MLB Power Rankings: Who has the best chances of winning the World Series?

The Indians offense has been their issue all season as only Jose Ramirez has an OPS above .800, who’s .981 OPS and 17 home runs have him earning some MVP consideration. But once again, the Indians are leaning on their strong pitching which leads the league in WAR at 11.5 this season. Shane Bieber should win his first AL Cy Young, but Zac Plesac and Carlos Carrasco both have posted sub 3.00 ERAs this season.

But for the Indians to be real contenders, they’ll need someone else to pick up the slack on offense. Francisco Lindor was starting to look like himself towards the end of August and into September going on a 14-game run where the shortstop hit .321 with three home runs and a .941 OPS, but followed that performance with a 5-32 stretch in the Indians last nine games. Lindor will need to play like the superstar to give the Indians a real shot in the postseason.

The Padres decided to go all-in this season, trading for Indians starter Mike Clevinger to give them the ace this staff needed to be real contenders. But after four incredible starts for the Padres, Clevinger hit the IL with a sprained elbow earlier this week. While San Diego remains hopeful Clevinger can pitch at some point this postseason, they won’t know for sure until after this weekend, according to Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune.

It doesn’t help that starter Dinelson Lamet let Friday’s game with an apparent arm injury as well, which could completely torpedo the Padres’ postseason hopes. However, they do have the best offense in baseball according to Fangraphs’ WAR and have two MVP candidates in Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. in their lineup. Even if the Padres do lose Clevinger and Lamet for the remainder of the season, there’s enough firepower on offense for the Padres to contend.

Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are healthy and mashing baseballs for New York, but it’s Luke Voit and DJ LeMahieu carrying the Yankees offense. Voit is an AL MVP candidate this season with 21 home runs and .957 OPS, which is only bested by LeMahieu at .978 this season.

Their rotation is strong with Gerrit Cole at the top along with JA Happ having a solid season at 37-years-old and Mashiro Tanaka, who has a 1.76 ERA in eight postseason games. The bullpen hasn’t dominated like in years past with just a 0.8 WAR, but with proven arms like Zach Britton, Adam Ottavino, and Aroldis Chapman the Yankees bullpen is a strength in any postseason series.

The Braves have tons of power in their lineup, only the Dodgers hit more home runs than them this season. 1B Freddie Freeman has made an excellent case for NL MVP honors with 13 home runs, a 1.102 OPS, and a wRC+ of 190. Freeman also the team leader in runs scored, on-base percentage, and walks, the 30-year-old is the key to Atlanta’s offense. It helps both Marcell Ozuna and Ronald Acuna Jr. were both worth 2.4 fWAR this season as well, but the Braves offense is one of the more formidable lineups in baseball.

Their starting pitching lacks depth after injuries to Mike Soroka, Mike Foltyniewicz, Sean Newcomb, and Cole Hamels. The Braves do have ace Max Fried, who’s pitched like the NL Cy Young candidate he is, post a 2.25 ERA and a 1.6 fWAR this season. But after Fried, the Braves have Ian Anderson and Kyle Wright but few options beyond them. Atlanta does have one of the better bullpens in baseball worth 2.7 fWAR this season with a 3.31 team ERA, but it’ll be up to manager Brian Snitker to get creative with no off days this postseason.