Drama, Rivalries and Ohtani: How the MLB Playoffs Got Their Mojo Back | MLB

WWe’re currently in the process of finding out who will be the Baseball World Cup champion, which means there are only four teams left. The best-of-seven American League Championship Series between the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees begins Monday in the Bronx, while the New York Mets will take on the Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series in Los Angeles on Sunday .

How did we get here? Simply put, with some of the more compelling early first-round playoff baseball we’ve seen in a while. And the drama was very welcome after last year’s early rounds included no fewer than six series wins, with the series winners outscoring the losers 20 games to two, leaving all but the most die-hard baseball fans on their toes Crave NBA preseason games.

A year later, the situation has changed significantly: Supported by strong storylines, competitive games and a flurry of dramatic finishes, baseball has momentum and momentum heading into October. Television ratings are up 41% over last year, and viewership is up even for college and NFL football. So what’s driving the October surge?

Overcome expectations

It’s one of the best storylines in baseball: A team with low (or no) expectations sneaks into the postseason and makes its presence felt there. This year’s playoffs are full of such breakout clubs.

The Padres lost star closer Josh Hader and Cy Young winner Blake Snell to free agency and also gave the Yankees mega-slugger Juan Soto, who will soon be a free agent. The expectation? Third or fourth place. Instead, the Friars won 93 games and the Soto deal, bringing in their best starter, Michael King, in exchange for a player who would never re-sign in San Diego.

The Guardian writers gave the Minnesota Twins another division title in March, but it was Cleveland that had the best record in baseball at several points during the year, getting off to a 51-26 start that no one expected. The Guardians weren’t expected to keep up and were led by José Ramírez, still the best player no one talks about, and Emanuel Clase, the most dominant closer in baseball.

The Tigers were sellers at the deadline, trading away several veterans, including pitcher Jack Flaherty, to the Dodgers. Then they started winning, moving from nine games under .500 to the playoffs on July 4 and finishing with a 47-28 victory, helped by Cy Young southpaw Tarik Skubal.

The Royals had the greatest turnaround in baseball, recovering from a 106-loss season to 86 wins and a wild-card berth. That’s largely thanks to a rotation that’s as good as any in the AL, led by Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans, while Bobby Witt Jr. is coming off an MVP season.

Then there are the Mets, who are in a self-described “transition season,” were 11 games under .500 at the end of May and are facing a long summer of empty spots and roster shuffles. Thanks to a McDonald’s mascot, the emergence of Francisco Lindor, a surprising pitching rotation and a resurgent lineup, the team had the best record in baseball as of June and earned a spot in a makeup doubleheader a day after the regular season finished in the playoffs.

Add in the Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies, Brewers and Astros, and we entered the playoffs with an eclectic mix of haves and have-nots competing against each other.

star power

They’re finally out. Aaron Judge, who missed the 2023 postseason, returned to the playoffs after another Mickey Mantle-esqye season in center field for the Yankees. Even when it’s invisible, like in the Yankees’ ALDS win over Kansas City, every shot is a must. Will he finally break out of his .620 OPS slump in the ALCS against Cleveland?

Across town, Lindor emerged as a team leader and bona fide megastar after an MVP-like season. After a historic blast that sent New York into the playoffs, he capped it all off with a grand slam that destroyed Philly in Game 4 and sent New York into the NLCS. Not long ago, Mets fans thought Cleveland might have won the trade that brought Lindor to New York. Now he’s one of the MLB’s most valuable assets.

Soon-to-be AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal led the Tigers past the heavily favored Astros and to the brink of an ALCS appearance before falling to the Guardians. Young Skubal is just getting started and if he stays healthy he will become a bona fide MLB superstar.

And of course there’s Shohei Ohtani, easily the most recognizable face in baseball, who played for years on a low-ceilinged stage in Anaheim. Now he’s finally in the playoffs and should play for the deep-pocketed Dodgers for some time. Could he become the first MLB player since Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter to transcend the sport in the United States? A big matchup with the Mets in the NLCS should help.

Unforgettable moments

It’s hard to find magical moments in a non-competitive series, but each of this year’s four division series began with 1-1 deadlocks, with two of them going the distance of five games. Still, it was the wildcard round that provided the most theatrical moment of the season.

Soon-to-be-released player Pete Alonso, whom most Mets fans were happy to let go after a disappointing season, hit arguably the most dramatic home run in franchise history in the decisive Game 3 in Milwaukee. His top-of-the-ninth, three-run blast immediately cemented his place in Mets history, in what might be one of the most instantaneous 180-degree swings experienced by even the most fickle fan base.

The Guardians sought a 2-0 ALDS lead against the Tigers in a thrilling, dramatic and scoreless game. Then, early in the ninth, Kerry Carpenter scored for the Tigers. Against Cleveland closer Clase, who had a 0.61 ERA in the regular season, he delivered a three-run blast that sent Cleveland’s Progressive Field into an Erie silence.

After Alonso’s shot, things couldn’t get any worse for the Mets until the aforementioned grand slam kick in Lindor ended the Phillies’ hopes of sending the series back to Philadelphia for a decisive fifth game and a date with star Zack Wheeler.

And finally, in the deciding Game 5 of the ALDS, Lane Thomas knocked Detroit’s Skubal off his peak, at least for now, with a fifth-inning grand slam that catapulted the $109 million minnows into a big-money duel with the Yankees for the right to win American League to represent in the World Series.

Fun!

While the opening phase of the 2024 playoffs was entertaining with its competitive games and big moments, there was also a lot of spirit in between. The Mets’ Jesse Winker became the key player against Milwaukee, prompting Willy Adames to invite Winker into the parking lot after the game to settle the scores. Only Adames showed up.

In Game 2 of the NLDS, the Padres’ Manny Machado, leading a team full of Dennis Rodman-type provocateurs, also challenged Dodgers hurler Jack Flaherty to a postgame duel in a parking lot that appears to be MLB’s current venue of choice for fights, that will never happen.

Also in Game 2, Machado may or may not have intentionally thrown a ball at Dodgers manager David Roberts between innings, creating even more conflict between teams with a long tradition of Southern California skirmishes.

And amazingly, in Game 2, Pads left fielder Jurickson Profar began a feud with Dodgers fans, taunting LA fans after denying Mookie Betts a home run, an incident that had an ugly end.

And in Game 4 of the ALDS between the Yankees and Royals, the benches were cleared, which rightly or wrongly always gets our attention.

And finally, Max Muncy followed that profane remark from Kiké Hernandez with another after the Dodgers edged out their hated division rivals in a close Game 5.

“What was it, 80% of the damn experts said we were going to lose?” Muncy said. “Fuck these guys. We know who we are. We’re the best damn team in baseball and we’re out there to prove it.”