If it wasn't clear in the last couple of years, it is now. The National League has returned to being the power league in baseball and it all starts with the pitching, which will be on full display in the postseason.
Let's go quickly down the list: Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Michael Wacha, Lance Lynn, Gerrit Cole, Francisco Liriano. Seven players with ERAs below 3.00, four Cy Youngs, an MVP, and only three on this list over the age of 30.
That is an impressive list and that isn't even counting Adam Wainwright, who just came back to the Cardinals' bullpen, or John Lackey or A.J. Burnett.
Seemingly every team in the National League has at least two aces. We have the NL Wild Card Game being a matchup up of Arrieta (1.77 ERA) and Cole (2.60). The Game 1 matchup between the Mets and Dodgers is Kershaw (2.13) and deGrom (2.54) in the mid-afternoon shadows at Dodger Stadium.
First to three runs wins?
It might be for a lot of these games. It could also be a postseason where we see the most strikeouts ever. Seven of the starters on playoff teams recorded at least 200 strikeouts this season, including Kershaw who eclipsed the 300 mark (301).
On paper, you would pencil in a win for the Dodgers and Kershaw against the Mets in Game 1, who threw a complete game shutout against them in July, but deGrom went seven scoreless innings in his only outing against the Dodgers to beat Greinke.
Syndergaard has been nearly as good as deGrom with his only outing against the Dodgers being a six-inning effort where he allowed one run. Having Harvey go Game 3 does hurt, either.
Cole has a 2.13 ERA in four starts against the Cubs, which should be good enough to get the Pirates to the NLDS. One problem: Arrieta. The Pirates have scored three runs in 36 innings against the Cubs righty, which is good for a 0.75 ERA.
Yeah, 0.75 in five starts.
If the Cubs move on, they have a pretty good No. 2 option with Jon Lester against the Cardinals. He has a 2.58 ERA in five starts and has three starts with one or fewer earned runs allowed. St. Louis has options for Game 1, which is on Friday.
It will likely go to John Lackey, who has a 1.25 ERA against the Cubs and a 2.25 ERA against the Pirates this season. Lynn and Wacha, who have been so reliable during the regular season, did not fare well against their division rivals.
Lynn has a 7.64 ERA against the Cubs and a 4.86 ERA against the Bucs. Wacha was not much better with a 6.86 ERA against the North Siders and a 3.97 ERA against Pittsburgh. Does the team with the best record going into the postseason have the worst starting pitching?
Based on matchups, it might. But the Cardinals just so happen to have the best ERA in the game and have possibly the best bullpen.
The young pitchers will be on full display this postseason and, with four of the last five World Series champions coming out of the NL, the National League has returned to its dominant ways.
