Major League Baseball (MLB) plays 162 regular-season games. 30 teams are full of hope on April 1, as the slow march begins. It is the most complete (and longest) regular season of any professional sports league. There are no outliers after 162. After the six-month climb, the 12 best teams in baseball have made it to base camp. Now, the question is who has what it takes to summit. October has arrived, and with it, the best postseason in American sports. Here’s each team’s greatest strength and weakness, along with my predictions for the pennant winners and World Series champion.
American League
The best team in the American League (AL) this year was the Toronto Blue Jays. The True Northerners have a bye to face the winner of The Rivalry — Boston and New York — and are positioned to make their deepest run since losing to Cleveland in 2016.
Greatest strength: The rotation. The Jays added Shane Bieber from Cleveland at the trade deadline and then called up prized prospect Trey Yesavage to bolster an already stacked group including bonafide ace Kevin Gausman.
Greatest weakness: The bullpen, which is a common theme throughout this postseason. While they added Minnesota legend Louis Varland, it hasn’t been enough. If teams can touch up their stacked rotation, Toronto will be in hot water.
The Seattle Mariners hold the other bye as the two seed in the AL. They won the AL West for the first time since 2001 behind a historic season from Cal ‘Big Dumper’ Raleigh and a fantastic pitching staff. They will host the winner of the Cleveland-Detroit wild card series.
Greatest Strength: Their rotation. It has been one of the best in baseball for about four seasons, especially following the addition of Luis Castillo in 2022. Bryan Woo — assuming he is healthy for their run — is a true ace with the best fastball in baseball. The Mariners will go as they go.
Greatest Weakness: The lineup against left handed pitching. While their best guys stick in the lineup, lefties force their top platoon bats out of the order, and their team on base plus slugging drops 20 points. That could be a fatal flaw.
The Cleveland Guardians had a miracle September. They climbed back and won the AL Central after being 15.5 games back at one point, a truly historic season.
Greatest Strength: Devil magic. There is no other way to describe the play that came from a ballclub with almost zero name recognition in either the staff or lineup. Their pitching came out of nowhere to lead MLB in almost every major category in August and September, and their lineup is below league average.
Greatest Weakness: Devil magic running out. This ballclub, statistically, does not compare to the field. Even the Tigers, who had a collapse for the ages, are levels above them. If they can’t continue their miracle streak for three series against three great teams, they are finished.
The New York Yankees are the Evil Empire. 27 world championships to their name, and they’ve won over half their games every year since 1992: that’s 33 consecutive seasons and is the second longest streak of its kind in the history of the game. They tied atop the AL East with Toronto but did not hold the tiebreaker, so they’re the fourth seed.
Greatest Strength: Aaron Judge. He is the best hitter in baseball this century. If he continues his October struggles, they’ll be dead in the water. If he can keep up his regular season, they’re a force to be reckoned with.
Greatest Weakness: The bullpen. Even with David Bednar coming over in a trade and offseason highlight Devon Williams, they have been atrocious this season and especially recently. You need a great bullpen to win in October. The Yankees are no exception.
The Boston Red Sox are back in the postseason for the first time since 2020. They lost star rookie Roman Anthony to an oblique injury but stumbled their way to the finish line, even as the offense crumbled without him. They hold the fifth seed.
Greatest strength: The bullpen. Aroldis Chapman, the hardest thrower in the history of the game, is having a career year with the Sox. Garrett Whitlock didn’t allow a run through September. The middle relief is there. While their rotation is middling, the backend guys will be there to lock it down.
Greatest weakness: The offense. Without Roman Anthony, their nine have been a tier below their colleagues. Even with names like Bregman and Story, the Sox are going to have a tough time against the elite pitching in the AL.
The Detroit Tigers crawled to the finish line, but here they are. A collapse for the ages notwithstanding, they were one of the best teams in baseball for most of the season. They round out the AL field.
Greatest strength: Tarik Skubal. Like the Yankees and Judge, the Tigers go as Skubal goes. He has been the best pitcher in the game for two seasons and can single-handedly win Detroit two games in each series. If they make it past the wild card, keep an eye on the Tigs.
