MLB Wild Card Series MVPs: Yankees' Cam Schlittler, Tigers' Tarik Skubal and other first-round standouts

The first round of the 2025 MLB postseason is complete and wow was it exciting. Three of the four Wild Card Series went the full three games, and seven of the 11 games were decided by three runs or fewer. The best-of-five Division Series begins Saturday. Here are the matchups:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
ALDS1: New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays
ALDS2: Detroit Tigers at Seattle Mariners

NATIONAL LEAGUE
NLDS1: Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers
NLDS2: Los Angeles Dodgers at Philadelphia Phillies

I think we all have Dodgers vs. Phillies circled on our calendars. Too bad that's a best-of-five Division Series rather than a best-of-seven Championship Series. Those might be the two best and most star-laden teams in the league.

Anyway, MLB hands out two (really three) awards each the postseason: World Series MVP plus one MVP for each of the two Championship Series. There is nothing to recognize the best player in the Wild Card Series or Division Series though, and we're here to right that wrong. Here are our hypothetical Wild Card Series MVPs now that the round is complete.   

Cubs vs. Padres: Dansby Swanson

Chicago's win over the Padres was a total team effort. No Cubs player drove in more than one run in the series and no Cubs pitcher threw more than 4 ⅓ innings. For me, Swanson was the standout, and not so much for his offense (2 for 9 with a bases-loaded walk). His defense was spectacular in the three games against the Padres.

This is game-changing glovework. It is rare that a defender can take over a series the way Swanson did against San Diego.

"It's kind of been a staple of our group all year. We have so many talented defenders and guys that can prevent runs being scored. We talk about it all the time. Winning baseball is a race to 27 outs. The quicker you can get there, obviously the more games that you're going to win," Swanson said about Chicago's defense after Game 3  "For us this series, that was such a big part of why we won. San Diego is an unbelievable team. They have such a deep pitching staff, and obviously great hitters as well. So being able to just limit them in opportunities to score was huge for us, and it ended up making a big difference."

With Swanson at short, Nico Hoerner at second, and Pete Crow-Armstrong in center, the Cubs have special up-the-middle defense. Swanson is the captain of that defense and he impacted all three games with his glove. He took hits and runs away from the Padres seemingly every inning.

Dodgers vs. Reds: Mookie Betts

With all due respect to the Reds, this series was pretty lopsided. The final scores (10-5 and 8-4) were closer than the two games felt only because the Dodgers' bullpen had two messy eighth innings. Los Angeles led at end of 15 of 18 innings and led by at least five runs after seven of 18 innings. Cincinnati's Cinderella run to the postseason came to a swift end this week.

The Dodgers have a few good Wild Card Series MVP candidates. Shohei Ohtani hit two home runs in Game 1. So did Teoscar Hernández. He drove in six runs in the two games. We're going with Betts though. He was a terror in the two games, going 6 for 9 with three doubles and playing fine defense at short. Betts reached base seven times in the two games.

If you go by win probability added, Enrique Hernández was the series MVP thanks largely to his game-tying double in Game 2. Blake Snell led all players in the series in championship probability added thanks to his dominant Game 1 start. In the end, Betts is the pick here. He was noticeable all series and was the most consistently impactful throughout.

"I think it started when he just kind of just gave up on chasing a career year, chasing an MVP or whatever it was," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after Game 2 about Betts turning his season around a few weeks ago. "I think he just kind of was resolved to just let that go, play for the present and the future and play to help the team win. I think that just took a lot of pressure off him. And everything kind of unveiled and he got to be the player that he was and freed himself up. Yeah, he's playing fantastic baseball."

Guardians vs. Tigers: Tarik Skubal

Will Vest was a solid enough contender here after recording a four-out save in Game 1 and what was essentially a five-out save in Game 3 (he didn't get a save because of the score, but it was a season-on-the-line situation), but come on. It has to be Skubal, who struck out a career high 14 batters in 7 ⅔ innings in Detroit's 2-1 win.

The 14 strikeouts are the most in a postseason game since then-Astros righty Gerrit Cole's 15-strikeout performance in Game 2 of the 2019 ALDS against the Rays. The last lefty with 14 strikeouts in a postseason game was former Pirates ace John Candelaria against the Reds in Game 3 of the 1975 NLCS.

The Guardians took 56 swings against Skubal and missed 26 times, an astronomical 46% whiff rate. That's an elite closer on his best day stuff, and Skubal did it in a postseason start. He faced 28 batters and two -- two! -- hit the ball out of the infield. It was as dominant a start as we've ever seen in the postseason, truly.

"Tarik set an incredible tone for us. He's been incredible for us all season, but what a performance at the biggest moments in the biggest stage to get us in a great position to win the game," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said after Game 1. "Saw a little bit of everything out of him. He was efficient. He was dominant. He had every pitch. He was up to 100 all the time. He didn't let any big moment rattle him."

Yankees vs. Red Sox: Cam Schlittler

Game 3 between these two historic rivals gave us a pitching matchup between two rookies. Red Sox lefty Connelly Early was betrayed by his defense in the fourth inning. Schlittler barely gave his defense a chance to make a play. He struck out 12, a new franchise record for a rookie in the postseason, en route to eight shutouts innings in the Game 3 win.

The 12 strikeouts are the most by any rookie pitcher since the Livan Hernandez struck out 15 Braves in Game 5 of the 1997 NLCS. That is the infamous Eric Gregg game. Gregg gave Hernandez an enormous strike zone and the rookie took advantage. On Thursday, Schlittler bullied the Red Sox with 100 mph fastballs and 97 mph cutters. He was simply overwhelming.

"Every time he has taken the ball, I feel so good about him that he's capable of the play because he is such a good strike thrower and with that stuff," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after Schlittler's Game 3 masterpiece. "... And, you know, when you throw 100 and command the baseball and can land your secondary pitches, you can be a problem for the opposition."

With all due respect to Skubal, I would give Schlittler the nod for a league-wide Wild Card Series MVP award because he did it in an elimination game. It was a win or go home game against a historic rival. It's a lot for anyone, but especially a rookie. Skubal was terrific. The higher stakes give Schlittler the edge for a single hypothetical Wild Card Series MVP award.