World Series Preview
It is finally here, the Fall Classic is set!
Friday night is the start of the clash between the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies. One of the league’s biggest favorites going up against one of the league’s biggest underdogs.
Entering into the post season the Phillies came in as the final sixth seed in the National League and made it to the Fall Classic. The Astros on the other hand came in as a No.1 seed in the American League and ran through the Mariners and Yankees as if they were little league teams.
The Phillies are one of the best feel good stories of the year by far. After firing their manager Joe Girardi because of the clubs disappointing start to the season the club started turning things around. Guys on the team became more confident in themselves and each other and that is why they are playing in the World Series now.
The Phillies right now are hot and not much has stopped them. Their pitching has been great so far. Zach Wheeler has an ERA of 1.78 in his four starts. The guy that will be starting in Game 1 Aaron Nola has been great too. The last time the Phillies encountered the Astros was Oct. 3 and Nola was the starting pitcher. He pitched perfectly for 6 2/3 innings until the Astros got a couple hits on him. In this postseason he is 2-1 with an ERA of 3.12. In his first two starts he allowed one unearned run in 12 2/3 innings. He should be well rested and ready to go for Game 1. The pitching for the Phillies is deep but will it be deep enough?
The slugging for the Phillies has been something to watch this postseason. Bryce Harper has been red hot and there has been no stopping him. In all 11 postseason games he has made it to base and has been hitting .419/.444/.907. Harper is not the only one that has been hot, Rhys Hoskins is batting .182/.234/.545. Kyle Schwarber is batting .200/.375/.457. The Astros will have their work cut out for them in this one. Hoskins and Schwarber has displayed they have game changing power but the main focus will be Harper. If he can get going that energy is contagious and will go to the rest of the team.
The Astros are here once again and this postseason it was a breeze for them. They are 7-0 heading into this series. Led by manager Dusty Baker he is looking for his first World Series ring after getting here the two other times. The Astros are in a league of their own at this point. Their pitching is immaculate, Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez are the top two in the rotation followed by Cristian Javier and Lance McCullers Jr. They also have a number of relief pitchers that make life a lot easier for the starters. The pitching is the main reason why they are still undefeated.
As usual the batting for the Astros are great too but it has not been the usual suspects of Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez. The both of them only hit one apiece in the American League Championship series. Alex Bregman, Yuli Gurriel, Chas McCormick, Jeremy Pena and Martin Maldonado were the ones to come up big in the championship series. Depth and consistency are the two things that will help win in October.
On paper the Astros are the better team but don’t count out the Phillies. They are hot and riding high. At the end it will be the Astros that will win it all.
