Just like everyone and their dog predicted, the 2023 World Series is going to be between the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
If you called that series before the playoffs started, I would’ve called you a madman. What a world we live in. Baseball!
The baseball gods also came through, giving us two exciting seven-game series to enjoy. The lack of excitement in the Wild- Card round I detailed was certainly made up for with these previous two rounds. Fans were granted many game changing moments, bad blood, and the timeless Evan Longoria, which is what we all want anyway.
This will be the lowest-seeded World Series in history, and will feature two teams looking to end a World Series drought. The Rangers have never won one, and the D-Backs will be looking to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy for the first time since 2001. In fact, the Rangers are currently the longest-existing franchise to never win a World Series. That’s a monkey I’m sure they would love to get off their back in the upcoming two weeks.
Much to the chagrin of TV networks, who would have undoubtedly preferred the mighty Braves, Dodgers, or Astros, we’re getting to experience two squads who have elevated their game substantially in these playoffs. Arizona only won 84 games in the regular season, but started off the playoffs winning five in a row. Texas was playing .500 ball since June 1st. None of it mattered.
If anything, this year reinforces the idea that the regular season doesn’t mean as much as it used to. Some people have called for changes in the postseason format because they think it puts the top teams at a disadvantage, but that’s not the case. Both the Rangers and Diamondbacks battled in tough divisions throughout the year and were battle-tested enough to step up to the moment.
For baseball geeks like myself, this is one of the more interesting World Series matchups we could’ve gotten. It will feature the Diamondbacks’ up-and-coming pitching staff against Texas’ red-hot offense, led by none other than Adolis Garcia, who has put the league on notice.
Don’t Anger Adolis
Here we go again with former Cardinals making themselves into household names in the postseason. In 2020, it was Randy Arozarena, and now it’s Rangers’ outfielder Adolis Garcia who seems to be hitting tanks every time he comes up to the plate.
The ALCS MVP was hitting well enough already, but his switch was flipped in Game 5. After he hit a 3-run moonshot off of Justin Verlander to take a 4-2 lead, he stared down his bench and slammed his bat hard on the ground, a la Rhys Hoskins last October.
Astros catcher Martin Maldonado wasn’t too pleased with Garcia’s cinematics after the home run, though. Maldonado has been known to be very protective of his teammates, whether other teams like it or not. And in Garcia’s next at-bat in the bottom of the 8th, with reliever Bryan Abreu on the mound, Maldonado requested a message to be sent.
Abreu didn’t hesitate. He beamed Garcia straight in the ribs with a 99 mph fastball, putting two men on base with nobody out. Advantage: Texas. Right?
Wrong.
The Rangers failed to score any additional runs in the 8th, and ended up leaving Garcia stranded. Then, in the top of the 9th, Jose Altuve did what he always does in the postseason. Three runs, just like that. The Astros win, and in a rational world, go on to take the series. That’s just how they always do it. Maldonado, of course, had some words after the game.
“The worst thing (Garcia) did was wake up the Houston Astros.”
Garcia, however, had other plans. With the season hanging on by a thread, and heading back to a raucous Minute Maid Park, Garcia didn’t panic. What he did next will go down in Rangers history. In Game 6, he hit a grand slam in the top of the 9th to extend a Rangers lead, effectively putting the game on ice. And then in the winner-take-all Game 7, he put up this stat line:
4-5, 3 Runs, 5 RBI, 2 HR.
He was seeing red, blasting everything in sight. There was no chance he would allow the Astros to go back to the World Series after he got hit.
His first home run of the game was a lined shot down the right field line, and caused FOX announcer Joe Davis to break into his classic “Owning October” line. Garcia certainly has. No player has EVER had more RBIs in a single postseason series than his 15 in the ALCS, and we’ll see what he can do in the World Series.
Rangers shortstop Corey Seager summed up Garcia’s performance perfectly. “He’s a bad man, isn’t he?” Seager quipped.
And next year? That Texas-Houston in-state rivalry just got a WHOLE lot more delicious.
Home Away From Home
Let’s discuss an interesting trend that occurred in the Astros-Rangers ALCS. For just the second time in MLB history, the away team won every game in a seven-game series. The odds of this happening, using the home win percentage throughout MLB history of .54, is approximately 1 in 230. On its own, this is very unlikely, but what makes it even weirder is what teams were playing the last time it happened.
If you may recall, in the 2019 World Series, the Washington Nationals won every single game on the road to win their first ever title. Who did they beat?
You guessed it, the Houston Astros.
Yes, the team that famously was accused of stealing signs using technology to give themselves an advantage at home, have been swept at home in a seven-game series twice.
Not only this, but they’ve been on the losing end of both instances in MLB history. Now, the Astros have played a total of 16 seven-game series in franchise history. For that to happen not once, but twice, is closer to 1 in 500. And remember, a grand total of ZERO other franchises have ever lost four home games in a single series.
