https://theathletic.com/3730471/2022/10/26/phillies-astros-world-series-picks/ TEAM | PERCENT OF VOTE Astros 75.9% Phillies 24.1% Stephen Nesbitt (Pick: Astros): I want to believe the Phillies bats can counteract the Astros rotation and turn this into a thrilling series. But I’m not there. Houston is too good and too consistent, top to bottom. Jon Greenberg (Phillies): I’d love to see Dusty Baker win a World Series, but I just can’t deny the electric vibes of the Philadelphia Phillies. Kaitlyn McGrath (Astros): Twice in the last three World Series, the Astros were beaten by underdog NL East teams. First it was the Nationals in 2019, then it was last year’s Braves. The pattern suggests the Phillies have the advantage. But I think this time, the Astros’ pitching advantage will be enough to beat this NL East foe. Corey Brock (Astros): Well, I made fun of Chas McCormick in the last round and he hit two home runs against the Yankees. Serves me right, I guess. But seriously, for as much mojo as the Phillies have, I can’t get past all the pitching the Astros have. And they have yet to lose in the postseason. Cody Stavenhagen (Astros): The Astros fired their GM and manager in the wake of a cheating scandal three years ago. Now their current GM and manager are on expiring contracts. They let a star shortstop walk and replaced him with a rookie who is shining as brightly as anyone this postseason. The team on the field has remained a juggernaut, making easy work of the Yankees and playing with surgical precision. Astros in five. Nick Groke (Astros): Phillies can slug. And they proved how valuable the homer can be in this postseason, bashing their way to the World Series. But no team in the majors suppresses home runs better than the Astros. They allowed fewer than one home run per game this season (0.83 HR/9). In the playoffs, they’re even better, giving up just five dingers in seven games and 72 innings (0.63 HR/9). The Astros negate the one great thing the Phillies can do. They’re also just really good. Andrew Baggarly (Astros): Why am I still doing these? I’ve been wrong on almost every series. Well, except the Astros, so I’ll stick with them. If any team attribute can cut through the randomness of October baseball, it’s a pitching staff that is elite at home run suppression. Guess what? Nobody in the AL suppressed homers better than the Astros. Houston gave up 134 homers. Only the Giants, who play in a bigger and colder ballpark, gave up fewer (132). The Phillies bashed 10 homers in five games to advance past the Padres in the NLCS. But they’re about to see a whole lot of power sinkers. If the Astros pitchers neutralize the sluggin’ Phillies the way they neutralized Aaron Judge in the ALCS (1 for 16, no extra-base hits), this World Series could be over quickly. Tim Britton (Phillies): My postseason has gone so poorly you’d think I’d won 100 games in the NL East this season. I have predicted 10 series, and I have only gotten two of them correct. I thought the Rays would be the lone road team to win the Wild Card Series. I then thought the Guardians could knock out the Yankees. I didn’t give the Padres or Phillies a chance in the NLDS. The one thing I have gotten right? The Astros. The only two series I’ve picked correctly are because I picked Houston. So of course, there’s only one thing left to do: Phillies in six. Dan Connolly (Astros): I have a lot of friends from college who are begging me to pick against the Phillies as I have the past three rounds. They think my Costanza-opposite thing is real. Probably not, but I am 2-8 in this tournament. And the Astros were the only team I got right. So I’m taking them again. James Fegan (Astros): The Phillies have a shortlist candidate for the best hitter in the world on a career-defining heater, which is the sort of X-factor that might reduce the effect of the Astros’ superior pitching depth. The Astros flattening the Yankees into a fine paste had a note of dull efficiency to it, so hopefully there is some drama. But I’m anticipating more paste. Eno Sarris (Astros): The Astros do everything well. What’s their weakness? I don’t see one. Sam Blum (Astros): I think it’s possible for a team to win one or two games against the Astros in a seven-game series. But there are just not enough weaknesses to justifiably pick a team to beat them four times in seven games. No matter how fun a run that other team might be on. Jim Bowden (Astros): Astros in 5. Jayson Stark (Astros): My friends from Philadelphia are really enjoying reminding me that I’ve picked against the Phillies in every round. So I’m here to make them happy again. Maybe I’ve just seen so much of the Astros at their best. But the Astros are a team with zero areas of vulnerability. And most importantly, their pitchers keep the other team in the park better than any team in baseball. I see a fun World Series. But it’s no insult to the Phillies to say I don’t see another parade down Broad Street. Rob Biertempfel (Astros): Both teams have exciting offenses, but I was struck by something one MLB coach told me: The Phillies are fueled by momentum, but the Astros are fueled by just being flat-out good. Houston also has the edge in starting pitching and bullpen. Jen McCaffrey (Phillies): The Phillies have made it this far and even though Houston is dominant, the Phillies have proven capable of knocking off very good teams. C. Trent Rosecrans (Astros): The Astros quietly won 106 games; how you quietly win 106 games in the regular season, I don’t know. But they’re that good. While the Phillies seem to be built for postseason baseball of this era, the Astros not only do the same things, but had enough depth to win 106 games. Steve Berman (Astros): Other than saying the Padres would beat the Mets and Dodgers, all of my predictions have gone sideways … except picking the Astros, whom I took to win the World Series when we started doing these. The Phillies seem like they’re in the midst of something magical, so there’s more than a little hesitation here. But like I said a few weeks ago, the Astros have been the most complete, weakness-free team all season (sorry, Dodgers). So it feels like Dustiny (to borrow a phrase from Baker’s 1997 Giants days) for him to finally get his first ring as a manager. World Series MVP PLAYER | PERCENT OF VOTE Yordan Alvarez 32% Alex Bregman 28% Bryce Harper 24% Justin Verlander 8% Kyle Schwarber 4% Framber Valdez 4% Greenberg (Pick: Kyle Schwarber): He went 7-for-17 in the 2016 World Series while DHing in Cleveland after being shelved for most of the season. He’ll have fewer hits and more homers this time around. Connolly (Alex Bregman): When he gets hot, he’s impressive. And he has been scorching the ball. Fegan (Yordan Alvarez): He’s also a shortlist candidate for best hitter in the sport. Bowden (Alvarez): My favorite way to describe Alvarez is to simply tell people the hitters he reminds me of, from Willie McCovey to Willie Stargell to Carlos Delgado to David Ortiz to Dave Parker. He has a bit of all of them in him. A special hitter with special power, and I predict he’ll be this year’s World Series MVP. Rosecrans (Alvarez): I’m not sure some of us have given him enough credit for how good of a hitter he is until this postseason when it’s on display. Call it East Coast bias, whatever. Dude is legit. Berman (Alvarez): He was oddly quiet in the ALCS. Don’t expect that to last.
If he leads this team to another championship, I think it's a wrap as to which team they would pick for Cooperstown. Detroit 1 Cy Young 1 MVP ROY 2 No Hitters Houston 2 Rings 2 Cy Youngs 1 ALCS MVP 1 No Hitter And quality of pitching, no comparison: Detroit 3.48 ERA 1. 19 WHIP 8.5 K/9 .616 Winning Pct Houston 2.26 ERA 0.83 WHIP 11.4 K/9 .763 Winning Pct He went from a good pitcher to an otherworldly pitcher. That's Pedro Martinez at the apex of his career what he's doing with the Astros. The key word in that verbage is "impact". I don't think there is an argument with the numbers I've presented.
Cole is a huge douche bag. When he put on his agents hat for postgame interviews after the WS. Seemed incredibly hostile and for what? I mean who tf does that? **** you Garrett.
I like the pitching matchup against the Phillies. Astros have been a little better against LHB this season and some of their best bats are LHB. They chase a lot and aren't particularly good at making contact, playing into the Astros' strength in generating Ks and whiffs. They do get quite a few barrels on the balls they do hit but Astros' pitchers have been the best in the league at suppressing barrels. I think a team like the Mariners who aren't as explosive but are much better at drawing walks and controlling the strikezone would be a tougher matchup for the Astros' staff. Astros will make you look foolish if you chase. I like that the Phillies are not in anyway a good example of how purists like their teams built. Their best guys are expensive free agents they had no part in developing. They play shitty defense. They chase and strikeout a lot but make up for it in pop and homers.
You would think this has to hurt them when pursuing free agents. The fans are just ****ing brutal. Gallo sounded like he had PTSD from playing for this team.
he has always done it typically the day of when the series begins. a lot of folks bothering him when its the way hes done it
I'm generally skeptical of home produced videos, but not this one. I like the blending of music with interviews, well synced and balanced audio. Good job. High Quality Video too.
Makes sense if they are trying to maximize their starts from the top two. Nola could theoretically start 1, 4 and 7. Wheeler just returned from the IL and isn't an option to pitch 3x.
Nola would not be starting game 4 on short rest. earliest he could come back is game 5 Wednesday. Nola isn't starting game 7 after just 2 days either Wheeler would be games 2 and 6 if it even reaches that far. doesn't make sense to me when the purpose is to ideally maximize your best pitcher Wheeler but I'll take it
This reminds me of the decision to pitch Javier in Game 3 and McCullers in Game 4 with the extra day of rest, even though technically fully rested. At least if we discount the celebration injury that is somewhat suspect. It would still have been the right call. Perhaps we are seeing the start of the Six man rotation becoming NORMALIZED just as the five man, four man, three man and two man before it. Higher spin rates and velos may require it if the pitchers aren't a freak of nature. Perhaps the Astros figured this out or perhaps they just got lucky because of the circumstances. I won't take the time to do what I'm sure someone else had done, but I'd love to see how each pitcher responded to the extra rest to see if there is a point of diminishing returns with extra rest.
