MLB Playoffs: Top Storylines, Odds and More Heading into Postseason

With six new teams in the mix along with a few familiar faces, the MLB postseason boasts plenty of intriguing storylines.

The Wild Card Game is now in its fourth year and has been a huge success, highlighted by last year's winners—the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals—meeting in the World Series. This season features another pair of exciting matchups.      

The Houston Astros and New York Yankees meet in a clash of AL teams that lost their division leads late. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates play on Wednesday for a trip to the National League Division Series, where the division rival St. Louis Cardinals await.

As the playoff picture takes shape, we glance at a few angles worthy of chatter.

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press/Associated Press

Cubs Ace Arrieta Makes Postseason Debut

Despite an outstanding 2014, Cubs starter Jake Arrieta was hidden in the huge shadow of Jon Lester following the lefty’s six-year, $155 million contract this offseason. Yet an MLB-high 22 wins, a no-hitter and a Cy Young Award-worthy campaign later, Arrieta gets the nod for his first playoff game against the Pirates, a team he finished 3-1 with a 0.75 ERA against this year.

Arrieta’s success is rooted in his repertoire. He throws five pitches, per FanGraphs, and delivers with pinpoint accuracy evidenced by his 236 strikeouts. 

His poise has been a key as well, and how he handles the playoff pressure will be worth observing. On Sunday, Arrieta responded to Pirates fans on Twitter echoing confidence. 

The Cubs are 17-1 in Arrieta’s past 18 starts, and he’s riding arguably the best second-half performance in MLB history.

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Can Mets Overcome Dodgers’ One-Two Pitching Punch?

The New York Mets won the NL East by seven games over a Washington Nationals team that was the preseason favorite to win the World Series, per Odds Shark.

But now they face the daunting task of traveling cross-country and overcoming two of the three best pitchers in baseball on the road. The Los Angeles Dodgers haven’t announced which Cy Young candidate—Clayton Kershaw or Zack Greinke—they’ll dish out first, though it’s almost assured the pair will split Games 1 and 2.

Though the Mets struggled against most playoff teams—going a combined 11-26 against the six qualifying clubs they faced—they were 4-3 against the Dodgers this year and 1-1 in games against Kershaw and Greinke. 

If the Mets can steal one in L.A., they’ll return with home-field advantage to Citi Field, where they posted the eighth-best home record (49-32) in the majors.

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Blue Jays Favored to Win It All

In the postseason for the first time since 1993, the Toronto Blue Jays are betting favorites to win the World Series at plus-300, according to Odd Shark. 

Below is a list of the 10 playoff teams and their odds:

Toronto Blue Jays	+300
Kansas City Royals	+500
St. Louis Cardinals	+500
Los Angeles Dodgers	+600
New York Mets	+700
Chicago Cubs	+1000
Pittsburgh Pirates	+1100
Texas Rangers	+1200
New York Yankees	+1400
Houston Astros	+1400

Toronto went 42-14 since making trade-deadline deals that brought in superstars Troy Tulowitzki and David Price, the favorite for the AL Cy Young, per ESPN. Price will anchor a rotation that houses three of the top five AL pitchers in second-half ERA in himself, R.A. Dickey and Marco Estrada, according to Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star.        

But offense is why the Blue Jays can win it all. They led the majors in runs, homers, extra-base hits, walks, on-base percentage, slugging and OPS. And their plus-221 run differential was a whopping 99 more than the second-place Cardinals—the highest margin between first and second in that category since 1953, according to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com.

It’s October, meaning any team can get on an unforeseen tear. But given their awfully strong finish, it’s difficult not to like the Blue Jays’ chances.