We’ve got a great World Series matchup on our hands! Both the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies have brushed past their, respective, league championship opponents to earn the right to face off against one another for the 2022 World Series.
Whew, that championship round went by really fast. I thought that the Yankees and the Padres would have given their, respective, opponents a little more of a fight, but I guess the Astros and Phillies were just too strong. The Phillies, powered by the bat of Bryce Harper and the arms of Zack Wheeler and Noah Syndergaard, trounced through the Padres in five games, beating San Diego by a combined score of 21-18 (with 8 of those Padres runs coming in Game 1).
This Phillies run has to be the ‘Cinderella Tale’ of this postseason as the Phillies not only finished the year with the second worst record amongst all playoff teams (87-75), but they have also knocked off two division winners (Braves, Cardinals) and the high-powered Padres to reach their first World Series appearance since 2009.
Plus, the story of Bryce Harper finally reaching a World Series after years of individual success with both the Phillies and his former team, the Washington Nationals, is a heartwarming tale that pulls on the heart strings of even the most ardent Padres, Braves, and Cardinals fans. It’s nice to see great players finally have the chance to compete for the pinnacle of baseball.
As for the Astros, this team has been a machine all playoffs long. Coming into this postseason not only with the second-best record in all of baseball (101-56), but also having reached the ALCS in each of the past six season and having lost the last World Series, is a testament to their longevity and domination of the MLB.
Simply put, the Astros were destined to destroy the AL…which they did and then some.
First sweeping aside the Seattle Mariners 3-0 in the ALDS, and then crushing the Yankees and new single-season AL HR record holder Aaron Judge 4-0 in the ALCS, the Astros have taken zero prisoners in their revenge tour back to the World Series. I mean, the Astros pitching core of Justin Verlander, Ryan Pressly, Lance McCullers Jr., Hector Neris, Christian Javier, etc. kept a guy who had 62 home runs to 1 hit.
Yes, I said 1 hit. The guy didn’t even have a home run in four games, despite BREAKING A HOME RUN RECORD only a month ago. Now, this postseason has convinced me that Aaron Judge is a choker in the big moments, but that’s still impressive.
And do I even need to mention the Astros unbelievable batting lineup of Jose Altuve, Jeremy Pena, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, and Yuli Gurriel? They scored 18 runs in 4 games on pitchers like Gerrit Cole, Aroldis Chapman, and Luis Servino. That’s crazy.
Despite how this series will playout, with either the Astros or Phillies winning, I’m just glad we are going to have a great showdown between a ‘Juggernaut’ and a ‘Cinderella Story’. These are always the best kinds of World Series matchups.
