Official 2021 World Series Predictions

UNCBlue012

Well-known member
What's your official, on-the-record World Series (wow, feels good to say!) prediction?

How long does the series go? Who's the offensive MVP? Who's the pitching MVP? Bold prediction?

I'll go first:

Braves over Astros in SEVEN
Offensive MVP: Austin Riley
Pitching MVP: Charlie Morton and Ian Anderson gets an honorable mention
Bold prediction: Ozzie out-hits Jose Altuve
 
Concerned about Astros pitching. None are overworked. Concerned about our bench and lack of a practiced DH. Still, if Braves can win one of first 2 at Houston, Ill go with Braves in 7.
No DH for 3 games has to hurt Ass Tros. Houston lineup would appear weaker than Dodgers. Glad we wont be played in cold environment.
Hope Rosario stays hot. Hope Swanson gets a hit or two. Hope Snit has learned a bit. Need Soler's bat. My choice for MVP: Freddie
 
I'm the opposite of PawPaw- not particularly impressed by the Astros pitching, but think they have the best lineup in baseball. The Dodgers have more impressive depth, but I think I would take the Astros 1-9. I do think this is a unique case where the AL team will be hurt more than the NL team with the DH- we are particularly well suited with Soler (who is quite a practiced DH), and they'll have to put Alvarez out in the field in Atlanta. I assume they will put Tucker in CF for those games, which significantly weakens their OF defense all the way around. The bench concern dramatically decreases for me in Houston- I'm not sure why we would ever pinch hit at all in those games, which means a) fewer decisions for Snit to make b) less impact from bad bench and c) ability to throw guys like Minter/Matzek multiple innings without concern about where they hit. I'm also curious how familiarity (or lack thereof) impacts this series. A very different ballgame facing a Houston team that we haven't seen since 2017 vs. facing an LA team that we've played against 20ish times in the past year.

Prediction: Astros in 6 (this is purely because I said the Braves should sell at the deadline and I thought they would lose to the Dodgers- clearly I've got some good reverse mojo going and I'm not gonna mess with it now)
Offensive MVP: Freddie Freeman rakes in his first WS appearance of many in Atlanta
Pitching MVP: Max Fried rebounds from a tough start in Game 5 with two quality starts in the World Series
Bold Prediction: Adam Duvall leads both teams in home runs (4) including three that just barely sneak into the Crawford Boxes in Houston.
 
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I am going to say Braves in 5. My reasoning is that I don't think going back to Houston would be good for the Braves. I think we take one in Houston early, then sweep at home.
 
I'm the opposite of PawPaw- not particularly impressed by the Astros pitching, but think they have the best lineup in baseball. The Dodgers have more impressive depth, but I think I would take the Astros 1-9. I do think this is a unique case where the AL team will be hurt more than the NL team with the DH- we are particularly well suited with Soler (who is quite a practiced DH), and they'll have to put Alvarez out in the field in Atlanta. I assume they will put Tucker in CF for those games, which significantly weakens their OF defense all the way around. The bench concern dramatically decreases for me in Houston- I'm not sure why we would ever pinch hit at all in those games, which means a) fewer decisions for Snit to make b) less impact from bad bench and c) ability to throw guys like Minter/Matzek multiple innings without concern about where they hit. I'm also curious how familiarity (or lack thereof) impacts this series. A very different ballgame facing a Houston team that we haven't seen since 2017 vs. facing an LA team that we've played against 20ish times in the past year.

Prediction: Astros in 6 (this is purely because I said the Braves should sell at the deadline and I thought they would lose to the Dodgers- clearly I've got some good reverse mojo going and I'm not gonna mess with it now)
Offensive MVP: Freddie Freeman rakes in his first WS appearance of many in Atlanta
Pitching MVP: Max Fried rebounds from a tough start in Game 5 with two quality starts in the World Series
Bold Prediction: Adam Duvall leads both teams in home runs (4) including three that just barely sneak into the Crawford Boxes in Houston.

Prediction: Astros in 6 (I've picked the Braves to lose first two series, so sticking with that trend also)

I will say this to your above point. This is by far the weakest pitching staff the Braves will face all playoffs. We've already made it through the gauntlet of legit aces and bullpen studs in the first two series. I expect the Braves bats to show up a bit more in this series.
 
Prediction: Astros in 6 (I've picked the Braves to lose first two series, so sticking with that trend also)

I will say this to your above point. This is by far the weakest pitching staff the Braves will face all playoffs. We've already made it through the gauntlet of legit aces and bullpen studs in the first two series. I expect the Braves bats to show up a bit more in this series.

This is an interesting place to land.
On one hand, Houston is by far the weakest pitching staff and we have a very good offense that does not always fare well with aces. Thus we should pound them.
On the other hand, we have never played any of them and that is kind of like they are all rookies just getting started and we often suck against pitchers the first time we see them. The biggest difference in my rookie analysis is there is lots of film on them we can study and if we can tap those Houston cameras, we can see their signs. Where are my hacker friends out there.
 
Concerned about Astros pitching. None are overworked. Concerned about our bench and lack of a practiced DH. Still, if Braves can win one of first 2 at Houston, Ill go with Braves in 7.
No DH for 3 games has to hurt Ass Tros. Houston lineup would appear weaker than Dodgers. Glad we wont be played in cold environment.
Hope Rosario stays hot. Hope Swanson gets a hit or two. Hope Snit has learned a bit. Need Soler's bat. My choice for MVP: Freddie

I have little concern about the Astros starting pitching but the bullpen is underrated and deep. Not LA deep, but solid. The offense is the problem - they're deep, consistent and rarely strikeout.
 
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No prediction but like NYC said, this is by far the worst pitching staff we'll face. MIL/LAD have probably the best 2 pitching staffs in baseball. Not that Houston's pitching is terrible but compared to MIL/LAD, it's a pretty big gap. Houston's offense is insane though, and they have a good bullpen as well. Not having McCullers is a huge break for us.
 
Braves in 6
Offensive MVP: Ozzie Albies
Pitching MVP: Charlie Morton
Bold prediction: Albies owns Valdez, Raley and Taylor to the tune of 10-15 with 3 HRs

Morton is dominant in Games 1 and 5.

Albies makes Baker pay every time he tries to use a LHP to face Freeman/Albies/Riley/Rosario. He has to, otherwise I don't see the Braves offense keeping up with this Astros offense.
 
I predict, for all the posters, a lot of anxiety, self-doubt, and trepidation until the final out—whoever ends up recording it.
 
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