MLB Playoff Predictions 2019: Early Projections for World Series Bracket

The Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals will try to join the San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox as two-time World Series winners this decade. 

In fact, the Astros and Cardinals are the only franchises in the 10-team postseason field with a championship in the last 10 years. 

Eight of the 10 teams entered into the 2019 MLB postseason have a title drought of longer than a decade or have never won the World Series. 

The Astros are the No. 1 seed in the American League and have a good chunk of their title-winning squad from 2017 still around. 

St. Louis is the No. 3 team in the National League and starts its postseason against NL East champion Atlanta. When the Cardinals won the World Series in 2011, they ended the regular season in third and defeated East winner Philadelphia in the NLDS. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers are viewed as the favorite to advance out of the NL once again. The Dodgers have qualified for the last two World Series but failed to end their title drought that dates back to 1988. 

Oakland's last championship occurred in 1989, while Minnesota and Atlanta last won titles in the 1990s. The New York Yankees are looking to end a 10-year absence at the top of the sport, while Tampa Bay, Milwaukee and Washington come into October searching for their first MLB championship. 

Playoff Projections

American League

Wild-Card Game: Tampa Bay over Oakland

Divisional Series: Houston over Tampa Bay; New York Yankees over Minnesota

Championship Series: Houston over New York Yankees 

Tampa Bay will try to buck the trend of three straight home sides winning the AL Wild Card Game. 

Rays starter Charlie Morton gave up one earned run over 13.1 innings in two June matchups with Oakland, and in his last start, he held the Yankees to one hit in six innings. 

Kevin Cash's team is 7-3 in its last 10 games while the A's boast a 6-4 mark in that stretch, with four of those defeats occurring in the final week of the regular season. 

A wild-card win might not pave the way for more success, as the three road victors of the AL matchup have lost in the ALDS. 

It is going to be hard for either the Rays or Athletics to ride into Houston on short rest and steal a win off Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander. 

The two aces and Zack Greinke give the Astros one of the top pitching combinations, and they will likely benefit from that all the way to the World Series. 

New York lost its last three road series to Toronto, Tampa Bay and Texas. In order to knock off the Astros, the Yankees have to reverse that form at Minute Maid Park. 

Controlling Minnesota's bats in the ALDS will be tough, but Aaron Boone's team limited the Twins to 11 runs over a three-game set at Yankee Stadium in May. The Yankees proved in July they could outhit the Twins by racking up 30 runs at Target Field. 

The Yankees could claim to have an advantage over Houston due to three June victories at Yankee Stadium, but they caught Houston at the back end of its rotation.

In the series finale, Verlander quieted the New York bats by conceding three earned runs over seven innings. 

New York has suffered the fourth-most strikeouts among the 10 playoff participants, while Houston led the majors with 1,671 punchouts. 

If the Astros staff is able to calm the New York hitters with a high volume of strikeouts, that could be the advantage they need to return to the World Series. 

National League

Wild-Card Game: Washington over Milwaukee

NLDS: Los Angeles over Washington; St. Louis over Atlanta

NLCS: St. Louis over Los Angeles 

Pitching depth will power the Nationals past the Brewers in Tuesday's Wild Card Game.

Max Scherzer is starting, and he has Stephen Strasburg waiting in the bullpen if Dave Martinez wants to go that route. 

Milwaukee is calling on Brandon Woodruff, who has gone four innings in his two appearances back from injury, before it relies on the bullpen. 

The Brewers stumble into Nationals Park on a three-game losing streak, while the Nationals closed the regular season with eight straight victories. 

Taking a game from Dodgers Stadium may be too difficult a task for the Nationals in the NLDS against Hyun-Jin Ryu and Clayton Kershaw. 

Ryu, Kershaw and Walker Buehler versus Scherzer, Strasburg and Patrick Corbin could produce the best set of pitching matchups in the divisional round. 

The Dodgers went 4-3 against Washington with two victories at Nationals Park behind Ryu and Kershaw, who combined to give up three earned runs. 

Even though St. Louis holds a 2-4 record versus Atlanta, it may be able to spring the upset of the NLDS. 

Since September 18, the Cardinals produced five runs or more in six of 10 games, and they won four of their last five one-run contests on the road. 

The Braves lost five of their final six games and finished September with a 4-8 stretch. Keep an eye on a potential Game 2 matchup between Jack Flaherty and Mike Foltynewicz.

On May 14, the Cardinals rocked Foltynewicz for eight earned runs, while Flaherty struck out six and conceded three earned runs in a six-inning outing. 

The 23-year-old right-hander could be the difference-maker in a few series, as he gave up four earned runs in his final six starts. In 23 road innings in September, he let only a single opponent cross the plate. 

Flaherty, Adam Wainwright and Dakota Hudson could have the arm power to move past the Dodgers in the NLCS.

Wainwright has given up more than three earned runs twice over 89 postseason innings, and he conceded once over a string of four quality starts in the last month. 

In his last five appearances, Hudson limited opponents to seven runs on 15 hits while striking out 22 batters. 

If those numbers can be replicated, the Cardinals could knock off the Dodgers and land their first World Series appearance since 2011. 

World Series Prediction

Houston over St. Louis

Houston has a team built to overpower every opponent and win its second championship in three years. 

Cole, Verlander and Greinke went 55-17, and they have a solid bullpen made up of Roberto Osuna, Chris Devenski, Will Harris and Ryan Pressly to back them up. 

At the plate, the Astros have 10 players that reached the double-digit mark in home runs and four that mashed over 30. 

A.J. Hinch's team was the only franchise to record 60 home wins and it was 13 games over .500 on its travels. 

Even if a red-hot team like St. Louis rolls into Minute Maid Park, it is hard to see anyone beating the Astros with their talent and championship-winning experience. 

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from Baseball Reference.