The first two rounds of the 2024 MLB postseason are complete and four teams are still standing. Three of them — Cleveland Guardians, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees — had a Wild Card Series bye, so we can stop pretending skipping a round is a bad thing. The New York Mets, who had the best record in baseball after June 1, are the fourth team still playing.
The National League Championship Series begins Sunday and it’s a big market matchup between the Dodgers and Mets. In the American League, it’s the high priced Yankees and the budget Guardians. This is the fourth Guardians vs. Yankees postseason series since 2017 (the Yankees won the previous three). The Dodgers and Mets last met in the postseason in 2015.
MLB hands out two (really three) awards each the postseason: World Series MVP plus one MVP for each of the two Championship Series. There is nothing to recognize the best player in the Wild Card Series or Division Series though, and we’re here to right that wrong. Here are our hypothetical Wild Card Series MVPs and now here are our Division Series MVPs.
This was a bit of an odd series in that the best starting pitcher (Yu Darvish) and best offensive performer (Fernando Tatis Jr.) were on the losing team. Teoscar Hernández hit two homers and drove in seven runs in the five games, but his biggest blow, the Game 3 grand slam, came in a loss. Shohei Ohtani hit a loud three-run homer in Game 1 and didn’t do much else.
The bullpen of the New York team was exceptional in the recent series, allowing only one unearned run in 15 2/3 innings. The trio of Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle, and Luke Weaver performed admirably, limiting the Royals to five singles and two walks in 12 2/3 innings. On the other hand, the Kansas City bullpen struggled, walking 15 batters in 17 1/3 innings.
While the entire bullpen deserves credit, naming them the ALDS MVP seems a bit lackluster. The standout player of the series was Stanton, who had an impressive performance with a .375 batting average, two doubles, and a homer in the four games. He outshined others with more extra-base hits than strikeouts and played a crucial role in Game 3 with a game-winning home run in the eighth inning.
Stanton’s contributions were not limited to that game as he also scored a double earlier in Game 3 and provided an insurance run in the series-clinching Game 4. His offensive dominance was acknowledged by the Royals, who intentionally walked him in his first at-bat of the series. Stanton led the ALDS in championship probability added.
Gerrit Cole also deserves recognition as the runner-up for his stellar performance in Game 4, where he pitched seven innings of one-run ball. He delivered the two best starting pitching performances in the ALDS and was the only starter to complete more than five innings. Overall, the pitching performances in the series were highlighted by the exceptional play of Stanton and Cole.