October. Probably the best month in sports for many reasons, but none that top the Major League Baseball Playoffs. Beginning in about an hour (as I’m beginning this at 6:30pm on Tuesday), the Astros travel to Yankee Stadium for the American League Wild Card game. Before that begins, I’m going to share my picks for how this postseason will play out. Obviously as the playoffs progress, I will update my picks. But first, let’s check my Opening Day picks to see how right wrong I am.

American League:
East: Toronto Blue Jays (#2): Right on the team but had them as the #3 team
Central: Kansas City Royals (#1): Dead wrong here. I, like many, thought of 2014 as a fluke in KC and picked the Tigers to win the Central
West: Texas Rangers (#3): Here’s a wild twist as the Rangers surged into the postseason past my pick, the Angels
WC #1: New York Yankees: No one really expected the Yankees to be here except Yankee fans, nothing less for them
WC #2: Houston Astros: Arriving to the spot light ahead of schedule, this talented team hopes to make a run

National League:
East: New York Mets (#3): Had them and the Nats flip-flopped, the Mets are carried by a strong pitching staff
Central: St. Louis Cardinals (#1): Pretty much going wire-to-wire at top, as expected
West: Los Angeles Dodgers (#2): Picked them in the #2 spot so dead on, Kershaw and Greinke look to finally get through the NL to the Fall Classic
WC #1: Pittsburgh Pirates: Thought they’d fall just short of the postseason, but the Pirates come in with the 2nd-best record in best
WC #2: Chicago Cubs: Had them in the postseason but didn’t think they’d be 3rd-best in the Bigs. Chicago is carried by youth

Wild Card Games:
Astros over Yankees: My dad’s gonna kill me for that one. The matchup is (probable) AL Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel pitching on short rest versus a slumping Yankee lineup. When all else fails, go with the pitcher.
Cubs over Pirates: Yeah I’m picking both road teams to win in the wild card round but I believe the Cubs to be more of a lock due to Jake Arrietta pitching in this matchup; the guy has let up four runs since August 1st and has personally hit as many homers (2) as he has allowed since the end of June.

Divisional Series:
Royals over Astros: Kansas City still has a lot of magic left and one of the more complete teams in the majors. The Astros time will come.
Blue Jays over Rangers: The Rangers may be loaded with vets, but the Jays are incredibly dominant.
Cardinals over Cubs: That pains me because I love that Cubs lineup, but the Cardinals team has been there so many times they take the edge in this classic rivalry.
Dodgers over Mets: Probably the toughest to call thanks to both teams’ pitching staffs. Kershaw and Greinke are too dominant to go against and the Dodgers have better bats.

Championship Series:
Blue Jays over Royals: The Canadian Express keeps on rolling, but they’re going to need probably all seven to do so.
Dodgers over Cardinals: Going out on a limb with this one, but Kershaw finally gets past his postseason problems when finds a way to the World Series.

The 2015 World Series Champions will be the Toronto Blue Jays. The deadliest offense in baseball will be too much for the back end of the Dodgers pitching rotation and third non-American Champion (all by Toronto) will be crowned.

Disagree with my picks? Let me know in the comments section.