MLB 2023 New Rules Review

The 2023 season saw a few big changes be implemented such as the pitch clock, larger bases and the banning of the shift. So nows that we have made it through an entire season (postseason included), how did these rules hold up and what do they mean for the future of the game? Let’s get into it.

Pitch Clock: Probably the most controversial rule implemented this season. The purpose behind this rule is to speed up the pace of play (make the game go faster). Now i’ve seen pitchers take quite a bit of time to delivery a pitch- we’re talking 60 seconds or more. Whether he can’t agree with his catcher or he’s trying to throw off the hitter’s timing, if you add all that time up, it can make a game quite a bit longer. Let’s revisit the rules of the pitch clock real quick:
- The pitcher is required to start his wind up prior to the expiration of the pitch clock- the batter is also required to be in the box and ready within that same time limit as well.
- If the pitcher “violates” the pitch clock, the batter is automatically awarded a ball- if the batter “violates” the pitch clock, they are automatically awarded a strike.
- Mound disengagements (pickoff attempts) are limited to 2 per at bat but reset if a runner advances a base. If the pitcher attempts a pickoff for a third time and is unsuccessful, the runner is automatically awarded the next base. Mound visits and time outs are not considered disengagements.
I get it. The MLB wants to keep fans engaged and a quick way to do that is shorten the time a game is played in. At first, I will say I was not a fan of this idea. I felt that the pitcher taking their time to find the right pitch or psychologically get the batter out of time was part of what the game was at it’s core. But as someone who has attended their fair share of 3+ hours long games, I actually like that the games are now averaging less than three hours and I can still get home at a relatively decent hour. There was an unintended consequence of this rule that no one saw coming though. And it has nothing to do with game itself. With games moving at a quicker pace and finishing faster than most people anticipated, liquor sales were heavily impacted at the start of the season. The MLB for years has required that liquor sales be cut off at the end of the seventh inning. However, with the quicker pace of the games, the seventh inning was coming and going faster than people could buy booze. This was causing organizations to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales- sometimes per game. If you’re concerned by this, don’t be. The MLB and it’s owners were quick to rectify this by agreeing to extend alcohol sales through the eighth inning- which at this point, you might as well do it through the end of the game. So what kind of impact will the pitch clock have on the game in the future? Don’t be surprised if the MLB tries to shorten the time on that clock in the coming seasons just to speed the game up even more.

Banning the Shift: As a fan, I was never a fan of the shift so to say that I was excited when this rule was announced is accurate. Essentially, the reasoning behind this was to get back to the way the game was meant to be played, increase the batting average on balls that are hit in play and allow the players a better opportunity to show off their athleticism. In reality- players have been outspoken for years about their dislike of the shift due to it’s ability to just cut down a player’s opportunity to get on base. To be fair, MLB came with the stats that showed how batting averages had decreased by six points from 2012 to 2022 and a whopping ten points from 2006 to 2022. Can the shift itself be blamed for this- probably not but it definitely plays a big part. So what are the rules the ensure the shift is no longer taking place:
- While the pitcher is on the mound, all four infielders have to be within the infield boundary- meaning none of them can be standing on the grass.
- Infielders are not permitted to switch sides- if your third baseman is your best infielder but the batter tends to hit to the right side, you can’t move the third baseman to the right side of the infield.
- While an infielder cannot be on the grass while the pitcher is on the mound, these rules do not preclude the outfield from being brought into the shallow outfield or event he infield. But there cannot be four outfielders.
From this past season, I definitely saw an increase in balls getting through the infield on plays that it would not have had a shift been in place. I think moving forward, this rule is going to help the game get back to it’s roots. You’ll see higher batting averages and even more Sportscenter worthy plays from infielders.

Larger Bases: This adjustment was less about changing the play of game and more for players safety than anything else. Historically, the bases have been 15 square inches. Beginning this year, the bases were increased to 18 square inches. The hope behind this is that there is more surface area for players to work with and hopefully avoid collisions. With the increase in base sizes, it means that there will be a shorter distance between 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd which should prompt more stolen base attempts-ideally making the day more interesting. Honestly, there is nothing to really change here. This was change was made to hopefully make the game a little bit safer for the players and make baserunning a little more interesting if possible.

2023 MLB Playoffs: World Series

Texas Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in 5 Games:

Game 1: TEXAS TAKES IT IN EXTRA INNINGS! To be completely fair, by the time I got home from work and had the game on, Arizona was up 5-3 on Texas and I thought that was going to be it. Texas got a jump from the first inning with a one out walk to Corey Seager who would come around to score an a double by Evan Carter to the gap between Corbin Carroll and Alek Thomas. Adolis Garcia would keep adding to his postseason MVP campaign with an RBI single. Putting the Texas regiment up 2-0 by the end of the first inning. That lead would not stand very long. Come the top of the third, the Snakes would in fact, come alive. Arizona’s offensive strategy is definitely something I find fascinating because each at bat is done intentionally. With the first two batters of the inning getting on base with singles, Geraldo Perdomo came up with a sac bunt to get the runners into scoring position and this was a huge move. Corbin Carroll came up next and laced what probably should not have been a triple but was to center fielder Leody Taveras that scored those first two batters. Watching this hit, it looks like Taveras just didn’t get a good read on where the ball was going to land. Had he moved with a little more speed, he would have been able to cut it off. Probably wouldn’t have stopped the two runs from scoring but it could have prevented Carroll from getting to third. Anywho. Ketel Marte would step up next and just like Adolis Garcia, is adding to his postseason MVP campaign as well by extending his postseason hit streak to 17 games with an RBI single to give Arizona the lead 3-2. Again, this lead would not last long either. Just half an inning later in the bottom of the third, with two outs, Zach Gallen would walk Corey Seager, give up another double to Evan Carter and walk Adolis Garcia to load the bases. Now, in my not so professional opinion, Mitch Garver is an under the radar, unsung hero of the postseason for Texas. With the bases loaded, Garver draws a walk. Tying the score at 3 and 3 at the end of the third. Top of the fourth, Tommy Pham takes the lead back for the DBacks on a 419ft home run to left field. The top of the fifth inning would see that lead extended just a bit with a Ketel Marte double that scored Geraldo Perdomo. After that, there would be no more runs until the bottom of the ninth. And this is why I love the game of baseball. It really is like no other sport. One out. One runner on base and Corey Seager comes to the plate. A double play ground ball finishes the game and gives Arizona a 1-0 lead in the series. But Seager had other plans. First pitch he sees from closer Paul Sewald, he takes for the ride of its life 418ft to the second deck in right field. Which tied the game. If nothing else, this game would go into extra innings-and it did. Unfortunately, Arizona couldn’t do what Adolis Garcia has been doing all postseason. Carrying his team on his back, Adolis Garcia called game in the bottom of the 11th inning just barely clearing the right field fence. While a disappointing ending for Arizona fans, it just goes to show that this series is going to be a really good one. No one is going to roll over and take it. Both of these teams, one of which has been told the whole time that they don’t belong here, are going to fight until the very end to prove that they are the best team in all of baseball for the 2023 season.

Game 2: We have a pitchers duel tonight. Through three innings, Montgomery and Kelly are going batter for batter, pitch for pitch. Kelly, representing the Snakes, is just slightly edging out Montgomery who is on the mound for the Rangers. Arizona at this time has had two baserunners versus the Ranger’s zero. It has been a great battle at the mound. But this couldn’t last forever. Arizona made sure it didn’t. Gabriel Moreno, on the eighth pitch of the at bat took one deep to left center field to get a point on the board. And it got out of there quickly. I will say, whatever the final score is tonight, Josh Jung saved another run from Arizona’s tally with an absolutely gorgeous diving stop down the third base line and a straight laser of a throw to first to get Christian Walker out at first by HALF A STEP. Tommy Pham saw that though and probably said, “You have the left side covered, i’m just going to go down the right side then.”. For a double since the ball got right into the right field corner. I personally felt that while Adolis Garcia got there quickly, he stopped when he got to the ball instead of finishing the play through. It didn’t have an impact on the play but it was an interesting observation on my part. Lourdes Gurriell Jr. helped his team out next by hitting a little bloop single just deep enough into left field that Tommy Pham, who is a speedy man motored his way across the home plate to give the DBacks a 2-0 lead. While the Diamondbacks put runs on the board, Rangers made sure there would be no no-hitter with an Evan Carter single but that is all they would get. Top of five and we are still in a pitchers duel per say but Montgomery is visibly waning. With one out, Geraldo Perdomo singled and then proceeded to steal second with Corbin Carroll at the plate but no damage would be done since he popped out to third baseman Josh Jung. Now as I say that Montgomery’s is waning, Mitch Garver took a knee high sinker straight to the seats in left field to finally put the Rangers on the board. Christian Walker though. My God. Jung made an amazing play at third so Walker did it at first with a outstanding barehand of high grounder and flipping it to Merrill Kelly for the out. This play 100% saved not only a base hit, but extra bases at that. We meet again in the top of the sixth. Jordan Montgomery, surprisingly stays in to pitch and for the first two batters, i’m sure Bruce thought that was a good idea until Tommy Pham came up and sliced a double down the first base line. I think the strategy to walk Gurriell Jr to get to a slightly less productive Alek Thomas was actually pretty ok. But What heppened next, again, not on my bingo card. Tommy Pham who we have already recognized as a quick base runner took a lead so far off the base he was practically half way to third and he got rung up for it. Montgomery had a quick spin and a perfectly positioned Corey Seager to pick Pham off at second for the third out. Merrill Kelly took the mound again in the sixth as well to extend this pitchers duel. He saw three batters, he sent three of them back to the dugout on strike outs. In the seventh, I am again shocked that Jordan Montgomery is still in the game. But since he picked off Tommy Pham during Alek Thomas’s at bat, Alek sent a double off the center field wall in retaliation. Now earlier I would have said that the Diamondbacks were favoring the right side of the field more than the left. Not Evan Longoria though. He sent an RBI single right up the third base line which brought Alek around to score and that would be the end of Jordan Montgomery’s night. Something that is new in the MLB is that relief pitchers are required to face a minimum of three batters before they can be pulled. Andre Heney did just that and gave up an RBI single to Corbin Carroll, extending the lead to 3 before they could pull him. Mind you, the Rangers just need one more out at this time. Which they eventually got on a comebacker to Dane Dunning. We come to the bottom of the seventh and Merrill Kelly is back in for the Snakes as well and he is pitching the game of his life. HIs stat line is insane right now. He’s looking at three hits, one run, zero walks and eight strike outs. Folks, HE’S STILL IN THE GAME! He’s going the distance. He struck out the side in the seventh. AGAIN. Personally, I hope Torrey keeps him in the whole way. If it ain’t broke… I swear, this game is just going to be a rehashing of the highlights from the Arizona side of this game. Tommy Pham in the eighth gets on base for the fourth time and has found himself on second base again but is sticking a little bit closer to not repeat what happened last time he was there. But he only got there on a Gurriel bunt up the left side that Stratton fielded and narrowly and I cannot emphasize this enough, narrowly beat out Lourdes to first base. The ball was not an easy play either. I think had it been anyone else, they may not have seen it through but Stratton did and while Pham is in scoring position, there is an out on the board which makes it easier. But it would do nothing. Ketel Marte just cannot be stopped. Bases loaded, two outs, up the middle to score two. Corbin Carroll wanted in on the action so he did the same and scored Perdomo from second. Just being relentless at the plate and breaking this game open in their favor. They leave the top of the eighth with three more runs making it a 7-1 game.

