The National League Division Series and American League Division Series are officially underway with Game 1 taking place in all four matchups on Saturday. With the road to the World Series well underway and top teams taking early 1-0 series leads, it’s time to look at the winners and losers from Saturday’s MLB playoff action.
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Winner: Lane Thomas, OF, Cleveland Guardians
In 2023, three of the four teams that had first-round byes lost Game 1 of the Division Series. It’s not unusual for clubs that had a week off thanks to the first-round bye to come out a little cold. That wasn’t the case for the Cleveland Guardina leading off Saturday’s MLB playoffs action. The top of the Guardians lineup did the work early, with a Josh Naylor RBI single to take a 1-0 lead with runners on the corners. Then, in his first-ever MLB playoff appearance, Lane Thomas took Reese Olson deep for a three-run shot that ultimately put this game away early. Thomas, one of the unheralded acquisitions at the MLB trade deadline, only had a .646 OPS against righties in the regular season. That’s the beauty of October, though, unlikely heroes emerging every night.
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Loser: Detroit Tigers lineup
The easy call when highlighting the ‘loser’ from Game 1 of this series would be Detroit Tigers opener Tyler Holton – 4 runs allowed without an out recorded – but that’s not our primary concern. What is problematic is seeing how wild Cleveland Guardians’ starter Tanner Bibee was on Saturday – 35 percent of pitches were balls – and that number should’ve been much higher. Instead, Tigers hitters swung for pitches out of the zone as if it was a one-run game, which made it impossible to slowly chip away at a four-run deficit with 8 innings left to play. It also might be time for Spencer Torkelson (0 hits in 8 at-bats) to hit the bench.
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Winner: Zack Wheeler, SP, Philadelphia Phillies
Dominance. The Philadelphia Phillies paid Zack Wheeler for a reason and against his former team, the NL Cy Young Award candidate delivered. Facing one of the best lineups in all of baseball, Wheeler allowed just 1 hit across 7 innings. What’s even more impressive, is 30 swings-and-misses on 111 pitches, with 44 percent of his pitches generating whiffs. It’s just a shame for him that the rest of the Phillies’ pitching staff blew the game.
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Loser: Philadelphia Phillies bullpen
It wouldn’t be the MLB playoffs without the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen letting the rest of the team and fan base down. Jeff Hoffman (2.17 ERA and 0.96 WHIP) and Matt Strahm (1.87 ERA and 0.75 WHIP) were brilliant during the regular season. October is just a different animal. In critical moments, this Phillies bullpen just hasn’t delivered in the postseason and history repeated itself once more with the Mets’ five-run 8th inning. This is going to be a long series and the Phillies lineup deserves plenty of blame for the Game 1 loss, but this bullpen’s collapse is what should be remembered most.
Winner: Juan Soto, OF, New York Yankees
That’s why you get Juan Soto. Already a World Series champion who came through in some big moments for the Washington Nationals in 2019 (5 home runs, .927 OPS), Soto was critical to the New York Yankees’ Game 1 win. While he never scored a run, going 3-for-5 helped keep Yankee Stadium rocking and he helped work deep into this Royals bullpen. We won’t be surprised if Soto goes deep on Monday night in Game 2.
Loser: Gerrit Cole, SP, New York Yankees
Gerrit Cole has delivered some phenomenal performances in the MLB playoffs, four times recording a sub 1.05 ERA across 13-plus innings in four postseasons. However, he’s also had some dudes, including in 2021 with the New York Yankees (6 base runners and 3 runs in 2 innings). That’s the version fans saw on Saturday night at Yankee Stadium, with the Kansas City Royals lineup scoring 4 runs with 9 total base runners in 5-plus innings of work. Not exactly the caliber of start the Yankees needed from their ace, especially considering how important he is to the rotation.
Winner: Shohei Ohtani, DH, Los Angeles Dodgers
In his first career at-bat in the MLB playoffs, Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers’ biggest playoff rival. The legend just keeps on growing. Ohtani’s three-run blast got Dodger Stadium rocking on Saturday night, coming after a brutal top of the first, a spark that carried over through the rest of the game.
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