Division series preview

The 2024 postseason has already begun. In the NL Wild Card Series, the Padres defeated the Braves and the Mets just secured the second win. Meanwhile, in the AL, the Tigers and the Royals each swept their opponents to advance to the ALDS.

 

Now, the Division Series is coming and let’s take a quick look at these 4 matchups.

Yankees vs. Royals

The Yankees didn’t clinch a postseason spot in 2023. But this season, they won the AL East title. And no one can ignore that they are Bronx bombers. The Yankees led the majors with 237 home runs this season. In the Yankees lineup, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are the 2 players who had crushed a lot of home runs during the regular season. Judge blasted 58 home runs and Soto had 41 homers. They each collected 100+ RBI. Meanwhile, in the Royals lineup, Michael Massey and Bobby Witt Jr., who’s another AL MVP favorite, each collected 3 hits in the AL Wild Card Series. It will be worth watching if they can stay hot against the Yankees. And the Royals only allowed only 1 run in the AL Wild Card Series. During the regular season, the Yankees defeated the Royals 5 times and the Royals won 2 games against the Yankees.

 

Guardians vs. Tigers
The AL Central division rivals are going to meet in the ALDS. The Guardians lost Shane Bieber at the beginning of the season because he had to undergo Tommy John surgery. However, their pitchers pitched well with a 3.61 ERA, 3rd best among 30 MLB teams. In particular, the closer Emmanuel Clase finished the season with a 0.61 ERA and a 0.66 WHIP. Clase had been fantastic during the regular season. For the Tigers, it’s better to score early. Otherwise, it might be quite difficult to score a run against Clase. Nonetheless, the Tigers have a 3.61 ERA as well and they have been hot after the All-Star game. In the AL Wild Card Series, the Tigers only gave up 3 runs in 2 games. During the regular season, the Guardians and the Tigers faced each other 13 times. The Guardians won 7 times and the Tigers got 6 wins.

 

Phillies vs. Mets

The Phillies won the NL East title for the first time since 2011. During the regular season, they are one of the toughest opponents to face. Zack Wheeler was outstanding last postseason and his performance will surely have a huge impact. The Phillies will face the division rival, the New York Mets, in the NLDS. During the regular season, they defeated the Mets 7 times and the Mets got 6 wins against the Phillies. Pete Alonso just crushed a home run to help the Mets to a comeback win over the Brewers. He’s always a power hitter that the Phillies pitchers will have to pay attention to.

 

Dodgers vs. Padres

The Dodgers lost in the NLDS in 2022 and 2023. In particular, they lost to the Padres in 2022. This season, they certainly don’t want to fall short again. For many baseball fans, it will be worthwhile to see Shohei Ohtani’s first postseason performance. The NL MVP favorite created the 50-50 club. And it will be very interesting to see what he will do in the postseason. Meanwhile, their starters didn’t pitch well in the 2023 postseason. This year, it will be worth watching if Jack Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be a great one-two punch. For the Padres, Michael King was outstanding in the NL Wild Card Series. Fernando Tatis Jr. collected 4 hits and Kyle Higashioka blasted 2 home runs. During the regular season, the Padres defeated the Dodgers 8 times and the Dodgers got 5 wins.

Very soon, the first pitch of the division series will be thrown. Those 8 teams will fight hard to advance to the League Championship Series. It will be worth watching those star players’ performances. In the meantime, the Guardians skipper Stephen Vogt will manage his very first postseason game. The Royals manager Matt Quatraro and the Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza just won the first series in the postseason. It will be interesting to see how they will lead the team in the division series.