Game 3: For game three of this series, we’ve travelled to the desert for the first time since their World Series win. To put that in perspective, the Arizona Diamondbacks starter was three years old. The match up tonight is of the generations. With the seasoned Max Scherzer stepping up for the Rangers versus the rookie who has used the regular season to make the adjustments needed and is coming back with the best strikeout to walk ratio of any starter in the postseason. Pfaadt starts the game off strong with a three up, three down first- no strike outs but at this point, how you get them isn’t really the concern. It’s that you get them quick and you get them often against this Texas offense. Can Max respond? The answer is yes. Now something you should know, there are questions regarding Max’s health coming into tonight. He has a cut at the base of the nailbed of his thumb on his pitching hand that is currently being held together with superglue and cotton. If that doesn’t tell you the kind of beast that this man is, I mean youtube it. Come the second inning, Pfaadt gives up a single to Evan Carter but it would be short lived as Mitch Garver hit into a double play in the next at bat. Jonah Heim would make it a short inning for the Diamondbacks defense when he flew out to center field. The bottom of the second is where it got interesting. Christian Walker got off to a strong start with a double into centerfield. However, they would not be able to capitalize on this. Tommy Pham, who is having a great postseason, would send what should have been just a normal single into right field. If Christian Walker had listened to his third base coach, he would have stopped at third and we would have gone from there. However, and for whatever reason, he decided to test the arm of Adolis Garcia and see if he could make it home in time. Spoiler alert, he did not. With Christian Walker being cut down at home, Tommy Pham would make it to second but that base running error would give Texas an out in series where every run is going to count. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Alek Thomas would come up to the plate next and neither could do anything to bring Tommy home. Ultimately, the error on Walker’s part would cost them a much needed run in this tight game. Going into the top of third, Nathaniel Lowe, another under the radar hero for Texas this postseason, would take Pfaadt to center field and get the inning started with a double which is Texas’s first base runner of the game. He would eventually come around on a Marcus Semien single to score the first run. Texas would then extend their lead during this inning with a 421ft bomb to right field from none other than Corey Seager who has seriously come alive in October. Just to give some context to the sheer power of this man, the ball speed off the bat (exit velocity) was 114 mph. Just to keep it to the point, these three runs here will be the only runs scored by Texas in this game. Going into the bottom of the fourth inning, Jon Gray came on to relieve Max Scherzer. Anyone who is a Rockies fan is well acquainted with this man and what he can do when he’s locked in. To say he was locked it is an understatement. He came in for three shut out innings where he only gave up one hit and struck out three. He looked very much like peak 2017 Jon Gray. This performance got him the win in the end as well. Arizona wouldn’t be able to rally by the time the end of the ninth inning came around. They would score a singular run in the bottom of the eighth from a Geraldo Perdomo single. Alas, while it was definitely more of a pitchers game today, we come back again tomorrow. Andrew Heaney will be take the starting position on the mound for Texas against Joe Mantiply who will be representing Arizona.

Game 4: First and foremost, congratulations to Jon Gray for getting his first World Series win last night. As a Rockies fan, I have seen him at his best and his worst and i’m glad he was able to overcome everything that he has to get to this moment. Now that we’ve given credit where credit is due, let’s get into this game. Both pitchers came out strong in their first innings. Mantiply saw four batters, walking Mitch Garver but it would mean absolutely nothing. Heaney also saw four batters. He gave up a lead off single to Ketel Marte (not the person you want as a base runner) but retired both Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno on strikes. Christian Walker would be up next and the guy just can’t catch a break. During his at bat, Ketel Marte was caught stealing second for the third out of the inning. To be honest, Jonah Heim had his number and he was out well before he got to the base. So another questionable base running choice has Arizona giving up an out that they really cannot afford to give at this time. Texas took that opportunity and ran with it though. Just to put som perspective on the statement, they scored 10 runs in the next two innings. To start the second inning, Josh Jung got in on the World Series action with a quick little double up the center. Nathaniel Lowe then came up to the plate and struck out. Torey Lovullo made the choice at this time to take Mantiply out of the game and put in Miguel Castro. He followed Mantiply’s lead by Jonah Heim grounding out to Ketel Marte but it moved Josh up to third. Now normally, you’d see this and think, “Two down, just one more out and their good to go.”. This would actually be where it started to go wrong for Arizona. Instead of getting just the one out needed to end the inning, here is what happened. With Leody Taveras at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Josh Jung to score. Getting that first run on the board. Taveras would end up being walked. Travis Jankowski was up next and he got on base with a single to center field. Again, just needed one out. Marcus Semien came up next and took a low and outside slider for a ride up the left field line that would score both Taveras and Jankowski. Looking back at this hit, Gurriel Jr. had a good line on it but it took a bad hop of the wall which caught him off guard and caused him to misread the bounce and it actually got by him. Either way, if he got it off the bounce or not, both runs would have scored but Semien may have only got to second instead of getting all the way to third. Anyways, we are up 3-0 in Texas’s favor right now. At this time, Lovullo makes another pitching change. Kyle Nelson is now on in relief. Again, only one out is needed at this time. Corey Seager made sure that out was not him. After his 421ft bomb to center field last night, he apparently wanted to keep that streak going. He took the second pitch he saw, a low hanging slider 431ft to straightaway center field. It was honestly gorgeous. This would give Texas an additional two runs- putting them up 5-0. All of those runs were scored with two outs. Mitch Garver came up last in this half inning and put the Diamondbacks out of their misery with a groundout. Arizona had no answer to these runs in the bottom of the second. But the Rangers weren’t done as they continued their barrage in the top of the third. It would again start with Josh Jung and Nathaniel Lowe who both singled to the outfield. Luis Frias would come on to relieve Kyle Nelson after this. Jonah Heim hit what should have been a ground out but a fielding error by Christian Walker would instead load the bases. Leody Taveras was up next and gave Arizona some relief with a strike out. So here we are, bases loaded, two outs. Travis Jankowski came to the plate and smacked a double to center field. Scoring Jung and Lowe. The Rangers are now up 7-0. Now again, top of the third, two outs. Marcus Semien came up to bat and felt that he needed to get in on the home run train. So he sent out over the fence in left center field. This put Texas up 10-0- all runs being scored with two outs. Corey Seager would be the last batter seen in this half inning and he struck out swinging. The Diamondbacks wouldn’t start chipping away at this lead until the bottom of the fourth inning when Christian Walker doubled to left field which got Gabriel Moreno from first to third. Moreno would eventually score the DBacks first run from a Lourdes Gurriel Jr sac fly. The fifth, sixth and seventh innings were nothing to write home about. There were a few singles here and there but otherwise, no more than four batters were seen on either side of each of these innings. The eighth inning is where the action picked up again. Jonah Heim started off the top of the eighth with a dinger to right field. It would be the last point put up by Texas. But the real fun started in the bottom of the eighth. Here is how the first FIVE batters went: Ketel: Flyout, Carroll: Single, Moreno: Single, Walker: Single, Pham: Sac Fly. That makes the score at this time 11-2 with two outs and two runners on for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. who snuck a ball 382ft over the left field fence to empty the bases and cut the down to six. They would try to continue the rally in the bottom of the ninth but with only coring two runs of a Gabriel Moreno single, they would come up four runs short. But coming back that far from being down 10-0 is nothing to look down your nose at. We come back tomorrow for the do or die game for Arizona. Will they come back and take the game back to Texas or will Texas finally win their first Championship in franchise history?

