2024 Division Series Preview

This year features a milestone in baseball history. On Saturday, October 5, the 30th edition of MLB's Division Series will kick off. This doesn't include the makeshift version that was featured in 1981. The Division Series officially began in the 1995 season, replacing the League Championship Series as the opening round of the postseason. Originally, one series featured the #1 seed against the league's lone Wild Card, while the other pitted the other two division winners against each other. If the #1 seed and the Wild Card were in the same division, then the Wild Card faced the #2 team, and #1 would face #3. That changed with the introduction of the Wild Card Game in 2012, which was modified into the Wild Card Series in 2022.

The Division Series is played under a best-of-five format and has been since the beginning, though there are some moderate talks of making the LDS a best-of-seven series. For most of the round's tenure, the Division Series has been played under a 2-2-1 format, with the better seed hosting Games One, Two, and the deciding Game Five. Since the extension of the NBA's first round to a best-of-seven format, the Division Series stands as the lone best-of-five series in any of the three playoff series leagues (NBA, NHL, MLB).

This year's Division Series looks to be quite delicious! Here are the four matchups:

ALDS: Yankees vs Royals

Oh baby! We are getting Yankees vs Royals in 2024! This is the only one of the four matchups that isn't a division rivalry, but it's somehow much bigger. Back in the last part of the 70s, when the American League was East and West, the Yankees ruled the East, while the Royals took over the West after the Oakland A's dynasty. The teams met in the ALCS quite a bit, but it was always the Yankees winning, with the exception of the 1980 ALCS, which saw KC get over that hump.

Here it is, 44 years later, and we have Yankees/Royals in a best-of-five series once again. Of course, instead of Thurman Munson, we have Aaron Judge, who is crushing his way to another MVP season this year. And instead of George Brett, we have Bobby Witt, Jr., who is making all sorts of waves this year. For the Yankees, it's a big bounce back after a disastrous 2023 season. For the Royals, it's an absolute dream season that has continued after eliminating the Baltimore Orioles in the Wild Card Series.

The Yankees won the season series, 5-2, over the Royals.

ALDS: Guardians vs Tigers

The Cleveland Guardians and the Detroit Tigers have co-existed for over a century, yet this is the first time these two teams will face each other in the postseason. This is mainly because of the overall format. Even when Divisional Play was introduced in 1969, the Guardians and Tigers were in the American League East together. They were in separate divisions for only three seasons until 1998 saw the Tigers moved to the Central. Plus, neither team was ever playoff-talented in the same year.

The Tigers are still on a huge high after being in a postseason that they had no business being part of. Even better, they sent the Houston Astros packing. Fans of so many different teams are so grateful. As for the Guardians, this is the latest chapter of their attempt to end the longest championship drought in baseball. 75 full seasons have passed without a championship. Cleveland's had quite a few decent chances in recent years, but with no success. This series should be quite interesting.

The Guardians won the season series, 7-6, over the Tigers.

NLDS: Dodgers vs Padres

There's no pressure on the Los Angeles Dodgers, is there? All they're doing is trying to make their 2020 championship more respectable. And they gave a bunch of Brinks trucks to Shohei Ohtani. All he did was become the first 50/50 player in MLB history. That's all. And this is the team's ninth year with Dave Roberts as manager, and the last two years have seen the Dodgers--despite great records--losing in the Division Series.

And even crazier, the Dodgers are facing the team who beat them in the 2022 NLDS: the San Diego Padres. The promise has always been there for Padres, after all, 2022 saw the Padres two wins away from a pennant. But can they put it all together? They are off to a good start with their Wild Card Series win over the Braves. They do appear to have the Dodgers' number. This series will tell us if that continues.

Speaking of having the Dodgers' number, the Padres did win the season series, 8-5, over LA.

NLDS: Phillies vs Mets

The National League's #6 seed strikes again! Ever since the Wild Card Series became a permanent fixture, the #6 seed has represented the National League in the World Series. In 2022, it was the Philadelphia Phillies. In 2023, it was the Arizona Diamondbacks. Will the New York Mets continue that trend? They seem to have a recent knack for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Hell, they've done it twice in less than a week. We all saw the first game of that doubleheader, and now, the Mets are part of the Elite Eight because of that ninth inning in the deciding Game Three against the Brewers.

The Mets are up against the Philadelphia Phillies. Oh man! Pete Alonso vs Bryce Harper. Harper wants another World Series appearance. We know the story about how the Nationals won the whole thing right after Harper went off to Philly. He received his chance in 2022, but didn't win it. He almost got back there last year. The Phils have a good chance this year, but the Mets...oh boy! It's always fun when Philly and NY get together--especially in a playoff atmosphere.

The Phillies won the season series, 7-6, over the Mets.

This will be the 18th season of TBS and Fox's postseason collaboration, with the networks swapping league coverage of the LDS and LCS. This year, TBS will have the ALDS, while Fox and FS1 will have the NLDS. All four series start on Saturday, October 5, with Friday, October 11 and Saturday, October 12 being the dates potential Game Fives. I always enjoy the Division Series, it's a short series that determines who will play for the pennant. This year is giving us some delicious matchups, and I am very excited to see what occurs!