My (updated) postseason picks

Given that in just a few short hours, the NLDS will be kicking off in St. Louis I thought it would be a good time to update my postseason predictions.

My preseason predictions missed the mark by a few miles thanks to the Angels, Nationals and Blue Jays.

Needless to say, we're going to have to mix these up a bit. So here goes:

NLDS:

Cardinals over Pittsburgh in 4

Braves over Dodgers in 5

ALDS:

Red Sox over Rays in 5

Tigers over Athletics in 4

NLCS:

Cardinals over Braves

ALCS:

Tigers over Red Sox

World Series:

Cardinals over Tigers

I know some will accuse of me of being a homer for this, but hear me out. Normally, I look for every reason NOT to advance the Cardinals because it's the only way I can feel certain I've given everyone a fair shake.

The Cardinals have the ability to adapt. While they're youth is deep, many of these players have been here before (Miller, Rosenthal, Kelly, Lynn, etc.) and I think that gives them an edge. I expect homefield advantage to play a big role in this series.

While I think the Braves will take down the Dodgers, I don't think it will be an easy task. These are a good pair of well-matched teams--both with great pitching. Of course, the natural thing is to give the advantage to any team that has Clayton Kershaw, don't underestimate the Braves pitching. Eventually, someone will have to score a run. Expect seriously low scoring games in this series.

The Cardinals and Braves would be a solid match-up. I'd still give the edge to the Cardinals.

Plus, the Cardinals weren't at all pleased with how they went down to the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS last year. They can say they let that stuff go all they want, but no one forgets defeat.

As far as the American League, I've ridden the Tigers all year and at this point I'm sticking with them--but I don't expect a World Series win.

My gut told me to go with the Red Sox--sometimes guts are wrong (for a solid illustration, see my preseason predictions linked above).

Faced up against the Cardinals, it would be an interesting pairing. Justin Verlander's postseason (and All-Star) record is less than flattering. How will he do on the big stage?

The Cardinals have the youth to get past them. At this point, I would argue the Pirates could be the toughest task of the postseason for them simply because of how often they face each other.

There won't be any big surprises out of these teams. They know each other very well and expect to see a hard fought NLDS.

Call it an educated gut feeling.

For now, just kick back and enjoy October. You can criticize the predictions anytime, but remember these are just for fun.

What are your predictions?