After a pair of unexpected Game 7 League Championship Series finishes with the road team taking both, get ready for what should be an unpredictable Fall Classic between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers.
When Game 1 of the World Series opens up Friday night inside Globe Life Field, there will be plenty of intrigue as a pair of teams that haven't been to the Fall Classic since 2011 (Texas) and 2001 (Arizona) square off with a cast of characters that include everything from the likely National League Rookie of the Year in Corbin Carroll to the man who earned MVP honors the last time the World Series was in Arlington (Corey Seager with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020).
So what should you expect when the 2023 World Series gets underway? Here are a trio of bold predictions for what should be a fascinating Fall Classic.
World Series bold prediction 1: Ketel Marte will be the hitting hero for Arizona
Texas had its hands full trying to get Houston's Yordan Alvarez out in the ALCS, and the Rangers will have the same issues trying to retire Marte when the World Series begins.
In 19 regular-season plate appearances against Texas pitching this season, Marte slashed .429/.526/1.071 with three home runs. He's already entering the Fall Classic on a hot streak, hitting safely in each of his first 16 postseason games (the longest streak to open postseason play in MLB history) and Marte has already shown he can hit Texas pitching this season. Put those two things together and Marte will be a headache for the Rangers throughout the series.
Not only will Marte hit well against the Rangers, he will finish the World Series with the most hits on the Arizona roster.
World Series bold prediction 2: Nathan Eovaldi will be the World Series MVP
A pitcher hasn't been named as the World Series MVP since 2019 when Stephen Strasburg earned the honor for the Washington Nationals. Eovaldi will add his name to the list after pitching a pair of strong starts and coming in to help close out the World Series win for the Rangers in Game 7 (sorry, spoiler alert, but I'm taking Texas to win what will be a drama-filled World Series in the final game).
Eovaldi has been incredible for the Rangers this postseason, making four starts and allowing seven earned runs in a combined 26.0 innings (2.42 ERA). After signing a two-year, $34 million deal before the season began, he has proven to be worth every penny for the Rangers, with not only what he has done on the mound this postseason but also the experience he has brought to the team as well, including earning a ring with the 2018 Boston Red Sox. That was a Fall Classic where he had a 1.13 ERA in 8.0 innings spread over three games.
Expect the 33-year-old right-hander to be a dominant force on the mound and lead the Rangers to wins at home and on the road in his two starts before becoming this year's version of Madison Bumgarner for manager Bruce Bochy and coming back in relief in the final game to cement the title for Texas.
World Series bold prediction 3: Corbin Carroll will steal more bases than he has hits
During the regular season, the Diamondbacks finished second in the National League with 166 stolen bases. Arizona have been thiefs on the basepaths all season, and that continued in the final two games of the NLCS against Philadelphia as the Diamondbacks stole four bases each in Game 6 and 7.
When Arizona records at least one stolen base in the postseason, they are 6-0. It's clear that speed has been a key to Arizona's success all season and wants to keep that trend going in October.
With that in mind, let's go out on a limb and predict Corbin Carroll (who stole 54 bases during the regular season) will wreak havoc on the basepaths, swiping bases at an eye-popping rate. However, he will also use walks to get on base to steal those bases, struggling to get hits against Texas but causing damage when he does get on base via the free pass.
One thing to watch with Carroll's speed is his chance to join an elite group of base-stealers in World Series history by swiping 10 bags during what I'm predicting to be a seven-game classic. If he does that, he will join Lou Brock and Eddie Collins (14 each) as well as Davey Lopes, Phil Rizzuto and Frank Chance (10 each) as the only players with double-digit steals during the Fall Classic.
Could it happen? It's improbable, but not impossible ... and isn't that the theme of this whole postseason anyway?
