2018 MLB Preview: Early Playoff Outlook
The entire baseball season is essentially one long marathon that doesn’t really reward the best team in the sport.
The season itself is a 162-game marathon that is almost guaranteed to see some big name go down throughout the year.
Most teams will not end the year with the same roster that they will start with as someone will get injured along the way.
Teams have to hope that they won’t lose too many players because if the injuries begin to pile up there is not much chance that they can win a title.
That is the truth of the season as the teams with the rosters that just look unbeatable at this point in the season aren’t guaranteed anything.
Teams have to build that depth and a system to the point that they can lose a few players but keep rolling through the year.
The reward for staying healthy and rising to one of the five postseason spots in each league is another marathon in itself.
This is where things get so much bigger as the postseason is a different type of baseball that tests the skill and the ability to get up regularly.
Postseason baseball is the time where the best players take the spotlight and begin playing in a much different environment.
Great pitchers turn around far more often than in the regular season and batters get fewer breaks.
It is truly the best on best as the teams that are able to make the postseason can’t take any days off.
It is far from easy though as these players have already gone through the entire schedule playing almost every day.
The travel and the toll that a full MLB season takes on the body of a major leaguer is large and to take that punishment then hopefully play for another month is a tough thing to do.
That makes it tough for even the most skilled of teams to find their way to the postseason and to the top of the league.
The battle to get there is also something that is very tough to do more than once but that won’t stop teams from trying this year.
In Houston, the Astros are looking to be the first repeat champion since the Yankees won three in a row from 1998-2000.
They are an improved team from a year ago and could find their way through the American League again.
There are a lot of talented teams there though as the Yankees look like the most powerful team ever in the MLB and in Cleveland, the talent is still deep.
The wild card won’t be any less intimidating either as the rising Twins and the solid Red Sox both have plenty of reasons to get excited this year.
All of that and the usual unexpected developments that seem to make the American League a challenge every single year.
In the National League, a former champion experienced their own hangover after winning their title.
The Chicago Cubs were great but not great enough and came up short in trying to get their second title in a row.
They are hoping that they can come back and take their second title in three years and like the Astros, they have a good shot at that.
They won’t be alone themselves though as the Dodgers and the Nationals will be right alongside the Cubs.
The problem is that both the Dodgers and the Nationals have struggled throughout the playoffs despite being two of the better teams in the MLB.
The wild card will feature an up and coming Arizona team and a Mets teams that will only be there if healthy.
There is a lot of talent in the National League but so many questions that it is tough to really predict what will happen.
The marathon begins now as the season is about to get underway and the postseason is a long way away.
Every team will look to get that great start though as there is no chance that teams can win a World Series at the start of the season but they can certainly lose one.
The hopes of every team are still high and marching towards the postseason and the World Series begins now.
The Sport Addiction 