Game 5: Here it is. It’s win or go home for Arizona. We have aces on the mound tonight. Nathan Eovaldi will start things off for the Rangers. Zac Gallen will take the ball first for the Diamondbacks. As always, let’s get into it. Gallen through the first inning is looking strong. Marcus Semien started off the night at the plate and flew out to center field. Corey Seager was up next and he grounded out to short. Evan Carter would be the last batter faced in the top of the first and he was struck out. Bottom of the first for the Diamondbacks against Eovaldi: Rookie of the Year candidate (and most likely winner) Corbin Carroll started off with a walk on four pitches- never a good way to start an inning. He would subsequently steal second on the next pitch. Ketel Marte grounded out to second and Gabriel Moreno did the same to short. Christian Walker was up next and he drew a walk after an eight pitch at bat. Tommy Pham followed him but would ground into a force out at short. End of one, we sit at 0-0. Top of the second inning, Gallen is chugging along. He sees three batters and sends them all back to the dugout. Mitch Garver was struck out on four pitches. Josh Jung and Nathaniel Lowe grounded out to short and second respectively. Bottom of the second, Diamondbacks started off with getting their leadoff batter on the base again. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. smacked a high and outside four-seam fastball right back up the middle of the field for a single. Unfortunately the next three batters would be unable to capitalize. Alek Thomas grounded out to short. Evan Longoria lined out to left field and Geraldo Perdomo flew out to right field. Moving right along, the top of the third inning looked identical for Zac Gallen as the first two innings. He saw three, he put three down. Jonah Heim, Leody Taveras and Travis Jankowski either grounded out or flew out which made for a very quick inning. Bottom of the third, we are back at the top of the order for the Diamondbacks. Corbin Carroll gets himself on base with a single to center field. Ketel Marte moved him to second with a four ball walk. Gabriel Moreno then laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt that advanced both runners. But that is as far as they would get. Christian Walker was up next and struck out. He was followed by Tommy Pham who recorded the last out of the inning by grounding out sharply to short. Going into the fourth inning now, we have a pitchers’ duel. Top of the fourth and Zac Gallen is just absolutely cooking. Another three up, three down inning with groundouts by Marcus Semien and Corey Seager. Evan Carter came up and struck out- I have to say though, strikes one and two were very low in my opinion. Bottom of the fourth was probably the quickest inning for the Rangers defense thus far. Gurriel Jr. and Thomas would flyout and ground out respectively. Evan Longoria doubled to right field but it would be pointless because Perdomo would strike out in the next at bat. On to the fifth and the duel continues! Zac Gallen is looking his absolute best. His first two batters, Garver and Jung flew out to left field. Unfortunately, he would lose his bid for a perfect game in the next at bat when he walked Lowe on five pitches. This would give Texas their first base runner of the night. Have no fear though- he came back and got Heim with a strike out to really punctuate the inning. He will take a no hitter into the sixth. Bottom of the fifth, looks a lot like the first few innings for Arizona. Again, we start at the top of the line up. Corbin Carroll flew out to right field. Ketel Marte garnered his second walk of the evening. Followed by a strike out by Moreno. Christian Walker, whose performance at the plate is unpredictable (but really fun because you never know what he’s gonna do), scorched a single into right field and with the speed that Marte has, he was easily able to get to third. This gave Walker the opportunity to steal second during the next at bat which also saw Tommy Pham awarded first base on a five pitch walk. However, this bright and shiny opportunity to put the first points on the board would not come to be as Gurriel Jr. would ground out to short in the next at bat. TO THE SIXTH! Zac Gallen did not come to play today. He came to show up and show out and show off. He again saw three batters and sent three batters back. Taveras, Jankowski and Semien ground out, flew out and struck out in that order. Bottom of the sixth inning was the fewest number of batters that Eovaldi faced in a single inning all night. He took a page out of Gallen’s book and sent the three batters he saw back to the dugout by getting Alek Thomas to ground out and then striking out Longoria and Perdomo. This pitcher’s duel is heating up as we head into the seventh. To the dismay of Arizona and anyone cheering against the Rangers, this is where Zac Gallen’s night would take a turn. His first battle against Corey Seager saw Seager win with a single up the left side- ending Gallen’s no hit bid. Evan Carter was up next and he would take a knuckle curve that was over the middle of the plate up the right side for a double. This moved Seager from first to third as well. Next up, our Under the Radar Hero award winner for this postseason, Mitch Garver would bring in Seager for the first point of the game on a ground ball back up the middle to center field. Josh Jung came to the plate next and was struck out but damage had been done. At this time, Torey Lovullo made the decision to take Zac out (to a standing ovation as he deserved) and bring in relief in the form of Kevin Ginklel. He would be in charge of securing the final tow outs. The second out of this inning did not come conventionally. With Lowe batting, he hit a sharp grounder to Walker at first base who made a very heads up decision as he saw Garver going home, he slung it to Moreno who then caught Garver in a run down and ultimately saved a run for scoring and recorded an out. The top of the inning would end with Jonah Heim popping out to Moreno in foul territory. The score now is 1-0 Texas. Bottom of the seventh, Aroldis Chapman has come in in relief of Nathan Eovaldi. Chapman will face Carroll who lined out to left field. Marte who drew his THIRD walk of the night. And Gabriel Moreno who he caught swinging for a strike out. With two outs, Josh Sborz would come in to relieve Chapman and he faced Walker who go to line out to center field. Onto the eighth inning we go. This inning looked very much like innings one through six for both teams. Top of the eighth inning, Ginkel remains in the game. He starts off with Taveras who made the peculiar choice to bunt. Spoiler alert- it didn’t work out. We’d the bases loaded with the next three batters as Jankowski was walked on five pitches. Semien got himself a single up the middle to center field and Seager was also walked. This is a prime opportunity for Texas to extend their lead. But that is all it would be. An opportunity. Evan Carter came up next and struck swinging. Mitch Garver was the last batter faced as he grounded out to short to end the inning. Bottom of the eighth inning. Sborz remains on the mound. He saw just four batters. Pham would start it off and he went down swinging. Gurriel Jr. followed and he grounded out to short. Thomas was up third and was able to reach on a ground ball up the middle to cener field. Paven Smith stepped up the plate in place of Evan Longoria but he would go down looking. At the end of eight, we remain 1-0 Texas. Now here is where it all weng wrong for Arizona. And it was no one’s fault, it was just good ball placement with bats. Their closer Paul Sewald came on in the hopes of keeping the game close. Texas had other ideas. The first three batter, Jung, Lowe and Heim all singled but Jung and Lowe would score on Heim’s single due to a fielding error made by Alek Thomas in center field. 3-0 Texas. Taveras was to the plate next and he struck out on a foul tip. Jankowski was after and he grounded out to short. Now Marcus Semien, it had been a minute since he made a statement. But he did in this game with a two run shot to center field. 5-0 Texas. Corey Seager got on the singles train this inning with a grounder to third but the rally would end there as Evan Carter struck out in the next at bat. Bottom of the ninth. The Rangers are three outs away from a Championship title. Can Arizona make the comeback of a lifetime? Sborz looks to be the man trusted to get the final three outs. He will face Perdomo who struck out looking. Carroll who popped out to the catcher in foul territory and last but not least, he got Ketel Marte looking to seal the deal for the Rangers and hand them their first World Series Championship in franchise history. They snap a 52 year drought and bring a well deserved trophy home to the people of Texas.

Congratulations to the Texas Rangers and a well fought postseason to the Arizona Diamondbacks! Come back for offseason updates on Free Agents and other fun sports!

2023 MLB Playoffs: Championship Series

Texas Rangers Beat the Houston Astros in 7 Games:

Game 1: As i’ve said this entire postseason, the Rangers are playing with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove. I guess when you go into a series against the team that some would say stole their division title right out from under them, you would want to prove why you’re better. What better way to do that than to shut out the Astros at home? Although he took the loss, Justin Verlander still had a good showing with 6.2 innings, two runs, six hits and five strike outs. Not his strongest outing but he kept his team in it. His counterpart Jordan Montgomery had very similar numbers. He went 6.1 innings, gave up zero runs off of five hits and six strike outs. It was very much a pitcher’s duel tonight. Ultimately, while I can appreciate that this game meant something to the Rangers. Set the tone for the series but this game was not all that exciting. Texas’s two runs came off of a single by Jonah Heim in the top of the second and Leody Taveras home run in the top of the fifth. I felt that this game missed the magic. I didn’t see any plays that ‘saved’ the game or aided in the loss. But i’m interested to see just how far Texas will take this. Game 2 is tomorrow with Nathan Eovaldi on the mound for Texas and Framber Valdez representing Houston.

Game 2: Ohhhhhh Yes. I’m liking the way this series is shaping up. And it was a lot more interesting than last night’s game. Let’s start with Texas getting the jump on Framber Valdez in the first inning. Four runs? That’s how you send a message that game one wasn’t a fluke. And anytime Minute Maid Park is left silent, it’s a good time. Robbie Grossman started the scoring off by getting Marcus Semien across the plate on a fielding error by Framber Valdez. Followed by RBI singles by Adolis Garcia, Mitch Garver and Nathaniel Lowe. Fear not though, Houston would not remain silent tonight. Yordan Alvarez kept his streak alive by dropping a ball into the second deck of the right field stands. 420 feet to be exact and 108mph off the bat. Incredibly impressive. Although not enough to give Houston a lead, Jonah Heim would answer back anyways with a blast of his own putting Texas up 5-1. Chase McCormick had a nice diving catch in the top of the fourth to keep a speedy Corey Seager off the base paths. Alex Bregman tried to close the gap with a home run of his own in the bottom of the fourth. Nothing of note would happen again until the bottom of the sixth inning when Michael Brantley laced an RBI double up the middle. And Yordan Alvarez, who is practically carrying this team on his back, made a valiant effort with yet another home run in th bottom of the eighth. But alas, it wasn’t enough. The Rangers took the victory and a 2-0 in the series. We have a day off tomorrow and then at least two more games in Arlington. Let’s see if the Rangers can keep this streak going.

Game 3: Well…I was hoping that would have gone differently. I guess the silver lining is that it won’t be a sweep and we get at least five games out of this series. As someone who has watched Max Scherzer dominate since he was in Detroit, it almost pains me. to see him struggle in a game like this. Fun fact, when he played with the Nationals- same year they won the World Champs title- Max was in a similar situation where he was injured in such a way that he couldn’t move on his own. He took the time he needed to rest, came back later in the series and was outstanding. Tonight was not like that night. He lasted five innings and I wouldn’t call them valiant by any stretch of the imagination. He gave up five runs on a wild pitch that scored a batter that got on base when he hit him, then a two runs on a single that found it’s way to the outfield on an infield deflection, a Jose Altuve home run and another single all before the fifth inning. This put the Rangers in a bit of a pickle (no pun intended). Josh Jung did his best to start a rally with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth but that would be all they could get. Houston would respond back in the top of the seventh off a two run Yordan Alvarez single to center field. When I tell you that this man is just a run producer to this preseason, I mean, the numbers speak for themselves. Josh Jung would again try and close that gap with some run production of his own by jacking another ball to the outfield seats for two more runs. Jeremy Pena would extend the Astro lead briefly with a little right field single and Adolis Garcia, who i’ve mentioned before is the Rangers version of Yordan Alvarez, again tried to rally in the bottom of the eighth with the same single of his own but it just wouldn’t come together for the Rangers in the end. The Astros will make this a minimum five-game series with their win tonight.

Game 4: Mmm… I mean, at least it’s tied? I don’t really know how to analyze this game other than with just the facts. The Rangers shit the bed. If we have learned anything over the past few years, it’s that you cannot give an Astros team any hope of a chance at coming back in a series or they will most likely find a way to do just that. Alex Bregman got an early start to the festivities with a dart of a triple to the center field wall which got them to an early 2-0 start. And I know what you’re thinking. Where is Yordan? It’s the first inning, shouldn’t he have already homered at least once? Well, it wasn’t a home run this time but he did bring the first inning run total up to three with a single to center. Now here is where I thought this game was going to be interesting. Adolis Garcia answered the call and helped put a run on the board for the Rangers in the bottom of the second with a home run of his own. Followed by Josh Jung who had a sac fly to cut the lead down to one. Corey Seager would eventually take an opportunity to ride a high fast ball to the bullpen in left center field to tie it up at three. That would be where it would stall out for the Rangers regiment. The top of the fourth is where it took off for Houston’s battery. They would go on to score four runs off a Yordan Alvarez sac fly and a Jose Abreu three-run homer. The Rangers were practically silent while this barrage happened. After their first three innings, they only recorded three more hits, one walk and five strike outs. You can’t put up numbers like that in the postseason with numbers like that and expect to win. Not when Yordan Alvarez and Chase McCormick tacked on an additional three runs to ultimately give the Astros a 10-3 win over the Rangers. The pitching, at least for the Rangers was really nothing note worthy. Obvious by the score. But the Astros bullpen was literally lights out. We meet back tomorrow for the last game in Arlington. Who will squeeze ahead?

