2024 National League Championship Series

Games Three, Four, and Five @ Citi Field - Queens, New York, NY

Game Six @ Dodger Stadium - Los Angeles, CA

Heading to New York, the series is tied at a game apiece. The Dodgers pummeled the Met in game one, but the Mets responded with a 7-3 win behind a leadoff Francisco Lindor homer and a Mark Vientos grand slam. The fans at Citi Field is raring to cheer on their beloved Mets, but the Dodgers big bats will look to silence the raucous crowd early. Shohei Ohtani has yet to have a hit with the bases empty, but he’s doing plenty of damage with runners on base. Dating back to the regular season, he is 16 for his last 19 with runners in scoring position… that’s just absurd. Mookie Betts and Max Muncy continue to swing hot bats, and with Freddie Freeman hobbled with an ankle injury, it will be Tommy Edman of all people stepping into the cleanup spot. This is a deep lineup that grinds out at bat after at bat, exhausting their opposing pitchers and forcing mistakes. The pitching plan is always a bit nebulous for manager Dave Roberts, who lacks reliable starting pitching, but has numerous quality options out of the pen. Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, Anthony Banda, and others have strung together zeroes across multiple games, though they will need at least something from their starters. Buehler will get the ball in game three, Yamamoto in game four, Flaherty in game five, and likely a bullpen game if it gets to six back in LA. It will take a team effort to bring the Dodgers back to the World Series, and these guys will live up to that task.

The Mets are feeling good heading into game three, as they should on this magical run they’ve been on. Carlos Mendoza will send Luis Severino to the mound for game three, then José Quintana for game four, and likely David Peterson for game five. If they can extend the series, they will be quite confident with their ace Sean Manaea on the hill, with either a shot to clinch the series or force a decisive game seven. But if the Mets aim to win this thing, the bats are gonna need to step up. Apart from the six run outburst early in game two, the Mets have been befuddled by the Dodger bullpen (just like San Diego). With a trip to the World Series on the line, we shall see whether the Mets will continue to conjure up playoff magic, or if the Dodgers can find a way to break it.

Audio clips from MLB.tv

LAD radio 570 AM - Stephen Nelson and Rick Monday

NYM radio WCBS - Howie Rose and Keith Raad

As always, shout out to Baseball Reference for statistics, boxscores, background information, and much, much more.

Catch you next time,

P.C.O.

2024 American League Championship Series

Games Four and Five @ Progressive Field - Cleveland, OH

The Guardians avoided going down three games to none thanks to the heroics of Jhonkensy Noel and David Fry, who respectively hit game-tying and walk-off home runs off of the Yankees relief aces. There’s a ton of excitement in the Land, but there are some ominous signs for Steven Vogt’s ball club. The starting pitching has not given length nor has it been very effective so far, and Cleveland will call upon the unproven Gavin Williams (3-10 4.86 ERA 76 IP) in game four and bring back Tanner Bibee (12-8 3.47 173 IP) on short rest for game five. More worrisome is the fact that the Yankees have been able to do damage against Emmanuel Clase, who is regarded as the best closer in the game. And with stalwarts Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis having been used heavily to boot, the strategy of reliever carousel might not be so sound. If the Guardians are going to pull this off, they will have to bring the bats as they did in game three. That means much better production from José Ramírez and Josh Naylor, as well as frankly any production from the catching tandem of Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges. We know the Guardians will not go down without a fight, but do they have enough to contend with the Yankees onslaught.

Game three was a whirlwind finish for Aaron Boone’s squad, coming back in the eighth with back-to-back homers, but then unable to get the final out despite just being a strike away from a likely insurmountable 3-0 lead. Still, the Yankees are in good position in this series, and they will look to press their advantage as they seek their 41st AL pennant. They send rookie Luis Gil (15-7 3.50 ERA 150 IP) to the mound in game four, who was incredible to start the year, but seemed to hit a wall in the second half. Then for game five, Carlos Rodón (16-9 3.96 ERA 175 IP) will get the ball again, looking to replicate his outstanding game one start. The bullpen has shown its first cracks the postseason, with Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver coughing up the lead in game three. This is no worry with the offense, however, as Giancarlo Stanton continues to just hit home runs nearly every game, Gleyber Torres and Juan Soto get on base in about half of their at bats, and Aaron Judge has finally shown some life. They are a dangerous lineup, and if the Guardians continue to gift them opportunities with runners in scoring position, the Yankees will make you pay. Tune in to a competitive finish to this exciting ALCS.

