World Series Predictions by Astrology 2016

For all ten teams in the MLB playoffs, I Tweeted out an active roster analysis of their rosters as of their first round appearance. For the four that advanced to the Championship Serieses, I Tweeted a graph of each team's top fantasy performers against each other to see which team might have the statistical advantage. But now I thought I would check for connections between players who are contending for a real life championship, and the players on the fantasy astrological teams that had success (or lack thereof) this year. Keep in mind that each fantasy "starting lineup" has space for one offensive player at each of the eight defensive positions, plus a DH, five starting pitchers, and two relief pitchers. The only player on either World Series roster who contributed to the league champion Libra Scales is Indians SP2 Josh Tomlin, who actually outpitched big time acquisition Zack Greinke to be Libra's overall SP4. (Cleveland's Rajai Davis and Lonnie Chisenhall are also Libras, but they were buried on a famously strong depth chart.) However, looking at this year's runner up Capricorn Goats (coincidence?) tells a different story.

Overall World Series fantasy point leader (and NL MVP candidate) Kris Bryant is the only relevant player in this collage, which is made from images taken from two preseason preview magazines (Lindy's and The Sporting News, if you're curious). Not pictured in this collage (due to my lack of picture options, not his lack of excellence) is Bryant's real life teammate Jon Lester, the NLCS co-MVP (with Javier Baez, a Sagittarius) and the highest fantasy point scorer of any pitcher in the World Series. On the other side of the competition, the Indians have a couple of controversial Capricorn starting pitchers. Trevor Bauer (who competed for CAP's fifth starter spot with Kevin Gausman, pictured) suffered a lacerated pinkie in a drone-building accident that caused him to exit early from his last ALCS start, but he'll supposedly be ready to go for Game 2 on Wednesday. And Danny Salazar, who has been out since early September with a forearm injury, could be activated to start Game 4 or pitch out of the bullpen. Also catcher Roberto Perez and middle reliever Jeff Manship were eligible for the Goats' roster, but neither of them made the starting fantasy lineup.

Looking back to last year's champions, we see that the Cubs have some pretty dominant Pisces players on their roster. The most prominent of these is reigning NL Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta (who is also the only Cubs player of whom I had a collage-worthy picture), who has been relegated to CHC's SP3 this postseason due to the presence of Lester and Kyle Hendricks (also a Sagittarius, and their ace pitcher, no less). The Cubs also have some key Pisceses at the back end of their bullpen in ninth-inning force Aroldis Chapman and the man he replaced as closer upon his acquisition, Hector Rondon. (Rondon and Fernando Rodney were neck and neck for the RP2 spot, each of whom were much better first half fantasy relievers as they lost their respective closer jobs due to trades.) Bench bat Jorge Soler and backup-backup catcher David Ross also represent the Fish for the Cubs, as does injured slugger Kyle Schwarber (previously mis-identified as an Aries elsewhere on this site), who could potentially be used as a DH after missing all but two (2) games of the 2016 season. Pisces doesn't have a really meaningful presence on Cleveland's roster, with rookie starter Ryan Merritt and reliever Dan Otero as the only two members.

The two astrology signs most strongly represented on the Indians are Aries and Scorpio. Starting with the Rams, the collage at left shows two-fifths of CLE's rotation for most of the year: not only unquestioned ace Corey Kluber, but also the team's SP2 until mid-September Carlos Carrasco, whose season ended prematurely after suffering a fractured hand about a week after Salazar went down. On the offensive side, Aries also lays claim to the top two players in the Indians batting order (but only against righties), Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis. Interestingly enough, due to the scary strength of the Aries roster, neither player earned a spot on their starting lineup: Kipnis was stuck behind near-batting-champ Daniel Murphy on the 2B depth chart, while Santana had to contend with Miguel Cabrera (pictured) and Adrian Beltre (who himself was behind Nolan Arenado, also pictured) for the 1B/DH spots. The Cubs also have a trio of Aries players with varying relevancy: CF Dexter Fowler was a starter for the fantasy astrology team, while rookies Albert Almora Jr. (OF) and Rob Zastryzny (LHP) bear mentioning as well.

Scorpio has been a very strong offensive astrology team for many years, and although they'll take a clear hit with the retirement of David Ortiz, the presence of Francisco Lindor in the middle of their infield and the middle of their lineup for the foreseeable future will give them a definite boost. He joins fellow Indians lineup members Mike Napoli and Coco Crisp, although the latter of which also only starts against righties, despite his status as a switch hitter. Cleveland's relief corps is also well represented, with closer/setup combo Cody Allen and Brian Shaw both representing the Scorpions. The Cubs only had one Scorpio on their playoff roster, but he's perhaps the one player who most outwardly exemplifies the typical Scorpio personality: SP4 John Lackey.

Those are the most relevant players of the best-represented astrological signs, with only a handful of players left who had contributing roles on other fantasy astrology teams. The recently un-slumping Anthony Rizzo served as Leo's starting first baseman, breakout multi-position star Jose Ramirez started at third base for Virgo, while the also-heating-up Addison Russell served as an unconventional shortstop/DH pair with Brandon Crawford on a characteristically weak Aquarius team. Meanwhile, super utility powerhouse Ben Zobrist and ALCS MVP Andrew Miller both held down major roles for a Gemini team that was nowhere close to contention.

For those of you keeping track at home, this brings the total of fantasy astrology "starters" on the Cubs to eleven (11), while the Indians lag behind with eight (8). I don't want to presume that this particular bit of trivia has any bearing on which team has the "star-crossed" advantage heading into the Fall Classic, but it'll nevertheless be interesting to see which fantasy astrology stars will be able to step up in the real life playoffs. Obviously, every player on these rosters (indeed, every player in baseball) has an astrology affiliation, and it's possible that the biggest difference maker in the upcoming World Series is not one of the above-mentioned players. Tune into your local FOX station starting Tuesday 10/25 at 8pm ET to find out!