Major League Baseball

MLB Playoffs: What You Need to Know About Each Division Series

Updated Oct. 7, 2021 3:59 p.m. ET

By Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports MLB Writers

Now the real fun begins.

OK, Wednesday’s NL wild-card walk-off, courtesy of Chris Taylor, was pretty damn fun. And the Red Sox steamrolling the rival Yankees in a winner-take-all game was decently compelling theater as well. However, the wild-card round is its own beast, a 48-hour roller coaster of nerves on which we all hold on for dear life until the final outs. And hey, we made it through.

Now, we all get to settle in for the nitty-gritty postseason action that allows for the more gradual ups-and-downs of a series. The two ALDS rounds begin Thursday, with the NLDS joining the fun Friday. Four-Game Friday is arguably one of the best days on the entire sports calendar, with 12 straight hours of October baseball on the docket.

To help you prepare for the divisional round, here are all the things you should think about, things we are thinking about, and things that will probably never happen but are fun to think about related to each of the four Division Series.

Let’s get to it.

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Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Why The Rays Will Win

That’s what they do. They win. It’s a similar offense to the team that won the American League last year, except now the Rays have Nelson Cruz and Wander Franco. They’re gonna start a rookie named Shane (Baz and McClanahan) on the hill for both Game 1 and Game 2, and it’s gonna go great because this team is a machine. The Rays have a whole new host of relievers you’ve never heard of that you’ll know by Nov. 1. Oh, and also, we don’t think Boston is very good.

Why The Red Sox Will Win

Both of those Tampa rookies will be on very quick hooks in Games 1 and 2, but if Boston’s offense can jump on the relatively untested arms early, and stretch the Rays' pen, that could make things interesting. It’s recency bias and small sample size, but Boston’s bullpen looked great in the wild-card game.

Bottom of the Order Hitter You Need to Know

Rays: Mike Zunino

The former No. 3 overall pick finally put it all together in his age-30 season to make his first All-Star Game and become one of the more fearsome offensive catchers in the game. His Barrel% is literally the best in baseball. He is Mike Zunino, and he is good.

Red Sox: Bobby Dalbec

The highest OPS from Aug. 6 through the end of the regular season (min. 100 plate appearances)?
1. Bryce Harper (1.155 OPS)
2. Yasmani Grandal (1.154)
3. Juan Soto (1.141)
4. Bobby Dalbec (1.104)

He’ll be batting seventh or eighth. Not bad.

Anonymous Reliever You Need to Know

Rays: All of them

It’s hard to pick one when it’s essentially the ethos of the entire team. But if we had to single one out it would be Louis Head, who was selling solar panels last summer and just posted a 2.31 ERA in 35 innings for Tampa Bay all while being optioned up and down between Triple-A and MLB 18 bajillion times (approximately).

Red Sox: Garrett Whitlock

Whitlock has started to level up beyond anonymity after closing out the AL wild-card game against his former organization that left him unprotected and thus available for Boston to take in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft. That said, there is still much more room for his profile to grow this postseason, and manager Alex Cora will surely be asking him to get some of the highest-leverage outs of the series.

Late Inning Showdown

Rays RP Josh Fleming vs. the top of the Red Sox order

The Division-III icon from Webster University began the year as a starter, but is now Tampa’s only left-handed option out of the bullpen. He’ll be tasked with getting Kyle Schwarber and Rafael Devers out in the late innings. Jake played against him in college and admits Fleming was better.

Likeliest Outcome

Rays in four. Tampa crushes Eduardo Rodríguez in Game 1, gets to Chris Sale in Game 2. Nate Eovaldi wins Game 3 at home and the momentum looks like it might swing back, but then Tampa blasts Rodríguez again and moves on to the ALCS.

Coolest Outcome

Rays in five. The home teams win every game. Boston ties it at two games apiece at home on Marathon Day before the Rays win it at The Trop with a walk-off homer.

Funniest Outcome

Red Sox in three. All the celebrating of Tampa’s incredible bullpen carousel is for naught. The Sox obliterate the Rays’ three rookie starters and the most identity-less Boston playoff team in recent memory heads to the ALCS.

