MLB Playoff Bracket 2013: Predicting Winners of Division Rounds

With the Division Series games set and the MLB playoffs underway, it's time to predict which teams will emerge out of their divisional rounds and make it to the conference series.

The playoffs have already kicked off with an entertaining start.  Francisco Liriano pitched a seven-inning gem, as the the Pittsburgh Pirates won 6-2 over the Cincinnati Reds thanks to two home runs from Russell Martin.  The Tampa Bay Rays were able to get an easy 4-0 win over the Cleveland Indians after playing in another sudden death game against the Texas Rangers just two days before.

Below are my predictions for the divisional round, along with some analysis and justification of all of the series.

American League Division Series

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox

Two AL East teams will be facing each other in the ALDS, and neither of them are the New York Yankees, which I'm sure makes a lot of fans of both of these teams quite happy.

The Rays showed off their great pitching in their Wild Card game, starting with Alex Cobb. He went 6.2 innings allowing eight hits, but no earned runs and five strikeouts.  With David Price and Matt Moore to go along with Cobb, they're going to be a force to reckon with.

The offense is only average for the Rays, so they're going to need to step that up.  With players like Evan Longoria, Ben Zobrist and Desmond Jennings in the lineup, this team should be able to produce some runs against the Red Sox.

However, the Red Sox are likely going to produce more runs.  They easily have the best offense in baseball—ranking first in the Majors in runs, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, while ranking second in batting average.  David Ortiz is having a career year, hitting .309 with 30 home runs and 103 runs batted in during the regular season.

The bats for the Red Sox will be too much for the Rays, and they will be able to force the Rays' star pitchers into early exits.

Prediction: Red Sox win series 3-0

Detroit Tigers vs. Oakland Athletics

After getting swept in the World Series last season, the Tigers are looking to make another postseason run, with this one hopefully ending in a World Series victory.

The Tigers simply have a plethora of weapons, both pitching and hitting.  Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez have all been terrific for the Tigers, combining for 48 wins and over 600 innings pitched.

On offense, the Tigers have the best hitter in all of baseball with Miguel Cabrera. He finished the regular season hitting .348 with 44 home runs and 137 runs batted in.  They also have big time hitters with Torii Hunter, Victor Martinez and Prince Fielder who can all hit for power.

The Athletics have a strong pitching staff as well, and it's lead by an unlikely hero.  

At 40 years old, Bartolo Colon has been incredible.  He had 18 wins and a 2.65 ERA this season, simply blowing people away despite his age.  Josh Donaldson has been big on offense, hitting .301 with 24 home runs and 93 RBI.  

As impressive as the A's have been this year, the Tigers are simply too good in too many areas for Oakland to take control of this.  They may be able to win a game or two, but the Tigers will come out on top.

Prediction: Tigers win series 3-1

National League Division Series 

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals

After not reaching the playoffs since 1992, the Pirates have finally made it back, and they're looking to continue this Cinderella Story.

The pitching staff has been strong all season for the Pirates, with A.J. Burnett and Liriano leading the way.  Gerrit Cole has also been impressive, despite this being his first season in the Majors.

Over everything, the Pirates have an incredibly energetic home crowd that actually made an impact in the Wild Card game, and that could be the case once again in this round.  The Pirates could ride the momentum of the crowd during home games and win a couple of games in this series.

The Cardinals always seem to be in the playoffs, and this team is one of the better ones to make it there.  The batting order has weapons all over it with guys like Yadier Molina, Allen Craig, Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday.

The pitching staff has one of the best pitchers in the game right now with Adam Wainwright.  He struck out 219 batters this season with a 2.94 ERA in 241.2 innings pitched.

I want to root for the underdogs, but I don't think they can do it in this one.  The Cardinals depth on offense and top-notch pitchers will overpower the Pirates, although it will be another close one.

Prediction: Cardinals win series 3-2

Atlanta Braves vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Two great teams with plenty of stars are going to be going against each other, and this will likely be the most exciting playoff series to watch in this round.

The Braves have had the best pitching staff in the Majors this year, ranking first with a 3.18 ERA and second with 102 quality starts and a 1.20 WHIP.  Kris Medlen has led the way, putting up a 3.11 ERA and a 15-12 record.

There are plenty of guys that can hit the long ball in this batting order.  Justin Upton, Dan Uggla, Freddie Freeman, Brian McCann and Evan Gattis all have more than 20 home runs this season, while three others have at least 10 of them.  

For the Dodgers, they've had a lot of momentum and hype due to rookie sensation Yasiel Puig.  He had a great season, batting .319 with 19 home runs and 42 runs batted in through 104 games played.  Adrian Gonzalez has been the team's most productive batter, grabbing 100 RBI and 22 homers.  

Clayton Kershaw is also arguably the best pitcher in baseball, leading a strong pitching staff.  He had an ERA of just 1.83, while grabbing 16 wins and striking out 232 batters over the year.  A number of pitchers including rookie Hyun-Jin Ryu have been great as well.

Both teams have a lot of stars, but the Dodgers can get hot and stay hot when needed.  I think this is one of the times that we see that, and the Dodgers go to the NLCS.

Prediction: Dodgers win series 3-2