Ever since re-integrating my sports writing into the current Art Infliction era, I’ve blogged about mostly the NFL, as well as very occasionally the NBA and NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball.
However, I’ve never blogged about Major League Baseball, as covering a topic in that sport has coincided with other commitments of mine. Or so I thought, because I’ve decided to make time for blogging about both the NFL and Major League Baseball, as I have a new “post” system that allows me to keep multiple Steve Believes entries on this site at the same exact time.
In this entry, I will predict who will win both the Major League Baseball Wild Card play-in games via the bullet points and bold text below:
- Milwaukee Brewers Vs. Washington Nationals-Coming into this game, the Brewers boast five players who hit 22 home runs or more this season. However, the best of those five players, Christian Yelich, is out for the season with a fractured right kneecap. Plus, they failed to sweep the Colorado Rockies this past weekend, or else doing so would have given them the National League Central Division title for the second consecutive season. As for the Nationals, they boast eight players who hit 17 or more home runs this season, with two of them (Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto) each hitting 34, as well as driving in 126 and 110 runs, respectively. They’re also riding an eight-game winning streak and send three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer to the mound. The Brewers dreams of reaching the World Series last season ended one game shy of it, as they lost in Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. And without Yelich, those dreams will end two rounds earlier, as I got the Nationals continuing their hot streak into the NLDS round.
- Tampa Bay Rays Vs. Oakland Athletics-Both these teams are similar, in terms of being more balanced in both the home run and runs batted in categories unlike the aforementioned Nationals, and their duo of Rendon and Soto. And the similarities don’t stop there because in addition, they boast strong starting pitching, with Charlie Morton headlining the Rays pitching staff and Mike Fiers headlining the Athletics pitching staff. It remains to be seen if both players, formerly teammates of the Houston Astros, will start against each other, as Oakland has yet to name a starter for this game. But regardless of whom the Athletics send out to the mound, I like the Rays to win this game because I trust Morton and his ability to pitch in big games.
Well, those are my predictions for the 2019 Major League Baseball Wild Card play-in games.
Tune in on Thursday to my predictions for the National League Divisional Series matchups.