The 2021 MLB regular season has come to a close and the matchups for the playoffs are set. Who is matching up with who?
The structure of the MLB Playoffs are as follows; The Wild Card round is between the No. 4 seed and No. 5 seed with the winner matching up with the No. 1 seed in the Division Series, the DS is a five-game series between the No. 2 seed versus No. 3 seed and the No. 1 seed versus No. 4 and 5 seeds. The winners of those series move on to the Championship Series. The CS is a seven-game series between the two final teams in each league, with the winner earning a berth in the World Series. The Fall Classic, better known as the World Series, is the seven-game series that determines the winner of the MLB season.
American League
The Tampa Bay Rays secured the No. 1 seed, winning the AL East. The AL West winners are the No. 2 seed Houston Astros. The Chicago White Sox won the AL Central and established the No. 3 seed.
The No. 5 seed New York Yankees are matching up with the No. 4 seed Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card playoffs. The teams met 19 times in the regular season, with the Red Sox winning ten of those games. Their season series has been a tale of two halves. Boston won the first seven games, with the Yankees winning nine of the last 12 games, including seven wins in a row. The storied rivalry will have another riveting matchup with an ALDS matchup with the No. 1 seed Tampa Bay Rays on the line.
The No. 3 Chicago White Sox are taking on the No. 2 Houston Astros in the ALDS. In the six games that they matched up in the regular season, the Astros won four of the six meetings. A balanced matchup, both the Astros and White Sox have four All-Stars on their rosters, with the White Sox sending three pitchers. The Astros sent three position players and one pitcher as well.
National League
The No. 1 seed San Francisco Giants won the NL West. The Milwaukee Brewers earned the No. 2 seed while winning the NL Central. The NL East champion Atlanta Braves attained the No. 3 seed.
The Wild Card matchup consists of the No. 5 seed St. Louis Cardinals visiting the No. 4 seed Los Angeles Dodgers with an NLDS appearance on the line. The Cardinals and Dodgers played six regular season matches and the series was an even three wins each. Every game was within five runs except for one when the Dodgers scored 14 runs. The winner will take on the No. 1 seed San Fransisco Giants in the ALDS.
The No. 3 Atlanta Braves are going up against the No. 2 Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS. The two teams played six games against each other in 2021, with the matchup being an even split at three games each. Both teams are star studded and have multiple All-Stars on their rosters. This series projects to be one of the more competitive and even matchups.
