Tuesday, October 06, 2015

2015 MLB Playoff Picture: Abstract Edition

First off, let's take a look at the 2015 predictions that my intern, Predict-O-Bot 2000, made for the 2015 season:

The National League West

Los Angeles Dodgers - 91-71
San Diego Padres - 86-76
San Francisco Giants - 83-80
Colorado Rockies - 71-91
Arizona Diamondbacks - 63-99

The National League Central
Pittsburgh Pirates  - 89-73
St. Louis Cardinals - 86-76
Milwaukee Brewers - 86-76
Cincinnati Reds - 74-88
Chicago Cubs - 73-89

The National League East
Washington Nationals - 94-68
Miami Marlins - 83-79
New York Mets - 83-79
Atlanta Braves - 72-90
Philadelphia Phillies - 66-96

The American League West
Seattle Mariners - 90-72
Texas Rangers - 84-78
Oakland Athletics - 82-80
Los Angeles Angels - 81-81
Houston Astros - 73-89

The American League Central
Chicago White Sox - 87-75
Detroit Tigers - 86-76
Kansas City Royals - 85-77
Cleveland Indians - 83-79
Minnesota Twins - 71-91

The American League East
Boston Red Sox - 91-71
Toronto Blue Jays - 86-76
New New York Yankees - 83-79
Tampa Bay Rays - 79-83
Baltimore Orioles - 75-87

I'm so tempted to blame these on my intern, Predict-O-Bot 2000, but A.) I don't have an intern, and B.) if I did invent a robot intern, I'd name it something more clever than Predict-O-Bot 2000. No, this was simply a complete debacle, and it came from my own noggin.

The only thing I pretty much nailed was the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the NL West with a just-above-90 win season (within one game, that's pretty good). Other than that, I didn't pick a single division winner correctly. In the AL, Chicago and Seattle finished 4th in their divisions, and Boston finished LAST. Two of the teams I picked to finish last in their divisions (Chicago and Houston) earned Wildcard berths. The Twins were my pick for joke of the AL, but in reality they were in contention right up until the last days, and were one of the last two teams eliminated from the post season race. The Nationals, my pick to win the World Series, didn't make the playoffs. I even predicted a three way tie for two of the Wildcard spots in the NL, but in reality, the five teams in the playoffs took the spots quite expeditiously.

So yeah, I blew it. Now that MLB has narrowed the field to ten teams (pretty much putting the bumpers up at the bowling alley), I'll take a crack at playoff predictions.

NL Wildcard Series - Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago Cubs - Pirates
NL Division Series - St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates - Pirates in 5
NL Division Series - Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets - Dodgers in 5
NL Championship Series - Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Pittsburgh Pirates - Dodgers in 6

AL Wildcard Series - New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros - Astros
AL Division Series - Kansas City Royals vs. Houston Astros - Royals in 4
AL Division Series - Toronto Blue Jays vs. Texas Rangers - Blue Jays in 3
AL Championship Series - Kansas City Royals vs. Toronto Blue Jays - Blue Jays in 6

World Series - Toronto Blue Jays vs. Los Angeles Dodgers - Dodgers in 6

Champion - Los Angeles Dodgers