At the beginning of October, the Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season wrapped up and moved on to postseason games. The MLB postseason is a high stakes series of playoff games spanning the month of October to determine which teams will compete in the World Series. This October so far has been a postseason of ups and downs with unexpected teams taking the top spots. If you haven’t been paying attention, fear not. This is a comprehensive and rather simple guide to the postseason, so you can jump right on the bandwagon when the World Series rolls around at the end of the month.
The Tampa Bay Rays were defeated by the Texas Rangers in the American league wildcard series which ended on October 4, and the Rangers moved on to beat the Baltimore Orioles in the best-of-five division series ending on October 10. The Minnesota Twins won their wildcard series against the Toronto Blue Jays, but fell to the Houston Astros, the reigning World Series champs, in the ALDS.
The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 1-0 on October 3rd, going on to face the Atlanta Braves in the division series on Saturday, October 7, with the Phillies prevailing. The Milwaukee Brewers fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks, who surprisingly swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in three games in the NLDS.
The coming weeks will comprise the League Championship series, which will determine who goes on to the World Series. Uniquely, two teams from Texas will be playing each other in the American League Championship Series, marking the first ever postseason matchup between the rival Texas teams in a Championship Series. The Houston Astros took on the Texas Rangers in Game one of the American League Championship series on Sunday, October 15, leaving Texas fans ready for a wild game on the Astros’ home turf at Minute Maid Park. The Rangers won 2-0.
The Astros have clinched a spot in the American League championship game every year since 2016. They are the only remaining one- or two-seed team left after the division series. This year’s success is attributable to a combination of their elite pitchers like Christian Javier and Justin Verlander, and hitters like Yordan Alvarez and José Abreu. Abreu was able to turn around his “worst season ever” in October to produce an OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) of over 1.000 in four games so far this postseason, with a .311 postseason batting average and four homeruns in the last five games.
The Rangers have struggled with their pitching all postseason, suffering the second worst ERA this October, and the season-ending injury of Jacob DeGrom was no help. However, the addition of future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer (3.77 ERA) in July to their pitching rotation will help them in the postseason – that is, if his body can hold out. Despite him being sidelined since early September for a minor muscle strain, he is, in his own words, “ready to go” for the games.
The National League Championship game one will take place on Monday, October 16 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Phillies vs. Diamondbacks is a matchup nobody was expecting due to the Diamondback’s weak pitching and mediocre win percentage. The Diamondbacks lost their last four regular season games, and had been trailing the Dodgers with a .519 win percentage. However, they managed to secure a spot in the NLCS likely due in part to Branden Pfaat pitching four and one third scoreless innings and some exciting runs. Other than that, Pfaat’s record this season has left something to be desired. The credit also goes to pitchers Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, who were vital in securing their the D-Backs’ spot in the postseason, and will prove important in the upcoming matches. Other than that, the team’s pitching staff is a weak point for them.
Compared to other teams in the league, the Diamondbacks are also incredibly young and athletic, using speed to their advantage. Corbin Carroll, one of the postseason’s best hitters, stole 54 bases in 59 attempts, while outfielder Jake McCarthy got 26 in the Dodgers’ series. This team, who has typically stuck to the middle-lower NL West rankings, is “very hungry” and feels “like they have a lot to prove,” according to Arizona Manager Torey Lovullo.
The Phillies’ star player, Bryce Harper, has “thrived” in the postseason for the past few years. His batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage for the 2023 postseason are .368/.538/.842, respectively, and he is only going up. Trea Turner, traded from LA last year, has also proved to be an exceptional hitter, batting .500 in the 26 postseason games he’s played so far, boasting two homers and four steals. Nick Castellanos also made headlines last week as the first player in MLB history with back-to-back multi-home run games in a postseason. The Phillies also hold power in their pitchers, Zach Wheeler, Ranger Suarez and Aaron Nola. Any of these three going up against Pfaat would have a major advantage. The Phillies will take on the D-Backs on October 16 at 8:10pm.
As the postseason steadily chugs along and more information is laid out, it will be interesting to see which of these underdogs - not including the reigning champs, of course - will make it all the way and take home the coveted Commissioner's Trophy.
Special thank you to Sam Fresco for helping with this article.