MLB Playoffs: Predicting the Nationals-Dodgers Divisional Series

Enough with these win-or-go-home Wild Card games. Now we are getting set for the MLB playoffs divisional round. Five-game series that feature some great matchups, including what will be an interesting battle between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers.

While the one-game Wild Card round is fun and exciting, they are really difficult to predict. In fact, the MLB playoffs in general are tough to project. However, with the divisional round being a best-of-three series it’s a little bit easier to stack up the rosters and select a winner.

It may be the postseason, but it’s still baseball, albeit a different type of baseball. Just because the Los Angeles Dodgers finished a few games behind the Washington Nationals during the regular season by no means signals that they are a huge underdog. In fact, ESPN’s stable of baseball pundits have predicted that Vin Scully’s final year with the team will continue to the NLCS, even though he won’t actually be calling the games (what a class act).

But I digress… With the scene being set and the pitching matchups coming a bit more into fruition, this breakdown will analyze how each team sizes up against each other on a game by game basis, because you really only have to be the better team on a given day just three times to advance.

How will the likes of Max Scherzer and Tanner Roark fair against the hot bats of the Dodgers? Which premier closer do you trust more late in the game? What about the Nationals injuries and Clayton Kershaw‘s postseason struggles, how will that affect this series? I will attempt to answer these questions and eventually decide what team will get a step closer to the Fall Classic.