Audio clips from MLB.tv

TBS Broadcast - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and Jeff Francoeur

CLE Radio WTAM - Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

NYY Radio WFAN - John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman

As always, shout to Baseball Reference and SABR for statistics, boxscores, background research, and much, much more.

Catch you next time,

P.C.O.

2024 American League Championship Series

Game Three - New York Yankees @ Cleveland Guardians

The Guardians return to Cleveland with their backs against the wall, having lost the first two game of the ALCS to the Yankees in the Bronx. Steven Vogt’s team finds themselves in a 2-0 series hole due to a mix of sloppy defense, shaky pitching, and shoddy hitting. There’s a lot that this club will have to shape up in short order if they want to avoid being down three games to none. These guys were pushed to the brink against Detroit in the previous series, and they responded with aplomb. If they’re to have any chance against the Yankees, they’re gonna need to do the same tonight.

The Yankees are just two wins away from returning to the World Series for the first time in 15 seasons. They haven’t been perfect so far, but there has been little to complain about. The pitching has been outstanding, particularly Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver at the back end. They’ve gotten contributions up and down the lineup, with Torres and Soto setting the table and Stanton cleaning up. Aaron Judge may finally be breaking out of his postseason slump, homering in game two. But there is still work to do, and manager Aaron Boone is well aware of how quickly fortunes can change in the playoffs.

Game three will feature a matchup between Cleveland lefty Matthew Boyd and New York righty Clarke Schmidt. Boyd has been effective so far, but his outings have been short by design. With no Cleveland starter having completed five innings to this point and with a bullpen that’s been taxed, how many outs can the Guardians get from the lefty. The 28 year old righty for the Yankees was good, but unspectacular in his first postseason start. Boone will likely have a quick hook to set up his powerful back-end arms, but their heavy usage could be cause for concern. Tune in to one of the best playoff games of the past deade.

Audio clips from MLB.tv

CLE radio WTAM - Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

CLE radio ESP - Rafa Hernández-Brito and Carlos Baerga

NYY radio WFAN- John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman

TBS broadcast - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and Jeff Francoeur

Catch you next time,

P.C.O.

2024 American League Championship Series

Cleveland Guardians @ New York Yankees - Games One and Two @ Yankee Stadium

Could this finally be the year that the World Series returns to the Bronx? By nearly every measure, the last fifteen years of Yankee baseball has been a success. A winning record every year, multiple deep playoff runs, an MVP, a Cy Young, a Rookie of the Year, the list could go on. But they are missing the only accolade that matters to those who don the pinstripes, a World Series title. Never mind that they already own 27 Commissioner’s trophies, and 13 additional AL pennants. The standard is a World Series, anything less a complete and utter failure. So there will be no excuses for manager Aaron Boone, in his seventh season, which he hopes will be his first advancing past the ALCS. No excuses for Aaron Judge, who will almost certainly win his second MVP, but has scuffled in the playoffs to date. No excuses for Gerrit Cole, the $300 million dollar ace and reigning Cy Young who has battled injuries this year. No excuses for Juan Soto, the hitting savant on the brink of free agency. There won’t be any excuses for these Yanks, especially with their path to the World Series clear of their recent foes, the Houston Astros. So, can they take AL pennant number 41 and vie for World Series number 28?

Standing in the Yankees way are the scrappy Cleveland Guardians. Behind the heroics of David Fry in game four and Lane Thomas in game five, Cleveland was able to eke past the Detroit Tigers despite not having a single starting pitcher complete five innings in the series. Stringing together 27 outs and keeping the powerful Yankees bats silent will be a tall task for manager Steven Vogt, but he has lots of confidence in his big four (Smith, Gaddis, Herrin, and Clase). Beyond them, however, it can get dicey. As is often the case, championship series baseball will test your mettle, an interesting challenge for such a young and relatively inexperienced ball club (and manager). The Yankees have been battle-tested, though this core has yet to advance past this round. Will the Guardians be able to block them again?

Game one will be a duel between veteran starters lefty Carlos Rodon for New York and righty Alex Cobb for Cleveland. Rodon had a great beginning to his start against Kansas City, but he quickly ran out of gas in the fourth inning. He’ll look to manage his adrenaline and energy more effectively in this one. Cobb is a wily craftsman, but he’s had his struggles against the middle of the Yankees order, particularly vs. Juan Soto. Game two will be a matchup between number one starters Gerrit Cole and Tanner Bibee. Both right handers have had mixed results from the two previous playoff starts, but the edge certainly leans toward the more experience Cole. After these two games, we will head to Cleveland for games three, four, and five* (if necessary).

