[ot-caption title=”The Kansas City Royals have been red hot all year. (via, Dilip Vishnawat, via Google images)”]

October. Fall, Halloween, beautiful colors (well not here), and playoff baseball. The month when heroes are born and legends are cemented. Here we stand with the playoff picture written in stone, and, as usual, it will be one to remember.

On March 31, when the season began, if anyone who knows anything about baseball saw this year’s playoff teams, they probably would’ve had a good laugh. Analyzing this year’s matchups, one commonality stands out. In a field of ten, there is an unusual abundance of young, up-and-coming teams. The Cubs, Mets, Astros, and Blue Jays are all making their first postseason appearances in quite some time, especially in the Blue Jays’ case (22 years). With that point made, we center our focus on the new guys in this playoff preview.

We begin with the NL East Champion: the New York Mets. What more is there to say than a tale of two seasons? The Mets were 36-37 on June 24, and since that date they have lost only 23 games. There is tons to say about this group, but one guy is basking in the New York spotlight and that’s Yoenis Cespedes.

On July 31, the MLB trade deadline, the Mets were making moves. General Manager Sandy Alderson knows better than anyone that the Mets have a remarkable pitching staff, but the Mets simply could not score. When a deal for (then) Brewers OF Carlos Gomez fell through, the press and fans alike were not sure of the team’s future in this season. And then the trade of the year happened; they acquired Cespedes from the Tigers. The rest is self explanatory, since the acquisitions of Cespedes, Uribe, and Johnson right before the trade deadline, the Mets are a flattering 43-29.

Strengths: Excellent pitching staff. From top to bottom, the Mets have the best rotation in the league. deGrom, Harvey, Matz, and Syndergaard’s average age is 25! Add a little Bartolo into the mix and they have been excellent all year. They also have possibly the most versatile lineup in the league, constantly rotating players around the diamond.

Weaknesses: Inconsistency. The Mets can be red hot, but in the blink of an eye the bats can turn ice cold. They have trouble scoring, and that could be an issue in their first round bout with the Dodgers. The bullpen is the same way, changing from lights out to unwatchable on a nightly basis.

With NYC behind them, Citi Field’s Mets will be a force to be reckoned with.

Moving on to the Back to the Future II proclaimed 2015 World Series champions, the Chicago Cubs will look to end a 107 year championship-less drought. The Cubs, led by young stud Kris Bryant, finished with a 97-65 record, which was not even good enough to secure them home field advantage in the wild card game. From top to bottom, Cubs fans have something to be excited about. General manager Theo Epstein broke one drought in Boston, and is eager to do it again in Chicago. Key players for the Cubs are Cy Young candidate Jake Arrieta, 3B Kris Bryant, and 1B Anthony Rizzo. With an abundance of pop in their lineup, power and timely hitting is the least of their worries. The Wrigley faithful are ready, it’s just a matter of their fate in the wild card game.

Strengths: Power hitting and starting pitching. Broadly interpreted, you can say that there is nothing wrong with this Cubs team. From the outside, that’s true, with their stud young bats. The rotation has been excellent, and while it is a strength of this team the pitching staff is not great after Lester and Arrieta.

Weaknesses: Every rose has its thorn, and that holds true in this young Cubs team with their lack of experience and their shaky bullpen. The pressure could get to them in a one game elimination playoff, and the bullpen has to be a brick wall after a strong performance will likely be turned in by Arrieta.

The Cubs will play the Pirates in Pittsburgh for the NL wild card.

The Astros are also up and coming, with their first playoff appearance after nine losing seasons.

Predictions

AL

• Astros over the Yankees in the wild card game.
• ALDS – Toronto over the Rangers.
• ALDS – Royals over the Astros
• ALCS – Royals over the Blue Jays.

NL

• Cubs over the Pirates in the wild card game.
• NLDS – Mets over the Dodgers.
• NLDS – Cubs over the Cardinals.
• NLCS – Mets over the Cubs.

World Series

Royals over the Mets.

The Royals will be the 2015 world series champions because they are the complete package. They are healthy, have the experience, and are hungry. Fresh off their loss against the Giants last year, the Royals are a force to be reckoned with. The ALCS, which will hopefully feature the Blue Jays and the Royals, will be the best series in the playoffs, as the two teams despise each other and are the perfect match with their respective strengths. The NL is wide open and features plenty of good teams, which really means that anything can happen. I picked the Mets and Cubs in the NLCS because they are both coming into the playoffs red hot. The Cubs will beat the Pirates, and have done well against the Cardinals late in the season. The Mets pitching will shut the Dodgers down. This postseason will certainly be one to remember, and hopefully new powerhouses can be established for many years to come.

Baseball has a new look with young teams on the rise.