2018 MLB Postseason Predictions

    The 2018 MLB Postseason is officially upon us, so we're back to make our 2018 playoff predictions (post-Wild Card play in). These are just PREDICTIONS about what will happen the rest of the way in October. Feel free to share your predictions with us as well! With that said, let's jump right in:

NLDS: ATLANTA BRAVES vs. LOS ANGELES DODGERS

Machado: traded to Dodgers on August 18.

    This 2018 Atlanta Braves team has surprised a lot of people by being a year ahead of schedule and running away with the NL East in September. The Braves have a solid group of veterans, including NL hits leader Freddie Freeman, All-Star Nick Markakis and Julio Teheran, but the story for the Braves this season has been the prominent rise of their young stars like Ozzie Albies, Ronald Acuna and Johan Camargo. However, the Braves only have a handful of guys who have tasted the Postseason before and that's where the odds begin to skew in LA's favor. Youth brings energy, but also inexperience. This Dodger team is full of experience. Most of the big pieces the same from last year's World Series run, and they've added veterans Brian Dozier and Manny Machado to the mix. The Braves did not fair well against the Dodgers in the regular season and both Dodger Stadium and SunTrust Park bode well for home run hitting clubs-like the Dodgers. I like this Braves club, and they have a bright future, but I think their young core needs to get another year under their belts before we start talking about them as serious championship contenders. DODGERS IN 4.

NLDS: COLORADO ROCKIES vs. MILWAUKEE BREWERS
    In a tightly contested division, it took the Milwaukee Brewers 163 games to nab the NL Central crown. Similar to their improbable run in 2007, the Colorado Rockies made the postseason on the heels of a red-hot September before beating the Cubs at Wrigley Field in the NL Wild Card game in what many believe to be a shocking upset. This series will definitely be a hitter's paradise, as both mile-high Coors Field and Miller Park in Milwaukee give up their share of runs. There is star power on both sides, so I believe this shortened series will go the distance, but I give the edge to Milwaukee in this one. The red-hot bat of the likely NL MVP Christian Yelich and the playoff experience of 2015 World Series champions Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas will lead a Brewers attack that will prove to much for Rockies pitching. BREWERS IN 5.

ALDS: CLEVELAND INDIANS vs. HOUSTON ASTROS
    It is truly a shame that these two clubs are meeting in the first round, as there's only potential for five games. These are the two most experienced teams in the postseason, having both been to the World Series within the last two seasons. Also, both teams come into this postseason with the nucleus of their respective World Series rosters still intact. Both however, have added huge pieces since then-Garritt Cole for the Astros and Josh Donaldson for the Indians. This is one of the most evenly matched postseason series we've seen in years and I don't see a clear cut advantage, so I'm going to air on the side of more recent history and say: ASTROS IN 5.

ALDS: NEW YORK YANKEES vs. BOSTON RED SOX
    It is the postseason when baseball rivalries come to life and there is no rivalry bigger than the Yankees Red Sox. This is yet another instance where it's a shame that the ALDS is a Best-of-5 series, because it's a disservice to baseball to not have these two meet without potential of a 7-game series. Even though they split the season series pretty evenly (10-9 Red Sox), Boston is clearly the more complete team. Boston does everything well, with a killer pitching staff and undoubtedly the top-2 AL MVP vote-getters (Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez) anchoring an offense that is very balanced, as opposed to a Yankees offense that is the epitome of "strikeouts don't matter." Unfortunately for them, in the postseason, they really, REALLY do. RED SOX IN 5.


NLCS: LOS ANGELES DODGERS vs. MILWAUKEE BREWERS

Yelich: A .326/36/110 line could earn NL MVP honors

  Both of these teams come into this series having been battle tested all season, coming out on top in the two toughest divisions in baseball in 2018. These two teams have very differing offensive styles and that will be the interesting thing to watch in this series. The Dodgers possess a relentless pursuit of the long ball and the Brewers offer a get-'em-up & get-'em-in approach. Pitching will play a huge role in this series, as to who can neutralize the opposing offensive attack better. I think L.A has the advantage there, but it's hard to bet against a brewers team that is coming into the postseason on an 8-game win streak. It will be a hard fought and competitive series, and because of that, it's a toss-up. I think home field and a more grounded offensive approach will be the X-factor. BREWERS IN 6.

