2008 MLB Playoff Preview

WhatIfSports.com by Senior Analyst Written on October 05, 2008
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2008 MLB Playoff Preview

BtB looks at the results of 10,000 simulations of the MLB Playoffs
By Paul Bessire, WhatIfSports
Sept. 30th, 2008

With its super computer on a roll after correctly picking the NCAA tournament champion (before the tournament), the Stanley Cup champion (before the playoffs), and the Celtics over the Lakers (in six), WhatIfSports now focuses on baseball.

Just as we did with those playoff previews, we have used our free SimMatchup technology to simulate the MLB Playoffs 10,000 times in order to determine the exact likelihood of each of the eight teams making it to any level. Here is what we found


MLB Playoffs (Winning Percentages from 10,000 simulations)

TeamLDS Win%LCS Win%WS Win%
Tampa Bay Rays 72 41 25
Boston Red Sox 64 34 21
Chicago Cubs 63 37 17
Philadelphia Phillies 51 23 10
Milwaukee Brewers 49 24 10
Los Angeles Angels 36 15 6
Los Angeles Dodgers 37 16 6
Chicago White Sox 28 11 5

 

The American League wins 56 percent of the simulated World Series with Tampa Bay (25%) and Boston (21%) accounting for almost all of those wins. The N.L. is a little more even, with the Cubs winning it all 17 percent of the time, followed by Philadelphia and Milwaukee at 10 percent.

The Angels and Dodgers both come in at six percent, giving L.A. a 12 percent chance of claiming the World Series (there is a 31 percent chance that either L.A. team makes it and a 2.4 percent chance that they play each other). All of that work nets the Chicago White Sox the toughest road to the championship, winni

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written on October 05, 2008 Preview/Prediction

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