By Josh
We are down to four teams fighting for the World Series and they have each taken unique paths this season and in the playoffs.
ALCS
The Astros were a team that everyone expected to compete for the playoffs. They came out and dominated the AL West most of the season. While the Yankees were still in a ‘rebuilding’ year and were in a pretty good fight to the finish to hold the top spot for the AL Wild Card.
The Astros and Yankees took much different paths in the playoffs to the AL Championship Series. Houston outscored Boston 16-4 in the first two games of the ALDS and then clinched the series with a 5-4 win in Game 4. They looked every inch the team that dominated the AL in the first half of the season (before the injury bug hit).
The Yankees, meanwhile, fell behind Cleveland 2-0 and needed to rattle off three straight wins to keep their season alive. But now they roll into the ALCS with a ton of momentum and the best bullpen remaining in the playoffs. The updated odds have the Yankees at 15/4 to win the World Series and the Astros at 9/4. The sports analysts at MyTopSportsbooks.com believe the Yankees should have better odds, roughly 13/4, given how important relief pitching has become in the modern MLB.
NLCS
The Dodgers came into the season expected to win the NL West by a lot of people. Although they seemed a little shaky to start the season, once Cody Bellinger was called up the Dodgers just rolled through the league. The Cubs on the other hand struggled for much of the season, falling behind the Brewers in the standings. However, this championship team was able to right the ship and get things going again.
The playoffs mirrored the regular season in a lot of ways. The Dodgers came out strong and swept the Diamondback while the Cubs took it to the very end to move on.
My Predictions
Looking at the way things are right now I’m strongly leaning towards an Astros vs Dodgers World Series and honestly that would be an amazing series. Great pitching, young talented hitting and lots of fun.