ALCS: HOUSTON ASTROS vs. BOSTON RED SOX
    To put it simply: I like Boston here. The Red Sox have been set up to win a title for a couple of years, so I believe it's coming sooner rather than later. Houston boasts one of the best postseason starting rotations we've seen in a long time, but Boston seems to be a team chasing after destiny this year. The defending champs will be no easy out though. RED SOX IN 7.


WORLD SERIES: MILWAUKEE BREWERS vs. BOSTON RED SOX

Martinez: .330 AVG., 43 HR, 130 RBIs in 2018

     At this point in the season, I've learned to trust my gut when it tells me not to bet against Christian Yelich. The Brewers earned home-field advantage in a very tough National League race. They're for real. They wouldn't have gotten to this point if they weren't. With that being said, this Red Sox team feels remarkably similar to the 2013 team after the Boston bombing-a team chasing destiny. The crucial piece of that destiny run came back in the offseason when they signed J.D. Martinez, who has had  his second straight MVP-caliber season. There just seems like this team is too loaded not to fulfill their destiny. RED SOX IN 6.

The Age of Super Utility

    Every sport is defined by something. Basketball is a game of runs, soccer is a game of agility and grace, football's a game of chances and baseball, as they say, is a game of inches. A baseball bouncing an inch to the right or left can be the difference between fair or foul, safe or out, win or loss. Yep. Baseball's a game of inches. But it's more complicated than that. Baseball's a game of eras-periods of time where the narrative of the sport is dominated by once single topic and the game must adapt to counter it. The Dead Ball Era, the Yankees Era, the Steroid Era and the Fastball Era just to name a few. Each of these, no matter how long they lasted, forced the game to change.

    Many people look at the state of the game right now and see a new era upon us: the Launch Angle Era. I mentioned the Launch Angle Era in my previous post: Top 10 Most Underrated Hitters. In this era, it is all about the home runs, no matter what. Strikeouts are up, batting average are down. Starters pitch less and the high fastball is your best option on the mound.

Zobrist: Has played 190+ games at FOUR

different position in 12-year career.

    That is the era that most baseball fans think we're in, and they'd be right, but that doesn't mean it's the only one. I think we're currently in another era as well: The Super Utility Era. From Little League all the way up through the minors, players are encouraged to play multiple positions to make themselves more marketable to major league teams.  While we've always seen guys play multiple positions, they always had a primary spot, but now you're seeing guys listed as UTIL, or utility, with no primary position. It's similar to high school and college football players being listed as ATH, or athlete. They can be used as their coaches see fit. Now, we are seeing that kind of strategy work its way more and more into the MLB. We have entered the Age of Utility and it makes things a lot more interesting.

    We're going to take a look at a few players who are considered "super utility players" and a couple of specialty guys who took on the role in extreme cases.

Chris Taylor- Los Angeles Dodgers
 Chris Taylor was a huge piece for the Dodgers in 2017 on their way to the World Series. He had a breakout year after coming over from the Seattle Mariners and provided sparks for LA at the top of their batting order, but it was his work in the field that made him a truly valuable piece. Taylor tallied 501 AB while five different positions and 13 pinch hit appearances for the Dodgers last year. These were his numbers:

CHRIS TAYLOR-2017 BATTING

POSTITION	AT-BATS	AVERAGE	HITS	HOME RUNS	RBIs
2B	67	.313	21	4	11
3B	15	.200	3	0	2
SS	47	.340	16	1	4
LF	189	.333	63	10	32
CF	183	.213	39	5	18
TOTAL*	501	.283	142	20	67

*pinch hit appearances not counted

Fielding multiple positions can be tricky, but Taylor brought his glove with him, committing 11 errors combined:

