Hey there, baseball fans! It's the middle of September, which means October and the MLB Playoffs will soon be upon us. I don't know about the rest of you, but for me this is one of the most exciting times of the year. While my Atlanta Braves will not be going to the dance this year (very disappointing), 10 other teams will be contesting to become World Series Champs. Six months and 162 games later, one franchise will stand tall, hoist the trophy and find themselves defending the title in 2016.

First things first: What would the playoffs look like if the season had ended Friday night? For the fans of the current defending San Francisco Giants, you will find yourselves disappointed. The Giants, in the present bracket, are not holding a spot. In the National League Playoffs, the surprising New York Mets will be battling it out with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The other part of the bracket shows the St. Louis Cardinals waiting to see the winner of the NL Wildcard game, which for the third consecutive year features the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates, as of now, will go against the Chicago Cubs. In the American League, the Toronto Blue Jays (who have collapsed in the past around this time of year) are pitted against the Texas Rangers. The Kansas City Royals, who shocked the world with an amazing run to the World Series last season, are standing tall once again, waiting to host the winner of the AL Wildcard. They will verse one of two teams that many felt wouldn't make it to the dance this season: Either the New York Yankees or the Houston Astros. That's right. The Astros.

They say anything can happen in baseball, and boy has the 2015 season proven this. Bear with me now because what I am going to say may shock everyone: The New York Mets are leading the NL East Division with an eight-game space between them and the nearest division team, which is the Washington Nationals. In past years, the Mets excel in April, begin to tank in July and finally crash and burn in September; but this time around in 2015, they seem to be the real deal. The team has one of the most dangerous and effective pitching rotations in all of baseball. Players like Matt Harvey, Jacob DeGrom, Bartolo Colon, Noah Syndergaard, and Jon Niese have dominated the starting rotation with a combined 731 strikeouts this season, with DeGrom leading the team with 189 Ks. The batting isn't that bad either, with guys like Curtis Granderson, Lucas Duda, and Yoenis Cespedes laying on the run support for their pitchers. Granderson, the former Tiger and Yankee, currently leads the Mets in home runs (23) and RBIs (64). Though they are on fire now, the postseason has not proven to be kind to the Mets in the past. Their last World Series appearance was in 2000 against the Yankees and their last trip to the NLCS came in 2006. There's no doubt they will make it to the playoffs this year, but there is doubt that they will make it past the Dodgers and the Cardinals.

Another surprise in the MLB is the Houston Astros. Like the Mets, the Astros lit a fire that hasn't gone out. Led by veteran players like Evan Gattis, Colby Rasmus, and even the one of the young fellows named Jose Altuve, the Astros have 77 wins on the season, just two and a half games behind the division-leading Texas Rangers. Despite this burst and likely trip to the playoffs, the Astros may only see themselves participating in the wildcard game. The Astros have not been to the postseason in 10 years; their remarkable run to the World Series in 2005 was halted with a sweep by the Chicago White Sox. They may have lit a fire, but if they remain in the wildcard spot by the time the season should end in a couple of weeks, the Astros will be a one and done team.

With the returning dominant teams like the Cardinals and Royals and the upstart Mets and Astros making a name for themselves, it's looking to be another exciting postseason. Based on how the bracket is set up now here are my predictions for each series:

The Yankees will beat the Astros in the AL Wildcard by a score of 7-4, while the Pirates will best the Cubs in the NL Wildcard 6-3. In the best of five division series, the Dodgers will beat the Mets three games to two and the Cardinals should sweep the Pirates 3-0. In the ALDS, the Royals will best the Yankees three games to one and the Blue Jays will best the Rangers 3-2.

In the NLCS, the Cardinals will battle it out with the Dodgers for yet another playoff series, and once again the Cardinals will take home the pennant, beating the Dodgers four games to two. In the ALCS, the Royals will once again stand as the American League Champs against the Blue Jays in a four game sweep, and will advance to their second consecutive World Series. In the World Series, the Kansas City Royals will avenge last season's loss to the Giants and best the Cardinals in six games (4-2) to capture the World Series title.

Now, these predictions are based off of what the playoff bracket looks like going into Saturday, Sept. 19, so things could change with so many games left. That's the beauty of the game of baseball: Anything can happen. Anything can happen because there is only on World Series. There is only one postseason. There's only ONE October.