Game 5: This series is now incredibly interesting and infuriatingly disappointing. Seriously- you have a Texas team that is up by two in the top of the ninth and relief pitcher Leclerc did not have the command he needed to face the line up that he did. After walking Perez and Singleton, he left a changeup hanging inside and over the plate and Jose Altuve (the little cheater) just took it for a ride. The only reason it would be remotely exciting to probably just Astros fans is because it put them in front and gave the Rangers very little time to do anything about it. In the end, they weren’t able to come back from that one.

Game 6: Tonight we have a rematch of game two of this series with Nathan Eovaldi on the mound for the Rangers and Framber Valdez representing Houston. Framber Valdez is looking like the American League’s version of Clayton Kershaw. A Cy Young candidate from the regular season is struggling in the postseason. He’s lasted longer tonight than he did in most other games in previous series but he only threw five innings and gave up three runs off of five hits. Mitch Garver is coming through in this series and getting the Rangers on the board with a nice little homer to right field. Which was in response to yet another Yordan Alvarez RBI single at the bottom of the first. Nathan Eovaldi is looking good tonight as well. He and the Rangers staff are playing strategically and I like it. Walking Yordan in the third intentionally shows me that someone is finally paying attention. And it had no adverse impact. Jonah Heim came through in the top of the fourth, giving the Rangers a two run lead in the top of the fourth. Mitch Garver then came around again with an RBI double in the top of the eighth giving the Texas a 4-2 lead. Eovaldi was great for Texas tonight. He went a little of six innings, only gave up two runs off of five hits and struck out four batters. The top of the ninth is looking worse and worse for Houston the more batters they see. Bases loaded, one out, and their worst enemy (and possibly series MVP should Texas win) Adolis Garcia decided to launch a ball at 110 miles per hour to clear the bases. The Rangers came in needing to win tonight to force a game seven and they did just that. We will reconvene tomorrow to determine who will represent the American League in the World Series this year.

Game 7: At least the Lone Star state is keeping it interesting. Houston is through three pitchers in just as many innings. Their starter Christian Javier didn’t even make it a full inning. Max Scherzer on the other hand, made it a little less than three innings but held off the Astros. The Astros bullpen, no matter who takes the mound can’t solve the perplexing problem that is Adolis Garcia. If the Rangers take this series and make it to the World Series, I honestly cannot name one other player who deserves to be Division Series MVP more than that man. And to think that he was put on waivers by the team just a few weeks ago. Corey Seager finally found his swing with a bomb to right field. Followed closely by a very long and high RBI single from Adolis Garcia to quickly put the Rangers up 2-0 but they would get one more before the end of the inning with a Mitch Garver single as well. Jose Altuve would get a jump on Max Scherzer as well with a hard double off the left field wall. Texas has got a good strategy and walked Yordan Alvarez. But an RBI single from Jose Abreu. We move on to the top of the third where Adolis Garcia would strike again with a laser just inside the right field foul pole. And there was no doubt. In the bottom of the third, Alex Bregman would answer back with a home run of his own. Cutting the run differential to two. Yordan Alvarez’s luck started to look up though, after Alex’s home run, he laced a triple into the left center field gap but it wouldn’t do anything to help in the end. Now let’s talk about the top of the fourth. The Ranger’s decided they were done tip toeing around and just unleashed their offensive armory. With the bases loaded, Evan Carter doubled scoring two additional runs. At this point, you think that Houston would have taken a play out of Texas’s book and taken the power away from the one person who has consistently been a thorn in their side but alas, they allowed Adolis Garcia to the plate and he made them pay for it with yet another 2-RBI single, extending the Arlington lead from four to six. It was quiet on both sides for a bit on both sides after this. A couple singles here and there but nothing substantial. Not until the top of the sixth with Nathanial Lowe, a kind of under the radar hero in my book, got one right over Kyle Tucker’s glove and into the right field stands to tack on another two runs. If we are keeping track, it’s now 10-2 Rangers. Again, the bats were relatively quite with the exception of an additional run for Houston. Right up until a certain thorn in the Houston side came up to bat in the top of the eighth. Do you think that the Astros took my advice and walked him? They surely did not. And again, he made them pay for it with his second home run of the night. That’s 11-3. Let us not get too excited about the Trashstros going down so quickly. If anyone can blow a lead, its Aroldis Chapman. I won’t say that this is what is happening but you have one out, one runner on and you nail the number seven batter in the line up on the inside of the back leg? That’s not an easy place to miss. He worked his way out of it though. Only for Leclerc to give up a solo homer to Jose Altuve in the bottom of the ninth. While that may not seem like a lot because you know, they are still down by 7, baseball is the magical sport where you can be down to your last strike in a game while being down by 7 runs and still win. But today will not be that day. The Texas Rangers will represent the American League in the World Series. Defeating the reigning Champions 4—3.

The Texas Rangers will play the winner of the National League Championship Series depending on who takes game seven tomorrow night between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Arizona Diamondbacks Beat the Philadelphia Phillies in 7 Games:

Game 1: I am not at all surprised by this game. I knew going into this series that it will be an uphill battle for the Diamondbacks. This Phillies team is what the Dodgers should have looked like in the Division Series. Not to mention it’s Bryce Harper’s birthday so you know he balled out. We started off tonight with Dueling Zacs’. Zac Gallen is on the mound for Arizona. Zack Wheeler is up for Philadelphia. Kyle Schwarber made the decision to get Philly on board first with a “Schwarbomb” in the bottom of the first inning. Followed closely by Bryce Harper who wanted to have a little birthday fun and sent a ball 420 feet putting Philly up 2-0. Don’t worry though, Nick Castellanos will not be left out. He got in on the home run action in the bottom of the second. Bryce and J.T. would go on to throw out some singles to garner two additional runs which gave Phillies a 5-0 lead. Arizona tried to get back in it. I have to give them credit for that. They would not take it lying down. Geraldo Perdomo got them on the board finally in the top of the sixth with a two run shot to the outfield seats. I was hoping this would maybe spark a rally but it really didn’t. Sure they scored one more run in the top of the seventh off a Christian Walker sac fly but any hope of a rally pretty much died after that. To be fair, the Phillies are the first team that the Diamondbacks have faced that have actually put up a fight from the start. This series isn’t going to be one of pitching prowess. It’ll be who can hit the ball the farthest the most. I’m stoked.

Game 2: Again, the outcome of this game is not surprising. But a 10-0 beat down wasn’t exactly it. Trea Turner started the scoring off with a home run in the bottom of the first. Kyle Schwarber took on the next two RBI’s with two individual home runs in the bottom of the third and the sixth innings. J.T. Realmuto got in on the fun with a 2-run double which Brandon Marsh replicated two batters later with his own RBI double in the bottom of the sixth. Fret not though, they continued their assault into the seventh inning. Alec Bohm wanted in on the RBi action so he sliced a nice double of his own to center field. J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos both added RBI singles. These, when put together account for all 10 runs scored by the Phillies tonight. Aaron Nola was lights out tonight. He threw a stellar six innings allowing only three hits in those six innings and racked up seven strike outs as well. His strong work was followed up by equally strong relief work from former Rockie Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering. As for Arizona, there is quite literally, nothing to write home about for them tonight. I can’t say that anyone did particularly well in my opinion. Pitching was definitely not there and they couldn’t capitalize on the bases or at the plate. We have a travel day tomorrow and then we start a minimum of two, max three game set in Phoenix. I would wager that this may be a sweep if the Diamondbacks can’t figure out this Phillies offense.

Game 3: Of course it was going to be the Cinderella team that handed the Phillies their first 2023 postseason loss. And in spectacular fashion no less. A walk off by none other than Ketel Marte really put a damper on the run the Phillies were looking to make. If it were me, and I was on the mound with an open base I probably wouldn’t have pitched to Marte who was 2 for 4 at the plate when the next guy up, Corbin Carroll was 0 for 4 and looked to get a grounder to the infield for a quick little game ending double play. But that is not what happened. So let me paint the picture. We’re tied. 1-1 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. Runners on first and second. One out. Smart game strategy would have been to walk Ketel Marte with the open base but I understand the goal was to get him to hit into a double play and force extra innings. But as I stated above, he was 2-4 with two doubles on the night going up a Craig Kimbrel who is not pitching like he has in the past. Ketel did what he was asked to and got a single right up the middle. With the speed of Pavin Smith on second, there was no question. Brandon Pfaadt and Ranger Suarez went inning for inning tonight both posting 5.2 and 5.1 scoreless innings respectively. Pfaadt gave up only two hits and struck out nine. Suarez gave up only three hits and struck out seven. Both teams scored their one run in the seventh inning. Up until the ninth inning. this game was a pitchers duel and both teams brought it. Arizona just got the upper hand and capitalized on the opportunity at the very last minute. It makes this series all the more interesting. We continue this series tomorrow in the desert for game four.

Game 4: LET’S F*****G GO! Down by three and the Snakes come back to make it a tie series? I’m here for that kind of drama. Zac Gallen said it best, “Home field advantage matters.”. You’re going to hear everyone and I mean anyone who calls themself a Philly fan blame Craig Kimbrel for this loss (if you take the events of last night into account as well) and while he played a role in it, it was ultimately a decision that rested on the shoulders of the manager. There is no way around that. He didn’t and probably shouldn’t have left Kimbrel out there for as long as he did. Alek Thomas was the real hero of tonight. I don’t think anyone’s bingo card had the Diamondbacks coming from behind two nights in a row. And down by three going into the bottom of the eighth no less. Now to be fair, Arizona got on the board first with one run in the second and the third. But we all know that Philly is not quiet with their bats. Not after they find the ball with it. And boy did they. They saw those two runs and probably thought, “Oh those are cute. Let’s show you how the big boys do it.”. Oh boy did they. Kyle Schwarber (no shock here) found the ball first and took it 409 feet into the stands. It may have been the only run scored in the fourth inning but it started a rally for the Phillies. Brandon Marsh tied the game in the fifth with a gorgeous RBI double that scored J.T Realmuto. Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner would both score on a throwing error in the sixth to take the lead and then Trea Turner would put i’m sure what they thought was the final touch with a sac fly in the top of the seventh to give Philadelphia a three run lead. The Snakes said no though. They would not concede. Christian Walker drew a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh to chip away at the lead. So how did we end up with a score of 6-5 in favor of Arizona? Alek Thomas took that on himself. He tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run home run to the pool and was followed up on by a Gabriel Moreno single that would score and very speedy Ketel Marte. The pitching this game was nothing spectacular. Each team went through eight, that’s right, eight pitchers to get through this game. It was a really interesting bullpen strategy as some were chosen to face specific batters and only those batters at a given time. With the series tied at two a piece, we play our last game in Arizona tomorrow and this series is officially interesting.

