MLB Playoffs Articles - Page 34

Expectations were low for the Cleveland Guardians after Terry Francona walked away as manager following the 2023 season, a campaign that saw the ball club miss the postseason. A strong start to the 2024 season drew some excitement, but Shane Bieber went down with an elbow injury that ultimately resulted in Tommy John surgery. So […]

Every championship team has obstacles to go through. Most of them are not self-inflicted, but internal flaws can lead to the downfall of a contending team. The MLB playoffs are not for the weak. Only those who can remain consistent will win titles. The Houston Astros know a lot about that. The Astros are the […]

The New York Yankees have clinched a playoff berth after defeating the Seattle Mariners 2-1 on Wednesday at T-Mobile Park. With the loss, the Mariners have fallen to 77-75, 3 games out of the Wild Card spot in the American League. Meanwhile, the Yankees have joined the Milwaukee Brewers as the only two teams to […]

The Chicago White Sox are having a 2024 MLB season to forget. A chaotic, tumultuous start for the North Side has turned historically bad. The Windy City’s black and white-suited squad is now on the brink of clinching the most losses in modern-day MLB history. It’s been a season of struggles but no one with […]

September baseball is as close to playoff baseball as most MLB teams get. Even if a club is out of playoff contention they can play spoiler and steal a series from a team vying for a top seed or a division lead late in the season. Some of that may unfold during the closing weeks […]

The clock is ticking for the Baltimore Orioles (84-67). Fans have been hearing it for some time now, but there has not been an overwhelming sense of urgency to answer that gradually increasing noise. With October looming, however, the O’s must quickly snap out of their second-half funk. Injuries have significantly hampered the club and […]

The Philadelphia Phillies have made postseason baseball a regular occurrence over the past few seasons. The Phils were a win away from capturing their second straight NL pennant last October and are eyeing a trip to the Fall Classic again in 2024. With less than three weeks until the MLB playoffs begin, the Phillies are […]

Many doubted the Houston Astros following an abysmal start to the season. The Astros were in last place in mid-May and had a losing record entering the final week of June. As the regular season nears its conclusion, Houston is marching toward its seventh division title in the past eight years. Houston’s turnaround is nothing […]

The Minnesota Twins are in a spot that almost every other MLB team wants to be. With less than three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Twins own a three-game lead for the final Wild Card spot in the American League. Despite being dealt a tough injury hand, Minnesota is a contending team on […]

While it’s not quite “championship or bust” time for the Baltimore Orioles, the 2024 MLB season serves as another year the O’s are World Series contenders. Baltimore expects to be in the conversation for a title for much of the the next decade. Baseball is a funny sport though, an unforgivable one at times. The […]

It has been an interesting season to say the least for the Boston Red Sox. Despite playing in one of the largest markets in baseball, the Red Sox were no shoo-in to reach the postseason in 2024. After all, they didn’t make it the previous two years with back-to-back last-place finishes in the AL East […]

An iconic baseball voice is coming back to the booth for one last playoff run. Longtime New York Yankees radio voice John Sterling will end his retirement this month and return to the airwaves as part of a deal for him to call every Yankees playoff game during the 2024 MLB postseason, per The Athletic. […]

Not long ago the Philadelphia Phillies were perennial losers and owners of the longest playoff drought in the National League. Consecutive trips to the NLCS and a World Series appearance in 2022 changed the narrative surrounding the Phils and they’re now one of the top contenders for a championship in 2024. Philadelphia was on a […]

The baseball world was shocked when the Arizona Diamondbacks made an improbable run to the World Series last October. It’s not every year that an 84-win team makes the MLB playoffs, let alone wins a pennant. The D-backs defied the odds and came three wins shy of a championship. They’re out to finish the job […]

It might be safe to say that few people will doubt the Milwaukee Brewers in the future given what they’ve done this season. The Brewers lost a key front office member, their winningest and longest-tenured manager, and their ace starting pitcher in the same offseason. Surely they were going to decline from their 92-win season […]

The Atlanta Braves are entering the playoff chase with a heightened sense of confidence in their pitching rotation, a sentiment that surpasses even their 2021 World Series championship year. According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the Braves believe their current rotation places them in a more advantageous position than in any previous three postseasons. […]

The Cleveland Guardians have dominated the American League Central since mid April. The Guardians have often looked like legitimate title contenders as the top dog in a highly competitive division. However, a late summer swoon has left Cleveland clinging to a one game lead in the AL Central entering play on Tuesday. The team dropped […]

After missing out on the playoffs last year, the St. Louis Cardinals are fighting to reach the postseason in 2024. Despite the confidence of starting pitcher Miles Mikolas who believes the Cardinals can win 17 straight if necessary, the reality is St. Louis is a long shot to make the playoffs. The team is trying […]

The Boston Red Sox shouldn’t be here. Two months into the season, Boston was hovering around .500 as the fanbase debated the Red Sox’ trade deadline strategy. Now, with less than five weeks left in the regular season, Boston is in striking distance of the postseason. Entering Monday at 67-62, the Red Sox are 4.5 […]

