger just completed his rookie year at first base. He has power at the plate and ended the 2017 regular season with 39 home runs. His weakness is that he does not hit well for average. Although Bellinger sends the ball far, often out of the park when he makes contact, he frequently strikes out.
Kershaw is one of the best starters in MLB, along with Verlander. He finished the 2017 regular season with a record of 18 wins and 4 losses. His regular season ERA of 2.31 suggests that most batters had trouble scoring on him. Kershaw’s weakness is that he is historically not a great playoff pitcher and seems to break under pressure. He has yet to win in the playoffs.
Turner has had a remarkable season and is likely to win MVP for the season. However, he can be inconsistent and has yet to prove that he can play at the professional level for a long period of time. A big question posed by his performance is whether this is just a lucky season for him and if he has the potential to play at the level he’s played at this season consistently.
The Chicago Cubs beat the Washington Nationals during the NLDS. It was an extremely close series that could have gone either way, but the Cubs brought something more to game five of the series. Both teams looked extremely fit to win, but the Cubs took the victory.
Key players for the Cubs are Anthony Rizzo, Chris Bryant, and Jake Arrieta. Rizzo’s strengths are that he is a very skilled first baseman and a big game player. His weakness is running, as he is not a very fast on the bases.
Bryant’s strengths are that he is a well-rounded player who hits hard, is fast on the bases, and plays well at third base in the field. His power game regressed somewhat this season compared to last. He hit 29 homeruns this season compared to 39 last year and had 73 RBIs to last year’s 102.
Arrieta’s strengths are that when he is on, he is untouchable and can be completely dominant. But his weakness is that he has regressed from last season similar to Bryant. His best year was 2015, when he went 22 and 6 with an ERA of 1.77. He went from that to 18-8 and 3.1. Then this season he was worse again at 14-10 and his era 3.53. He had an amazing year in 2015, but he has not come close to that since.