All of our World Series winners are no longer in contention. To be fair, most of the "experts" are in the same boat. See for yourself. This is what the guys from Yahoo! had.
With no possible winners left here are our final standings:
Third place
Ben finished third after accumulating eight points (Wild Card-1, Division Series-2, Championship Series-4, and World Series-8). He got nothing right in the NL, but correctly predicted the Royals and Blue Jays meeting in the ALCS. On top of that, he also picked Kansas City making its second straight trip to the Fall Classic. Unfortunately for Ben, he picked the Los Angeles Dodgers to win it all.
Second place
Nate placed second with 10 points. After correctly picking both Wild Card games, Nate kept the momentum going by picking the final four teams. But he did not get either Championship Series correct, leaving a Toronto-Chicago Cubs series just a figment of his imagination.
First place
Nick won the bracket challenge by collecting 12 points. Like Nate, he earned two points in the Wild Card round and picked both of the Division Series winners in the AL. Nick slipped up, picking the Cardinals over the Cubs, but he correctly picked the New York Mets to go to the World Series after beating the Dodgers. That's the end of the road for Nick, as he picked the Blue Jays to top the Mets, but he edged out the victory with just enough points.
Okay, enough of that. Your reward for getting through that is a preview of the real World Series matchup. And it certainly promises to be a good one.
Long time waiting
Both Kansas City and New York have been waiting quite some time for a championship — sorry, specifically the Mets half of New York. Prior to this season, the Mets were last in the Fall Classic in 2000 and have not won the championship since 1986. The Royals, in the league's final series for the second time in a row, have been waiting since 1985 to hoist the World Series trophy.
Pitching
The Mets and the Royals each boasts some of the game's most talented arms. New York is driven by its starting rotation, while Kansas City has its opponents playing for a lead before the sixth inning before the best bullpen in baseball takes over.
KC's Wade Davis has taken over the closer role in lieu of the injured Greg Holland, and he has not disappointed. Davis has not allowed a run all postseason and ended the year with a 0.94 ERA. Kelvin Herrera also does not have an earned run given up on his 2015 postseason record and has allowed just three hits in 5 2/3 pitching while striking out 10.
Some analysts have debated whether the New York young guns are better than those the Atlanta Braves rode to 15 straight division titles through the 90s. Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Sndergaard have quickly established themselves as some of the best hurlers in the game this year.
Game 1: New York Mets (Matt Harvey) at Kansas City Royals (Edinson Volquez), Tuesday, 8:07 p.m. ET
Harvey gets the game one nod for the 'Mazin Mets. This season he went 13-8 and had an ERA of 2.71, and he's carried that into the postseason with a 2-0 record and an ERA of 2.84. Volquez is 1-2 with a 4.32 ERA this postseason. He has not allowed a run in the first four innings of any 2015 playoff start, but he's given up seven runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
Game 2: Mets (Jacob deGrom) at Royals (Johnny Cueto), Wednesday 8:07 p.m. ET
deGrom has been virtually unbeatable this postseason. He's 3-0 with an impressive 1.80 ERA, striking out 27 hitters, giving up just four total hits. Cueto has been shaky in the playoffs. He followed his eight-inning, two-hit masterpiece in the Game 5 clincher against Houston with an outing that lasted just two innings, in which he gave up eight runs. Cueto is 1-1 with a 7.88 ERA in three starts this postseason.
Game 3: Royals (Yordano Ventura) at Mets (Noah Syndergaard), Friday, 8:07 p.m. ET
Ventura has allowed three runs in each start this postseason with the exception of Game 6 in the ALCS when he gave up just one. But the young ace has not gotten out of the sixth inning. Syndegaard has started two games this postseason, throwing 12 innings and allowing four runs and striking out 18. He even has an appearance out of the bullpen, something that could come into play late in the series.
Game 4: Royals (Chris Young) at Mets (Steven Matz), Saturday, 7:07 p.m. ET
Young has not thrown more than 4 2/3 innings this postseason, but his appearances have been a bit unconventional. Young relieved Ventura in Game 1 against the Astros after a rain delay just two innings in, and he was pulled after giving up two runs in a game where the Royals ultimately won 14-2. Matz enters the game with an 0-1 record this postseason and a 3.72 ERA. Matz started just six games during the regular season, going 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA. Before the playoffs, Matz threw 35 2/3 innings striking out nearly one per inning. However, he gave up an average of nearly one hit per inning as well.
Game 5: Royals at Mets, Sunday, 7:15 p.m. ET
Game 6: Mets at Royals, Nov. 3, 7:07 p.m. ET
Game 7: Mets at Royals, Nov. 4, 7:07 p.m. ET
Hitting
Few players have ever been on a tear like Daniel Murphy. He became the first player in MLB history to hit a home run in six consecutive postseason games. Murphy is hitting .421 with seven home runs and 11 RBIs. Yoenis Cespedes was a huge part in the Mets reaching the playoffs, but he won't be 100 percent healthy when this series starts, though he will still play. The Royals have top-to-bottom one of the toughest lineups in the game. KC struck out 20 fewer times (71) than the next team during the regular season — though third was the Mets (94). Alcides Escobar has hit .386 this postseason, while Ben Zobrist (.326) and Alex Rios (.333) join him Escobar in the above-.300 category.
Here are the lineups for game one (borrowed the pic from @MLB, so excuse the Draft Kings ad):
Can't wait for this series to start! Hope you get to watch and enjoy!
As always, please feel free to hit us up with suggestions on things to do at any trip we are going on. Be sure to follow us on Twitter, @MLBjourneymen, and check out our Instagram account, mlbjourneymen.
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