The San Diego Padres received fantastic news regarding the injury statuses of two of their best players, Yu Darvish and Fernando Tatis Jr. Darvish joined the team today after returning from the restricted list. Tatis Jr. continues progressing in his return from a quad issue that put him on the 60-day injured list in late […]

The San Francisco Giants are gearing up for a push toward the postseason. They attempted to land a former star from their past, free-agent catcher Elias Diaz. As of August 23, the Giants are 4.0 games back in the Wild Card standings and missing out on Diaz is a small setback. The 10-year veteran rejected […]

The St. Louis Cardinals are a scrappy team. Despite going just 3-7 over their last 10 games, the Cardinals earned the respect of Brewers manager Pat Murphy when St. Louis won back-to-back games against Milwaukee. Even with the wins against their division rivals, the Cardinals are a game under .500 and 10 games behind the […]

In surprising news, the Seattle Mariners have fired longtime manager Scott Servais. Servais was fired Thursday afternoon, and the team will replace him with Dan Wilson. While Wilson has never managed at any level, he was a catcher for the Mariners and served as a special assignment coordinator for the club in spring training. Servais, […]

After losing eight of their last 10 games, the Seattle Mariners fired manager Scott Servais despite being well within striking distance of winning the American League West (5.0 GB) or a Wild Card spot (7.5 GB). With three games left on the schedule against the division-leading Houston Astros, it was certainly plausible that the Mariners […]

After starting slow the New York Mets have fought their way back into the playoff race this season. While the Mets upgraded at the trade deadline, the team is still missing some key depth pieces. Now that the deadline has passed, it’s time for New York to look to the farm system and promote three […]

Major League Baseball is known for relying heavily on tradition and the World Series is the culmination of that approach. Now, Commissioner Rob Manfred’s league is taking the opportunity to change its World Series schedule for the first time in history. According to a report from Bob Nightengale on X, MLB will move up the […]

Nathan Eovaldi capped off a postseason performance for the ages with his Game 5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night, one that clinched the Texas Rangers their first World Series title in franchise history. In the process, Eovaldi joined a rare club, becoming just the fourth pitcher in MLB history to win five […]

It’s been a rough few days for the Minnesota Vikings. The team’s 24-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers was marred when it was revealed that QB Kirk Cousins was lost for the season with a torn Achilles tendon. Somehow, the Texas Rangers (yes, the baseball team) just made things worse. On Wednesday, the Rangers […]

The Texas Rangers finally ended their longstanding 62-year title drought on Wednesday. They beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 in Game 5 to clinch their first World Series title in franchise history. Not only that, but they also won the Fall Classic for the first time in Bruce Bochy’s first year as manager. Bochy had the […]

The Los Angeles Dodgers, after the 2021 season, decided to let Corey Seager leave for the Texas Rangers in free agency as they had belief that the options they had in the organization were more than capable of replacing his production. But Seager, despite already being elite in a Dodgers uniform, appears to have only […]

Looking to build a World Series winner? If you are a MLB general manager, here is a tip: acquire left-hander Will Smith. The Texas Rangers just found out the benefits firsthand. As a member of the 2023 Rangers, Smith won his third World Series in as many seasons and for as many teams. He’s the […]

The Texas Rangers, after 62 years of existence as a franchise and 51 years of stay in the Lone Star state, have finally accomplished the ultimate goal of baseball — to win the World Series. The Rangers memorably fell short in back-to-back years to start the 2010s, heartbreakingly choking away a 3-2 lead with the […]

Let the 2023 Texas Rangers be a lesson to the rest of Major League Baseball: a rebuild does not need to be a long and slow process. In defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games, the Rangers pulled off something never before seen in MLB history. They became the first team ever to finish 25 […]

No one expected the Arizona Diamondbacks to mount that serious of a push for the World Series title after barely qualifying for the postseason. They entered the 2023 MLB playoffs with the second-worst odds of winning a championship, per FanDuel; after all, they won just 84 games and limped to the finish line. But Diamondbacks […]

The entire population of the state of Texas (or at least the subset of its population that are not fans of the Houston Astros) awaited Wednesday night with bated breath as the Texas Rangers faced off against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5 of the 2023 World Series with a chance to secure the franchise’s […]

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred could potentially look into reseeding the MLB playoffs after the Atlanta Braves’ early exit this season. Manfred weighed in on the current MLB playoffs format in an interview with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on Wednesday. “I think about all the things people raise kind of like fish hooks. Some of them […]

Both the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers came into the postseason as underdogs, but both teams have been surprisingly dominant en route to the World Series. Both of these squads made the playoffs via the Wild Card, and they are now battling it out to take home the World Series crown. The series started […]

Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager has sounded off on Adolis’ Garcia’s injury. Seager shared his thoughts after the Rangers’ 11-7 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 4 of the World Series, per FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. Corey Seager is one win away from earning the second #WorldSeries title of his career The @Rangers SS […]

In the toughest environments, the best players shine the brightest. After dropping Game 1 of the World Series, the Arizona Diamondbacks gave the ball to Merrill Kelly for Game 2. Kelly, who has been incredible this season, faced off against a Texas Rangers squad that was on fire in Game 1. The pressure was on […]