Best of three

October baseball is coming. This season, there are 12 teams in the postseason. And the Wild Card Series will be played on three consecutive days. The best-of-three Wild Card Series will begin on October 7. Before “play ball” is announced, let’s take a quick preview of the series.

Firstly, the Phillies are back to the postseason for the first time since 2011. They will face the Cardinals in the NL Wild Card Series. During the regular season, these two teams faced each other 7 times and the Phillies won 4 games. In particular, Zack Wheeler earned 2 wins against the Cardinals and didn’t allow a run in 14 innings. He should be a good choice to start against the Cardinals. For the Cardinals fans, it will be great to see Pujols, Molina and Wainwright play at home. Pujols’ batting average is over .300 in the postseason and Molina has a batting average .277 in the playoffs. Wainwright’s ERA is under 3 in the postseason. Secondly, Bob Melvin led the Padres to be back to the postseason. His first season with the Padres is a successful one. However, the Padres will face the New York Mets, which might be really tough, in the Wild Card Series. The Mets won 101 games this season and with Scherzer and deGrom in the rotation, it’s not that easy for the Padres. But, the good news is that Juan Soto’s career batting average is over .300 against the Mets and hits .350/.464/.709 at Citi Field. Moreover, Yu Darvish is named NL pitcher of the Month for September. During the regular season, Darvish collected 2 wins against the Mets and the Padres defeated the Mets 4 times. In addition, the Mariners ended the playoff drought. They clinched a spot in the postseason for the first time since 2001. Last time in the postseason, the Mariners lost to the Yankees in the ALCS. This time, they will face the Blue Jays in the Wild Card Series. During the regular season, the Mariners defeated the Blue Jays 5 times and lost twice. But, those two games were played at Roger Centre. Let’s see whether the home field advantage really matters. Finally, the Guardians will host the Rays. The Guardians beat the Rays 4 times during the regular season and lost twice. But, looking at pitching performance, there’s no huge difference. In the 2022 season, the Rays own a 3.41 ERA and the Guardians’ ERA is 3.46. Meanwhile, they each have an OPS below .700. The best-of-three Wild Card Series should be very entertaining and the three games will be played on three consecutive days. Without off days, it will be challenging for managers to figure out how to best use their pitching staff. Moreover, the Phillies and the Mariners each ended the playoff drought and it will be interesting to see whether they would be able to advance to the next round. In the meantime, two-time MVP Bryce Harper’s batting average is only .211 in the playoffs. Will he do much better this postseason? Furthermore, future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols has 703 home runs in his career. Are we going to see his 20th home run in the postseason?