Texas Rangers

For the Texas Rangers, the road to the World Series was much tougher than they would have expected, considering the year they had.  After spending almost 90% of the season in first place in the American League West, a disappointing skid in the final weeks of the regular season left Texas as the second Wild Card team in the AL. Rather than get five days off before their first playoff series, they were sent to Tampa to play in the AL Wild Card round.  

Heading into the series, the Tampa Bay Rays were also coming off of a close division race in which they lost, but were still seen as the favorites because of their recent playoff experience and superior bullpen performance in the regular season.  That bullpen, however, would never become a major factor, as the Tampa Bay starting pitchers were no match for the Texas lineup in this commanding two game sweep for the Rangers.  While Zach Eflin and Tyler Glasnow combined for 10 innings and eight earned runs given up, the Texas tandem of Jordan Montgomery and Nathan Eovaldi dominated with 13.2 innings pitched and just one run allowed.  

As the reward for beating the 99-win Rays, the Rangers would then have to face the top seed in the American League, the Baltimore Orioles.  The Orioles might not have been the top team on paper in the AL, but their season-long consistency helped them get 101 wins and a first round bye into the ALDS.  Unfortunately for them, that success did not translate into postseason wins, as Texas yet again won in convincing fashion.  The bullpen helped steady the ship after a shaky start from Andrew Heaney in Game 1, but the offense carried the Rangers in the final two games, plating 18 runs total in Games 2 and 3 to close out another sweep.

After a 5-0 start to the playoffs for Texas, the next stop was Houston, where the defending AL Champion Astros would be waiting.  The Astros had control over most of their ALDS matchup against Minnesota, but their struggles this season while playing at home were a cause for concern heading into the ALCS.  Those struggles would come to fruition in this ALCS, as Texas would take the first two games at Minute Maid Park.  As the series headed to Arlington, the Astros were in dire need of wins, and that is exactly what they got, convincingly winning Games 3 and 4.  In Game 5, Texas looked to be the first home team to win a game, but José Altuve had different plans, launching a go-ahead homer late in the game to put the Astros up in the series.  With Houston just one win away from their third consecutive World Series appearance, the Rangers had two do-or-die games to save their season, and not only did they win, but it was not close.  After the Rangers broke things open with an Adolis García grand slam in the 9th inning of Game 6, Texas never looked back and took the series, winning all 4 of their games on the road.  Now, they make their first World Series appearance since 2011 and continue their search for their first ever title.

Looking ahead to the World Series, the high-powered Texas offense will look to continue their postseason successes, led by the aforementioned ALCS MVP Adolis García.  His seven home runs lead all players during the 2023 playoffs, and his 20 runs batted in are five more than anyone else.  Elsewhere in the lineup, shortstop Corey Seager continues to be a big-time playoff performer, and rookie Evan Carter has jumped his way into hitting at the top of the lineup.  On the pitching side, starters Jordan Montgomery and Nathan Eovaldi have been lights out all postseason.  Closer José Leclerc has been a strong anchor of the rejuvenated Rangers bullpen, pitching in 10 of Texas’ 12 playoff games thus far.  

Arizona Diamondbacks

For the Arizona Diamondbacks, the playoffs were no sure thing as the calendar turned to September and the regular season wound down.  Even after getting swept in their final series at home against Houston, Arizona snuck into the playoffs as the final Wild Card team in the National League.  Just two years ago, the Diamondbacks would have missed the postseason, but with MLB expanding the playoffs to 12 teams before  2022, Arizona had the chance to play October baseball, and they have taken full advantage.

As the lower seed, the Diamondbacks started their playoff run on the road, taking on the NL Central Champion Milwaukee Brewers.  The starting pitching for the Brewers was expected to be their strong suit, but as the series showed, that was where Milwaukee faltered.  Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta each allowed 4 earned runs, and even though the Diamondbacks trailed early in both games, the offense for Arizona stepped up late in games to secure the two game sweep.

Next up for Arizona, they would head to Los Angeles to take on the division rival Dodgers.  L.A. had dominated recent history with Arizona, but in this series, the Diamondbacks had total control.  Arizona teed off on the Dodgers starting pitchers, with Clayton Kershaw, Bobby Miller, and Lance Lynn all lasting less than three innings on the mound.  Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno had an outstanding series, hitting two home runs and driving in five RBI in the three games, while outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. tallied four hits and three RBI for himself.  Even with the Dodgers bullpen putting up shutdown innings across all three games, the early leads by Arizona were simply too much for L.A. to come back from.  Just like San Diego in 2022, a 100 win-Los Angeles team had been knocked out by a division rival in the NLDS, and similar to last year, they would face the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS.

Heading into the NLCS, many people around baseball talked all about the home field advantage that the Phillies had at Citizens Bank Ballpark, and for Games 1 and 2, it looked like that might carry Philadelphia to a series win.  Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola used the boost of the home crowd to help the Phillies jump out to a series lead, but the Diamondbacks never wavered, knowing they would host the next three games.  In Game 3, rookie starter Brandon Pfaadt had an incredible scoreless performance to keep Arizona in the game, and Ketel Marte saved the day in the ninth inning with a walk-off base hit, only the third walk-off in Diamondbacks playoff history. 

In Game 4, it was yet another close game, and with Craig Kimbrel on the mound again for Philadelphia, Arizona stormed back in the eighth inning to score three runs and take a 6-5 lead.  Closer Paul Sewald shut the door in the ninth, and Arizona evened the series at two games apiece. With just one game remaining at Chase Field, the Phillies got off to a hot start and never looked back, winning Game 5, and heading back to the City of Brotherly Love needing just one win to make it back-to-back NL pennants.  The Diamondbacks held their ground again, and after decisively taking Game 6, had to come back from down 2-1 to win Game 7.  The win would secure a National League title for Arizona, as well as a spot in the World Series for only the second time ever.

For Arizona’s fall classic hopes, their pitching will need to show up again, and they have shown no signs of slowing down as the playoffs have progressed.  Merrill Kelly, Zac Gallen, and Brandon Pfaadt have pitched exceptionally well this postseason, and relievers Kevin Ginkel and Paul Sewald have been the best one-two combo coming out of the bullpen this October.  NLCS MVP Ketel Marte has shined so far this postseason, and even with a slow start in the NLCS, Corbin Carroll grew into his own and is red-hot heading into the World Series.  Gabriel Moreno has provided plenty of offense from behind the plate, even with a few injury scares, and All-Star shortstop Geraldo Perdomo has played well above expectations at the bottom of the lineup.  

The Keys to Success: Texas’ Offense vs. Arizona’s Bullpen

Texas’ offense has been the main story of their team all season long, and if they want to hoist their first ever World Series trophy, hitting will be the name of the game.  Manager Bruce Bochy has made some lineup adjustments this postseason to move struggling hitters down in the lineup, something he seldom did during the regular season.  It will be interesting to see whether or not Evan Carter remains near the top of the lineup after his sustained success this past month, and whether Marcus Semien can finally bounce out of his slump in the leadoff spot.

For the chaos to continue in the desert, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo will need to manage the bullpen carefully over the first three games.  Arizona has only needed to use three true starting pitchers in the playoffs, but across another possible long series, high-leverage relievers will need some rest.  The Diamondbacks covered Game 4 of the NLCS using eight different relief pitchers, but it is hard to imagine that they can employ that strategy more than once in the World Series.  Long outings from the Arizona starting trio will be critical, and if they get into early trouble, how quickly Lovullo goes to his relievers will make or break whether the Diamondbacks can win it all.