In preparation for the 2022 World Series, the League Championships kicked off on Tuesday, Oct. 19, in San Diego, CA for the National League Division Series. The National League Championship series will determine who between the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Diego Padres will go on to play in the 2022 World Series. Shortly following, Game 1 for the American League Championship series was played on Wednesday, Oct. 19, in Houston. For the ALCS, the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros will play in up to seven games to determine who moves on to the World Series.

With the League Championship series reaching the halfway point and the World Series approaching fast, let’s take a look at the top four teams.

NLCS Championship
Both the Phillies and Padres have solid bullpens, both with mostly matched records. The Padres biggest threats are pitchers Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler. Wheeler has been consistent and reliable for the Phillies since 2020 and this year, he has an era of 2.82. His counterpart, Nola, is a solid pitcher with a 3.25 era and has easily set all doubts aside with his performance this postseason. Facing them, Padres pitchers Yu Darvish with an era of 3.10 and Blake Snell with an era of 3.38 prove tough competition. Both teams have a stacked bullpen, leading me to believe that this series will solely come down to each team’s hitting and ability to get on base. While I think both teams will do well, I think Bryce Harper will pull through to help give the Phillies the win, leading them to the World Series. In the end, I think the Phillies will win in Game 7.

ALCS Championship
Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. Both of them are starting pitchers for their respective teams and both the openers for their team in the ALCS. While they are both incredible pitchers, there is no denying Verlander’s skill. While Cole measures in at a 3.50 era, Verlander rests at a 1.75 era. On the offensive side, the Yankees have Anthony Rizzo, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to pull their weight. While I think they have solid hitting, pitching and fielding, I don’t think the Yankees will be able to advance to the World Series. The Yankees have many stars, but the Astros have Alex Bregman, Yordan Álvarez and Jose Altuve, just to name a few. In addition to their countless good hitters, the Astros have a very well managed team, as well as a good defense. To put it shortly, the Astros are stacked. Some would argue that the combination of the Astros’ incredible bullpen, along with their collection of great hitters, makes for a deadly team that won’t stop until they win. The Astros will win in Game 6 to advance to the World Series.

World Series
Assuming my above predictions are correct, I think the World Series will be an eventful game, using up all seven games before determining the winner. The Phillies and Astros are both great teams and have already faced off against each other this season. In their original series, the Astros were able to win 2-1, winning one of the three games 10-0. Due to their loss, the Phillies will no doubt be yearning for redemption and come back stronger than ever. The Phillies were on almost no one’s mind at the beginning of the season, as they, along with many others, were completely overshadowed by the belief that the Dodgers would easily move on to the World Series, beating every team in their path. Following the Dodgers loss to the Padres, people – including myself – were forced to re-evaluate their prior prediction, making us extremely aware of the Phillies sudden rise. Because of the team’s struggling crawl to be where they are now, I have no doubt they will not go down without a fight. With that being said, the Astros will not be an easy team to beat. The Astros are completely overpowered with almost no weak spots on their team. They are a team full of stars who have all learned how to work together. After the 2017 scandal, they have a lot to show and each person within the Astros community is itching to prove themself.

With all of that in mind, I have to go with the Astros in Game 7 by only one or two runs for the win and title as World Series champions. No matter the outcome, these upcoming games will surely be interesting, and I am just as excited to watch what unfolds.