SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And now it's time for sports.
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SIMON: Baseball playoffs, divisional rounds begin today. Yankees and Dodgers want to repeat their pennants. Notice I've restrained myself for about three seconds from mentioning the Cubs. We're joined now by sports writer Howard Bryant. Howard, thanks for being with us.
HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott. How are you?
SIMON: I'm fine, thanks. Getting ready for game time. Let's begin with the National League, going coast to coast. The Phillies are up against the defending champs, the LA Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani is going to return to the mound in this season. And then, within God's own Central time zone, the Chicago Cubs face...
BRYANT: (Laughter).
SIMON: ...The Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley north. Look, the Phills and the Brew Crew had the best records in baseball this season. Who - how do you see each series going?
BRYANT: Well, I think that going - you know, start with the champs. I mean, they're the champions, and they're the star-studded lineup, and they're the Dodgers that are the defending world champions and that they're the team - they've been the team to beat for - what? - the last six or seven years.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: And so - and to have Ohtani be on the mound, as well, they are clearly the team that everyone is going to be watching to see how they do. However, their bullpen is not that great. And the Phillies ran away with the National League East. You could blame the Mets for that. You could blame the downfall of the Braves for that, but the bottom line is that the Phillies are also a very good team. They were in the World Series three years ago. So this is the powerhouse matchup in the National League. On the other hand, you've got the Brewers who have been knocking on the door for the longest time. They were...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...A really, really good team. They got stunned by the Mets last year. They came up short against the Dodgers. And so they - you know, and they were terrific all season long. And I think that the thing that you're watching with them is to really see if they can finally be the - you know, the ones to break through. They haven't won the World Series since - they haven't gotten to the World Series...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Since they made it back in 1982 - so a long wait for them. And then there's the Cubs - your team. And they won 90 games this year - very surprising team.
SIMON: Go, go...
BRYANT: They have...
SIMON: ...Go, go, go.
BRYANT: (Laughter) Right.
SIMON: I'm listening. Go ahead.
BRYANT: And they have broken through. And I think that's a team that had been in the slow rebuild. And I think that as a club, they're a very well-rounded team. And I think that each one of these teams has a really good chance to make a play. But it really is - if you're looking at it from a standpoint, it's the Dodgers and the Phillies that are probably the favorites coming - one of those two coming out of the National League.
SIMON: Toronto Blue Jays and the Yankees, then the Detroit Tigers face the Seattle Mariners and their phenomenal catcher, Cal Raleigh. Who you got there?
BRYANT: I really love this matchup for a couple of reasons. One is that we just - it's amazing that you've got a guy who's a catcher, of all positions - the toughest, most physical position - hit 60 home runs, and we don't really know that much about him. It's great. This is what the playoffs is for, that you can really see these guys that you haven't seen all season on the national stage. And 60 home runs, 125 RBIs. And Seattle is a very good team. Everyone I've spoken to talks about how underrated they are. They just play so far away, and they play on the West Coast that they'll sneak up on you.
Meanwhile, the Tigers were terrible. They were a great team all season long and then completely collapsed in September, got overtaken by Cleveland and then suddenly found a...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Way to beat Cleveland in Cleveland - best two out of three. So once again, I love both of these teams, and I'm looking really forward to seeing what happens.
Meanwhile, Yankees and the Blue Jays, American League East - they've been battering each other all season long. And we'll see what the Yankees are made of. But I'd love to see the Blue Jays. They haven't gotten to the World Series since they won it in 1993, as well.
SIMON: And just quickly, you know what I'd like to see return? Leaving starting pitchers in when they're doing well.
BRYANT: Yeah. It's been the story so far - the postseason. I love it. This is the thing that's been missing in baseball. We've been missing the fact that it's not this analytics-based assembly line pitching where you got 10 pitchers to get 27 outs. I want to see Curt Schilling. I want to see Bob Gibson. I want to see Jack Morris. I want to see these guys compete against the best lineups - Sandy Koufax. This is how we remember baseball, and it's a huge part of the game, and I'm glad, so far, it's back. Look at what Cam Schlittler did against the...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Red Sox.
SIMON: Amazing. Howard Bryant, thanks so much.
BRYANT: My pleasure, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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