MLB Power Rankings: Post-season predictions and storylines to watch

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw. (Mark J. Terrill/AP)

Julia Kreuz September 27, 2019, 6:43 PM

There’s something different about October baseball.

The familiar feeling of anticipation and excitement hovers around the MLB, as one weekend separates fans and players alike from the main stage.

Another year of home-run records and innovative strategies is now behind us, so here is a brief guide to the playoffs and a few predictions along the way.

Only two post-season spots have yet to be claimed as the season tapers off, with both wild-card positions in the American League still up for grabs. But the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays look well on track to upset the Cleveland Indians’ hopes of playing in October for the fourth time in a row, as Cleveland dropped two in a row to fall two games behind with three left to play.

It would be the Rays’ first trip to the playoffs since 2013, and, unfortunately for them, should they survive the Wild Card game, the almighty Houston Astros would wait for them in the ALDS.

Though the New York Yankees have led predictions and Power Rankings in the past few weeks, the Astros look like absolute favourites in the AL. They a have won eight of their last 10 games, and veteran starter Zack Greinke flexed his muscles to show he’s ready for October with a near no-hitter in his final start of the season, a 3-0 win over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday.

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New York is still dealing with a slew of injuries, and reliable starter Domingo German is on administrative leave for a domestic-violence incident. Gary Sanchez and Edwin Encarnacion are scheduled to return from injury before the playoffs start, and if they look like themselves when they do, it’s hard to see the Yankees falling to the Minnesota Twins in the ALDS.

But these late-season complications put a serious dent in the team’s chances of going through Houston and getting to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

Because, let’s face it, no one’s beating the Dodgers in the National League.

Yes, the Milwaukee Brewers have been on an absolute tear of late, posting a 19-4 record in September and losing just two games without defending MVP Christian Yelich — who’s out for the year with a fractured kneecap. And yes, the Atlanta Braves have a solid rotation and some young power with a .454 team slugging percentage.

With a second-best 3.50 starters’ ERA, the Washington Nationals and ace Max Scherzer have proven they can’t ever be overlooked, either. Slugger Trea Turner and RBI-leader Anthony Rendon have been nothing short of spectacular, especially in the second half of the season.

Paul Goldschmidt and the surprisingly effective St. Louis Cardinals might be the ones to hand the Dodgers their most challenging task, should they beat the Braves and advance to the NLCS.

But none of those teams has a one-two punch like Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu in their rotation, or a healthy young MVP like Cody Bellinger ⁠— who will need to play as though he has something to prove after getting just one hit and no RBIs in the Dodgers’ World Series loss to the Boston Red Sox last year.

A World Series prediction, for what it’s worth: Dodgers over Astros in seven.

Here are the final MLB Power Rankings of 2019:

1. (3) Los Angeles Dodgers