The World Series is set. It all begins Tuesday night at 8 eastern on FOX.
And we’ve got a great matchup in store. It’s the Astros and the Braves, meeting in the postseason for the first time since the 2005 NLDS, when Chris Burke won it on a walk-off home run to send Houston to the NLCS.
As we’ve been doing all postseason long, we’ll break down each team and make a case for each side to win.
The Case For The Astros
It’s their third World Series in the past five seasons. Like it or not, the Astros are a juggernaut, and come into this series with a lot of momentum, having won three straight to wrap up the ALCS against the Red Sox.
Their offense is on fire. We’re seeing strong performances out of Carlos Correa, Kyle Tucker, Michael Brantley, and others. They may be down a few rotation pieces, Justin Verlander and Lance McCullers Jr., but their pitching is still deep enough to carry them to a title. They’ve got Zack Greinke, Framber Valdez, and Luis Garcia ready for the first three games, and they’ll be starting the series at home.
The Case For The Braves
They may just have that underdog magic. They may be without Ronald Acuna Jr and Mike Soroka, but this is a team you can’t sleep on. They weren’t even above .500 until early August, but they got hot and stepped on everyone in a weak NL East down the stretch, finishing with 88 wins.
Max Fried is their horse on the mound, and they also have Ian Anderson and Charlie Morton, both of whom have proven to be solid postseason pitchers. Game 4 might be a little tough for them because they may have to do a bullpen game, but there’s nothing saying Drew Smyly can’t give them some innings in that game, perhaps even starting.
Atlanta too, has a ton of momentum, and they might just follow in the footsteps of the 2019 Nationals as an underdog team coming out of nowhere and winning the World Series. Plus, the entire baseball world outside of Houston is going to be rooting hard for them. With that kind of support, anything is possible.
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