CHRIS TAYLOR- 2017 FIELDING

POSITION	ERRORS	FIELDING PERCENTAGE
2B	5	.944
3B	1	.909
SS	3	.941
CF	1	.989
LF	1	.990
TOTAL	11	.967

Marwin Gonzalez-Houston Astros

    The Dodgers' opponent in the World Series was the Houston Astros, a team who has their own utility man in Marwin Gonzalez. Gonzalez was all over the diamond for the World Series Champions in the regular season, playing games with SIX different positions following his name on the lineup card. He produced with both the leather and the lumber, racking up a .302 average and only committing 8 errors:

MARWIN GONZALEZ- 2017 BATTING

POSTITION	AT-BATS	AVERAGE	HITS	HOME RUNS	RBIs
1B	81	.309	25	6	16
2B	61	.393	24	5	19
3B	53	.321	17	3	13
SS	113	.248	28	1	12
LF	140	.300	42	7	26
RF	1	.000	0	0	1
TOTAL*	449	.302	136	22	87

*pinch hit appearances not counted

MARWIN GONZALEZ-2017 FIELDING

POSITION	ERRORS	FIELDING PERCENTAGE
1B	2	.988
2B	1	.986
3B	3	.932
SS	2	.984
LF	0	1.000
RF	0	.000
TOTAL	8	.950

Ben Zobrist-Chicago Cubs
    Ben Zobrist has been a really good utility man for over a decade. He even took home World Series MVP honors in 2016 for his work with the Cubs. Zobrist's 2017 stats are just a small sample size of how valuable of a piece he is on the field. Being able to fill any spot on the lineup card is invaluable and Ben Zobrist is one of the best. He has clocked significant time at every position besides pitcher and catcher, but impressively Zobrist has spent 190+ games at four of those positions. There's no denying that the man can flat-out play baseball:

BEN ZOBRIST-2017 BATTING

POSITION	AT-BATS	AVERAGE	HITS	HOME RUNS	RBIs
2B	254	.232	59	5	24
SS	5	.200	1	0	0
LF	54	.259	14	4	10
RF	104	.202	21	2	12
TOTAL*	417	.227	95	11	46

*pinch hit appearances not counted

BEN ZOBRIST- 2017 FIELDING

POSITION	ERRORS	FIELDING PERCENTAGE
1B	0	1.000
2B	3	.988
SS	0	1.000
LF	0	1.000
RF	0	1.000
TOTAL	3	.991

    But, filling a need isn't just for position players. On rare occasions a pitcher has stepped up for their teams. Atlanta Braves pitcher has been called on four times as a pinch hitter in his career and has even made an appearance as a pinch runner.

    On June 2, 2018, Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer came off the bench as a pinch hitter in the 14th inning of a game against the Braves, singled, and scored the go-ahead run from first on a triple. Pitchers can run the bases too, guys!

    The oddest instance of a pitcher going above and beyond came on July 31st, 2016. While he was with the Chicago Cubs, relief pitcher Travis Wood entered the game and pitched. Then, in the 7th inning, manager Joe Maddon took Wood off the mound and put him in left field. He proceeded to then make an impressive catch against the ivy in left field, then went back to the mound to finish the inning as the pitcher...again. Talk about athleticism.

    The utility player can be one of the most valuable pieces on any team, but they can also go relatively unnoticed despite all they bring to their clubs. If you ask me, we should stop focusing on launch angle and dive head first into the Age of Super Utility.

    What do you guys think of the super utility man? Passing fad or new age of the game? Let me hear you! See y'all around!

Top 10 Most Underrated Hitters

Let's face it: there are ALOT of big bats in Major League baseball, Jose Altuve, Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge just to name a few. Unfortunately, in the era of launch angle and exit velocity, the art of hitting-real hitting-is disappearing. Batting titles and on-base percentage is out, and home run crowns are in.