Chicago White Sox vs. Houston Astros

Why The Astros Will Win

They have the best offense in baseball and they know a thing or two about winning in October – and not just when they were maybe/probably/definitely not playing fair. Still, that experience in so many gigantic, pressure-packed games could prove to be a huge advantage over a White Sox roster with fairly limited postseason experience on the whole. The Astros are unbelievably talented and deeper than they’ve been in a while, especially on the pitching side, and who better to guide them than Dusty Baker?

Why The White Sox Will Win

The overall consistency has not been there to the same degree, but you can argue that the ceiling of this White Sox lineup is every bit as sky-high as that of Houston’s. If the offense really starts humming and the starting pitching edge they would appear to have heading into the series proves true, the Sox could easily take a game in Houston and then win two at home. It’s not crazy, but winning in Houston is no small task.

Bottom of the Order Hitter You Need to Know

Astros: "Chake McCormeyers"

One of the biggest questions for Houston entering the season was how to replace George Springer in center field. Rather than replace a superstar with another superstar, the ‘Stros opted to fill in the gap with an amalgamation of lower-profile players. First, it was Myles Straw, who was ultimately dealt to Cleveland for bullpen help.

For the most part, though, it’s been Chas McCormick and Jake Meyers, two guys who were never top prospects but have both developed into quality big-leaguers. They are also two of just a handful of "backward" guys (throw left, bat right, an increasingly rare profile) in the majors today.

The overall result? Superstar-level production, in aggregate: Astros center fielders produced 5.4 fWAR in the regular season, second-best in MLB.

White Sox: Leury García

Chicago’s longest-tenured player – yes, García has been with the White Sox since 2013, the year before José Abreu signed – the 30-year-old switch-hitter has been an immensely valuable and versatile utilityman all season long. He logged significant time at shortstop while Tim Anderson was hurt and more recently in the outfield since TA7 returned. García also hit one of the more improbable walk-off dingers of the season:

Anonymous Reliever You Need to Know

Astros: Brooks Raley

After five seasons as an ace for the Lotte Giants in the KBO, Raley returned to the big leagues and has become one of the more unique dominant relievers in the sport. He doesn’t throw very hard but possesses top-tier spin rates on both his fastball and curveball and has been downright elite at inducing soft contact. We feel obligated to also mention that Raley, a true Texan, named his son after Dallas Cowboys legend Jason Witten. Not kidding.

White Sox: Ryan Tepera

Everyone’s favorite MVP vote-getter was acquired from the crosstown Cubs at the deadline and has been every bit as reliable for the Sox down the stretch. Tepera's stuff isn’t as sexy as that of the younger flamethrowers like Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet, but Tony La Russa has gone to Tepera a ton in the second half to set up the Kimbrel/Hendriks dynamic duo.

Late-Inning Showdown

Garrett Crochet vs. Yordan Alvarez

As far as lefty on lefty postseason matchups go, the Juan Soto vs. Adam Kolarek showdowns from 2019 felt more like Guile vs. Guile. This will probably have more Fight-Fire-With-Fire energy, as Crochet might need to find his A+ velocity to tame the most dangerous power bat in the Houston lineup.

Likeliest Outcome

Astros in four. One of Lucas Giolito or Lance Lynn deals in Houston to steal a game, but the best offense in baseball is too much to overcome for the White Sox pitching staff and the Astros roll to their fifth (!) consecutive ALCS.

Coolest Outcome

White Sox in five. The high-powered offenses go blow-for-blow until Dallas Keuchel comes in from the bullpen and throws five scoreless innings in relief at Minute Maid in Game 5 to eliminate his former team. (Yeah, we know Keuchel is on the taxi squad, but let us dream.)

