Home and Away: Predicting the National League Wild Card game

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It’s October so you know what that means. It’s playoffs time in Major League Baseball. The first order of business on the October MLB schedule are the pair of one-game winner-takes-all Wild Card games in each league. Tonight, two National League teams take the field, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Washington Nationals. As the title of this series suggests, we line the two teams up according to their regular season performances at Home and Away. After that, let’s judge away.

Milwaukee Brewers catcher Yasmani Grandal

The Milwaukee Brewers play away. Normally, Christian Yellich would be their best hitter but injury has ruled him out. Starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff has been lights out at home but lukewarm on the road. This is how the Brew Crew stack up.

  • Record: Home 49-32; Away 40-41
  • Starting Pitcher: Brandon Woodruff – Home 9-0; Away 2-3
  • Starting Pitcher WHIP: Home 1.05; Away 1.27
  • Team Hitting: wOBA .324; wRC+97; Avg .246
  • Best Hitter: Yasmani Grandal HomewOBA .348; wRC+ 112; Avg 22/ Away – wOBA .372; wRC+ 129; Avg .266
  • Pitcher vs. Best Hitter (Head to Head): Brandon Woodruff vs Anthony Rendon: 0-3; 2 SO
  • Misc: WAR Batting 33.0/Pitching 12.9
Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon

The Washington Nationals have Home field for his deciding game. It’s an odd one for the Nats as their ace, Max Scherzer, has pitched much better away than at home.

This is how they stack up.

  • Record: Home 50-31; Away 43-38
  • Starting Pitcher: Max Scherzer – Home 4-5; Away 7-2
  • Starting Pitcher WHIP: Home 1.09; Away 0.96
  • Team Hitting: wOBA .336; wRC+ 103; Avg .265
  • Best Hitter: Anthony Rendon – Home – wOBA .424; wRC+ 160; Avg .317/ AwaywOBA .401; wRC+ 148; Avg .321
  • Pitcher vs. Best Hitter (Head to Head): Max Scherzer vs Yasmani Grandal 0-3; 1 SO
  • Misc: WAR Batting 25.6/Pitching 22.4

Staff pick: Washington Nationals (with even a little run support for Scherzer)

Vitamin Cee’s pick: Washington Nationals

What’s your pick?

IMAGE SOURCE: Creative Commons

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