The 2023 World Series begins tonight at 8 PM EST.
I could not be more pumped for a World Series. The Phillies lost, the Braves lost, the Dodgers lost, and Houston lost. That is as good a postseason as you can ask for being an A’s fan. Getting to see two teams no one thought would be there makes it as good as it gets!
Arizona is a team that, if one of many different crazy things didn’t happen, isn’t even in the playoffs. Like if Seiya Suzuki catches that fly ball in that late September Cubs-Braves game. Or if Manny Machado hits that ball in the 9th against Paul Sewald three feet farther. All of these things helped set up an unprecedented World Series run. Just two years ago, Arizona was 52-110 and Texas was 60-102. Remarkable the turnaround these teams made. Now let’s look at who has the advantage on paper.
Offense
Texas has the advantage here. They come into this series with their bats red-hot. Adolis Garcia is unstoppable, same with Seager. Top to bottom the lineup is locked in. The surprise of the playoffs might be Evan Carter, who has been impressive, to say the least. He was called up on September 8th and is hitting in the heart of the order in the postseason. If Marcus Semien gets going this could be an extra tough series for Arizona. The Rangers offense is deadly and they are hot at the right time.
Now, let’s take a look at Arizona. Arizona in my opinion had the tougher championship series matchup from a pitching standpoint. So it’s tough to tell where the DBacks bats are at. They had to deal with the Phillies, who have three great postseason starters. They also had the bullpen to back it up, led by Jose Alvarado.
Arizona came to life in Games 3-7. Ketel Marte has a 16-game postseason hit streak to start his postseason career. This is the longest streak to start a postseason career in MLB history and he is one game off tying the longest hitting streak in postseason history, which is held by Derek Jeter, Manny Ramirez, and Hank Bauer. Corbin Carroll had been silent until Game 7, when he went 3-4 with two runs scored, two RBI, and two stolen bags. The unsung heroes for Arizona have been Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. They have been huge this postseason and will look to continue their hot streaks in the World Series. Arizona needs to keep stealing bases and wreaking havoc on the basepaths to put up enough runs offensively.
Advantage: Texas
Pitching
The advantage here goes to Arizona. They are led by Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelley, but the surprise emergence of Brandon Pfaadt has been the difference-maker for Arizona. He has been truly remarkable his last couple of starts and he was great again in Game 7 of the NLCS. Being a rookie who was called up later in the season, not many people saw this coming.
The bullpen has been pieced together and has been lights out so far. Ginkel and Sewald have been excellent on the back end and Ryan Thompson’s 93 MPH sidearm fastball has been locked in as well. If they can keep pitching at a high level and slow down the Rangers offense, they can continue their magical run.
The Rangers' starting rotation has been pretty good as well. Eovaldi is lights out in the playoffs and has been for years. He has picked up where he left off. Jordan Montgomery has also been great so far. Max Scherzer has not been himself this season as age is starting to catch up to him a little bit, and he was fresh off an injury last round as well. Dane Dunning has also gotten hit around a little bit. The Texas bullpen is their weakest link. It has been shaky and has seen a lot of innings thus far in the postseason. The back end of their bullpen is Aroldis Chapman and Jose Leclerc. Sborz has looked pretty good in the postseason, eating up a lot of crucial innings. Arizona holds the pitching edge in all facets. Starters and bullpen.
Advantage: Arizona
Defense
Both of the teams had the same fielding percentage during the regular season at .990, which led all of baseball. Arizona was slightly better behind the plate and gave up fewer stolen bags, which is mainly on the pitchers but also because Arizona doesn’t have to play against themselves and the speed they have. Arizona has a slightly better outfield with more speed and range. I would say Texas has a little bit stronger of an infield though, with Semien and Seager up the middle. It’s pretty much a wash, but if you have to choose, Arizona has the slightest of edges on defense.
Advantage: Arizona, slightly
Manager
Bruce Bochy is one of the best postseason managers the game has seen. The Rangers were underdogs in all three of the series they won. Torey Lovullo has been great for Arizona and has managed the pitching staff perfectly so far. Bochy has the World Series resume as a manager. You can see this by the way the Rangers flipped the script as soon as the postseason started. You can say the same thing for the Diamondbacks, who were also struggling going into the playoffs. Because of the pedigree Bochy has though, it gives the Rangers the advantage when it comes to skippers.
Advantage: Texas
2023 World Series Winner (on paper)
Split 2/2 in categories, I give the slight advantage to the Rangers in the 2023 World Series. They've just been too good offensively. It should be a good series that will at least go at least six games. It is hard to pick against Bochy, but Arizona just has a feeling of magic to their season. We should be in for an electric World Series.