How6rd's Wild Card

Wild Card Round

• Blue Jays vs Twins

  • A battle of two teams with solid pitching but Minnesota possibly has the biggest con out of the two teams leading the league as a team in strikeouts. The Blue Jays have a well-rounded team with a bit quieter bats from what we’ve seen in Toronto in past years. I really could see this series going either way as if the Twins flip the script of their offensive woes just like the Phillies did last year from the end of the season then their pitching staff is strong enough to possibly get the Blue Jays bats not to gain momentum and they can do that being in Minnesota. In a short series, I could definitely see Minnesota pulling off this one in three games

    • Minnesota advances

• Rangers vs Rays

  • The only team that has related to the rollercoaster of a season that the Rangers have had is their opponent in this series. Both of these teams have had major highs this year, and after a mid-season struggle the Rangers retooled in the trade deadline headlined by Jordan Montgomery and the bats were on fire to end the year. The Rays started off the year easily being the best team in the league until they went cold before all-star break and inched backwards closer and closer to the eventual AL East champs in the Orioles. The Rays didn’t go down without a battle as they caught fire at the end of the year and found some star power in their young talent. The Rays pitching is really solid in the weird way that they use them and the Rangers have enough power from their bats to break through, but with Scherzer’s major inconsistencies and if he doesn’t show up and puts the team in a bad spot, especially if they lose Game 1, I believe the Rays will go through this one.

    • Rays advance

• Diamondbacks vs Brewers

  • This is arguably the most underrated series of all of these as both of these teams are deep with depth and young in age. Zac Gallen was at one point a clear Cy Young favorite and still has been very strong in his outings overall this year, and the duo of Burnes and Freddy Peralta isn’t what the Brewers had for pitching last year yet still is a nice 1-2 punch for any playoff team. Yelich’s power may not be what it once was a few years back but he’s definitely found his swing along with William Contreras who looked to be nothing more than depth in the offseason. Corbin Carrol is the rookie who leads the bats on the other side and other past solid bats for the D-Backs in Christian Walker and Ketel Marte took until late season to really get going offensively. In my opinion these two teams match up really well and I can easily see this having to get stretched into three games, but as for a winner I believe both bullpen and rotation pitching wise I like the Brewers a lot in this one to win two games winning the battle at the end of 9+ innings.

    • Brewers advance

• Marlins vs Phillies

  • This matchup has a lot of firepower offensively as the Marlins have a solid mix of both power and bats to get runners on base nearly every time he comes up by the likes of Jorge Soler, Jazz Chisholm, and their offseason acquisition in Luis Arraez. Phillies on the other hand has incredible pop in their lineup consisting of a near 50 homer-hitter in Kyle Schwaber, a second-half hero in Trea Turner, and a future hall of famer just short of a World Series ring in Bryce Harper. The series really comes down to the pitching and outside of Zach Wheeler, the Phillies have a HUGE liability when it comes to relying on pitchers both out of the bullpen and starting off. The Marlins had a really strong start to the year in pitching outside of their Opening Day starter Sandy Alcantara, but ever since the start of September only Braxton Garrett ended the season comfortably (excluding his last start). Both teams don’t have way more stronger of a staff than the other, but I believe the Phillies have an advantage for their bullpen stability and their lineup is explosive enough to take advantage on less experienced starters for the postseason.

    • Phillies advance