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Cubs Make Changes And Upgrades As Playoffs Near

Baseball’s postseason has arrived. If the Orioles can exert their power and have somewhat of a formidable rotation, they could surprise some people. Their starters played an average of just 133 games, with one of those players just hitting on a given day. However, the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets were both able to extend their seasons into October. In those seven seasons, only three teams rode their best regular season record to a World Series championship. O’Leary’s cow two blocks from Wrigley Field.

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This has been a season for the ages for the Chicago Cubs. Under manager Joe Maddon, who led the team to the league championship series in 2015 during his first year on the job, the Cubs are confident winners instead of lovable losers.

But to get Chicago, the easiest path may be just like it was during the 2011 Phillies’ playoff run – get them in the NLDS. It meant the pressure was off, the suffering was usually short-lived and we Cubs fans could go about our business of looking to the future with childlike optimism instead of dwelling on the failures of our team’s past. No World Series has done better ratings-wise than that memorable struggle 30 years ago. Apparently, baseball likes unpredictability.

How did Kansas City win the World Series?

Despite sweeping Boston in a four game series to end the season, the Yankees still came up four games short.

Buster Posey and the San Francisco Giants are back in the playoffs. After some heated debate and emoji usage in our staff group chat, here are our World Series picks. Rick Porcello has overachieved this season and now finds himself in the Cy Young conversation, but supposed ace David Price has had a down year. Mookie Betts and David Ortiz are MVP candidates, and Xander Bogaerts and Dustin Pedroia give Boston the best middle infield in the playoffs. He hit it a sinker into the visitors’ bullpen at Fenway Park for the most important home run in Red Sox history.

Q: Who has the best chance to beat the Red Sox? However, their biggest studs, Puig and Kershaw, are returning to the squad at the right time. With a 2-1 lead over the Texas Rangers, this would be the pivotal game of the series. The two teams will face off Wednesday night in NY in a one-off game to determine which gets the Wild Card seed in the playoffs.

Lastly, you’ll note that the Cubs’ Game 1 Friday will be on FS1, while Saturday’s Game 2 will be on MLB Network. Two days after breaking the previous all-time record, the Mariners won game No. 116 on October 6.

Blue Jays- Aaron Sanchez. They have also run into some poorly timed injuries to key players. As the postseason continued to alter in 1994, adding a third round, and 2012, introducing the Wild Card game, lower ranked teams began to outshine the top regular season teams. Throw in an air-tight defense and the know-how to win, and the Giants could go deep. Plus, he’s actually a really good pitcher, too, striking out the fourth most batters in the Major League Baseball. “Last year, they kind of were a runaway train”. Their numbers are very similar with Betts having more homers (31-29) and more RBI (113-100), but Trout having a much higher on-base percentage (.441-.363). The Dodgers will follow with another lefty, Rich Hill, and then Kenta Maeda.

Q: Can the Nationals expect rookie Trea Turner to perform in the postseason as he did in August and September?

With all due respect to every other team in the tournament, there is one matchup in the Fall Classic that would stand above the rest. “This sort of random fluctuation is baked into it more than any other sport, and seven games aren’t enough to wipe that away”. That speaks volumes about their strong rotation. You don’t win 103 games without some highly functioning top talent. Their offence has scored five runs per game which is the third-most in Major League Baseball. What is the Rangers’ biggest question? It tells a story of fans who have evolved with the game.

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For those of you on the West Coast, this is good news – prime time!

ATLANTA GA- JULY 03 Chipper Jones #10 of the Atlanta Braves reacts after hitting a single in the eighth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Turner Field