The Fatal Flaws That Could Destroy MLB Playoff Teams' World Series Runs

The nature of the Major League Baseball postseason is such that a team doesn't necessarily need to be without flaws to win the World Series.

Still, it surely doesn't help if a team is flawed.

This applies to all the clubs still standing in the 2020 playoff field to some degree or another, so we thought we'd pinpoint each team's most alarming red flag. These largely concern cold or generally inept offenses, though other teams' biggest problems are on the mound or in the field.

We'll begin with the teams that had the worst regular-season records and make our way to those that had the best.

Houston Astros: Offensive Depth

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The Houston Astros didn't have it bad on offense this season, as their 4.7 runs per game were right at the league average.

Yet they did so while putting up a below-average 94 OPS+. This, of course, was an especially shocking development in light of the historically great 119 OPS+ that Houston's offense put up in 2019.

The Astros missed reigning American League Rookie of the Year Yordan Alvarez, who played in only two games before he was lost for the year with dual knee surgeries. Otherwise, it's hard not to correlate the collapse of Houston's offense with the offseason revelation of their sign-stealing scheme.

Even in their sweep of the Minnesota Twins in the wild-card round, the Astros didn't exactly solve their offensive issues. They hit .194 as a team, and only four of their seven runs were earned.

Miami Marlins: Punchless Offense

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There's an argument for the Miami Marlins' youth as their most likely undoing. Especially on the mound, where they're set up to rely largely on Sandy Alcantara (25), Pablo Lopez (24) and Sixto Sanchez (22).

But whereas those three at least have extreme upside going for them, it's harder to say as much about Miami's offense.

The Marlins scored only 4.4 runs per game with a 92 OPS+ in the regular season. Their single biggest shortcoming was in the power department, where both their 60 home runs and .384 slugging percentage ranked among the dregs of the majors.

Unless the Marlins generate more power or do the unthinkable of small-balling their way through the playoffs, they may soon be watching from the couch.

St. Louis Cardinals: Offensive Upside

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The St. Louis Cardinals can't be too comfortable with their pitching while Jack Flaherty is struggling and fellow ace Dakota Hudson is done for the year after having Tommy John surgery.

But at the risk of sounding like a broken record, they're yet another team that may not have the bats for a deep playoff run.

The Cardinals scored only 4.1 runs per game in the regular season, and their 51 home runs were the fewest of any team in MLB. They also watched Paul Goldschmidt struggle in September, wherein his OPS fell from 1.016 to .883.

On the bright side, Goldschmidt and St. Louis' lineup have shown signs of life against the San Diego Padres in the wild-card round. In two games, he's homered twice and the offense as a whole has produced 16 runs.

New York Yankees: Pitching Depth

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Even after taking some punches in the regular season, the New York Yankees looked like a genuine World Series contender even before they swept Cleveland out of the wild-card round.

Their offense displayed its upside by racking up 22 runs in two games against the AL's top pitching staff. And after posting a 1.00 ERA in September, Gerrit Cole kept it up with a dominant effort (i.e., 13 strikeouts in seven innings) against Cleveland on Tuesday.

Cole can't pitch every game, however, and that could become more of a detriment as the Yankees advance deeper into the playoffs. There's a drop-off in talent in New York's rotation after Cole—other Yankees starters had a 4.70 ERA this season—and the club's bullpen is coming off its highest ERA since 2000.

On top of all this, Yankees pitchers weren't exactly home run-proof this season.

Chicago Cubs: Ice-Cold Offense

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

Remember when the Chicago Cubs were one of the top offensive teams in the National League?

That was true on an annual basis between 2016 and 2019, across which they scored more runs than all but two NL teams. Many of those runs flowed from Chicago's dynamic trio of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Javier Baez.

In 2020, however, the Cubs slipped to a 90 OPS+ and 4.4 runs per game. And they got worse as the season wore on, ultimately crashing with an NL-low .645 OPS in September.

