How do you beat the contenders this October? MLB.com asked rival players from around Major League Baseball to offer an inside look at how best to face the division winners and Wild Cards.
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Astros: "Just keep him off-balance and not be predictable, move the fastball around, move the offspeed around a little bit and not let him get comfortable. Obviously he's usually comfortable." -- AL catcher onJose Altuve
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Indians: "You can't miss your mistakes. That's the difficult thing; you might get one or two a game, and you can't miss them. After that, it just turns into luck. Try to put the barrel on it and somehow find a hole. His command is really good." -- AL Central infielder on Corey Kluber
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Red Sox: "Disgusting. Just disgusting. The elite of the elite right now. The one thing I'll say about him, you know he's coming after you. He's going to throw strikes. As a hitter, that's what I like. I'm going up there and I'm trying to take my best swing against his best stuff." -- AL East outfielder onChris Sale
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Twins: "The only time he really slows his swing down is when he gets 0-2, 1-2. So if I get to 0-2, 1-2, bury a curveball, maybe cutter or slider in on his hands, then go back to fastball up in the zone, because he'll chase up." -- AL Central pitcher on Miguel Sano
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Yankees: "The most uncomfortable at-bat in the league. It's not close. He doesn't always know where it's going, you aren't sure where it's going. It's tough, man." -- AL Central infielder on Albertin Chapman
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cubs: "If you don't make your pitches, he can hurt you. If you bounce three sliders, he's going to swing at them. If he lays off one, you can throw a fourth and he'll still swing at it. But you have to have confidence, knowing that, 'I can do this because if I don't, he'll crush it.'" -- NL Central starter onKyle Schwarber
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D-backs: "Once he started mixing in his other pitches, now you don't know what he's throwing. They all come out the same. You can't just sit on the fastball anymore." -- NL West infielder on Robbie Ray
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Dodgers: "He's a guy who I think you can get back-foot sliders to him as a righty. He's also a guy you can elevate to, I think. But when you do that, you're playing with fire. Because he's crushed a few balls at the top of the zone." -- NL West starter onCody Bellinger
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Nationals: "Anything inside, anything up, he can crush. He can put it out. Any mistake breaking balls, it's all in his wheelhouse. Stay outer third, down and away, and then make him chase breaking balls because he wants to hit. If he walks, so be it." -- NL East reliever onBryce Harper
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Rockies: "He's a guy that's so good at lifting the ball, and he has power to all fields, that you have to find a way to minimize that. ... He's good enough that he can hit a pitch if he's looking for it, no matter what it is." -- NL West starter onNolan Arenado
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