Back in the Swing of Things: Marist’s MLB Predictions

The sun setting on Yankee Stadium at Game 1 of the MLB Playoffs. Photo by Josh Lawrence '28.

It’s time! The MLB playoffs are back in full swing, literally, and baseball fans are eager to see who makes it to the almighty 2025 World Series. Much of the Marist University student population has been following along with their favorite teams in hopes of seeing their players earn a ring.

Going to a school in New York, you would expect that many students are fans of teams in the surrounding areas, such as the New York Yankees or the Philadelphia Phillies. However, are these teams really worthy of the win, or being cheered on by our student body at all?  Here’s what Marist students have had to say about the playoffs so far.

With the New York Mets being knocked out before the wild card games with an early end to their season, fans of the Flushing team had to find a new bandwagon to hop onto.

“As a Mets fan, watching these playoffs is really challenging. I haven’t had the time to get over the collapse yet,” said Marist President Kevin Weinman.

“I like the Brewers, I like Cleveland. I like the small market teams that aren’t in the playoffs much,” Weinman added. 

But who does Marist University’s fearless leader see winning the whole thing? 

“Seattle looks really good, so maybe go Mariners,” Weinman said.

A similar, yet unfortunate fate unfolded for fans of the Boston Red Sox, with their last hurrah being their Game 1 win against the Yankees at the beginning of the wild card series, and a brutal Game 3 loss removing them from the running for the World Series.

Red Sox fan Quinn Difiore ‘28 said, “Playoff baseball is fun to watch, but not nearly as fun when your team isn’t playing anymore.”

Interim Director of Athletic Bands and Boston Red Sox fan John Sellmeyer said, “I always root for two teams – the Red Sox and whoever is playing the Yankees.”

Luckily for the student body population who appreciates the talent of legacy-building New York baseball, the New York Yankees have shown serious potential since the beginning of the playoffs.

Even with a Game 1 loss, the Yankees made it interesting with a Game 2 win, forcing a deciding Game 3, where the team really stepped up with young players such as Cam Schlittler, who hopped into the spotlight with his impeccable pitching. Boston fans will say it was not the strength of the Yankees that put them through, but rather the careless mistakes on behalf of the Red Sox, but last I checked, they got knocked out by a rookie.

It seems the Yankees fans on campus have really been reveling in their well-deserved wins, with the screams of excitement in Dyson and the banging on my bedroom wall from neighbors being a testament to such exciting gameplay. However, not all Yankee fans seem to see the Bronx Bombers winning it all this year.

Nick Chiarito, ‘26, a Yankee fan, addressed some points that the typical baseball viewer may overlook, especially in games that truly matter.

“Rule number 1: playoffs favor the teams that are hot, and teams who rely more on contact fair off better,” he said in response to the wicked losses that the Yankees underwent against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Another Yankees fan, Lucas Baquero, ‘28, feels similarly. “The Blue Jays have proven recently that their pitching is so deep on all levels, and depth has been a struggle for others around the league,” he said. “Every World Series team has to have pitching depth, and right now, the Blue Jays have shown they have it.”

After surveying a plethora of Marist students in passing on campus, the two teams that received the people’s vote on who would make it to the World Series were the Toronto Blue Jays and the reigning champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

ESPN’s playoff predictions had an outcome that seemed to differ from the general consensus of the overarching campus opinion, favoring teams like the Toronto Blue Jays or last year’s victors, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Who did fans vote on? The Philadelphia Phillies are a team that has not received much discussion or recognition for their play.

As for a simulated postseason from MLB The Show, their bracket might be slightly more laughable than those of fans that have been shared by ESPN or MLB, with their prediction of the Red Sox making it to the World Series and taking on the Philadelphia Phillies. Are the Phillies the underdog team that baseball is continuously overlooking?

Lauren McCann ‘27 said, “I have been keeping up with the NLCS just as much as I have been tuning into the ALCS. Personally, I do not foresee the Phillies making it as far as the prediction brackets have them going.”

McCann proved to be right, with the Dodgers knocking out the Phillies in a three-to-one series and clinching their position in the NLCs, all while the Blue Jays secured their position in the ALCs after knocking out the New York Yankees in a 3-1 series.

Tensions are certainly high in the world of baseball right now, as they are every playoff season. This current postseason picture may not be what every Marist student wants to see, but it certainly makes for an interesting one.

As for me, I will continue to mourn the loss of the Yankees from the running for the World Series trophy, but continue to keep up with the other remaining teams. I can only hope that whoever makes it far has as bad a fumble as last year's World Series Game 5 fifth-inning fiasco, for my own personal enjoyment.