Audio clips from MLB.tv

NYY Radio WFAN - John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman

CLE Radio WTAM - Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

TBS broadcast - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and Jeff Francoeur

As always, shout out to Baseball Reference and SABR for statistics, box scores, background information, and much, much more.

2024 National League Championship Series

New York Mets @ Los Angeles Dodgers - Games One and Two

Once again we have a battle between Los Angeles and New York in the playoffs, but instead of Dodgers and Yankees (which we may yet see in the World Series) it will be the Dodgers taking on the Mets. Carlos Mendoza’s squad took down their division rival Phillies in just four games, behind strong starting pitching from Severino, Manaea, and Quintana, as well as clutch hitting from Mark Vientos, Pete Alonso, and superstar Francisco Lindor. These Mets don’t mind being the underdog, but they will have yet another tall task ahead of them in the NLCS.

The Dodgers also took down their division rival in the San Diego Padres, though Dave Roberts’s team was pushed to the brink in five games. They rode unbelievable pitching to ultimately advance, holding the Padres scoreless for the final 24 innings in the series. If they somehow shut out the Mets in game one, they would tie the all-time postseason scoreless streak (which was inflicted upon the Dodgers by the Orioles in the 1966 World Series). Shohei Ohtani’s first postseason has been successful so far, mainly because he has come through nearly every time with runners on base (he’s been hitless with the bases empty.) Mookie Betts has finally returned to form in the playoffs, while the Hernández brothers*(not actually brothers) provided the punch in the clinching game.

Game one will feature hometown kid Jack Flaherty, who looks to be much better than in his Dodger postseason debut. Opposing him will be Kodai Senga, making just his third start this season. It is unclear how long the Mets will let him pitch, but the Dodgers offense might have more of a say in that decision than anything. In game two, the Dodgers will go with a bullpen game, which worked to perfection against San Diego. The Mets will counter with their big lefty, Sean Manaea, who was brilliant against Philadelphia. Past matchups between these teams in the playoffs have been electric, with a classic seven gamer in 1988 and some fireworks in the 2015 NLDS. We should be in store for plenty of drama.

Audio clips from MLB.tv

LAD radio 570 AM - Stephen Nelson and Rick Monday

NYM radio WCBS 880 AM - Howie Rose and Keith Raad

As always, shout out to Baseball Reference and SABR for statistics, box scores, background information, and much, much more.

Catch you next time,

P.C.O.

2024 Divisional Round - Game Five

NLDS - Padres @ Dodgers

The Dodgers staved off elimination and embarrassment at the hand of their Southern California rivals in game four. It took standout performances from nearly the whole roster. Eight Dodger bullpen arms combined for the shutout, Mookie Betts and Will Smith homered, and now we have a winner-take-all game five on a Friday night in Chavez Ravine. It will be a duel between countrymen; Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Yu Darvish with a trip to the NLCS on the line. Yamamoto was lit up in game one and has struggled against the Padres all season, so expect a quick hook from Dave Roberts if trouble brews. Darvish has been sensational against Los Angeles in his career, but he carries an 0-5 record in elimination games heading into this game five. The Padres bats were electric to begin this postseason, but they have silent since Fernando Tatis Jr.’s blast in the second inning of game three. Teoscar Hernández has come up clutch for the Dodgers with star first baseman Freddie Freeman hobbled. Don’t be surprised if postseason stalwart Kiké Hernández plays a major role, as he often does in closeout games. This series has provided plenty of fireworks so far, what does this decisive game five have in store?

Audio clips from MLB.tv

LAD Radio 570 AM - Stephen Nelson and Rick Monday

SDP Radio KWFN - Steve Agler and Tony Gwynn Jr.

ALDS - Tigers @ Guardians

Cleveland won a wild game four thanks to the heroics of David Fry, who not only had a go-ahead, pinch hit two run homer, but also provided the necessary insurance run on a safety squeeze. Talk about versatility! José Ramírez seems to have bounced back from a rough stretch, while Steven Kwan and Lane Thomas have been racking up hits in this series. The Tigers have seen contributions up and down the roster, particularly from Parker Meadows and Jake Rogers. Their ‘Pitching Chaos’, as manger AJ Hinch coined, has gotten them to a win-or-go-home with their best pitcher, and perhaps the best pitcher in all of baseball, Tarik Skubal. The fireballing lefty hasn’t given up a run in nearly a month, and he only looks to be getting better in the playoffs. First year manager Steven Vogt will likely summon some ‘pitching chaos’ of his own in this one, as starter Matthew Boyd, a former Tiger, may only go one time through the order. Then it will be time to go to his ‘Four Horsemen’ - Smith, Herrin, Gaddis, and the final boss, Clase. If any one of them falter, who knows to whom Vogt will give the ball. An exhilarating finish to an incredible divisional round awaits on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Cleveland.

