Albert Pujols who will make his last swings in October, Julio Rodriguez who will come to home plate for the first time in the playoffs. Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom who will battle against Manny Machado and Juan Soto.
Posted yesterday at 7:37 p.m.
Bryce Harper back, finally. José Ramirez and his teammates in Cleveland who will try to end a long drought – under a new identity.
And Aaron Judge, Mookie Betts and other big stars ready to rock next week.
The whole picture of major league playoffs cleared up Tuesday night. The matchups were made official just before the last day of the season.
Major League Baseball’s playoffs, which will host a total of 12 clubs compared to 10 last year, will begin on Friday.
They will begin with a new formula for the first round: four best-of-three series, played over three consecutive days and with all the matches presented on the ground of the highest-ranked club.
In the American League, it will be Mariners-Blue Jays and Rays-Guardians. In the National League, it will be Padres-Mets and Phillies-Cardinals.
In Toronto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Blue Jays will cross swords with Rodriguez, the sensational rookie of the Mariners.
The series will also feature Robbie Ray, Cy Young winner with the Blue Jays last year, and current Mariners player.
In Cleveland, Ramirez is the leader of a young team that includes rookie spark plug Steven Kwan and powerhouse stopper Emmanuel Clase that will try to topple the Tampa Bay Rays.
This will be Cleveland’s first time in the playoffs as the Guardians. The team hasn’t won the World Series since 1948.
At the Rays, Randy Arozarena, already established as a star of the playoffs, will try to lead the Florida team to the first championship in its history.
The Guardians have won four of their six games against the Rays, including two of three last week in Cleveland. These three games all ended with a single point difference, and two required extra innings.
“It will be a good environment,” said Rays second baseman Taylor Walls.
“It’s a good thing that we played there recently. […] I know guys are pumped up. We are ready to go there. »
At Citi Field, the Mets will likely field aces Scherzer and deGrom against the Padres, who have power hitters Machado and Soto in their batting roster.
“We have to go overseas and play against a tough team and beat some of the best pitchers in all of baseball,” Machado confirmed. “The goal is to get out there and savor the moment. »
At Busch Stadium, soon-to-retire St. Louis Cardinals stars Yadier Molina and Pujols will host the Philadelphia Phillies. The Cardinals finished first in the National League Central Division, but as the third seed, they won’t qualify for a bye.
A two-time World Series champion with the Cardinals, Pujols, at the age of 42, looked more like a 24-year-old towards the end of the season. During the final sprint, he hit the 700 career home run plateau and doubled Babe Ruth for second most in baseball history for career RBIs.
At the Phillies, Harper, a two-time MVP winner, will make the playoffs for the first time since 2017, when he played with the Washington Nationals. Harper missed two months mid-season with a broken thumb in 2022, but he’s ready to power up the Phillies’ offense.
The four first-round series will end on Sunday at the latest. Second-round playoffs in both leagues, three out of five, will begin on Tuesday, October 11.
In the American League, Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros will host the winners of the duel between the Blue Jays and the Mariners. Yankee Stadium will be the scene of the series between the Yankees and the winners of the clash between the Rays and the Guardians.
In the National League, Freddie Freeman, Betts and the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have a team record for most wins in the season, will battle the Mets or the Padres.
For their part, the Braves will face the Cardinals or the Phillies.