Teams To Look Out For During The MLB Playoffs
Baseball’s postseason is finally here. This season has been a rollercoaster. There have been so many ups and downs for each team. There are a lot of teams that have shocked us all with how the season ended. Up above is the table of who’s in the postseason. The second photo shows when the first three games are being played and where you can watch them. Here are 4 teams to look out for this postseason:
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves have been dominating this season. Their record in the regular season was 104-58, they had the best record in their league and clinched their division. Their ace pitcher, Spencer Strider, leads the most strikeouts this season with 281 strikeouts. He is now placed on the Single-Season Leaders & Records for Strikeout board.
The Braves finished first in most homeruns in a season, 307 home runs. Matt Olson is a big contributor to the 307 team home runs with hitting 54 home runs this season. Let's see if he can continue hitting home runs in the playoffs.
Ronald Acuña Jr. is one of the best players in baseball this season. He has hit 41 home runs, 106 RBIs, 73 stolen bases , and has a batting average of .337. He is the first player to hit 40+ home runs and over 70 stolen bases. He is also favored to win the MVP award. He has shown off his amazing performance and is for sure getting the award.
Houston Astros (reigning champions)
The Houston Astros are the reigning champions from last year's World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Astros spent the whole summer chasing the Rangers who led the AL West by 6 1/2 games in late June. Just a few days ago they looked like they had no chance to win the AL West but came storming back by winning five of six games on their road trip to Seattle and Arizona to clinch the division on Sunday.
The Astros ace pitcher, Justin Verlander, came back to the team in August from being traded to the New York Mets. He has had a one of a rollercoaster season before he went back to the Astros. With the Mets, he had a 3.15 ERA and 81 strikeouts while having 16 game starts. But with the Astros, he has started 11 games with an ERA of 3.31 and 63 strikeouts.
Verlander isn’t the only one who is the best player on the team. The whole team has outstanding players like Jeremy Peña (who won Rookie of the Year last year), Yordan Alveraz, Jose Altuve, and Kyle Tucker. Each and every player on the team has had an outstanding performance. Let's see if they can be back-to-back champions.
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles finished the 2023 season with the best record in the American League (101-61). They have not been to the playoffs since 2016. They have done a good job rebuilding the team. They went the whole season without being swept and rolled over almost everyone in their path as they clinched the top seed in the AL ahead of the playoffs. This season they have had four All-Stars. , first in the AL East since 2014, Kyle Bradish's pitching, and has the best record in the American League.
Gunnar Henderson, third baseman & shortstop, has had a tremendous season. For this year's ROY award, Henderson appears to be a lock. After pitcher Gregg Olson in 1989, he would be the first Baltimore player to win the championship. The young player has cemented his place as a key member of this club by averaging over 25 home runs, over 25 doubles, double-digit steals, and a fielding percentage just above .970.
Henderson isn’t the only one who is the best player on the team. The whole team has had a great performance. Bradish’s pitching has been excellent. Since Musina's 2.54 ERA in 1992, Bradish has the highest ERA among Baltimore pitchers (2.83). Let's see if they can bring home the trophy.
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins were 0-18 in past playoffs and they haven’t won a playoff game since 2002. That all ended when they won the first two games in the Wild Card against the Toronto Blue Jays. They are now going to play against the Houston Astros.
Carlos Correa, shortstop, has had a good season this year. He is going to be facing his old team, the Houston Astros. He has played for the Astros for seven years and was traded to the Twins in 2022. He has had a good seven years with the Astros and got Rookie of the Year award in 2015. He hasn’t played against the Astros in a playoff game. Let's see if he can beat his old team.
Royce Lewis, third baseman & shortstop, had one of the best seasons this year. His batting average is .309 and has an OPS of .921. This is his second year playing in the big leagues and his second year with the Twins. Hopefully he gets more hits and gets on base more to raise his batting average and OPS.
Which team do you want to win the World Series? Let us know in the comments below!