The championship series for both divisions began this weekend, giving all fans an unfamiliar, yet exciting postseason to enjoy.
Baseball’s postseason features the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs in the National League series, and the Kansas City Royals against the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League series. All four teams are unsuspecting faces given baseball’s history.
The Toronto Blue Jays have suffered a playoff drought spanning 25 years. Their last appearance was in 1993, where the beat the Philadelphia Phillies to win the World Series. However, with a Yankee team plagued by an over-extended payroll on ageing players, and the Red Soxs playing under their standard, the Blue Jays were able to win their division and enter the playoffs.
Toronto utilized the trade deadline this year, acquiring David Price and Troy Tulowitzki, both playing integral roles in the second half of the season. Troy Tulowitzki, one of the league’s best shortstops defensively, was able to contribute offensively with a .280 batting average and 17 homeruns. While David Price took the ace role, posting a 2.85 ERA and an 18-5 record.
However, Toronto’s key contributors came from players that were already a part of their team. Josh Donaldson, third baseman, contributed with a .297 batting average and 41 homeruns. Jose Bautista, right fielder, also gave the Blue Jays 41 home runs on the season, while Edwin Encarnacion, first baseman, had 39 homeruns as well.
The Blue Jays are strong offensively, known for their power-slugging during this past year, however, Kansas City was able to take game 1 of the ALCS.
Kansas City, a small-market team – limited in finances – had been notorious for being baseball’s bottom dwellers, until last year; making the playoffs and World Series for the first time since 1985.
The Royals are led by their star line up, which features three Gold Gloves – Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez and Alex Gordon, amongst their strong defensive team. Alcides Escobar, shortstop displays great range and arm strength in the middle of the diamond, while Zobrist, second base, and Moustakas, thirdbase, also display premier defensive instincts. All players bat above the .250 average mark over the season as well.
Last season marked the end of one of the league’s worst playoff droughts for the Royals. They won their wild-card matchup against the Oakland Athletics to play the Los Angeles Angels in the divisional series. They won the divisional series in three games, and then they emphatically beat the Baltimore Orioles in four games – never losing a game in the playoffs until they faced the San Francisco Giants. Their dream season derailed at that point, losing the series in seven games.
Proving legitimate, the Royals repeated their success, winning their division this year. They played the Houston Astros and won the series in five games.
The National League features two teams that fans of baseball are familiar with, however, just not in the playoffs. The New York Mets haven’t seen the playoffs since 2006, and the Chicago Cubs since 2008.
Both teams are located in larger markets, and their exposure is much larger than their American League counterparts. The New York Mets are found playing on national television much more often and the Cubs is one of baseball’s oldest teams.
The New York Mets, led by their young and talented pitching staff have retaken the National League East from the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves this year. They have three arms within their starting rotation this year that threw under a 4.0 ERA. Jacob DeGrom, topping the list with a 2.47 ERA over 191 innings pitched. Matt Harvey, their ace, also threw a 2.71 ERA, and given the Met’s success, pitched past his inning limitation imposed by having Tommy John surgery over last off season. Also, their newest addition to the lineup, Noah Syndergaard, gave the Met’s a 3.24 ERA over 150 innings.
While CitiField has a very deep outfield, limiting homeruns, Lucas Duda, first baseman, belted 26 homeruns – with former Yankee, Curtis Granderson hitting 26. Midseason acquisition, Yoenis Cespedes, outfielder, aided the Mets with their offense, batting .287 on the season with 17 homeruns.
Their opponent, the Chicago Cubs, returned to relevancy this year with the emergence of a very young cast.
While Jake Arrieta was one of the best pitchers of the season, throwing a 1.77 ERA, they are led by their talented lineup.
Their emerging star, Anthony Rizzo hit for .278 and 31 homeruns this year. While their rookie of the year candidate, Kris Bryant, batted for .275 with 26 homeruns. However, only two players from their starting lineup hit over .250 this year, Starlin Castro and Jorge Soler.
Their success is in large part to their team effort coordinated by former Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon, who was able to lead the small-market Rays to the playoffs in 2010, 2011 and 2013.
This year’s playoff have already shown us competitive series in both leagues, with the Mets, Blue Jays and Royals winning in five games and the Cubs winning in four. The games are played daily, and they can be seen on Fox Sports 1 or TBS.