 This is the era of baseball we live in, and it's a bad one. Don't get me wrong, I love home runs. They're exciting, but not at the expense of the most fundamental thing in the game-the base hit. The most puzzling thing about this launch angle era of baseball is the idea that "strikeouts don't matter". Young players are willing to sacrifice average and on-base percentage for strikeouts as long as they're hitting bombs. The fundamental flaw of this theory is that baseball doesn't have a clock. Baseball has outs-27 of them to be exact. A finite, unmoving number. A strikeout takes one of those outs away. If you reach that 27th out and you're trailing, that's it. Base hits extend games, extend innings, extend winning streaks. Strikeouts don't. Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton are exciting for sure. They combined for 150 homers in 2017....but they also combined for 517 strikeouts. That's a lot of outs...more than 19 full games worth in case you were wondering.

      Base hits aren't sexy anymore, but they win games and win championships. The players that still recognize that deserve to be recognized. Some hitters catch our attention, like former MVPs Buster Posey and Joe Mauer, but others don't. So, I've done my research and come up with what I believe are the ten most underrated and underappreciated hitters in all of Major League baseball. The main criteria for getting your name on this list is not having been recognized with awards, so Joey Votto's MVP, Daniel Murphy's NLCS MVP and Joe Mauer's hitting title rule them out. Let's dive in:

 10. Brandon Belt- San Francisco Giants

    Brandon Belt is a 2-time World Series champion with the San Francisco Giants at was a central part in his team's ability to attain the ultimate price in both 2012 and 2014. Belt's raw stats may not blow you away, but the career .270 hitter gets on base a lot. Drawing a lot of walks and posting a career OBP of.361 insures that his is on base for his teammate and 2012 NL Buster Posey to drive him in. One immeasurable stat that Belt possesses is his plate presence. His 6-foot 4, 235-pound frame is tough for any pitcher to overlook. Belt's bat is biggest when it matters most, posting a .308 average in the 2014 World Series. Hitting isn't always flashy and Brandon Belt proves that, but it is always productive.

 9. Scooter Gennett- Cincinnati Reds

Gennett: 4 HRs & 10 RBIs on June 6, 

2017 vs. Cardinals

Gennett broke into the league in 2013 with Milwaukee and has a career average of .289. Only once in his career has Gennett had an on-base percentage (OBP) lower than .300 (and it was .294), and so far in 2018 he is top-5 in the entire MLB in both hits and batting average. But don't think he doesn't have any power. He hit a career-high 27 home runs in 2017, including four in one game. Gennett has proven he knows how to hit in this league.

 8. Nick Castellanos- Detroit Tigers

Castellanos may not be a well-known name in the league, but that may be because he has spent his entire career hitting in the (literal) shadow of one of the MLB's all-time greats, Miguel Cabrera. For the last couple of years though, Cabrera has battled injuries and Castellanos has had to carry a less-than-stellar Detroit Tigers offense alone, and he's done a pretty good job considering that Detroit has been in full rebuild mode since their 2012 World Series appearance. Surprisingly though, the 2018 Tigers find themselves very much in the AL Central division race and Castellanos is a major reason why. He is hitting .307 with 41 RBIs so far. Even though he struggled to find his place in the league when he was called up in 2013, Castellanos has managed to rebound for a career average of .272. He is also on pace for career-highs in batting average, hits, runs scored and doubles in 2018. Castellanos is definitely under-appreciated.

 7. Anthony Rendon- Washington Nationals

Rendon: 6-6, 10 RBIs on May 30,

2017 vs Mets

 Anthony Rendon is on this list for one major reason: the Washington Nationals are stacked on offense. That's definitely a good thing if you're Rendon, but the problem is that no one talks about Rendon's bat with all those others around. Rendon is consistent and dangerous....when he's on the field. 2018 is Rendon's 6th big league season and in the five years prior, he has only played for than 100 games three times (2014, 2016, 2017). So, he's a bit injury prone, but in those three seasons-where he played in 153, 156 and 147 games respectively-Rendon has managed to rack up more than 150 hits, 80 RBIs, 38 doubles and 80 runs in those seasons, and he's projected to do it again in 2018. He even collected Comeback Player of the Year honors in 2016. While Rendon won't put up Bryce Harper's power numbers, he possesses something that many players don't-the clutch gene. He has a reputation for coming up with the big hits when Washington needs them. In a game against the division rival Mets on April 30th, 2017, Rendon delivered in a big way. He went 6 for 6 at the plate, hitting 3 homers and driving in 10 runs! Tell me you wouldn't want that guy on your team.