If the Cubs are going to survive, their top priority must be getting more from the aforementioned trio. After combining for an .893 OPS in 2019, Rizzo, Bryant and Baez finished this season with an anemic .669 OPS.

Atlanta: Starting Pitching Depth

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To its credit, Atlanta has two qualities worthy of a World Series contender.

One is its offense, which authored a 116 OPS+ with 103 home runs in the regular season and was especially hot in September with a league-best .887 OPS. The second is a bullpen that finished with a solid 3.50 ERA.

Atlanta's starting pitching, on the other hand, was a hot mess. Max Fried and Ian Anderson combined for a 2.14 ERA in the regular season. Even including the three starts ace Mike Soroka made before he tore his Achilles, other starters Brian Snitker used besides that duo had a 6.82 ERA.

Though Fried and Anderson were enough against the Cincinnati Reds in the wild-card round, this shortcoming will be harder to hide as each successive series gets longer.

Oakland Athletics: They're Not Battle-Tested

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

How did the Oakland Athletics win 60 percent of their games in the regular season?

Their bullpen had a lot to do with it. Led by ace closer Liam Hendriks and setup men such as J.B. Wendelken and Yusmeiro Petit, Oakland relievers led the majors with a 2.72 ERA.

Yet there was nothing else that the A's truly excelled at during the 60-game sprint to the playoffs. Their starters had a modest 4.49 ERA, while their offense—which is now sans Matt Chapman (hip)—only had a 102 OPS+.

All this points to the other major factor of the A's success: They played a mere six games against winning clubs and claimed only two of them. So while beating the Chicago White Sox in the wild-card round was a good first step, the A's still have much to prove moving forward.

San Diego Padres: Slumping and Hurting Stars

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Especially after they loaded up at the August 31 trade deadline, the San Diego Padres entered the stretch run of the 2020 season as one of MLB's best teams on paper.

In actuality, they don't look so great right now.

The Padres suffered a huge blow on the eve of the wild-card round when they had to leave aces Mike Clevinger and Dinelson Lamet, both of whom have injured biceps, off their roster. Even if San Diego survives the Cardinals, the status of those two will still be up in the air.

Meanwhile, the Padres' otherwise excellent offense carried slumping versions of Fernando Tatis Jr. and Eric Hosmer (combined .698 OPS in September) into the playoffs. Though after slamming two home runs opposite St. Louis on Thursday, the former may be waking up.

Tampa Bay Rays: Offensive Volatility

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

The Tampa Bay Rays won two-thirds of their games in the regular season and then outscored the Toronto Blue Jays 11-3 in a sweep in the wild-card round. 

These are the marks of a well-balanced team. Even if the Rays prevent runs better than they score them, their offense was still 9 percent better than average in the regular season by way of a 109 OPS+.

This same offense did, however, also strike out more frequently than all but one other in Major League Baseball. Even their best hitters, such as Brandon Lowe (25.9 K%) and Willy Adames (36.1 K%), were part of the problem.

Rays hitters had the benefit of facing a relatively low-strikeout staff in the first round of the playoffs against Toronto. That benefit may not come again.

Los Angeles Dodgers: They Also Haven't Been Battle-Tested

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

The Los Angeles Dodgers offer about as many nits to pick as you'd expect from a team that had a .717 winning percentage in the regular season. That is to say, very few.

They need Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy to be better, but their 121 OPS+ suggests they have the best offense of all the playoff teams regardless. The Dodgers also pack both an elite rotation (3.29 ERA) and an elite bullpen (2.74 ERA), plus one of baseball's top defenses (29 defensive runs saved).

Then again, perhaps it's easy to be so good when you're rarely challenged. The Dodgers played only 13 games against winning teams and won just eight of those.

The Dodgers didn't actually prove much by dispatching the Milwaukee Brewers, who finished two games below .500 at 29-31, in the wild-card round.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs.