MLB POST-SEASON HAS ARRIVED

October MLB is finally here! The Wild Card best of three series consisted of four 2-0 sweeps. The Minnesota Twins defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, the Texas Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays, the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Miami Marlins. 

The Twins overpowered the Blue Jays with stellar pitching. In both of the games, only one run was scored from the blue jays offense who have proven to be strong all season. The two starters were Pablo Lopez and Sonny Gray, who combined for 10.2 innings and 9 strikeouts while only allowing one earned run. The bullpen looked great, posting a combined 7.1 innings pitched, only four hits given up and zero earned runs. The bats were also doing damage as Royce Lewis had a two home run game in the first game and Carlos Correa had a 0.500 on base percentage in both games. 

The Diamondbacks were underdogs against a strong Brewers team, yet they still found a way to sweep them. The bats were hot for the Diamondbacks in this series as rookie Corbin Carroll continues to shine for this team in the lead-off role. He recorded a combined five runs and RBIs in this series while posting a 1.092 OPS. Despite the Brewers gaining early leads and Christian Yelich’s astounding .600 on-base percentage, they simply couldn’t keep the bats going and struggled to hold off the Arizona Diamondback’s offense.

The Texas Rangers are certainly looking like a team to beat in the 2023 postseason. With four runs and 7 runs, the offense on this team looks to have zero flaws. With that being said, the pitching was off the charts. Jordan Montgomery had a statline of 7 innings pitched while striking out 5 and giving up 0 earned runs. In the second game, Nathan Eovaldi Struck out 8 through 6.2 innings pitched and only gave up 1 earned run. Given the Tampa Bay Rays, who had a historic start of the season, dealt with a lot of injuries. Their rotation lost their top three guys including Cy-Young hopeful Shane Mclannahan, Drew Rassmussen and Jeffery Springs. Their lineup also lost young star Wander Franco due to off-field issues and veteran Brandon Lowe to injuries. Nonetheless, the Rangers had an impressive showing to start the postseason. 

The Philadelphia Phillies took down the Miami Marlins and look to double down on their historic Cinderella run last year. Their offense looks to be postseason ready with 11 runs combined in the 2 games. Trea Turner put up incredible stats, posting a .571 batting average, a.625 On-Base Percentage and a 1.482 OPS. Two dominating pitching performances from Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola, who combined hold the Marlins to only 1 run through 13.2 innings. The offense looks great to start the postseason and if the bat of superstar Bryce Harper heats up, this team will be a force to be reckoned with. 

With the Divisional Series set, we have a lot of thrilling matchups ahead. Carlos Correa returns to Houston as The Twins take on the Astros, the reigning champions. The Diamondbacks are facing the challenge of taking on the extremely talented Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rangers face the young Baltimore Orioles who look to make an incredible playoff run after they were 52-110 just two years ago. The Phillies take on the Braves, who are the World-Series favorites, in an exciting matchup that should leave fans on the edge of their seats. Post-Season baseball is just getting started and it doesn’t seem like you can rule any team out.