After a hard-fought battle with the San Diego Padres, the Los Angeles Dodgers — as some, but not many predicted — will advance to face the New York Mets (who … were also not favored by our crew last round) in this year’s National League Championship Series. Look, we never said this was easy, but that won’t prevent us from trying to call our shot on who will emerge from the penultimate round of the postseason.
It’s a fascinating set-up: Both coasts represented as teams from America’s two biggest markets face off in a best-of-seven situation. Anything could happen. Let’s see where our team landed.
Note: Playoff seed in brackets.
| TEAM | PERCENT OF VOTE |
|---|---|
|
71.4% |
|
|
28.6% |
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Eno Sarris (Los Angeles): From what I’ve looked at, the lineup is actually the most important piece of the puzzle in the postseason. And this Dodgers lineup is special, all the way down to the bottom.
C. Trent Rosecrans (Los Angeles): A shorter series would benefit the Dodgers and with the team’s offense, they can do it. The longer the series goes, the better chance the Mets have.
Stephen Nesbitt (Los Angeles): At the start of the season, the Dodgers had 25.7 percent odds of winning the NLCS; the Mets were at 2.2 percent. That said, the Mets aren’t Cinderellas at this point. They’ve been fantastic since early this summer, and they’ve made quick work of two division winners already this postseason. But this is when the Mets’ run ends. (Sure, I said this before the last series, but I’m sure of it this time!)
The Dodgers just committed one grand illusion. They reached the brink of elimination and then made the Padres’ bats vanish. Poof! Now for the next act: extinguishing the Mets magic. The Dodgers have the hitters to eventually crack Sean Manaea and the Mets’ staff, and with Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and a bullpen used to heavy lifting they’ll be able to tame the Mets’ lineup just enough in the NLCS.
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Andy McCullough (Los Angeles): Good news, Mets fans: I picked against your team last round, too. This should be a great series.
Sam Blum (New York): Sure, the Dodgers have three MVPs in their lineup. But the Mets have Grimace holding the playoff pumpkin.
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Chad Jennings (Los Angeles): Look, at this point, I just assume I’m wrong, but there’s still nothing — other than the left side of the infield — that I can point to and say, “This is where the Mets are clearly better.” Yes, the Mets are on a roll, but the Dodgers won more games in the second half and just beat the red-hot Padres. Their bullpen is deep, their lineup has thump, and I’m picking their depleted rotation to give just enough to move on.
Will Sammon (New York): It’s hard to pick against the Mets these days. They have a suspect bullpen, but have patched it up with starter David Peterson, who has moonlighted as an ace reliever. Speaking of bullpens, the Mets’ lineup has dominated them throughout this playoff run. So given the Dodgers’ pitching situation, I’m giving the edge to the Mets.
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(Top photo: Adam Hunger / Getty Images)