Funniest Outcome

Astros in five. The expected managerial masterclass between the legendary La Russa and Baker is actually a complete circus of bullpen blow-ups and poorly timed pinch-hitters, culminating in a sloppy slugfest that ultimately tilts toward the team with the home-field advantage.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants

Why The Giants Will Win

The Giants will win this series because we’ve watched them win series after series for six straight months now. We're officially done trying to convince ourselves they aren’t the best team in the league. At some point, you just know how to win baseball games better than the other teams, and 107 wins over a 162-game season is hard to shrug off.

It’s also not like the core of this team doesn’t know how to do it in October. They have Buster Posey! They have Johnny Cueto! They have Kris Bryant! They know how to win when it’s cold out!

Why The Dodgers Will Win

The Dodgers will win this series because even with some devastating injuries to Max Muncy and Clayton Kershaw, they are still rolling out essentially an All-Star team every night. It’s not like the Dodgers were getting crushed by the Giants in the regular season; they just seemed to keep coming up just short. If L.A.'s lineup gets rolling, no team might be able to stop it. Plus, the Dodgers have the pitching depth to survive Kershaw’s absence.

Bottom of the Order Hitter You Need to Know

Giants: Donovan Solano

He hasn’t been quite as productive as in his first couple seasons in San Francisco, but the Colombian infielder known lovingly as "Donnie Barrels" is still a crucial part of this. We also want to highlight him because his 2019 breakout – along with those of Mike Yastrzemski and Alex Dickerson – should have been a warning sign for what this organization is capable of in terms of producing offensive talent.

Dodgers: Cody Bellinger

The 26-year-old outfielder was one of the worst hitters in baseball this season, but for some reason, the Dodgers kept running him out there, often hitting seventh or eighth in the lineup. We're not entirely sure why they would keep going to a struggling young player hitting .165 who looks so painfully lost, but L.A. was rewarded when it counted the most when Bellinger reached base three times in the NL wild-card game.

Wait, what’s that? This Bellinger fellow won NL MVP two years ago? There’s no way that can be right! Well, you probably already know who he is then.

Anonymous Reliever You Need to Know

Giants: Camilo Doval

Like the Rays, the Giants have a plethora of candidates for this category. But keep an eye on Doval, who has a wacky delivery and some of the gnarliest stuff you’ll see from a right-handed reliever this October. He also seems to have earned some closing opportunities, recording three saves in the final week and regularly appearing toward the end of games down the stretch. Everyone could know this name very quickly if things shake right.

Dodgers: Alex Vesia

It was Victor González last October, but Vesia is the southpaw to watch out of the Dodger bullpen this year. Acquired from Miami in February for Dylan Floro, Vesia’s success is rooted in his highly effective fastball that features elite vertical movement, making it almost impossible to hit at the top of the zone.

Late Inning Showdown

Blake Treinen vs. Kris Bryant

There are so many Giants relievers used in so many different spots that it’s hard to pinpoint which of their bullpen arms will be dispatched to handle all the Dodgers’ star hitters. This one seems like a slam dunk, though. Sure, you could say Bryant’s match-up with Kenley Jansen is more compelling, but Treinen’s pure stuff is on an entirely different level. We're excited to see if Bryant can come through for his new team when faced with this challenge in a close game.

Likeliest Outcome

Giants or Dodgers in five. The regular-season series was so spectacularly close that this feels like an inevitability, and if anything, a shame that it will only be a five-game series no matter what.

Coolest Outcome

Giants in five. We honestly still can’t quite get over the fact that this is the first time these teams have ever met in the postseason, but wow, what if it actually lives up to the hype? The two best teams in baseball give us a series for the ages, with the home team winning every game and ending with an opposite-field Buster Posey grand slam into McCovey Cove down by three runs off Kenley Jansen? OK, sorry, we're getting greedy.

Funniest Outcome

Giants in three. The Giants take care of business at home and then bullpen a game with 10 different pitchers against Max Scherzer in Game 3 at Dodger Stadium to sweep their rivals and continue to make all the non-believers look extremely stupid.

Atlanta Braves vs. Milwaukee Brewers

Why The Brewers Will Win

The fact that the Brewers stayed strong down the stretch to the point where the Cardinals could win 22 games in September and still finish five games back in the NL Central should give you a pretty good sense of how excellent this squad was all season.