Game 5: The battle of the Zac’s just like game one. Gallen versus Wheeler and it is already going to be a controversial one. Our home plate umpire is really testing the batters from Philly and it would not surprise me if one of them gets thrown out in this game. In the first inning alone, first batter, lead off walk and you can hear J.T. Realmuto get upset with the fourth ball call. Whipping around and saying, “no no no.” to the homeplate umpire. An inning later, Trea Turner would strike out looking on a 3-2 count when he thought it should have been ball four. I happen to think in a regular season game, he may have been thrown out but we all know that postseason baseball plays by different rules. Zack Wheeler is wheeling and dealing tonight. Zac Gallen on the other side has allowed two runs- one of them should have been out at home but an errant throw by Ketel Marte caused Gabriel Moreno to be in the way of a sliding Bryce Harper and for a few moments, it was questionable if he was going to get back up. As a side note, Bryce gets a lot of shit for the type of player he is but as soon as he crossed the plate, he made a bee line for Moreno to check on him and make sure he was ok. That is the real kind of player he is. Luckily, Moreno seems to be ok and continued to stay in the game. Gallen took it in stride though and really dialed in after those two runs until the top of the sixth inning when Kyle Schwarber, which at this point should not be pitched to, launched another home run about 460 feet to straight away center field. That makes five home runs in this series alone. Bryce must have been feeling left out because he came up next and took the seventh pitch of the at bat 444 feet to almost the exact same place- making this a 4-0 game in Philadelphia’s favor. But have no fear, the bottom of the seventh saw last night’s hero, Alek Thomas come to the rescue again with a lead off home run to right center field that would hopefully light a spark in this DBacks offense but the following three batters went down just as quickly as they stepped up. Zack Wheeler will be the star of tonight’s game though. He is the only pitcher in this postseason, from either league to post seven innings pitched and they were glorious innings at that. He was practically lights out the whole game only giving up one run off of six hits and striking out eight. The Phillies would go on to score again with a Realmuto 2-run home run in the top of the 8th just to bolster their lead making it 6-2. Arizona will not go down without a fight though. Down by five, bottom of the ninth, two outs, runners on first and third, Corbin Carroll is at the plate and they couldn’t capitalize. We are headed back to Philly for game six after a day off tomorrow. Can the Phillies make it back to back World Series appearances or will the Diamondbacks continue their Cinderella story with a comeback story that would be talked about for years to come?

Game 6: Arizona said, “Let’s play seven and see what happens.”. Tommy Pham and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. both went back to back off Aaron Nola in the second inning, immediately putting the DBacks up 2-0 on the Phillies- at home no less and then Evan Longoria wanted to add on a little insurance with an RBI double. The Phillies started to chip away at that lead immediately with Brandon Marsh coming through with an RBI double which at this point seems like a normal daily occurrence for him. The third and fourth innings were relatively quite bats wise. Merrell Kelly and Aaron Nola dueled it out in these two innings striking out a third of the batters they saw combined. I think Ketel Marte was feeling a bit left out though. When he came to the plate in the top of the fifth, he took the ball for a ride into the right field corner for a triple that would score Corbin Carroll. I’m not sure if Castellanos just didn’t get a good read on where the ball was going to bounce off the wall but I felt that he could have cut it off a bit earlier rather than running around after it. Would it have stopped the run from scoring? I doubt it. Through five innings, Merrell Kelly was outstanding. His stat line for tonight looked a little something like this: 5 innings pitched with three hits, one run, three walks and eight strike outs. He was backed up by his bullpen consisting of Thompson, Saalfrank, Ginkle and Sewald who were all immaculate. In four innings, they gave up a combined three hits and no runs. On the Philadelphia side, it looks like they are devolving inning by inning. Aaron Nola was uncharacteristically off his game. He went 4.1 innings, gave up six hits, four runs, two walks and four strike outs. The bullpen relief of Lorenzen, Kerkering, Kimbrel and Soto did their very best to stop the bleeding but it wouldn’t be enough. We come back tomorrow night for the do or die game. Will Arizona’s time at the ball come to an end or will they continue to the fairytale all the way to the end?.

Game 7: Whoa! It’s still early but my hope is that tonight will not turn into a blow out. I want to see a fight on both sides. Whether that be a pitchers’ duel or call and response at the plate. To start off, we have Ranger Suarez going on Arizona’s starting nine. We should all remember what he did in game five against the Braves (if you haven’t already, go check out the analysis on the Division Series). Brandon Pfaadt will represent the Arizona establishment. Corbin Carroll is coming out, showing why he is a front runner the most likely winner of the NL Rookie of the Year with a nice infield single that would eventually come in to score in the first inning. The Phillies would not answer until the bottom of the second when Alec Bohm sent one deep to tie it up. Brandon Pfaadt is a strike out producer tonight for sure. I heard a stat while watching that he had something like 57 batters between walks? What kind of craziness is that? This kid just turned 25 a couple days ago. I can only imagine the pressure he feels right now. Alec Bohm is not making it easy either. He got on base in the bottom of the fourth and on a Bryson Stott double he legged it all the way home. Have no fear, with the bases loaded and two outs, Pfaadt would get the strike out of Johan Rojas. But that would mean that Philadelphia has taken a 2-1 lead in this decisive. The Diamondbacks will take that lying down though. Corbin Carroll is having a day (or night). He found a way to get a long striding Emmanuel Rivera around the bases and then legged himself around to give the DBacks a 3-2 lead that has extended into the seventh inning. The Phillies line up just looked miffed at the plate for lack of a better term. Top of the seventh we find ourselves looking at one out, Alvarado on the mound for the Phillies and Ketel Marte finally found a nice pitch and laced it to the right field corner for a double. Putting two runs in scoring position. Corbin Carroll walks up to the plate. Hottest hitter of the night- arguably an MVP candidate if Arizona wins tonight. He’s swinging like he is going to send it out but we’ll settle for a sac fly to right field. AZ extends their lead to 2. Rob Thomson went the only route he can when. in a jam like this- he’s gone to his Ace. Zack Wheeler, whose had only a few days of rest is making his first ever relief appearance hoping to just stave off the Diamondbacks and give his team a chance to do what they do best with their bats. He’s done well but I would say that Kevin Ginkle has done better. He’s striking out Bohm, Stott and J.T Realmuto in the eighth and that was after he got Turner and Harper out the inning before. None of these Diamondback pitchers are new to the Phillies but they cannot get a bat on the ball and they are literally down to their last three outs and down by two. They are facing the best acquisition from the trade deadline in Paul Sewald. And He. Was. Outstanding. Three up. Three down and the Phillies hopes of a pennant repeat are over. The Cinderella story Diamondbacks will be moving on to represent the National League in the World Series against the Texas Rangers

Those were some really fun series to watch. In two days, we will see the Arizona Diamondbacks will travel on over to the Arlington area of Texas to start the World Series against the Texas Rangers. This is going to be a great series with both teams playing were last minute wildcard winners and just two season ago, both teams were 100-game losers. As a Rockies fan, it gives me hope.

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2023 MLB Playoffs: Division Series

Texas Rangers (5) sweep Baltimore Orioles (1) in 3 games:

Game 1: Man. The Rangers aren’t playing around. Although, given their performance in Wildcard Week, that is on me for assuming that they wouldn’t bring that same energy. Again, when I see this team play, they play like they have something to prove and that they were robbed of a better postseason position (peep the last post on wildcard week if you want more info on that situation specifically). Don’t get me wrong, it was a close game with Texas edging out Baltimore 3-2. Every time Texas scored, Baltimore answered but the Rangers got a 2 run lead on them when they struck first. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the O’s missed opportunities to score as I did in our WC analysis. I would rather say that they just couldn’t get it going and got unlucky. The powerhouses of Adley Rutschman and Anthony Santander tried their best but Rutschman was struggling to get on base and a Santander homerun came a little too late. The Rangers on the other hand were legging out hits. Making opportunities for themselves. Two of their three runs came off base hits and the go head run off a Josh Jung homerun. Both bullpens were strong but nothing to really write home about. There was a moment where it looked like the O’s may come back but the Texas relievers were resilient. You could feel how badly each team wants it.

Game 2: The Orioles are struggling and if they are going to have to put up a fight. This series is looking more like Spring Training than a run at the World Title. They outhit the Rangers but were unable to capitalize on those opportunities. They came out strong scoring two runs in the bottom of the first off an Aaron Hicks RBI line drive but Texas answered back in the top of the second with five runs of their own and then tacked another four on in the top of the third off a Mitch Garvey Grand Slam. Baltimore’s bullpen couldn’t keep up with the barrage from the Rangers that their starter Grayson Rodriguez lasting only 1.2 innings with only Jack Flaherty lasting longer at a measly 2 innings. It didn’t matter who was on the mound, they kept chipping away. In the end, it didn’t matter who came up for the O’s. It wasn’t enough.

Game 3: And just like that… The Orioles 2023 season has come to an end. Don’t get me wrong, they will be back and hopefully they take this series as a learning opportunity. I don’t think it would be fair to say that the Rangers wanted it more but it sure did feel like it in this game. Losing 7-1 in a win or go home game felt like they just kinda gave up. The only innings more than four birds came up to the plate were in the fifth and eighth innings. They were also outhit by Texas 11-6. Starter Dean Kremer lasted 1.2 innings giving up six runs off seven hits- 2 of which were home runs to Corey Seager and Adolis Garcia. Only reliever Kyle Gibson pitched more innings but only put in 3 innings. On the Rangers side, Nathan Eovaldi was outstanding. Tossing a full seven innings with only one run from five hits and seven gorgeous strike outs. The Rangers will move on to the Championship series where they will play the winner of the Houston Astros vs. Minnesota Twins series.

