It’s tough to make predictions on a best of three series. The depth of a team doesn’t really come into play, except maybe in the bullpen. As we’ve seen many times, a playoff teams can easily win two games in a row.

Tigers at Guardians (1 PM EDT Series)

Detroit is a much better team than they showed down the stretch, and Cleveland is a much worse team than they showed down the stretch. The Guardians offense may be one of the worst to ever make the post season, ranking between 13th and 15th in runs/game, the three major averages, home runs hit, and BABIP. The only thing they did well was steal bases. The Tigers were middle of the road in everything including pitching. The Guardians excelled in run prevention, but almost all of that rested on keeping the ball in the park. Cleveland allows base runners, but the lack of home runs tends to keep them on base. The Tigers hitters ranked 5th in home runs, so if Cleveland stops those, they can win the series.

Padres at Cubs (3 PM EDT Series)

The Cubs score per game at a higher rate than the Padres. Both teams put batters on base at the same rate, but the Cubs produce more power to drive them around. The Padres are the best team in the NL in preventing runs, however, 3.83 per game. For them, its a combination of strikeouts and defensive efficiency to keep batters off base. (The Cubs are first in defensive efficiency, the Padres second.) They do allow a high rate of home runs that plays into a Cubs strength. If the wind is blowing out at Wrigley this week, that should favor Chicago.

Red Sox at Yankees (6 PM EDT Series)

Boston dominated this series during the regular season, Boston winning nine of the thirteen games. Offensively, Boston batters were much better finding holes with their balls in play. The Yankees were much better at putting the ball over the fence. That give the Yankees the edge on offense. The Red Sox pitching staff stood as the best in the AL in preventing home runs, and the Yankees pitchers did not allow many balls in play with a high K rate. So this series offers a very nice balancing of strengths. Surprisingly to me, the Yankees had a high defensive efficiency, which also helps to eliminate balls finding holes. It’s a toss up, although I do like the better home run teams in the playoff, because those shots can provide the difference in low scoring games.

Reds at Dodgers (9 PM EDT Series)

Overall, both teams look pretty even on the pitching side of the equation, and neither is that great overall. The front line starters for both teams are very good, however, so I would expect the games to be low scoring, at least through the first five or six innings. The teams are not evenly matched on offense. The Dodgers posted the highest runs per game in the NL, and the Reds finished eighth. Los Angeles finished at or near the top of the league in all the averages, while the Reds tended to rank eighth or ninth. I can see the Dodgers cruising to a sweep, but Hunter Greene could give Cincinnati a game one win, which would at least give the Reds a chance to get lucky.

We have four good matchup, this should be fun.