ALDS Bracket 2020: TV Schedule, Early Odds and Series Predictions

The American League Division Series field features four franchises familiar with this stage of the postseason.

A year ago, the Houston Astros, Oakland Athletics, Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees were four of the five playoff qualifiers. Oakland was the only team not to make the ALDS.

Since 2012, each of the four franchises has made at least two trips to the ALDS, and since the turn of the century, the quartet has combined for 14 ALCS appearances.

The Astros and Yankees have the edge in experience over their ALDS opponents, but the Athletics and Rays have strong pitching staffs and plenty of familiarity with their divisional foes.

Houston and Oakland will square off at Dodger Stadium, while the Rays and Yankees face off at Petco Park in San Diego. Both best-of-three series are set to start Monday, and each will consist of five games in five days if required.

ALDS Schedule

Game 1s: Monday, October 5 (Times TBD, TBS)

Game 2s: Tuesday, October 6 (Times TBD, TBS)

Game 3s: Wednesday, October 7 (Times TBD, TBS)

Game 4s (if necessary): Thursday, October 8 (Times TBD, TBS)

Game 5s (if necessary): Friday, October 9 (Times TBD, TBS)

ALDS Odds

To Win Series

No. 6 Houston (-104) vs. No. 2 Oakland (-118)

No. 5 New York Yankees (-148) vs. No. 1 Tampa Bay (+120)

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Predictions

Tampa Bay over New York Yankees in 4

Tampa Bay controlled the bulk of its 10 regular-season games against the Yankees. The Rays went 8-2 and held New York to five runs or fewer in all but one of those contests.

The American League East champion should have the advantage in pitching, with Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow likely throwing in the first two games. One of the two hurlers will have to go head-to-head with Gerrit Cole, but whoever it is should fare better than Cleveland's Shane Bieber, who struggled to match the Yankees ace in his postseason debut.

Snell and Glasnow combined to strike out 17 Toronto Blue Jays batters over 11.2 innings of work in the Wild Card Round. They were followed up by a bullpen that allowed a single earned run in two victories.

If Tampa Bay goes off its wild-card rotation, Snell would lead off the ALDS to presumably face Cole and Glasnow would take Game 2.

Snell allowed three earned runs in eight innings over two starts against the Yankees. Glasnow got better in each of his three matchups with the Yankees. In his final outing against New York, Glasnow gave up two hits and struck out nine in six innings at Yankee Stadium.

Cole struck out 27 Tampa Bay batters in three head-to-head battles, but he was touched up for nine earned runs. Since Tampa Bay saw Cole on three occasions, that familiarity could give the team an advantage Cleveland did not possess in Game 1 of the wild-card series.

The Rays offense may also have the edge over a five-game series since three of the five New York relievers who faced Cleveland conceded an earned run.

With a better one-two punch at the top of the rotation and more consistent bullpen arms, Tampa Bay could neutralize the Yankees' potent offense and come away with the series victory.

If you think the Rays will replicate their regular-season form against the Yankees, you should lock them in at +120 to win the series. That price is likely the best you will get for any No. 1 seed.

Houston over Oakland in 4

The Astros flew under the radar entering the postseason because of their sub-.500 regular-season record.

In its two wins over the Minnesota Twins, however, Houston proved it is more than capable of making another run to the World Series.

The Astros employed a different pitching strategy than others by calling on starters Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier to back up Zack Greinke and Jose Urquidy in Games 1 and 2. Now, with an extended series in front of them, the Astros could call on Valdez and Javier to have bigger roles to bridge the gap between potential Game 1 and 5 starts by Greinke.

The confidence gained from beating the Twins could help the Astros turn around their form against the Athletics after Oakland won seven of the teams' 10 regular-season meetings. Houston's problem in a majority of those games was run production, as it plated two runs or fewer in seven matchups with its AL West rival.

The Astros can fix its scoring issues against the A's by benefiting from the long ball and avoiding strikeouts. 

Oakland allowed five long balls to the Chicago White Sox over a three-game span in which it conceded 11 runs. Houston's lineup struck out the fewest times of any MLB team in the regular season, with its 440 strikeouts 11 fewer than the Washington Nationals' second-lowest total.

In the Wild Card Round, Houston fanned in 13 at-bats, but seven of them came from Josh Reddick and Martin Maldonado. Only one other player had multiple strikeouts.

If Houston continues to put the ball in play and receives strong outings from its starters, it could flip its form against Oakland and return to the ALCS.

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