Greatest weakness: Their mindset. The Tigers were 7-17 in September. The Rockies, the worst team in ball by a country mile, went 4-21.
National League
The Milwaukee Brewers have never won the World Series. They were the best team in baseball this season and hold the first seed and a bye to the NLDS in a top-heavy National League (NL). This will be their best chance in franchise history.
Greatest strength: Their completeness. The Brewers do everything really well. They hit for power, they hit for average. Their rotation is nasty and they relieve them well. They play 80 grade defense. They won the most games this season for a reason.
Greatest weakness: Their postseason reputation. It’s the same old leadership for the Brew Crew, who haven’t won a playoff series since before the pandemic. They’re not built for this. Nothing changes when nothing changes. The Philadelphia Phillies are phantastic. They couldn’t match the Brewers in the regular season, but they are an incredibly talented ballclub and earned the second bye. Perhaps more than Milwaukee.
Greatest strength: Too many to list. Their rotation is stupid good, their bullpen is nails, and their lineup rakes 1-9.
Greatest weakness: The lineup against LHP and team defense. Adding Harrison Bader at the deadline countered both of these, but the Phils need to clean up their fielding and produce against high level lefties in order to close out a World Series title for their first since 2008.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have spent north of $350 million to be the third best team in the NL. They will play in a wild card series.
Greatest strength: Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman. It’s not every day you get to watch three hall of famers lead off a lineup. If these three can turn it on, they’ll surely repeat their triumph of 2024.
Greatest weakness: The bullpen. Hey, I warned you it was a common theme. This Dodger bullpen is the sixth worst in team history. They had 96 ‘meltdown’ outings and cannot find a consistent closer. They’ll be in trouble quickly despite a great starting rotation.
The Chicago Cubs are back in the postseason for the first time since the pandemic shortened season, and Wrigley Field is ready.
Greatest strength: The defense. Headlined by Pete Crow Armstrong’s elite center field patrol and the middle infield pair of Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson, their pitchers trust their defense. It’s a standout group among a league that has shifted away from prioritizing defense.
Greatest weakness: The pitching. Trusting your defense is great, but the Cubs have overtaxed their bullpen, and their rotation is full of question marks. Matthew Boyd is starting the first wild card game… case in point.
The San Diego Padres, yet again, dropped the NL West to the Dodgers. They’re still a great team and nearly slayed the $350 million giant.
Greatest strength: The bullpen. They go by the ‘super bullpen.’ It is undoubtedly the best in baseball.
They have five guys who throw 100mph. Mason Miller throws 104. It’s a scary sight.
Greatest weakness: The bottom of the order. The Friars will need production from their 7-9 in order to compete with the best of the best, which they haven’t found in the late months of the season.
The Cincinnati Reds are here too, somehow. The Mets bombed after the break, and the Reds won 83 games and lucked into a playoff spot. They were the final team to clinch, 30 minutes after their final game.
Greatest strength: Uhhh… the starters? Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo aren’t awful. The Reds are pretty mediocre, as their record suggests. They’ve had some strong stretches, but they’ll need a miracle to get past Los Angeles.
Greatest weakness: The lineup. They ranked in the bottom half of the league in almost every major offfensive statisical category. By run differential (Runs scored minus runs allowed), they are the worst full season playoff team of all time.
AL Champions: The Seattle Mariners have the pitching to get it done on a very level playing field in the AL bracket. The Red Sox will challenge them, but their offense will be no match for Seattle’s deck of aces. The Mariners are 26-9 in Seattle since the All-Star Break in mid-June, and the home field advantage will propel them to the Fall Classic for the first time in franchise history.
NL Champions: The Philadelphia Phillies are stacked, and nobody wants to play at Citizens Bank Park in October. They’ll cruise past the weak Dodger bullpen in the NLCS and prime an instant classic in the World Series.
World Series Champions: It’ll be one of the most memorable World Series of the century. The Phillies have too many great lefties in their rotation to lose four games to these Mariners, and the Mariners don’t have enough lefties on the hill to counter that Philadelphia lineup. That doesn’t mean it won’t be a fight. Philadelphia wins, four games to two over Seattle.
