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Vancouver Mounties, 96-58, 719 runs scored (3), 600 runs allowed (3)

Vancouver ran away with the D2 West, essentially never breaking a sweat as they racked up the highest win total in the Federation. There’s certainly cause for concern - that kind of run can breed complacency, and the team didn’t perform well in the closing months, with a 13-13 September and a 15-13 August - both well below their season winning percentage. Still, by then it was clear the team was Championship Series bound, so taking the foot off the gas is fine as long as you can reapply it when it starts counting again. They also played six games above their pythagorean, though that matters a lot less in a small sample size like the Championship series.

Top position players

• Leo Rodriguez, 3B - Rodriguez will get MVP votes, and could easily finish in the top three, though Omar Juarez is expected to take the prize. Rodriguez, though, had the best season of an excellent career in 2038, racking up 6.2 WAR while leading D2 in RBI with 121, knocking 36 homers, and walking at a career high 6.9% rate. Rodriguez has also been working hard on defense, and it showed this year, his best in the field. Rodriguez, the club’s second overall pick in 2033, is the best overall player on the best overall club in the game.
• John Witherspoon, 1B - Witherspoon is the biggest bat in this lineup after a monster season that is probably his career best. The 34 year old 1B came to Vancouver in an offseason deal with Ottawa, where he’d played most of his career. He settled in fast: Witherspoon set a career mark with 38 homers, while hitting .296/.392/.556 in his first D1 season, putting up a career-best 5.3 WAR as well. He hit well against Baltimore pitching, too, so look for him to potentially provide some fireworks.
• Sonny Scoggins, CF - the entertainingly-named Scoggins (yes, Sonny is his given name) had a breakout year in 2037 and topped it this year, hitting .266/.369/.407 for a 123 wRC+ on top of his Gold Glove level defense. Scoggins hit only five homers (his career high is seven) but his 37 doubles was his best mark, and he stole 20 bases.

Top pitchers

• Rich Buxkemper, SP - Absolutely no one saw Rich Buxkemper coming this year: at 35 years old, having spent a career as a cumulative 2 WAR swingman for Los Angeles who split time between the bullpen and rotation and never had much success in either place, Buxkemper suddenly became unhittable in 2038, his first year with Vancouver. He returned to the rotation full time and led the Division in ERA. There was a lot of luck involved, as Buxkemper held opponents to a .187 BA and a .279 BABIP, but he also struck out 271, over a third of the batters he faced, by far the best mark of his career. Expect a heap of regression next year, but if he can hold on to this for another seven games, Mounties fans everywhere will remember him forever. Buxkemper will pitch Game 2, where manager Tom Flores likes the matchups more.
• Matt Greene, CL - the new NABF single-season saves leader actually had a worse season in many ways than he did in 2037, when he put up 3.4 WAR in just 62 games and struck batters out at a 30% clip as compared to his 27% in 2038. But saves are a capricious stat, and even though he led the Division both years (40 in 2037, 52 this year) he’ll only be remembered for this one. Greene had a good year, to be sure, with a 72 FIP- and just three home runs allowed, and he is as steady a presence at the end of the game as there is in the Division.
• Danny Tanon, SP - Vancouver’s Game 1 starter will be the team workhorse, Danny Tanon. The 28 year old threw 221 innings this year, and though he’s had better seasons he was quite effective in this one, with a 93 FIP- and a relatively low .8 HR/9. His 3.58 FIP was second only to Buxkemper’s 3.39 in the Mounties rotation this season. Tanon, an All-Star for the fourth time this year, signed a four year extension in July.

Baltimore Terrapins, 88-66, 754 runs scored (1), 606 runs allowed (4)

Looking purely at their expected record, Baltimore was the preeminent team in D2 this season: though they won 88 games, their run differential suggested a 92 win pace, ahead of Vancouver’s expected 90-64 season. Baltimore has a dynamic offense led by MVP favorite Omar Juarez, and a talented pitching staff that was third in D2 in FIP. Last year was the only time in their short D2 history that Baltimore didn’t win the Conference title: their previous D2 experience came during their record-shattering run in the mid-2020s. This team is far from the ones that cut through their opposition like tin foil, but they’re dangerous.

Top position players

• Omar Juarez, 2B - Juarez, who spent much of his career with Ft. Worth in D2 and D1 before signing with Baltimore in the 2036-2037 offseason, had always been a good, even great player. But he found another gear in 2038, and led D2 in almost everything: a .330/.411/.597 line, all D2 bests. 318 total bases, a .426 wOBA, 181 wRC+, 176 hits, 103 runs. A 7.6 WAR, the best mark ever recorded by a D2 second baseman. While his defense has slipped and he’s not likely to stick at second much longer, this was an MVP-worthy campaign without question.
• Wayne Richard, CF - the 25 year old Richard could have had one of the great CF seasons in history, but played under 100 games due to several persistent injuries, an issue he’s long faced. When he was healthy - which he is now, heading into the Championship Series - he was unreal, hitting .311/.386/.511 with a 4.3 WAR, 22 homers, and just 77 strikeouts while playing a dependable center field. He has also attempted to continue pitching, though that experiment may be at an end given his health concerns - the Pins want him to develop long term, and that should mean focusing on where he is most valuable. Look for him to contribute this series.
• Tony Posada, 3B - Another player hit by the injury bug this year, Posada struggled with knee issues, even missing a month and a half with a strained knee in May and June. When healthy, he was a threat, hitting .313/.391/.473 with 26 doubles (Posada is not a major home run threat but he can hit the gaps). That was good for a 144 wRC+.

Top pitchers

• Randy Putnam, SP - Baltimore’s underrated rotation is led by Putnam, a veteran who spent most of his career with the same Mounties he’ll be facing in Game 2 (Putnam pitched on the season’s second to last day, as the Pins were locked in a pennant race down to the wire). Putnam’s 6.1 WAR led D2, as did his 73 FIP-, though a .318 BABIP inflated his ERA. He should win Pitcher of the Year, but his focus is on the Mounties..
• Howard Rodriguez, SP - Hard Luck Harold had a strong season, walking a career-best 5.4% of batters while keeping an 84 FIP- over 205 innings. But a .314 BABIP and a high HR rate despite a stunning 0.59 groundout rate make his season look worse than it was. As Randy Putnam had to throw in the season’s second to last game in order to secure a Baltimore clinch, it will be Rodriguez who gets the Game 1 start here.
• Billy Smith, RP - Smith, who is a converted starter, has filthy stuff but some of the worst control in the league: as a starter for Pittsburgh and San Antonio in D4 last year, he led the Division with 123 walks, an insane 5.5 BB/9. His walk rate is actually worse this year in Baltimore’s pen, but it’s easier to hide it as a reliever when his K rate has also increased. Much like the rest of the Baltimore staff, Smith is better than his 4.15 ERA, but wildness can hurt him. He’ll get time in the series, though.

Prediction: Vancouver in 6 - Vancouver has their weaknesses, but Baltimore had to ask a lot of their top-line guys in the final week they’re banged up, and just like Vancouver they limped to the finish line. Not being able to counter Buxkemper with Putnam in Game 1 will hurt, and could set them back. Expect Baltimore’s offense to make it interesting, though.