 6. J.T. Realmuto-Miami Marlins

    Prior to the 2018 season, new owner Derek Jeter blew up the Marlins existing roster, and when the smoke cleared, Realmuto was seemingly all that was left from the 2017 Marlins offense. As the default leader of the now-depleted Marlins club, Realmuto hasn't wavered. He has posted a .300 average with 9 homers and 27 RBIs, which is especially impressive when you consider that he's only played in 53 of Miami's 74 games, since he's a catcher and they don't play every day. Realmuto is young, and won't blow you away with power, but he's consistent and not afraid to take his walks, giving him a career OBP of .327. Given that he shared a lineup card with Giancarlo Stanton up until 2017, getting on base with that guy coming to the plate counted for a lot.

 5. Brandon Nimmo-New York Mets

Nimmo: Drafted 13th overall in 2011

from American Legion ball.

    When crafting my list, I had one pretty hard and fast rule: the players needed to have plenty of big league experience. That meant no rookies or sophomores because it's hard to tell with those guys if they're just that good, or if opposing pitchers just haven't figured them out yet. But after watching him play, I knew I had to make an exception for the Mets' Brandon Nimmo. In his short career, spanning only 161 games, Nimmo has proven himself not only to be a threat in New York's lineup, but as a picture of health on a roster otherwise ravaged with injuries. His constant presence and production for the Mets is a bright spot in a roller coaster season for New York. I know this choice is suspect given his limited service time, but trust me, the kid can play. The most impressive thing about this guy is his story. Growing up in Wyoming, the cold weather meant that his high school didn't have a baseball program, so Nimmo played American Legion ball. Traveling all around the country to play high school baseball, Nimmo was discovered by the Mets and drafted him in 2011. Not having a "home team" in high school tells me one thing: Nimmo is adaptable, which is valuable in any league. He gets on base a ton, posting a career OBP of .385 (.409 in 2018) and he can run, already putting up 26 extra base hits in 2018....including 5 triples, good enough for fourth in the MLB. He may not have the numbers yet, but you're going to have to trust me, he's going to.

 4. Nick Markakis- Atlanta Braves

    This was a difficult choice, not because Nick Markakis doesn't deserve to be on this list, because he definitely does, but because he has a couple of teammates that deserve to be too. Along with my rule about service time, my only other rule for making this list was that I didn't want to have multiple players from the same team. However, it's worth mentioning that both Freddie Freeman and Ender Inciarte could've made this list. Freeman, who in a recent ESPN article was called "criminally underrated" is a career .293 hitter with 635 RBIs in 8 seasons and is arguably the best opposite field hitter in the game today. Inciarte is a on-base machine, posting career marks at a .290 average and a .337 OBP. He's gotten 150 or more hits each of the last three seasons-collecting 201 hits in 2017, good enough for the 3rd highest mark in the MLB-and is on pace to reach that mark again in 2018.  With competition like that on his own team, you know Markakis is good. Only once in his 12-year career has Markakis had less than 170 in a season where he's played at least 145 games, and that was his rookie year. In 2018, at the age of 34 Markakis may be having his best season ever. In the National League, Markakis has the league lead in hits, ranks in the top 5 for batting average and doubles, 6th in OBP, 10th in RBIs, and he's a tough man to set down on strikes, leading all of Major League Baseball in plate appearances per strikeout. The thing that sets Markakis apart from his teammates is this: Markakis is the elder of this list playing 12-big league seasons with Baltimore and Atlanta and amassing 2100 career hits. He's one of the best right fielders in the game, both offensively and defensively and is a poster child for playing every day, playing less than 147 games only once in his career. Despite all of this, Markakis has never been selected to an All-Star Game. That is the definition of underrated. Do the right thing this summer: help get Nick Markakis to the 2018 MLB All-Star Game.