What to make of this? Baseball is a funny sport, and nothing makes sense.
Marte Makes History
Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte has had a very successful career, but only made the playoffs once before this year, which was back in 2017. Let’s just say, he hasn’t had much of an opportunity to display his talents on the sport’s biggest stage until now.
What has he done with this moment? Oh, only set a Major League Baseball record for the longest hit streak to begin a postseason career, which sits right now at 16 games. The all-time record is only 17 games as well, so he has a golden opportunity to set the record in the World Series against a Rangers pitching staff that has been on fire.
Be excited for Marte and rock-solid first baseman Christian Walker for finally being able to play in the World Series and show their talents to America.
Diamondbacks (6) vs. Rangers (5)
The series we’ve waited for since March 30th has finally arrived. The teams may be ones that nobody expected, but there are storylines aplenty. Obviously, the biggest one is whether the Rangers can win their first World Series in franchise history. Veterans Marcus Semien, Robbie Grossman, and Jon Gray will be looking to win their first championships as well.
The good news for them? The Rangers offense is looking unstoppable. We know what Adolis Garcia has been doing, but Corey Seager has actually put up slightly better numbers over the course of the postseason. His 1.127 OPS (which includes an astounding .483 OBP) ranks second for those who have played more than one series. Garcia is only two spots back from him, and rookie Evan Carter has been a sensation as well. He is hitting in the third spot in the order, casually putting up a .987 OPS as a 21-year-old.
As a whole, the offense is scoring almost six runs per game this postseason, and that’s with Semien providing almost no offense. His .507 OPS indicates there’s still room for improvement.
The Diamondbacks, on the other hand, are not going to be scared. Arizona has been rolling with the nickname ‘Answer-Backs’ throughout this postseason, due to how they never seem to be out of any game. This culminated in a Game 7 win where they came back from an early 2-1 deficit to win 4-2, a game in which their bullpen shined. Arizona relievers combined to throw 5 shutout innings while only allowing one hit. Phillies hitters were mostly left flailing around, looking utterly bamboozled.
The big bats were deathly quiet. Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Nick Castellanos combined for a total of one hit in games 6 and 7. The frustration Arizona’s staff brought upon Phillies’ hitters was encapsulated by third baseman Alec Bohm slamming his bat over and over after striking out in the eighth inning of Game 7.
Starter Zac Gallen, interestingly enough, has arguably been one of the weaker points on this staff, with his postseason ERA over 5.1. However, rookie starter Brandon Pfaadt has stepped up in a big way, with his ERA dropping by over 3 runs in the playoffs, from 5.70 to 2.70. He has looked nasty, throwing cutters in on the hands of righties and locating his breaking stuff well. Merrill Kelly has been as advertised, and he finished off his NLCS in Game 6 by throwing a solid 5 innings of one-run ball.
If Gallen can get back to his normal self, and the bullpen continues to dominate, this could be a really fun matchup between the D-Backs’ staff and Texas’ bats.
The other side of this matchup is really where I see this series being won or lost. The Rangers have had their share of dominant starting pitching, especially by Jordan Montgomery. The midseason trade for him from St. Louis now looks like a stroke of genius by Rangers GM Chris Young. Montgomery and flamethrower Nathan Eovaldi have carried the load for Texas so far, and will probably continue to do so in the World Series. Both have sub-2.50 ERAs through the playoffs thus far.
The bullpen is where things start to get a little sketchy for the Rangers. Their most effective reliever has been Josh Sborz, who was DFA’d by the Dodgers two years ago. Now he sports a crisp 1.04 ERA, and has worked more innings than any other reliever aside from Jose Leclerc. Aroldis Chapman and Cody Bradford have both been good as well, but aside from those two and Sborz, things have been real messy.
If Arizona wants to keep ‘Answer-Backing,’ they’re going to rely on Corbin Carroll, the aforementioned Marte and rookie catcher Gabriel Moreno. Moreno has been a force both at the plate and behind it this year, and has done just that and more in the postseason. His OPS is second on the team behind Marte, and has been one of the best catchers this year throwing out would-be base stealers.
The Diamondbacks also use a heavy platoon system, which will continue into the World Series. In the outfield, they rotate between Alek Thomas and Pavin Smith alongside starters Tommy Pham, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Carroll. At third base, Evan Longoria is spelled by Emmanuel Rivera. Manager Torey Lovullo has plenty of puzzle pieces he changes on a nightly basis to try and play the right matchups.
Overall, they haven’t exactly been a juggernaut, only scoring 4.25 runs per game. They will continue trying to ride the wave of excellent starting pitching and a lockdown bullpen to grab their first World Series in 22 years.
This is the time we’ve all been waiting for as baseball fans. The greatest spectacle in the sport starts Friday. Let’s do this.
My Prediction: Rangers over Diamondbacks (4-2)