MLB Postseason 2023: Championship Series Review & World Series Preview

After two rounds without much drama, both championship series went the distance, providing enough storylines to make up for the first few weeks. Third Wild Card teams and one division champion remained in the hopes of becoming World Champions. The races for the pennants were thrilling and left many people surprised. 

To avoid writing a million words for each series, I'm going to keep things brief. I'll try to give the headlines for each game to paint an accurate picture of what transpired in both seven-game series. 

Championship Series Preview

ALCS- 2. Houston Astros vs. 5. Texas Rangers

Game 1- Jordan Montgomery weaves 6.1 shutout innings, and Leody Tavares hits his first home run of the postseason to lead Texas to a 2-0 win in the opening game of the ALCS. 

Game 2- Yordan Alvarez homers twice in Houston's attempted comeback, but the Astros cannot overcome a four-run 1st inning and a Jonah Heim home run as the Rangers go up 2-0 in the series with a 5-4 win. 

Game 3- Houston finds the win column after getting to Max Scherzer early, holds off Texas' comeback for an 8-5 win despite two two-run homers by Josh Jung. 

Game 4- Jose Abreu's three-run home run caps a four-run 4th inning for the Astros as they dominate Texas in Game 4, 10-3, to even the series. 

Game 5- Jose Altuve's 9th inning three-run home run helps complete the comeback and puts the Astros on the verge of the World Series in an explosive game where the benches cleared. 

Game 6- A late grand slam by Adolis Garcia breaks the game open as the Rangers force Game 7 with a 9-2 in Houston to remain perfect on the road this postseason. 

Game 7- Behind two home runs and five RBIs from Adolis Garcia, the Rangers destroy the Astros 11-4 to advance to the World Series. 

NLCS- 4. Philadelphia Phillies vs. 6. Arizona Diamondbacks

Game 1- The Phillies smack three home runs, and Zack Wheeler pitches six strong innings to get Philadelphia out to an early lead in the series with a 5-3 win. 

Game 2- Two home runs by Kyle Schwarber, a solo home run by Trea Turner, six shutout innings from Aaron Nola, and an offensive outburst late send the Phillies to a 10-0 win to take both games at home. 

Game 3- Backed by an excellent start by Brandon Pfraadt, the Diamondbacks walk it off in the bottom of the 9th on a bases-loaded single by Ketel Marte to show some life in the NLCS.  

Game 4- Alek Thomas ties it in the 8th with a two-run homer, and Gabriel Moreno completes the comeback with an RBI single to even the series with a 6-5 win.

Game 5- Three more solo home runs and another incredible start from Zack Wheeler get the Phillies one win away from the World Series in a 6-1 win for Philadelphia. 

Game 6- Back-to-back home runs by Tommy Pham and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. kickstart a three-run 2nd inning to save Arizona's season in a 5-1 win in Philadelphia. 

Game 7- The Diamondbacks' improbable offseason continues as they shock the Phillies in Game 7, 4-2, to take the series and the pennant

World Series Preview

Texas Rangers v. Arizona Diamondbacks

Texas' Path to the Pennant- 90-72 in the regular season. 2nd in the AL West. 2nd Wild Card team. Defeated Tampa Bay 2-0 in the Wild Card Round. Defeated Baltimore 3-0 in the ALDS. Defeated Houston 4-3 in the ALCS. 

Arizona's Path to the Pennant- 84-78 in the regular season. 2nd in the NL West. 3rd Wild Card team. Defeated Milwaukee 2-0 in the Wild Card Round. Defeated Los Angeles 3-0 in the NLDS. Defeated Philadelphia 4-3 in the NLCS. 

Season Series- Arizona won three of the four games between the Diamondbacks and Rangers this season. They split in Texas in early May, and Arizona won both games at home in mid-August. 

World Series History- This is the Rangers' third World Series appearance. They won back-to-back pennants in 2010 and 2011. They lost in five games to the Giants in 2010, but their series in 2011 with St. Louis is one of the best of the modern era. Texas led the series 3-2 going into Game 6 before David Freese played the hero twice, sending the series to Game 7, which the Cardinals would eventually win. Arizona is playing in their second World Series. In just their fourth season, the Diamondbacks won the NL pennant in 2001 and defeated the New York Yankees in seven games, capped by the iconic walk-off winner by Luis Gonzalez off Mariano Rivera. 

Texas Player to Watch- Josh Jung- There are plenty of great players from this Rangers lineup. Adolis Garcia just set a postseason record with 15 RBIs in the ALCS. Corey Seager is hitting the ball hard and far. However, Josh Jung has been equally important to the team's success. He didn't have the greatest ALCS, hitting .200 in seven games. While the offense might've been slow, his defense is an X-Factor. He's been a vacuum at third base this postseason. As long as he's contributing to the team, he will be worth watching. 

Arizona Player to Watch- Ketel Marte- By hitting safely in the first 16 postseason games of his career, Ketel Marte set a new MLB record. He's the hottest hitter in the Arizona lineup, hitting .358 with a team-high five doubles, a pair of home runs, and 7 RBIs. He also picked up the big walk-off hit in Game 3 of the NLCS. Corbin Carroll has been great, but Marte is the most critical batter for the Diamondbacks. Their success in the World Series could be reliant on Marte keeping this hot streak going. 

Prediction- To this point in the postseason, I've picked against the Diamondbacks three times and the Rangers in the last two rounds. Logic would dictate that picking against Arizona again would be foolish, but it would also defy logic to stop riding the hot hand. The two pennant winners have gotten here taking different paths. Arizona is only scoring a little over four runs per game, but their pitching staff has a 3.23 ERA. Texas is scoring a little under six runs per game, and they've knocked the ball all over the ballpark. The Rangers have been incredible on the road this postseason, starting 8-0 away from home. While Games 3-5 in Arizona will be crucial, it might be even more important for the Rangers to get off on the right foot on Friday and Saturday. I think they'll be able to get the job done, winning their first World Series in franchise history. Texas in 6

Series MVP- Nathan Eovaldi