Audio clips from MLB.tv

CLE radio WTAM - Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

DET radio 97.1 - Dan Dickerson, Bobby Scales, and Andy Dirks

TBS television - Brian Anderson and Jeff Francoeur

As always, shout out to Baseball Reference and SABR for statistics, boxscores, background information, and much, much more.

Catch you next time,

P.C.O.

2024 ALDS - Games Three and Four

Each series is tied heading into game three, and all four teams will want to conclude these series as quickly as possible. For Cleveland, they do not want to face Tigers ace Tarik Skubal in a game five, so they will go all out to try and win this series on the road. Detroit will embrace their pitching chaos, but that will be quite a lot of pressure on the young arms in the bullpen, all of whom are experiencing the postseason for the first time. Expect both managers to utilize nearly all of their 26 man roster to try and take this series.

For the Yankees, it is unclear if Aaron Judge will reverse his postseason woes, though they might not even need him to eke out this series. Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres have rediscovered their form, and the pitching has quieted down the Royals bats. Bobby Witt jr. has yet to find his stroke, and the rest of the Kansas City lineup has struggled to come through with the big hit. If the Yanks take game three, expect ace Gerrit Cole to deliver in the clincher.

Audio clips from MLB.tv

DET Radio WXYT 97.1 FM - Dan Dickerson, Bobby Scales, and Andy Dirks

CLE Radio WTAM 1100 - Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

NYY Radio WFAN 101.9 FM - John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman

KCR Radio KFNZ 610 AM - Denny Matthews, Steve Stewart, and Jake Eisenberg

As always shout out to Baseball Reference and SABR for statistics, box scores, background information, and much, much more.

Catch you next time,

P.C.O.

2024 Divisional Round - Games Three and Four

Game three in a divisional round is always a pivotal matchup in a series, especially when the series is tied at a game apiece. If the higher seed can take the game, they will regain home field advantage, but if they fail, then they face elimination on the road. The Mets blew an opportunity to be up two games to none against the Phillies after a wild game two. They will have Sean Manaea, the unlikely ace for New York, on the mound for them against Aaron Nola, perhaps the bygone ace for Philadelphia. Manaea has really found his groove in the second half, but he has had some past trouble in the playoffs. Nola has been a stalwart for Philly, and he knows these Mets quite well, though of course they are quite familiar with him. For game four, the Mets will send out Jose Quintana and the Phillies will call upon Ranger Suárez. These two lefties have had almost polar opposite seasons. Quintana struggled early, like many Mets, but has been dominant in the final months of the season. Suárez, on the other hand, was otherworldly to begin the year, but has been downright awful to close the year. Both of these guys have been fantastic in their postseason careers, and will look to live up to that reputation. Ultimately this series will come down to the performances from the teams’ respective stars. Can Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso keep providing magical moments? Can Bryce Harper and Trea Turner come through with runners in scoring position?

Things have gotten pretty testy between the Dodgers and Padres in this series, as we head to the raucous crowd at Petco Park. The Dodgers will send Walker Buehler to the hill against Michael King. The former Vanderbilt star has struggled since returning from injury, but he hopes to recapture his electric postseason form. The young Padres ace was brilliant against Atlanta in the Wild Card round, but he will have his work cut out for him against this deep Dodger lineup. Game four will likely be a bullpen game for LA, and while Dylan Cease is scheduled to go on short rest, expect manager Mike Shildt to have a tight leash. For the Dodgers to get back to the NLCS, they are going to need Mookie Betts snap out of his postseason funk. For San Diego, they are hoping that Fernando Tatis, Jr. stays red hot. Do not be shocked if we return to LA for a decisive game five.

Audio clips from MLB.tv

NYM Radio WCBS AM 880 - Howie Rose and Keith Raad

PHI Radio - WIP 94.1 FM - Scott Franzke, Tom McCarthyLarry Andersen, and Kevin Stocker

LAD Radio KLAC AM 570 - Stephen Nelson and Rick Monday

SDP Radio KWFN 97.3 FM - Jesse Agler and Tony Gwynn Jr.

As always shout out to Baseball Reference and SABR for statistics, box scores, background information, and much, much more.

Catch you next time,

P.C.O.