For baseball fans, it is that time of the year: playoff season brings much excitement to any sport, including baseball, as twelve teams make the playoffs. For more than half of baseball fans across the country, their team is already out, and all they have to look forward to is the offseason and the next season, which is five months away. For the rest of the fans, they get to see if their team is poised for a World Series title.
This year the teams that made the playoffs are the Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, and Toronto Blue Jays, all from the American League (AL). From the 6 teams from the National League (NL) are the Atlanta Braves, LA Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins, and the Arizona Diamondbacks (D-backs).
The first round, also known as the wildcard round, has just ended. In the AL, the 5 seed Rangers beat the 4 seed Rays 7-1 to advance to play the number one seed in the AL, the Orioles. The 3rd seed Twins also beat the 6th seeded Blue Jays, and they will advance to play the 2022 world series champions, the Astros.
In the NL, the 4 seeded Philies defeated the Marlins at home 7-1 to play the Braves in the second round. And the D-backs as a 6 seed advances past the 3 seed Brewers to play the Dodgers in the 2nd round.
After the WC round, there are now eight teams left. So the question remains: who will be world series champions?
The Atlanta Braves, for many, have a great chance to win it. This year, they’ve got lots of talent on their roster, and they have three quality starting pitchers as well.
“They have Ronald Acuna Jr. who’s one of the best players in baseball. They have a really good lineup, especially with their pitching staff,” sophomore William Murphy said.
The Dodgers and Astros both have respectfully made the playoffs for a couple of years in a row. The question is will they still be able to come out of their respectful leagues and make the world series?
But one team that seems to have turned their whole team around is the Baltimore Orioles. The team was bottom of the league for several years, but are now starting to show some promise with their young core that’s only just getting started. And their local fans are really taking notice.
“Obviously two years ago they were one of the worst teams, and I’m surprised at how good the rookies are playing, especially [rookie infielder] Gunnar Henderson, and also how good their bullpen [relief pitchers] is,” Murphy said.
The Orioles are underdogs this year, in part due to their young and inexperienced group of players.
“They’re like the underdogs. They weren’t the best last year, but with [catcher] Adley Rutschman they’re going to do better this year,” sophomore Evan Retzlaff said.
The D-backs and Phiilies should both be fun to watch in the NL, but they both play tough opponents in the Dodgers and Braves. The Phillies will have a rematch against the Braves, who beat them in the same round last season.
We will see soon enough who will win and claim the title this season.
Written by Jeremy Silberglied of Walter Johnson High School
Photo Courtesy of Pexels