We’ve reached the division round of the American League playoff marathon and one division reigns supreme — the AL Central. Much maligned in recent years and home to the worst team in MLB history, the AL Central is nonetheless the only division in the American League guaranteed to have at least one representative in the Championship Series. And if the Royals have another upset up their sleeves, it will be an all-AL Central showdown for the pennant.
But first, we have the Royals-Yankees and Tigers–Guardians — just as we all predicted in March — to determine who will battle for the AL crown. Our crystal ball was decidedly foggy in the wild-card round. Will we find our sight for the ALDS?
Note: Playoff seed in brackets.
Kansas City Royals (5) vs. New York Yankees (1)
Staff predictions for KC vs. NYY
| Team | Percent of votes |
|---|---|
|
50% |
|
|
50% |
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Yankees vs. Royals ALDS preview: Predictions, pitching matchups and more
Grant Brisbee (Kansas City): I would like to be a jerk and go with the traditional favorite, and I also appreciate a good underdog story. My only rooting interest here, though, is measured by the height of the flames on social media when either team is eliminated. The Royals’ flames would get knee-high, at best. The Yankees’ flames would reach space. No contest.
Stephen Nesbitt (New York): It’s hard to knock the Royals after they just swept the Orioles on the road. But in the battle of AL MVP candidates, Aaron Judge vs. Bobby Witt Jr., I still favor the Yanks. The Royals certainly have the rotation and the superstar to pull off an upset, though. The Yankees won five of seven games against Kansas City in the regular season.
Neither lineup is what you would call deep, but the Yankees’ combination of Judge and Juan Soto is unrivaled. If Gerrit Cole in Game 1 looks like he did in late September, the Yanks will be just fine.
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Jen McCaffrey (Kansas City): The Yankees have a superior offense, but pitching-wise the Royals are right there with them. The overall stats favor New York, but I’m picking the Royals. We’ve already seen the numbers don’t always matter in the postseason.
Kaitlyn McGrath (New York): The Yankees had eight more wins than the Royals in the regular season, and they didn’t get to play the Chicago White Sox 13 times. With Juan Soto and Aaron Judge atop the lineup, the Yankees are built for the postseason, where home runs can be the difference between a win and a loss.
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C. Trent Rosecrans (Kansas City): Bobby Witt Jr. will be the difference on both sides of the ball — offense and defense. It’s time for one of the game’s brightest young stars to get the stage he deserves and there’s no better place to do it than Yankee Stadium.
Andy McCullough (New York): The Royals did an admirable job shutting down the Orioles’ offense. But Aaron Judge and Juan Soto offer a far greater challenge. The power of the Yankees should carry the series.
Sahadev Sharma (Kansas City): I like KC’s starters enough that I think they can pull off the upset.
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Eno Sarris (New York): The Royals will lose because they can’t score.
Andrew Baggarly (Kansas City): The Yankees can’t trust their bullpen. That seems suboptimal. But mostly, I’m just here in case there’s another pine tar incident.
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Katie Woo (Kansas City): The Royals don’t make the postseason all that often, but when they do, they hardly ever lose.
Melissa Lockard (New York): The Royals’ rotation is impressive, but the Yankees have a strong top three of their own and a lineup that is capable of doing more damage. That said, if it turns into a battle of bullpens, the Royals are in good position to capitalize. Yankees by a whisker.
Colt Keith (right) makes the throw over a sliding Brayan Rocchio. (Jason Miller / Getty Images)
Staff predictions for DET vs. CLE
| Team | Percent of votes |
|---|---|
|
41.70% |
|
|
58.30% |
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Guardians vs. Tigers ALDS preview: Predictions, pitching matchups and more
Andrew Baggarly (Cleveland): Like a fussy Michelin-starred restaurant, the Tigers and Guardians serve you a deconstructed pitching plan and then step out of the kitchen to soak up applause for their creativity. Presumptive AL Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal is the only Tigers pitcher to exceed 115 innings this season. The Guardians have just two (Ben Lively and Tanner Bibee).
Cleveland has no counter for Skubal, who might be the only dude in the series who will make a conventional start — and who already punched the Tigers through a best-of-3 series. But the Guardians staff has more quantity of quality to cover innings. And their lineup can beat you with power as well as with speed and bat control.
Sahadev Sharma (Cleveland): Tigers have the best starter, but they’re going to run out of pitching eventually.
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Stephen Nesbitt (Detroit): There comes a time each postseason when a prognosticator must decide whether to pick with their brain — listening to that ball-knowing frontal cortex — or commit to the bit. I’ve only ever chosen the latter. Bit is in my last name! Tigers in four, baby. Tarik Skubal will take the ball twice, and in between, pitching chaos will rain down upon Cleveland.
A.J. Hinch will keep turning to platoon bats and pitchers with fake names, these hairy and anonymous dudes hitting game-winners and hurling 100 mph heaters. You cannot make sense of the Gritty Tigs. You can only marvel.
Eno Sarris (Cleveland): The bullpen! Oh and all that contact the Guardians can make.
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Katie Woo (Detroit): Weird things happen in the postseason, which explains why Detroit’s “pitching chaos” has worked. The Tigers can line up their rotation so Tarik Skubal can pitch in Game 2 and Game 5, if necessary. In the meantime, they’ve proven to be able to fill in the gaps.
The Guardians have the best bullpen on the AL side of the bracket and every Cleveland pitcher will be available and well rested. But if we’ve learned anything from the Tigers these past two months, it’s that we can’t count them out.
C. Trent Rosecrans (Cleveland): The Guardians have been one of baseball’s best teams all year. They aren’t flashy, but they just do everything right and that’s what’s going to lead them to the ALCS.
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Tanner Bibee has a fiery competitive streak. The Guardians are counting on it in Game 1
Andy McCullough (Detroit): The Guardians won the regular-season series between these two clubs. Guess what? The regular season is over.
Grant Brisbee (Cleveland): I don’t want to be a jerk, and I appreciate a good underdog story, but the Guardians are a better team, and their biggest weakness (starting pitching) seems less glaring against a team that finished the season with the fourth-worst OPS+ in the American League.
Jen McCaffrey (Detroit): Both teams are neck and neck pitching-wise and the postseason is all about pitching. Cleveland should have the edge here, but it’s too hard to pick against the Tigers at this point.
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Kaitlyn McGrath (Cleveland): As magical as the Tigers’ run has been, I don’t think it will last over a longer series, especially given the state of their starting pitching behind Skubal. The Guardians didn’t have to scramble to make the postseason, and while they don’t necessarily win sexy, their bullpen is elite and that’s an X-factor at this time of the year.
(Top photo of Bobby Witt Jr. tagging out Aaron Judge: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)