Houston Astros (2) Win the Series against Minnesota Twins (3) in 4 Games:

Game 1: If you’ve read any other articles about this game, you’ve probably seen a section asking why the Twins would have put in a lefty reliever against Yordan Alvarez when that has been his literal bread and butter. But that was just one of a few mistakes made by Minnesota in this game. But to start, Justin Verlander looks good. He may not look the same as he did 12 years ago when he won his first cy young, or even in 2019 when he won again, but six scoreless innings with only four hits and six strikeouts had him looking in peak form. He was backed up by his team who, from the literal jump, went to work for him on offense. Starting with Jose Altuve who crushed the first pitch he saw for 377 feet. Yordan Alverez made his presence known as well, going deep not once but twice. His first one was in the bottom of the third for 379 feet which also scored Alex Bregman. His second came in the bottom of the seventh which sealed in the win for the Astros. Minnesota gave it a good try to keep it interesting as well. Down 4-0 in the seventh, Jorge Polanco and Royce Lewis tried their best to swing the odds back in their favor with homeruns but it wasn’t enough. Now the real question is, as stated above, we know that Yordan Alvarez eats lefty pitchers for dinner so why would the Twins make a the conscious choice to put one in knowing he was up? I’m not in that clubhouse and I don’t make those calls so I honestly couldn’t tell you. But hopefully it gives the Twins something to think about when it comes to strategy going into tomorrow’s game.

Game 2: Minnesota won’t go quietly into that good night. They grinded and pulled out a much needed win. Against Framber Valdez no less. He lasted only 4.1 innings giving up five runs off of seven hits which was enough of a hole that the Astros wouldn’t be able to get out of. In comparison, Valdez’s counterpart, Pablo Lopez went seven scoreless innings giving up six hits and striking out seven. Carlos Correa continued to add to his impressive RBI campaign- bringing in half of the six runs scored by the twins tonight. But Yordan Alvarez will not be silenced. He let loose on another ball going deep for 378ft. All in all, not the most exciting game ever played in the post season. Hopefully we get a little more spice back in the Twin City.

Game 3: Welp. I won’t jump to any conclusions but that was a rough one to watch and it feels like this series is slipping away from the Twins-although the argument could be made that they never had it from the start. Not only were they out scored 1-9, they were out hit 3-14. How do compete with that? Let’s start with Houston. While personally, I am not a fan of the organization due to past indiscretions (we hold grudges here at The BBS), there is no denying that they are a powerhouse when it comes to offense. When you start and end the game off with 3- run and 2-run jacks by Jose Abreu with a sprinkle of solo home runs by Alex Bregman and the crushing machine that is Yordan Alvarez, it’s extremely hard to fight against it. Incase you just missed it, all but two of the runs scored by the Astros in this game came off home runs. Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman both bolstered the lead with some RBI singles as well. Really, the only highlight of the Twins was their sixth inning single by Willi Castro that scored their lone run. It kind of feels like they are rolling over and just giving in to the Astros at this point. I didn’t see any fight or real want to try and compete. Due to the Twins victory the other night, we will get a game four tomorrow. But at this point, I think we can all say we know where this is going. Back to Texas for the Division Series after the Astros win tomorrow.

Game 4: Even down to their very last out, the Twins did not go down quietly. Contrary to last night’s analysis, the Astros should consider themselves lucky to have won this game as it was pure luck in my opinion. If a few balls had been hit a little harder or to a different area, we very well could have seen this series tied at 2-2 and heading back to Houston for a decisive game 5. Minnesota should be very proud of how they played tonight. Their six men infantry from the bullpen did their absolute best against a team that wins games with home runs (literally if we go off this game). Michael Brantley finally made his presence known and got in on the home run action in the top of the second. Jose Abreu then smacked a two-run ball to right-center field and that was all she wrote- or needed. Huston only needed to send four men to the mound to get the 27 outs required to move on. Jose Urqidy gave 5.2 pretty good innings. He struck out six and allowed only three hits and two runs. Nerris, Abreu and Pressly followed him up with an inning each. In total, the four of them struck out 14 batters and ultimately won them the game.

The Astros will move on to play the Texas Rangers in the Championship series.

Philadelphia Phillies (4) defeat the Atlanta Braves (1) in 4 Games:

Game 1: I can tell you right now, this series will not disappoint. This game had a lot to unpack but fear not, we will get into it all. From the shutout of the Braves at home for the first time in 2023 and a double play that has been replayed on repeat to the controversial (or not depending on your POV) catcher’s interference call that preceded a rather disappointing display of unsportsmanlike conduct from Braves fans. We will touch on it all. We will start with the Braves. I will say, I didn’t have them getting shut out at home in game 1 on my bingo card. It wasn’t a blow out or anything. A 0-3 loss with some sloppy playing handed them that. The only positive talking point was Spencer Strider was in top form though. He made it through seven innings with five hits, two runs and eight strike outs, there is a reason he’s in the Cy Young talks and it showed tonight. Unfortunately, his team didn’t exactly have his back. One run was scored on a very controversial catcher’s interference call which, if you were watching the broadcast, it was a very iffy call. But I will say, as a catcher, you know when you get it with a bat and Murphy’s reaction told me it was the right call. The Brave’s fans reaction to this call was incredibly disappointing. When the call was upheld, fans in the outfield began to throw beer cans and trash onto the field. As a diehard fan, it is truly disappointing and embarrassing that people would choose to make the choice to disrespect in this particular way. For the Phillies, their bullpen was lights out. Bryson and Bryce both came through- Stott with a double and Harper with a solo shot. For the most part, this game was pretty eh. But what makes it exciting is the rivalry and the pure competitiveness of these two teams.

Game 2: Oh man this is going to be a good series. The braves came back from a 4-0 deficit and took advantage of fielding and base running errors to even up the series at 1-1 as they head off to Philly. Being honest, when I watched this game, I thought that this was going to be a sweep by the city of brotherly love but the Braves never gave up which overshadowed a stunning performance by Zack Wheeler who pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs off of three hits. But the true performance came in the 10 strikeouts he racked up against arguably the best team in all of baseball. On any other night, one would have thought that a five run lead was enough insurance, but baseball is not one of those games. You could be down to your last out in the bottom of the 9th, trailing by five and with the right bats and some luck, you can still win the game. Compared to Zack, the Braves starter Max Fried didn’t fare as well, lasting only four innings. Giving up three runs off of six hits and only striking out three. Now, as stated before, we will not put a team loss on one person, but two fielding errors and poor base running by the Phillies was their downfall. I will however, acknowledge the incredible talent that is Michael Harris II who turned a double play from center field to get Bryce Harper out at first after Nick Castellanos lined out to him. This is a fun series. I look forward to seeing just how much more fun it will be in Philly, in front of their fans.

Game 3: 6, let me say that again, 6 homeruns as the Phillies routed the Braves 10-2. Both Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos went deep twice. Bolstered by some solo shots by Trea Turner and Brandon Marsh. rumor has it that a certain member of the Braves outfit made some comments about a certain Phillies slugger and if you thought it hadn’t got back to him, the stare down that happened every time he rounded 2nd base after sending a nuke to the seats in right center should dispel you of that thought immediately. Now I do subscribe to the notion that what happens in a clubhouse, stays in the clubhouse, but if you are going to be bold enough to make comments in the presence of tv cameras and reporters, then there is a solid chance that what you say is going to get reported on. But we are not here to speculate on what was or was not said. We are here to analyze. Atlanta just fell apart. Two runs? For the team with the highest number of win of any major league team in the 2023 season to just implode, giving up 10 runs off of 11 hits is very similar to the other National League series happening between the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers. Aaron Nola was looking good for his 5.2 innings. He gave up two runs off of six hits but struck out a very tough nine. He was proceeded by Strahm, Dominguez, Kerkering and Lorenzen who were all lights out. The Braves outfit was far less fortunate. Tonkin and Hernandez were the only pitchers to come out relatively unscathed while Elder, Hand and Smith-Shawver gave up those 10 runs between the three of them. It was really interesting to watch the dynamic between these two teams tonight. There was definitely tension and the feeling that someone had something to prove. Tomorrow is a do or die for the Braves. Can the Phillies pull off the upset or are the Braves going to send this series to game 5?

Game 4: There will be no Number 1 seed for the remainder of the 2023 postseason. The Phillies made sure of that. And what a way to do it in Philly, in front of a home crowd that loves it’s sports more than any other city i’ve seen. Nick Castellanos cannot be stopped- dropping another 2 bombs into the outfield seats and Ranger Suarez commanded the mound. When you look at the box score for this game, you would think that the Phillies were the ones who lost with use of six different pitchers to Atlanta’s four. Spencer Strider did his best but Philly was ready fro him and was most likely the toughest environment he’s ever had to pitch in. Can you imagine the pressure of being the starting pitcher in a win or go home game in Philadelphia? A city that isn’t afraid to be assholes to teams and players they don’t like? I have to give him props for having that mental toughness. Nevertheless, the three runs he gave up on seven hits were just enough for Philly to squeak out the win. I do want to say that one of my favorite interactions to watch is players and their families. No one does that better than Nick and Liam Castellanos. That relationship you can tell is something special and the way the fans embrace him is just so wholesome.

With yet another upset in the books for this series, Philadelphia will take on Arizona for the Championship series.

Arizona Diamondbacks (6) Sweep the Los Angeles Dodgers (2) in 3 games:

Game 1: Oh. My. God. This game was every Rockies fan’s wet dream. As a die hard Rockies fan who, just on principle cannot and will not ever root for the Dodgers (and probably shouldn’t be for the Diamondbacks either, they’ve been less of a problem than LA), I can and will commiserate with their fanbase as I know the pain of watching what a complete implosion from the start looks like. Clayton Kershaw, who is arguably one of the greatest pitchers of all time (there is no denying that) experienced one of the worst starts in postseason history. Kershaw allowed 5 runs off of 5 hits before he even recorded an out, eventually leaving the game before the 1st inning was over and had racked up 6 earned runs and an ERA (earned run average) north of 150.00. But it didn’t stop there. No matter who the Dodgers brought in from the bullpen, the Diamondbacks had their number. They crossed the plate nine times before the third inning came around. It seems like every time October comes around, the Dodgers forget how to play baseball. Besides the point, Merrill Kelly was lights out. 6.1 scoreless innings with only three hits and five strike outs. The Dodgers couldn’t touch him. They didn’t get any runs on the board until the eighth inning which is when they scored the only two runs they could the entire game. I really think that the Diamondbacks deserve all the good press and articles for this one. They were so incredibly impressive in a way that I don’t think anyone saw coming. If this is the way Arizona plans to play this series, it is going to be one for the history books.