Especially in a five-game series, Milwaukee’s tremendous trio of starters might just go Snap, Crackle, Pop and send the Brew Crew to the NLCS before the Braves can say, "But wait, we can hit Eric Lauer!" The Brewers' offensive numbers are underwhelming, but they’ve been getting huge hits when needed all season long.

Why The Braves Will Win

We were so quick to bury the Braves when Ronald Acuña Jr. went down, but one man (as much as we love him) does not a team make. This team was one win away from the World Series a year ago, and that wasn’t just because of Acuña. A lot of the same pieces are still in place, and the Braves showed how formidable they could be in the second half of the regular season.

Add in a proven postseason starter in Charlie Morton, an enormous breakout from Austin Riley, and a ton of significant midseason boosts to the lineup and you’ve got a pretty damn good-looking team, now don’t you? Look, we're skeptical of the pitching depth, too, but don’t underestimate this team.

Bottom of the Order Hitter You Need to Know

Brewers: The Big Boys

When Daniel Vogelbach and Rowdy Tellez were Blue Jays teammates in 2020 for about four and a half minutes, that was more than enough for everyone to make their Spiderman-pointing-at-Spiderman jokes. Now they’ve been on the same roster for about a month on a team that just ran away with a division title and has World Series aspirations.

Tellez has been the more productive hitter on the whole, but Vogey started a handful of games at first base down the stretch as well. It seems impossible that the Brewers could roster both this October, but my goodness, we’ve never wanted to be wrong more.

Braves: Eddie Rosario

Adam Duvall has rightfully gotten most of the attention as Atlanta’s biggest midseason acquisition, but did you know Rosario has been even better (.903 OPS to Duvall’s .800) since joining the Braves in July? His overall value was always limited by his disinterest in drawing any walks and below-average outfield defense, but the dude can really hit. He lengthens this lineup significantly, especially against right-handers.

Anonymous Reliever You Need to Know

Braves: Luke Jackson

This is Jackson’s fifth year in Atlanta and by far his most successful. He had a brief stint as the closer in 2019 but was a disaster in the postseason (10.13 ERA in three appearances in the NLDS), and then struggled mightily in 2020. He bounced back tremendously in 2021; his 1.98 ERA was ninth-lowest among all qualified relievers in MLB. You’ll certainly see him in the seventh or eighth inning.

Brewers: Aaron Ashby

You know about Josh Hader, but if Craig Counsell needs to get a guy like Freddie Freeman out before the eighth or ninth inning, you could see him go to this rookie southpaw, who has been stellar since being recalled from Triple-A in mid-August. Developed as a starter in the minors, Ashby can also go multiple innings if necessary. Brent Suter is the more reliable veteran lefty, but if Counsell needs a strikeout, Ashby might be the better option.

Late Inning Showdown

Josh Hader vs. Freddie Freeman

It’s inevitable, and it will be glorious. You can already imagine all the foul balls Freeman will manage to produce in a full count before lining a pitch into center field or watching a slider away for Ball 4. Or maybe Hader will just blow him away with 99 at the letters. Can’t wait for this one.

Likeliest Outcome

Brewers in four. The tremendous trio of Brew Crew starters dominates as expected, they get the key hits when they need to, and Counsell pushes all the right buttons as Milwaukee cruises to the NLCS.

Coolest Outcome

Braves in five. Brewers go up 2-0 with two comfortable victories behind their two aces at home before Atlanta comes storming back and reminds us all how good they can be, even without Acuña Jr.

Funniest Outcome

Braves in three. Everyone knows about the star power in the infield for Atlanta, but what if the completely remodeled outfield of Rosario, Duvall, and Jorge Soler just got scorching hot and carried the Braves to a sweep? Richard Rodríguez records three saves somehow and Alex Anthopoulous is named Executive of the Year before NLCS Game 1 even begins.

Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman, creators of the Twitter account Céspedes Family BBQ, write about all things baseball for FOX Sports.