As much fun as the first two days of postseason baseball were, it’s fair to say it would have been nice if the Wild Card Series hadn’t all ended in a sweep. Not only would we have a win-or-win home game on Thursday, but we would also have a game on Thursday. Instead, we have two days without baseball. This is a pity.
But this also allows us to look forward to the start of the four Division Series this weekend, all of which begin on Saturday. These encounters may become known more quickly than we might have expected, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start thinking about them. Here are five storylines from the Division series that immediately jump out at you. Remember these: They’ll be all you’ll think about until Saturday.
1) Carlos Correa returns to Houston in October
There is perhaps no player more associated with the Astros’ postseason success from 2015 to 2021 than Correa, who has a tendency to consistently show up and come through in the biggest moments. The man who was arguably the best player on the Astros’ first World Series championship team will be back at Minute Maid Park in the postseason, this time as a member of the Minnesota Twins, who appear capable of winning postseason games again.
Correa hasn’t had the best regular season, to say the least, but he’s been hot down the stretch (September was his best month according to OPS) and has already been the focus of some big games this October. He made an acrobatic throw to score Bo Bichette at home in Game 1 against Toronto, drove in the first run of Game 2 and made a nifty tag from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a timing play-off to Toronto’s second place hopes might once have been dashed and for everyone.
If you had forgotten what this player was capable of back in October, you’ve been reminded now. This was the Astro for so many postseasons. Now he has a chance to break the hearts of Astros fans.
2) The Phillies aren’t going to do that to the Braves again, are they?
The Braves had one of the best regular seasons in their history and have practically felt like the MLB’s juggernaut since May, finishing with an MLB-best 104 wins. But they were also one of the best teams in baseball last year, and that no longer mattered when the Philadelphia Phillies buzzsaw showed up. When the Phillies got going last October, Atlanta’s 101 wins didn’t mean much as sixth-seeded Philadelphia eliminated the Braves in four games in the NLDS. Can the Phillies pull off the same trick again?
It’s fair to assume that the Braves were rooting for the Marlins in their Wild Card Series, as the sight of Bryce Harper and Co. will bring back a lot of bad memories. The Braves were 14 games better than the Phillies in the 2023 regular season. That’s exactly the same number of games in which they were better than the Phillies in 2022. Last year it meant nothing. This year it could mean nothing again. Watch out for Game 1 here: If the Phillies make it to Atlanta, you’ll see a whole bunch of Braves fans feeling all sorts of unpleasant déjà vu.
3) The D-Backs are the next NL West team to fire their shot against the Dodgers
The Dodgers have won 10 of the last 11 NL West titles, and they avenged the title they didn’t win shortly after the season ended in the NLDS. (That would be in 2021, when they won 106 games and beat the Giants, who won 107 games, in the playoffs.) In this division, everyone is always targeting the Dodgers, and usually…they miss.
That is, until the Padres defeated the Dodgers in glorious fashion in the NLDS last year, seemingly signaling that the days of Dodgers dominance were over. Well: they weren’t. But now the D-Backs get their chance to wipe out the regular-season league lead in a short series. The D-Backs actually faced the Dodgers the last time they were in the playoffs, in 2017, a series in which they were soundly defeated. There are only two D-backs left from this year (Christian Walker and Ketel Marte), but the roster is full of players who have been watching the Dodgers eat their lunch for years… just like they did during the season Everyone else ate lunch at NL West.
The Dodgers were shaky that year than they had been in a decade, and they still won the division with ease. Will this dominance continue for another series? Another fun question: If the Dodgers win, will they jump back into the Diamondbacks’ pool? (For you younger fans out there, this was a big deal 10 years ago.)
4) Can the Orioles capitalize on this opportunity?
Because there is so much young talent on the Orioles, there is a feeling that this is just the beginning for the team and that this year is not that important because they will surely get a lot more bites of the apple. But it doesn’t always work that way: teams that you think have a clear future ahead of them in the coming years always take unexpected steps backwards. (Ask the Padres last year or the Blue Jays last half-decade.)
Considering how tough the AL East is, it’s entirely possible that this is the Orioles’ best chance. After all, they’re atop the AL standings and have home-field advantage in a year where two of the usual AL giants (Boston and New York) didn’t even make the playoffs. The O’s have all of this young talent healthy at the same time. They have a Camden Yards crowd that, after years of suffering, will roar (and splash) at every pitch of every game. And they face a Rangers team with a great lineup but an extremely thin pitching staff, both in the rotation and in the bullpen. The Orioles don’t have to look to the future to have a great chance of winning the World Series: They have a great chance of winning one right now. It’s best not to miss this opportunity.
5) Will we see the same old same thing in the LCS and the World Series? Or will we see offspring?
The likelihood that the World Series will be a high-profile matchup this year is non-zero. The Astros have been to three of the last four World Series and four of the last six; they are still there. The Dodgers have been in three of the last six games; they are still there. The Braves just won the World Series two years ago; they are still there. The Phillies were there last year; still there. No one will be surprised if we see one of these teams again. But on the other hand…look at all the opportunities we have to see teams that haven’t been to the World Series in a long time.
The D-Backs haven’t been there since 2001 (or the NLCS since 2007); You are here. The Twins haven’t been to the World Series since 1991 (or ALCS since 2002); You are here. The Orioles haven’t been to the World Series since 1983 (or the ALCS since 2014); You are here. And the Rangers have never won a World Series and haven’t been to the Fall Classic (or ALCS) since 2011.
Will the World Series be an exciting duel? Will it be something we’ve never seen before? Next week will tell us. From Saturday. We can’t wait, even if we have to.