Game 2: Holy shit. Arizona may just do it this year. They route the Dodgers again 4-2, looking more like they should be top of the food chain in the NL West than the current, longtime reigning champs. I think that the Dodgers use of the bullpen strategy is an interesting one to utilize in the playoffs. Their starter only made it 1.2 innings giving up three runs off of 4 hits and proceeded to go through another four pitchers after that- no one out in more than 2.1 innings. Versus the Dbacks who put up the same number of pitchers, their starter, Zac Gallen who went five innings giving up only two runs off of five hits. The Dodgers seem to be really flummoxed by a Diamondbacks team that they’ve seen often and have had quite a bit of success against with Zac Gallen leading the charge. He threw 5.1 innings that produced the only two runs LA scored tonight while allowing five hits and striking out four. The sixth inning saw an interesting strategy in both teams though. After getting Will Smith to ground out, Gallen gave up two singles to Max Muncy and J.D. Martinez. At this point, Arizona made the decision to bring in Andrew Saalfrank and LA took the pitching change opportunity to swap out the lefties Jayson Heyward and David Peralta for some righties off the bench in Chris Taylor and Kike Hernandez which paid off. Chris Taylor walked which loaded the bases and Kike Hernandez singled in the second run of the night for LA. Saalfrank would go on to strike out James Outman and be the only DBacks pitcher tonight to go less than one inning. This wasn’t the most exciting part of the game but I felt that it was worth noting. Ultimately, it wouldn’t be enough though. LA has to stop the bleeding as the next game they play, in Arizona is a due or die. Win or go home. Can they pull one out and keep their dream of winning an actual World Series alive?

Game 3: DOWN. GO. THE. DODGERS. In a plot twist that not even the greatest writers could have written, the Arizona Diamondbacks SWEPT the Los Angeles Dodgers, punching their ticket to the Division Series which will be played against the winner of the Phillies/Braves battle. This game had it all. It was thrilling. It was agonizing. It was close. It was a fight to the end. The struggles for the Dodgers starters continued this game with Lance Lynn, who had been asked to empty the tank and give them three innings made history by giving up four solo home runs (which were the only runs scored by Arizona all game) in the 3rd inning to Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte, Christian Walker and Gabriel Moreno. They would eventually try and battle back by scoring two of their own runs but the was already dug and it was too deep for the Dodgers to get out of. I’ve honestly, in my decade or so of being an avid baseball fan, never seen a team be so dominant in the regular season but unable to translate it to the postseason. I would love to do some sort of research study on that. Alas, Arizona is officially the Cinderella story of this offseason and it is truly exciting to watch them play this kind of baseball. They have a win or go home mentality every game and leave it all on the field when it’s done. The Diamondbacks, in probably the most shocking upset of this postseason will play the winner of the Phillies v. Braves series in the Championship series which, no matter who wins, will be an electric series to watch.

Fun fact: If you are a Rockies fan and have been one for some time, you may know that the last time the Arizona Diamondbacks played in the National League Championship Series was all the way back in 2007. And like I said, if you’re a Rockies fan, you know exactly how that happened and it wasn’t Arizona who ended up in the World Series that year.

Next up is the Championship Series which will see both Texas teams battle is out for the American League and Arizona will face Philadelphia for the National League title. These series will be best of 7 meaning the team moving on to the World Series will have to win 4 of the 7 games. Make sure to come back for the in depth analysis of the Championship Series and to find out my predictions for the World Series as well.

#MLBPlayoffs #ArizonaDiamondbacks #LosAngelesDodgers #TexasRangers #BaltimoreOrioles #PhiladelphiaPhillies #AtlantaBraves #HoustonAstros #MinnesotaTwins #MajorLeagueBaseball #Baseball #NationalLeague #AmericanLeague #DivisionSeries #NLDS #ALDS

2023 MLB Playoffs: Wildcard Week

Well, Wildcard Week went just as quick as it came. All four series were done after just two games and even though they were quick, they did not disappoint. We are going to start off with the upsets:

Arizona Diamondbacks (6) beat the Milwaukee Brewers (3) in 2 games:

Arizona will be the Cinderella story of this years playoffs. And with the way they played these two games, they deserve it. Unfortunately, Milwaukee’s struggles to perform in the postseason continued.

Game 1 saw Arizona put their power bats on display., coming out on top in a 6 to 3 win despite being out hit 9 to Milwaukee’s 12. Milwaukee started out strong with getting 3 runs in the first two innings from a Carlos Santana single and Tyrone Taylor 2-run homerun. But Arizona would not take it lying down. They answered back in the top of the third and tied the game from just two swings of the bat with back to back homeruns from Corbin carroll (2-run homerun) and Ketel Marte (single run homnerun). After the first two innings, the Arizona bullpen was lights out. Yes they gave up hits here and there but gave up no runs. The Brewers bullpen was not as fortunate. after the third inning, they gave up another three runs: a single run home run to Gabriel Moreno in the 4th inning and an RBI (runs batted in) double from Christian Walker that scored two in the top of the 9th. The downfall of the Brewers in this game was their inability to capitalize on the four opportunities they had with multiple runners in scoring position.

Game 2 was practically a repeat of game 1. The Diamondbacks were out hit by the Brewers 6 to 9 but they were more efficient with the hits they did get and pulled out a series win with a score of 5 to 2. The Brew Crew started strong out of the gate just like in game 1 by scoring their only two runs of the game in the 1st inning off a Sal Frelick sacrifice fly and a Willy Adames single. Unfortunately, after that they were again unable to capitalize on multiple opportunities to score additional runs with runners in scoring position. For the front half of the game, it looked like the Brewers were going to take this game and force a rubber match in game 3. The Diamondbacks however had other ideas. Their rally started in the top of the 5th inning with an Alek Thomas homerun. Followed by a Ketel Marte 2-run single, a wild pitch allowing Tommy Pham to score and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 1-run single in the top of the 6th. They were aggressive on the bases and turned what would have been singles in an ordinary games into extra bases-giving themselves more opportunities to get runs.

Overall, the Diamondbacks were able to create and capitalize on opportunities that the Brewers, simply put, did not do. While they out hit Arizona, they were unable to convert those hits into the runs they so desperately needed to move on. Arizona on the other hand, the team that everyone has questioned whether or not they were even going to make the postseason proved that they are in it to win it. The Diamondbacks move on to the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday October 7th, who have, in all honesty, caused them nothing but grief.

Texas Rangers (5) beat the Tampa Bay Rays (4) in 2 games:

I will say that the one thing this blog will never do is single out a player in a team sport and put all of the blame for a poor performance on them. It is simply not fair when the team is a unit. You win as a team and lose as a team. That is it.

Game 1 was simply a dumpster fire in the middle of the desert for the Rays. If you expect that a team can commit four errors and come away with a win, the offense better be crushing the ball well into the outfield seats or you better be praying that the other team cannot take advantage of those errors and score some runs. The Rays were unlucky on both sides of that coin. The outcome of this game could have been foreshadowed from the 1st inning when on the second batter, 1st baseman Yandy Diaz committed a fielding error allowing Corey Seager to reach safely. In the 2nd inning, Catcher Rene Pinto attempted to throw a base stealing Leody Taveras out at 2nd base but over threw the short stop allowing Traveras to get to third base. The next error was committed in the 3rd inning with a errant throw made by shortstop Taylor Walls. Now, neither of these errors gave up any runs. But that was not the case for all of them. In the 6th inning, Rays Center Fielder Jose Siri ran up on a fly ball and in an attempt to throw out Ranger’s baserunner Marcus Semien at third, made a bad throw that ended up in the Ranger’s dugout. Because the ball was deemed ‘dead’ at this point, Marcus Semien was awarded home plate and a run that should have been prevented did. All of these errors were not only capitalized on by the 5th seed Rangers, but overshadowed their own shut out performance. Allowing no runs on 6 hits. All in all, this game was an organizational break down by the Rays which put them down in the series with a 0-5 loss.

Watching Game 2 felt like watching a team that had something to prove. Almost as if they spent the final two games of the regular season fighting for a spot in the postseason and loosing out on a division title by one game. That is what happened to the Rangers. The team who spent 159 days atop the AL West only to loose it to the Houston Astros via a tiebreaker. So instead of getting an automatic bye week and a secured spot in the postseason, they ended up by the skin of their teeth with a wild card spot. And the team that I saw this week came out firing on all cylinders. For the Rangers, they did not have the errors from the Rays to capitalize on in game 2. But they didn’t need them. Their bats and bullpen carried the team. Adolis Garcia broke it open in the 4th inning with a laser of a homerun (416 ft and an exit velocity of 180 mph) over the left field fence. Quickly followed by an RBI triple by Josh Jung and a 2-run homerun by Evan Carter. Texas didn’t stop there. They scored an additional three runs over the next two innings. When all was said and done, the Rays were unable to recover from the barrage of runs that the Rangers delivered and ended up loosing the series.

The Rangers will be moving on to face the absolute powerhouse coming out of the North East- The Baltimore Orioles. This is shaping up to be one of the better match ups in the American League Championship Series. The Orioles are the only team in the AL to win over 100 games in 2023 regular season but if you know baseball, you know that the regular season record means nothing in the postseason. If the Rangers bring the same energy to Maine that they did to Tampa, they will give the number 1 seed a serious run. They are one to watch out for.

Minnesota Twins (3) beat the Toronto Blue Jays (6) in 2 games:

Honest opinion, this was probably the least exciting series in Wildcard Week. Interestingly enough, the Blue Birds had the better regular season record. The only reason they were seeded 6th was because of the division they play in. Minnesota came into this series with a bit of a chip on their shoulder with 18 consecutive postseason losses. Game 1 saw a very subdued outing from both teams. Royce Lewis was the MVP of this game for Minnesota by batting in all of the team’s 3 runs off of 2 home runs (2-run homerun in the 1st and a 1 run homer in the 3rd). The Blue Jays were only able to answer with one run in the top of the 6th off a single by Kevin Keirmairer. This game was more a pitchers duel which, do not get me wrong can be incredibly fun but at this point in the postseason, i’d rather see a war of the bats than a duel of the arms.

Game 2 was no more exciting than game 1. Minnesota took it with a score of 2-0 even though they were out hit by the Blue Jays 7-9. The runs came in the bottom of the 4th inning from a Carlos Correa single and an RBI groundout by Willi Castro. With 9 hits, the Jays had multiple opportunities to score with runners in scoring position and they just couldn’t do it. This series is a perfect example of how the regular season doesn’t always translate over into the postseason.

