Photo Credits: Getty Images, Orlando Ramirez
By Colin Bish, Sports Staffer
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and I’m not talking about December! The leaves fall off the trees, we’re reaching sweater weather and the baseballs are smashing out of the park. The MLB Playoffs kick off this afternoon with game one between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians at 1 p.m., followed by Padres-Cubs at 3 p.m., Red Sox-Yankees at 6 p.m. and Reds-Dodgers at 9 p.m. The field is wide open this year, after all, the Dodgers only placed third in the standings. With no superteam set to run the field, who will take it all home?
WILD CARD
Guardians beat Tigers in three games
Where did it all go wrong for Detroit? I can’t say one reason for certain; they looked like perennial championship contenders in the summer before enduring a horrendous fall. This slide allowed Cleveland to sneak back in and snatch the division title, but another slide by the Houston Astros kept Detroit in the playoff field, this time at the sixth spot. If there’s one constant in baseball, despite things never being constant, it’s that the hottest teams are the ones to go all-in on, and the Guards are smoking right now. No better example than their 5-2 win on Sept. 23, coming back to beat Detroit even with AL Cy Young RHP Tarik Skubal on the mound. Guardians’ RHP Gavin Williams starts Game 1, followed by RHP Tanner Bibee for Game 2 and RHP Slade Cecconi for a potential Game 3. Cleveland has just enough pitching depth, despite losing closer RHP Emmanuel Clase, to down Detroit once and for all.
Cubs beat Padres in two games
San Diego is a solid squad, no doubt about it, but everything they have, Chicago does better. They boast an elite hitting core composed of OF Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF Kyle Tucker, OF Seiya Suzuki, OF Ian Happ and 1B Michael Busch. Meanwhile, their pitching is just as great, led by the resurgent LHP Matthew Boyd backed by great starters and an elite bullpen. The Padres, even with RHP Nick Pivetta on the mound for Game 1, will just have too much on their hands to deal with in Wrigley Field.
Yankees beat Red Sox in three games
Even with my Red Sox fandom, this isn’t a simple “easy Sox win.” The catalyst of their offense, rookie OF Roman Anthony, is out until at least a potential ALCS run, and the offense has clearly felt his absence. Not to mention the pitching has seen some struggle outside of LHP Garrett Crochet, RHP Brayan Bello and LHP Aroldis Chapman. The Yankees have had their own offensive struggles, too. But they’ve been able to stay consistent thanks to OF Aaron Judge, clearly. But other bats like OF Jazz Chisholm Jr., 1B Ben Rice and DH Giancarlo Stanton have been able to produce efficiently for the Bronx Bombers. Although their bullpen is shaky, their starting pitching has looked just good enough to take care of the remaining games. It’ll be a close three games, and this series could easily go either way, but I think the Yankees’ postseason experience will be the difference maker.
Dodgers over Reds in two games
Poor Mets. Poor, poor Mets. But we’re not here to laugh at them again, there’s a playoff series to talk about! However, the Reds are very much ill-equipped to face the reigning world champions. Although they don’t look like the unstoppable force everyone made them out to be, their talent still speaks for itself. DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani is as great at the plate as ever, not to mention his return to the mound has been going swimmingly with a 2.87 ERA in 14 starts. Even the disappointing start of RHP Roki Sasaki hasn’t taken away from RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s revival and LHP Blake Snell coming back to his old form, too. A valiant effort by Manager Terry Francona’s Reds to make it to October, but I don’t believe they have the experience or talent to keep up with Los Angeles.
DIVISION SERIES
Mariners over Guardians in five games
Seattle has long been the victim of playoff disaster, harking back to their years of missing the postseason. But this is their first year winning their division since 2001, when they won 116 games and rookie OF Ichiro Suzuki won MVP. There’s a new MVP candidate in town, much different than Ichiro in C Cal Raleigh. The Big Dumper has taken the league by storm with 60 home runs and 125 RBIs; he’s backed well by a core of veteran bats like INF Jorge Polanco, OF Randy Arozarena and OF Julio Rodriguez. The pitching staff is equally as solid, but they’ll have a tough go around with Cleveland. It’ll be a competitive four games, but I see the Mariners finally breaking through and reaching the Championship Series.
Yankees over Blue Jays in three games
While the Blue Jays have had a magical season, magic will only take you so far (unless you’re the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2010s; still not over that insane 2011 World Series). Toronto has a great offense in tow, but their biggest weakness has been their pitching. They rank 19th in ERA, dead-last out of all playoff teams. Even if the starters hold down the fort, Judge and company will certainly expose that bullpen. The offense could certainly keep pace with the Yankees, they’re no slouches, but they can only score so many runs while the pitching gives up even more.
Phillies over Dodgers in five games
Just like the Boston, New York series, this can go either way and it will absolutely come down to the wire. This truly feels like the year everything comes together for the Phillies. The offense, led by DH Kyle Schwarber, has been dominant alongside NL batting-title winner SS Trea Turner, OF Bryce Harper and OF Brandon Marsh. Not to mention the pitching, which has looked so much better as of late. The addition of RHP Jhoan Duran to replace the reeling and, frankly awful, RHP Jordan Romano has taken the Phils to new heights. Again, it’ll be a tough series against these Dodgers, but I just have a feeling that this is the year Philadelphia finally gets over the hump they fell over the past two years.
Cubs over Brewers in four games
Even though Milwaukee has been an amazing story for 2025, all stories have an ending, good or bad. Unfortunately, I don’t see this one going the Brewers’ direction. Pitching has always been the strong suit, and continues to ring true this season. Meanwhile, the offense has done just enough to keep up this amazing pace. The difference in this series will come down to Chicago’s Manager Craig Counsell, the former head in Milwaukee, who knows this team better than anyone. He’ll have the answers no one expects against the Brew Crew, except one, and I know it: home-field advantage. The Cubs get one win, just one, in Milwaukee, and they’ll be primed for a series win at Wrigley. I just don’t see the Brewers being able to keep up on the road.
CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Yankees over Mariners in six games
My football coach in high school always used to tell me, “act like you’ve been here before” after our wins. He wanted us to make sure that we didn’t lose our cool and act out of line in victory, but there was also an air of knowing that we were a top program in the state, thus we had higher standards than most. I see the Yankees as the same, obviously much different, but the same logic applies. The Yankees have been here and done that when it comes to the Fall Classic. Even though I think both squads are evenly matched, I say the experience will take the Yankees past Seattle and back to the World Series.
Phillies over Cubs in five games
The Phils are such a well-rounded squad that I struggle to not acknowledge how amazing this team has been. The key will come through the pitching, in my eyes, with a veteran staff aided by new additions like the aforementioned Duran, LHP Jesus Luzardo and LHP Cristopher Sanchez. The offense will, therefore, easily capitalize on a downed Cubs pitching unit and take this series easily, bringing Philly back to the Fall Classic for the first time since 2022.
WORLD SERIES
Phillies over Yankees in six games
A rematch of the 2009 World Series, where the Yankees took down the Phils, ironically, in six games. The 2009 Series would mark the legendary SS Derek Jeter’s fifth and final World Series championship, meanwhile Philadelphia, a year removed from a title themselves, would begin to fall off beginning with this loss before finally rising back to prominence in 2022. This time, it’ll go the same amount of games, but the teams switch. The Phillies have primed everything this year for a World Series title, and it will all pay off in late October. I believe the difference in this series will come down to Turner, who’s no stranger to the clutch with his 2023 World Baseball Classic run, and he will win World Series MVP and deliver Harper his first championship.
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