The 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series (WS, 4 wins out of 7 games) is a battle between two teams that went from being the weakest in the two major leagues to becoming the strongest in just two years.
The American League (AL) champion Texas Rangers and the National League (NL) champion Arizona Diamondbacks will play the first game of the WS at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, USA on the 28th (Korean time). Texas has reached its dream stage for the first time in 12 years since 2011, and is attempting to win the championship for the first time since its founding. Arizona is advancing to the WS for the first time in 22 years since 2001, when Kim Byeong-hyun, a first-generation Korean big leaguer, played as a closing pitcher, and is aiming to become the second team to reach the top since its founding.
Both teams showed ‘underdog rebellion’. Arizona suffered 110 losses (52 wins), the most among the 30 MLB teams in the 2021 season. Texas also recorded only 60 wins and 102 losses, the second fewest wins in the AL. Last season (2022), Arizona only ranked 4th in the NL West and Texas ranked 4th in the AL West.
Those two teams rose to the top of their respective leagues in two years. Arizona recorded 84 wins and 78 losses in the regular season and was in the last postseason (PS), but won the Wild Card Series against the Milwaukee Brewers (WC, 2 wins out of 3) and the Division Series against the LA Dodgers (DS, 3 wins out of 5). ) has never lost. Texas also lost in the race for first place in the division (AL West) with Houston, but won all five games in WC and DS, where it faced the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles in turn.
Arizona’s power balance between pitchers and batters has improved significantly this season. Corbin Carroll, a promising outfielder, became the center of the attack with a batting average of 0.285, 25 home runs, and 54 stolen bases in the second year of his big league debut, and existing main hitters Christian Walker and Ketel Marte also played their part, hitting 33 home runs and 25 home runs, respectively. did it
Texas also had a good mix of externally recruited players and existing prospects. Texas simultaneously recruited Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, two of the largest free agent infielders, after the 2021 season, and the two players hit 33 and 29 home runs, respectively, this season. Catcher Jonah Haim and infielder Josh, who were competing for first and second place among the team’s prospects, also contributed to the increase in power.
MLB.com noted the leap of Texas and Arizona and said, “There has never been a case in history where a team that lost more than 100 games advanced to the WS immediately the following year, but there were four cases where they did it in two years. “Texas and Arizona are fifth.” He continued, “This is the first time that two teams with more than 100 losses in the same year (2021) advanced to the WS at the same time two years later.”
Both teams captured the Championship Series (CS) in a fierce battle that went all the way to Game 7. Texas fended off the defending champion Houston Astros last season (2022), and Arizona fended off the Philadelphia Phillies. The momentum is sky-high.굿모닝토토
In the first game held on the 29th, Arizona used Jack Gallen and Texas used Nathan Evoldi as the starting pitcher. Gallen won once each in WC and DS, but gave up more than 4 points in both CS appearances against Philadelphia. Evoldi recorded 4 wins and an average ERA of 2.42 in this PS alone.