After entering the National League Championship Series as the clear underdogs, the Arizona Diamondbacks won Game 7 with a 4-2 score against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday, shocking the world and advancing to their first Fall Classic since 2001.
Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers had punched their ticket the day before, on Monday, against the Houston Astros.
While many people wanted a rematch of the 2022 Fall Classic between the Astros and Phillies, it was their foes as the ones able to beat the odds and advance to the final series of the season.
MLB on FOX highlighted the matchup with a graphic.
The 2023 World Series matchup is set. @Dbacks vs. @Rangers pic.twitter.com/yphGmPxo5k
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 25, 2023
On one side, there is Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte.
On the other, we see Adolis Garcia and Corey Seager.
It will be an exciting showdown of two teams with different budgets, but with equal chances of winning.
The D-Backs built almost exclusively from within, with the draft, international free agents, and trades.
The Rangers used free agency to their advantage in recent seasons by signing Seager, Marcus Semien, Jon Gray, Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney, and others, but were also able to develop some impact prospects in Josh Jung, Evan Carter, Leody Taveras, and others.
Whereas the Diamondbacks pitching staff looks slightly better than that of the Rangers, Texas’ offense is vastly superior.
Both teams are managed by excellent skippers: Torey Lovullo has done a lot with limited resources, and Bruce Bochy is going to his fifth World Series and hopes to win his fourth.
The matchup is ready, the teams are ready: fans better be ready, too.
It might not be a dream matchup for ratings, but this Fall Classic has the potential to be highly entertaining.
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