League Championship Series: Who Will Advance to World Series?

The next round of the MLB playoffs will get underway on Friday night, but which teams will advance to the World Series?

After a wild first round of series that saw two American League sweeps and some high drama on the National League side, the League Championship Series will get underway on Friday night as the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians square off at Progressive Field.

Both teams looked great in their first round series, with the Blue Jays hammering away at the Texas Rangers in an offense-fueled sweep, and the Indians used quality pitching and timely hitting to do the same to the Boston Red Sox.

In the National League, the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers will do battle after winning hard-fought series. The Cubs had to mount a massive comeback to finish off the San Francisco Giants in four games, and the Dodgers came back from a 2-1 series deficit to beat the Washington Nationals and to keep their hopes for their first title since 1988 alive.

In fact, with the victory by the Cubs over the Giants, the shortest drought of any team left in the postseason is 23 years, which is how long it’s been since the Blue Jays won back-to-back championships in 1992 and 1993. The Dodgers haven’t won a World Series since 1988, and the Indians (68) and the Cubs (108) have the two-longest championship droughts in the spot.

So which teams will move on and have an opportunity to end their championship dry spell? After going three-for-four during the first round (only the Indians beating the Red Sox went against our series predictions), here are our picks for the League Championship Series.

American League:

Toronto Over Cleveland, Six Games

Going into the Texas series, a lot was made about Toronto’s offense, and they were positively dominant, getting huge performances out of key players like Josh Donaldson (who hit a staggering .500 in the series) and Edwin Encarnacion (who hit three home runs and drove in seven RBI) as they swept the top team in the American League out of the postseason.

Going up against the Indians should prove to be a more stern test, but we’re still going to pick the Blue Jays in six games. The Blue Jays simply have too many weapons, and although Cleveland has a very good pitching staff, injuries have lessened their skill level just a bit too much and we’re picking the Jays to make it back to the World Series for the first time in two decades.

National League:

Chicago Over Los Angeles, Six Games

Well, we did pick the Cubs to win the World Series all the way back in April, so why would we jump off the bandwagon now?

In all seriousness, the Cubs are the most complete team in baseball, and although it would not be shocking at all to see the Dodgers win, the Cubs should be the slight favorite in this series. Their starting pitching, especially at Wrigley Field, is positively dominant, and Jake Arrieta is a great pitcher in the state of California.

Add to that a bullpen with some dynamic arms and a lineup featuring clutch offensive performers like Kris Bryant and Javier Baez, and this team has arguably the best chance out of any Cubs team in the last 71 years to finally get over the hump and get back to the World Series.

Contact Us