The 2017 World Series begins with Game 1 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Dodgers are playing in their first World Series since 1988. The Astros were last in the World Series in 2005, though as an NL team. This is their first since moving to the AL.
A new postseason round -- the biggest postseason round -- calls for another round of sure to be wrong predictions. As always, make sure you bookmark this post for future mocking purposes. Here are World Series predictions from our six CBS Sports MLB experts:
| Award |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MVP WINNER | Chris Taylor | Corey Seager | Kenley Jansen | Clayton Kershaw | Corey Seager | Justin Turner |
Jonah Keri's take:
The Astros have a double problem: Their bullpen has been struggling and their manager has totally overreacted to those struggles, making him rely on basically four pitchers. The Dodgers' potent offense will take full advantage, backed by top-of-the-rotation guys even more dominant than Houston's.
Bill Reiter's take:
The Dodgers' pitching depth, sure-thing closer and high-powered offense -- bolstered by the return of Corey Seager -- means the best team in baseball is also its champion. A team Dave Roberts has infused with a confidence it didn't have under Don Mattingly finally gets the job done.
Dayn Perry's take:
The Dodgers' bullpen is much more rested and much better than Houston's (especially given the way A.J. Hinch has kind of panicked away from his best relievers lately), and I think that'll be a big difference in this series. I also don't have much confidence in the Houston rotation behind Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander. Yes, Charlie Morton and Lance McCullers looked great against the Yankees in Game 7, but that breaking ball-heavy approach might not work as well against the L.A. offense.
Matt Snyder's take:
The Dodgers' run prevention against the Astros' offense is an excellent battle to watch, but generally speaking, the pitching wins out in the postseason in situations like this. I'm going Kershaw for MVP because, dammit, he needs a postseason coronation. He is the best pitcher of his generation. A true Hall of Famer. Every baseball fan needs to see him dominate a World Series. It's time for it to happen.
Mike Axisa's take:
As we saw in the NLCS, the Dodgers will eat a shaky bullpen alive, and the Astros have a glaring weakness in their relief crew, at least based on the way those guys have pitched in the postseason. The Dodgers can go toe-to-toe with Houston offensively, plus they have a better team defense and a deeper pitching staff overall. I think Dave Roberts is an excellent strategist who has a meaningful impact on games with his bullpen moves. All that points to a Dodgers series win, but not before Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander steal a game each.
R.J. Anderson's take:
The Dodgers have nearly as good of an offense as the Astros, a better defense and a deeper pitching staff. Weird things happen in the postseason all the time, and it's totally possible the Astros do win the whole thing. But for my money, I'll roll with L.A.
A clean sweep. The six of us each expect the Dodgers to win the series in five or six games. You know what that means right? Congrats to the Astros for winning the 2017 World Series in four or seven games.
