The Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks are this year’s respective National League and American League champions.
In what saw both the championship series go to seven games, it was the Rangers who defeated the Houston Astros, along with the Diamondbacks beating the Philadelphia Phillies. Both these teams ensured that we wouldn’t get a rematch between the Phillies and the Astros from last season. For the first time in MLB history, the teams that were on the road in games six and seven had never won a series until now when both teams did it. The Astros and Phillies both blew their series leads.
Both the Rangers and Diamondbacks defied several odds to make it to the final series. But as playoff baseball always goes, anything can happen.
The biggest story to arguably come out of this postseason is the emergence of Adolis Garcia, who has been by far the best player heading into this series. Having hit seven home runs to this point, he hopes to continue to do so against the strong Arizona pitching staff.
Speaking of the Arizona pitching staff, this series will more than likely come down to the offense of the Rangers versus the pitching and, specifically, the bullpen of the Diamondbacks. The Arizona bullpen has kept them in just about every game this postseason. That, along with timely hits, has allowed them to get to this point.
The Diamondbacks have won the championship one time, in what was their only appearance ever, which was against the New York Yankees in 2001. As for the Rangers, this is their third appearance, and they have yet to win it all, with the hopes of doing so this year.
“I think the Diamondbacks will win. Their bullpen will be the difference maker.” Ryan Schlehuber, a junior at Western New England University, believes that the Diamondbacks bullpen will outperform the Rangers offense.
In about a week, we will know who will be this year’s champion of the World Series, and it should be a thrilling conclusion to this season.
