After a long 162-game Major League Baseball season, the match-ups are set and the playoffs are here.
My prediction is that the Milwaukee Brewers will beat the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2026 World Series.
But before the World Series is upon us, several teams will slug it out through the wild-card games.
The Philadelphia Phillies face the Atlanta Braves in a National League East wild-card match-up and I have the Braves winning this series, 2-0. The Phillies punched their ticket to the playoffs on the last day of the regular season.
The Braves are looking for their first postseason series win since they won the World Series in 2021.
In the American League, the Boston Red Sox – who have been hot since the all-star game back in July – will face the New York Yankees, who have elite pitching but no Aaron Judge for this series.
I think that the pitching for the Yankees will get them past the Red Sox, but I predict that this series will go three games.
In the match-up between the Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros, my pick is the White Sox behind slugger Munetaka Murakami.
The final matchup in the wild-card round has the Chicago Cubs – led by MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong – taking on the Padres. I have the Cubs winning this series, 2-1.
These teams will join the top-seeded teams in the divisional series.
In one of the ALDS match-ups – if my wild-card predictions are correct – it will be the Rays versus Yankees. I have the Rays winning.
Then come the Guardians versus the White Sox. I think that Cleveland – with Jose Ramirez and the team’s playoff experience – will power past Chicago.
On the NL side, it would be an all-Central Division match-up with the ace of that league – Jacob Misiorowski (16-5 and 1.80 ERA) and the Brewers – taking on the Cubs. I like the Brewers in this series.
The final matchup – if my predictions hold – would be the Dodgers and their all-star roster against the Braves. I predict that the Dodgers edge the Braves.
In the ALCS, it would be the Rays versus the Guardians. I think the best team in the American League (Tampa) will prevail and get to their first World Series since they made it in 2020 and lost to the Dodgers.
In the NLCS, I predict a rematch from last year when the Dodgers beat the Brew Crew in a 4-0 sweep.
I think the Brewers will remember the sinking feeling that they felt following last year’s championship round and that they will beat the Dodgers in a seven-game series.
This would lead to a World Series with mostly homegrown teams and no high payrolls: the Rays versus the Brewers. I think that the Brewers’ pitching staff will be the difference and that Milwaukee raises the 2026 World Series trophy.