 3. Mookie Betts- Boston Red Sox

Betts: Has two 3-HR games in 2018

    If I was making this list next year, this guy probably wouldn't be on it. When I started this process, the 2018 season hadn't started yet. Mookie Betts is likely going to win the 2018 AL MVP Award, so I guess he's proving me right. Premonitions of future success aren't new to me. At the start of the 2011 season, while he was solid, yet still relatively unknown, I told a friend of mine that Clayton Kershaw would win the NL Cy Young that season, which he did...and two more after that. Markus Lynn "Mookie" Betts is having the best year of his young career, but the 25-year old id no stranger to this level of success. He has a career batting average of .296, the highest of anyone on this list. In his four seasons prior to 2018, he drove in 100 runs twice, played in at least 145 games three times, had at least 165 hits three  times and hit at least .290 three times. In 2018, he is likely going to set career highs in both batting average and home runs, currently hitting .336 with 18 bombs. Again, if I'm making this list in 2019, Mookie's probably not on it since this is about underrated hitters, just like if I had made this list prior to the 2017 season, Charlie Blackmon, Justin Turner, and Daniel Murphy probably would've made appearances. Being underrated only lasts for so long when you're this good.

 2. Christian Yelich- Milwaukee Brewers

    Just like his former teammate J.T. Realmuto, Christian Yelich was overshadowed for years in Miami by Giancarlo Stanton, despite being far and away the best pure HITTER on the team. It wasn't until the last year or so when fans started to notice how good a hitter Yelich actual is, but he did manage to earn a Silver Slugger Award as Stanton's teammate in 2016. In his five years, Yelich has never had an average lower than .282, not even in his rookie season. Yelich has been a good hitter from the jump in this league, collecting 790 hits with a .291 average by his age 26 season. He drives in runs and has good speed, collecting 30 or more doubles in each of his last four seasons. Yelich is finally getting the recognition he deserves, earning an offseason trade to the new-look Milwaukee Brewers, where he, along with All-Star outfielder Lorenzo Cain, has staked claim to the first place spot in the tightly-contested NL Central Division. Yelich is one of the best, most underappreciated hitters on this list and in the league, and he's only 26.

 1. A.J. Pollock- Arizona Diamondbacks

Pollock: Hit over .300 in consecutive 

years (2014, 2015)

    The top spot comes with a grain of salt. A.J. Pollock is truly one of my favorite players in the entire league. He can out-hit anyone...when he's healthy. Yes, that is his Achilles heel and it's a big one. Pollock has missed a ton of time for the Diamondbacks in his career, but when it's in the lineup, his bat is something special.  He has a career batting average of .293 and an OBP of .349. To give you an idea how good Pollock is and how highly Arizona thinks of him, consider this: at the 2015 MLB Winter Meetings the Diamondbacks traded Dansby Swanson to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Shelby Miller. You're probably thinking "What does this have to do with A.J. Pollock?" Pollock was going into his fifth season in Arizona, but he was starting to feel the heat from a second year player breathing down his neck in center field. In order to ease the pressure, the D-Backs traded that second year player to Atlanta, essentially as a throw-in piece in the Dansby Swanson trade. That player's name: Ender Inciarte. You know, the guy I mentioned above who had 201 hits in 2017 and was getting NL MVP considerations? The same guy who, oh by the way, has one two consecutive Gold Gloves in Atlanta and is well on his way to a third, all the while Pollock has missed 233 of Arizona's 397 team games since the trade. The Diamondbacks were confident enough in Pollock to let Inciarte go, and for good reason. As I said, when he's healthy, he's dangerous. While this spot on the list may read more like a scathing retort of the injury-plagued center fielder or a ringing endorsement for his former battery mate, I assure you it isn't. It is a plea for him to get healthy because I believe he is one of the best hitters in this game. Wait and see.

    There you have it: my top 10 most underrated hitters. Let me know what you think of the list. Who are your top 10? Let's debate this. One thing that's not up for debate is that the art of hitting needs to come back in style. Also, let me know what other top 10 lists you'd like to see. See y'all around!