2020 National League First Round Playoff Preview

Max Fried (Google Images)

In a Major League Baseball playoff unlike any other, there will be a record eight playoff games to be played on Wednesday (four in the National League and four in the American League). After the junior circuit began their first-round best of three action on Tuesday, it is now time for the senior circuit to commence their playoff.

The four National League first-round matchups have the Atlanta Braves hosting the Cincinnati Reds, the Los Angeles Dodgers hosting the Milwaukee Brewers, the Chicago Cubs hosting the Miami Marlins, and the San Diego Padres hosting the St. Louis Cardinals. Remarkably, all four series will feature a team from the National League Central as only the Pittsburgh Pirates from that division missed the playoffs.

It will be extremely interesting how the Braves bounce back after their embarrassing 13-1 loss to the Cardinals in game five of the 2019 National League Divisional Series. Heading into the year, Mike Soroka of Calgary, Canada was supposed to be the Braves ace, but tore his right Achilles running to first base in a 7-2 loss to the New York Mets on August 3. The Braves still won the National League East without Soroka, and had a strong season from Max Fried, who posted a record of seven wins, and zero losses with an earned run average of 2.25.

The Marlins and Cardinals meanwhile are in despite having to make up a significant amount of games in their schedule with doubleheaders due to separate bouts of coronavirus. The Marlins finished the year at 31 wins and 29 losses, while the Cardinals were also two games above .500 at 30 wins and 28 losses. St. Louis qualified for the playoffs on the final day of the season. If their final two games meant something in terms of qualifying for a playoff spot, they would have needed to play a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers on Monday. Now the Cardinals travel to southern California and face the Padres.

Meanwhile, the Marlins have an interesting series against the Cubs. This will be Miami’s first playoff series since their famous 2003 run when they won the World Series and beat the New York Yankees in six games. However, their most memorable series from the 2003 postseason was against the Cubs. In game six of the 2003 National League Championship Series, Cubs fan Steve Bartman interfered with Moises Alou’s attempt in catching a Marlins fly ball. As a result, the Marlins came back to beat the Cubs and the series.

The best team in the National League from the regular season were the Los Angeles Dodgers. At 43 wins and 17 losses, the Dodgers also had the best record in baseball. But the real question will be, can the Dodgers win their first World Series since 1988? In the regular season, the Dodgers scored the most runs (349), and gave up the fewest runs (213). Now they face a Brewers squad who qualified despite being two games below .500 at 29 and 31.

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