After a 29-game regular season and two rounds of best-of-three playoffs, we’re down to two American League starting pitchers, it will be Blake Snell vs. Lucas Giolito in the MLB Players League Championship Series.
Snell was the No. 1 seed entering the postseason with a record of 24-5. He was dominant throughout the regular season, and after sweeping Gavin Lux in the first round of the playoffs, he needed to battle back from a 1-0 deficit to defeat Jeff McNeil to reach the championship.
Giolito was the No. 6 seed, but had to find a win on the last day over Amir Garrett of the Reds to even make the field. From there he needed all three games in both playoff series to overcome No. 3 Bo Bichette and No. 7 Ian Happ.
Both players have survived a true test of simulated baseball to get here, and the banter between the pitchers should be terrific while being shown live today. During today’s broadcast MLB will also be giving out seven awards including Best Player, Best Cameo and Best Reaction for the 451 games contested in the Players Leagues since April 10th.
All playoff series so far have been best-of-three, but the Championship Series is best-of-five. Let’s take a look at all the details for the matchup:
MLB Players League Championship Series
When: 2:30 p.m. ET
Where: ESPN
Format: Best-of-five games