The Twins will move on to face the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series. The Astros are the 2 seed in AL this postseason so they will have an uphill battle to fight. The Astros bring the muscle with their bats and with re-aquiring Justin Verlander at the trade deadline in July, they have the arms in the bullpen as well.

Philadelphia Phillies (4) beat the Miami Marlins (5) in 2 games:

I have to preface this series analysis by saying that this were the most exciting Wildcard games to watch. Philly, you are built different and the way you go to bat for your teams is next level. I’m so excited for all future playoff games in Philly just for the atmosphere.

Game 1 I think set the tone for how the Phillies are going to approach these playoff games. This is a team that not only has the boom with the bats but the speed on the base paths as well. But their star this game was starting pitcher Zach Wheeler who allowed only 1 run off 5 hits in 6 2/3 innings. His performance was backed up by his teammates at the plate who brought in 4 runs off 11 hits. On the other side of the coin, the Marlins were lack luster in their performance. They were only able to score 1 run off 7 hits and the most noteworthy thing that happened was the striking out of Kyle Schwarber with runners on base. Game 2 will be a must win for Miami and they, like all the other teams heading into game 2 down in the series need to capitalize on having runners in scoring position.

Game 2 saw the Phillies keep that same energy they had in the last half of the regular season going in the postseason. When I tell you that this team is so much fun to watch, I cannot exaggerate. Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, Bryson Stott and everyone else on that active roster want to be back in the World Series so bad you can see it in the way they play. Aaron Nola came out wheeling and dealing. Pitching 7 scoreless innings allowing only 3 hits. And while this performance is nothing to scoff at, the bats were the real stars of this game. Notably, Bryson Stott’s Grand Slam in the bottom of the 6th. The last player to launch one of those was none other than Stott’s current teammate Kyle Schwarber during the 2021 ALCS when he played for the Boston Red Sox. When all was said and done, Phillies won the game 7-1 and will move on to the NLCS where they face their division rivals and 1 seeded Atlanta Braves. Do not count this team out. They want the title just as bad if not worse than they did last year.

The League Championship Series start on Saturday October 7th.

#MLBPlayoffs #ArizonaDiamondbacks #MiamiMarlins #TexasRangers #TampaBayRays #PhiladelphiaPhillies #MilwaukeeBrewers #TorontoBlueJays #MinnesotaTwins #Baseball #WildCardWeek #NationalLeague #AmericanLeague #ChampionshipSeries #NLDS

2023 Playoff Baseball: Format and Rules

Everything between the end of February to the end of September has led up to this moment. 30 teams started on this journey. Seven months and 162 games later, the field has been reduced to the top 12. Let’s break the seeding positions for the postseason down real quick:

Representing the American League:

1. Baltimore Orioles 101-61

2. Texas Rangers 90-72

3. Minnesota Twins 87-75

4. Tampa Bay Rays 99-63

5. Toronto Blue Jays 89-73

6. Houston Astros 90-72

Representing the National League:

1. Atlanta Braves 104-58

2. Los Angeles Dodgers 100-62

3. Milwaukee Brewers 92-70

4. Philadelphia Phillies 90-72

5. Miami Marlins 84-77

6. Arizona Diamondbacks 84-78

The format of postseason baseball has had a few significant changes namely stemming from the 2020 COVID season. The biggest change to come out of the pandemic season is the expanded playoff field and the elimination of winner take all wild card games. This season, there will be four wild card series played between the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th seeded teams in each division. These series will be best of three games with home field advantage given to the higher seeded team: Arizona (6) at Milwaukee (3); Miami (5) at Philadelphia (4). Houston (6) at Minnesota (3) and Toronto (5) at Tampa (4). It is important to mention that at no time throughout the post season are the teams reseeded no matter who wins.

As stated above, the wild card series kick off postseason baseball this year on Tuesday October 3rd and can go through Thursday October 6th- should a series need to go to the third game. Once the wild card series have been completed, the winning teams move on to face the number 1 and 2 seeds in the Division series. These series are formatted a little differently because they are a five game series instead of three. The game formatting looks like 2-2-1 meaning the first two games and the last game (if necessary) are played at the higher seeded team’s filed and the middle two games are played at the lower seeded team’s field.This series can last anywhere from four days in total to an entire week depending on how quickly they get through the best of five games.

Once the Division Series is completed and the winners established, the League Championship Series (LCS) is next. This series, with the exception of the World Series is arguably the most important post season series to be played as it will determine which two teams will represent their respective leagues in their entirety in the World Series. Again, the League Championship Series is formatted differently to the Division Series. Instead of a best of five series, the LCS and World Series are best of seven series. This looks like 2-3-2 with the higher seeded team having home field advantage. The only difference between the LCS and the World Series is that the seeding used to determine home field advantage in the earlier series means nothing in this series.

Something incredibly cool and unique to Major League Baseball is that home field advantage in the World Series- which is played at the end of October- is determined back in the beginning of July during a little intermission known as the All-Star break. The winner of the All-Star game (played between the National and American Leagues) gets home field advantage for the team representing them in the World Series. For 2023 specifically, the National League won the All-Star game thanks to an absolute bomb sent over the fence in centerfield by none other than our own Elias Diaz of the Colorado Rockies (I will plug the team any opportunity I can because we get such few chances these days). Because of this, whoever from the National League grinds it out and makes it to the World Series will have a minimum of three and a maximum of four of the overall seven games played at their home stadium. The World Series is the top. The winner of the World Series will be the World Champion of baseball and crowned the best team in baseball for the 2023 season.

Once the World series concludes, the professional baseball season is over for the year and we enter the offseason. Which is a topic to be discussed at a later date. But another part of postseason baseball are the rule changes that are implemented. For the 2023 season, we will see the following rule changes being adapted from the regular season:

• Pitch Clock: Pitchers have 15 seconds to start their wind up when the bases are empty and 20 seconds when there are runners on base. If the wind up is not started by the time the pitch clock hits 0, the pitcher incurs a ‘pitch clock violation’ and a ball is automatically awarded to the batter. However, the batter must be in the batters box and ready to hit no later than 8 seconds remaining on the pitch clock. If they are not ready, they can incur a violation as well and the pitcher is automatically awarded a strike.

• Extreme Shift Ban: All infielders will be limited in where they are allowed to move on the field depending on the batter. Infielders are not allowed to start with more than one foot in the outfield grass. Additionally, there can be no more than two players on either side of second base at any given time.

• No ‘Ghost’ Runners: During the regular season, anytime a game goes into extra innings, the team up to bat starts with a ‘ghost runner’ on second base. On a personal note, I think ghost running is a cop out for shortening a game that is obviously good if it goes into extras. Anyways, the ghost runner is the person who was out last in the prior inning. In the postseason, there is no ghost runner when a game goes into extra innings. Any and all extra innings are played like the first 9 are.

For additional/more in depth information about the postseason seeding, rules, format, and television schedule, I am going to direct you to the following links:

mlb.com/news/mlb-playoff-picture-and-bracket-2023

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-playoff-format-faq

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/2023-mlb-playoffs-schedule-dates-tv-channels-matchups-with-postseason-field-set-game-times-tba/

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/2023-mlb-playoffs-baseballs-new-rules-including-pitch-clock-set-for-postseason-debut/

#MLB #Baseball #Postseason #WildCard #NLCS #ALCS #NLDS #ALDS #WorldSeries

Season to Forget: The 2023 Rockies

The Colorado Rockies are nothing short of an enigmatic mix of raw, young, exciting new talent and veteran presence that commands attention. Yet, they unlocked a new level of disappointment with the first 100+ loss season in 31 years. Something needs to give.

As a die hard Colorado Rockies fan, I can say that come spring, every year, when i’m asked who is going to win the World Series, I will always say the Colorado Rockies. Knowing full well that I most likely have a better chance of winning the lottery than seeing that dream come true with the state the team currently finds itself in. Now I will be honest about the fact that I do not know much about the business side of baseball, but I see and hear about the short comings at all levels of the organization on a regular basis. From a front office that is fine setting a new franchise record of 100+ losses and an owner who not only takes no accountability but actively looks to blame others for the missing the mark season after season.

Let’s look at the facts, since the Rockies last winning season which included a post season run in 2018, it has been a steady and consistent decline in the product being produced. With one of the greatest farm systems in baseball that have turned out the likes of Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitzki, Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon, the Rockies have the tools and resources to put a team together that would make teams like the Dodgers and the Braves take a second look at their playing strategy. I personally would like to see the front office and Dick Monfort loosen the purse strings- for someone worth while and not a wast of $120Mil- and go after the Shohei Ohtani’s, Spencer Striders and Blake Snells. Not to mention that while Denver and Coors Field are known as a “hitter’s ballpark” because of it’s altitude- we’ll get into the science of baseball later- that is the exact same personality trait that makes it a very unique selling point to any present and future Cy Young winner. Who doesn’t want to say that they were the pitcher who came in and won that Cy Young and even, dare I say, a championship with Coors Field as a home field?

When it comes to the world of professional sports, if you tell someone you are a Rockies fan, if they know, they laugh and apologize. If they themselves are a Rockies fan, congratulations, you’ve found someone who is a member of a sad and disappointed club of truly some of the best fans in the world. As fans, a growing and large portion of our disappointment comes from the complacency of the front office to continue being ok with a mediocre performance again and again with no end in sight. When we have division rivals such as the Dodgers, Giants and Diamond Backs, who are willing to make the trades (not just trades that send their best players and large amounts of cash) and spend the money on once in generation players, why aren’t we? Where is the money from those sold out games, the extension of alcohol sales and Mcgregor Square going? As fans, and primary investors in the team, are we not owed the curtesy of being told what steps are being taken to improve the product? Boycotting games is not only the wrong way to go about it, it punishes the players who have no part in this fight other than to provide incredible entertainment at a high level for eight months of the year. Instead, continue to keep the conversation going of selling the team to someone who has the team’s best interests at heart. Say a certain California-based billionaire who owns multiple professional sports teams in and around the Denver area who just so happens to be missing a professional baseball team in his, rather impressive portfolio.

When I look back on the rather disappointing season that 2023 has been for our home town Davids, I can’t help but hold out hope for what the 2024 season will bring. With rookies like Nolan Jones, Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar (to name a few), and the presence of veterans like Charlie Blackmon, Ryan Mcmahon and Brendon Rodgers, we have a solid field presence. Not to mention if we were to anchor our starting rotation with 2018 Kyle Freeland, 2019 German Marquez, a healthy Antonio Senzatela and a bolstered bullpen that can hold a lead, we will be a force to be reckoned with.

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