*Photo from Sports Illustrated*
Folks, we've reached the end. The world series, the winding point of the baseball season, the reason why all 30 teams slog through the 162 game regular season, and the 10 teams fight through the playoffs. They want that trophy. This year, two teams have a shot to get it that didn't make it last year. It's the Atlanta Braves. It's the Houston Astros. This is your world series preview.
Let's knock out the watching information right away, as it's pretty straightforward. All world series games will be televised on Fox, starting at 8:09 every night, with the exception of a possible game 5 on October 31, which will begin at 8:15. Games can also be streamed on the Fox website, as well as MLB.tv, with authentication.
The starters(based off CS games)
C: Martin Maldonado(HOU), Travis D'Arnaud(ATL)
1B: Yuli Gurriel(HOU), Freddie Freeman(ATL)
2B: Jose Altuve(HOU), Ozzie Albies(ATL)
3B: Alex Bregman(HOU), Austin Riley(ATL)
SS: Carlos Correa(HOU), Dansby Swanson(ATL)
LF: Michael Brantley(HOU), Eddie Rosario(ATL)
CF: Chas McCormick(HOU), Adam Duvall(ATL)
RF: Kyle Tucker(HOU), Joc Pederson(ATL)
DH: Yordan Alvarez(HOU)
The starting pitching for both teams lines up like this. Charlie Morton will start game one for the Braves, opposed by Framber Valdez of the Astros. After those two, Max Fried and Ian Anderson are the entrenched starters for the Braves, with Drew Smyly or Jesse Chavez as candidates to start game 4. Rookie Luis Garcia will likely pitch game two, with Jose Urquidy right behind him, and Jake Odorizzi or Zack Greinke as possible game 4 starters, with Lance McCullers Jr likely to miss the world series due to injury.
The bullpen for the Braves features Will Smith at closer, who actually hasn't had to close many games this postseason thanks to all the walk offs by the Braves offense. AJ Minter, Tyler Matzek, Luke Jackson, and Chris Martin are other top notch relievers in the bullpen, despite recent struggles from Martin and Jackson. Kyle Wright is the closest thing they have to a long relief option, alongside Smyly.
The Astros bullpen has performed well with heavy usage this postseason, particularly at the start of the ALCS. Kendall Graveman, Ryne Stanek, and Ryan Pressly are the big guys at the back end of the pen, handling close games and late game situations. Cristian Javier can provide multiple innings of long relief, which, as seen in ALCS game 4, he can do quite brilliantly. Phil Maton and Yimi Garcia have also been reliable out of the bullpen.
Now, we get to the fun part, the hitting. The Braves have one of the best hitting lineups in baseball, despite all the turnover. Riley and Rosario in particular have been the stars of the show, as they have been the definition of red hot recently. Those two aside, Pederson has had another strong "Joctober" Albies can always hit, and Freeman is still a dangerous bat at the top of the order. Jorge Soler can also be used as a DH in Houston, adding another dangerous hitter to the lineup.
The Astros, however, are just as explosive at the plate. Yordan Alvarez became a force to be reckoned with in the ALCS. Correa and Altuve have had their share of clutch hits this postseason. Brantley is still a contact machine. Tucker has become a dangerous hitter as time has progressed this season, and Gurriel has come up in the clutch recently as well.
In terms of a series prediction, Dusty Baker will have to keep waiting on that first ring. It's gonna be a long and hard fought series, which I see going the full 7 games. I predict that the Braves will hoist the world series trophy after a game 7 victory on the road, and the Astros will still only have that one title, however tainted it may be.
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