We're still two-plus months away from the Fall Classic, but once we get to late August each season, I start thinking about potential World Series matchups. As we look ahead and consider the possibility of a battle of the titans (Braves vs. Orioles? Dodgers vs. Rangers?), an absurdly fresh matchup (Mariners vs. Marlins? Blue Jays vs. Brewers?) or a rematch (Phillies or Braves vs. Astros? DODGERS VS. ASTROS?!?!), I couldn't help but think about how funky things can get. Any playoff format with more teams is conducive to seeing a lot less so-called chalk.
In recent years, the NL side has been particularly odd.
- The 2022 season was the first in baseball history to see three 100-win teams in the NL. In the NLCS, we saw the 87-win Phillies take out the 89-win Padres.
- In 2021, the Giants and Dodgers made history to both winning at least 106 games (the Giants took 107). That was the first time ever that two teams from the same league won at least 106 games in a season. The 88-win Braves took the World Series.
- In 2019, MLB collectively made history with four 100-win teams. That was the first time it had ever happened. The Braves won 97 games and that ranked them fifth. The 93-win Nationals won the World Series (also: I'm required by law to mention "19-31").
- The 2018 Dodgers started the season 16-26 and had to play a one-game playoff with the Rockies for the NL West title before taking home the pennant. In and of itself, any team needing to break a tie with the Rockies and then ending up in the World Series just sounds hilarious now, and it wasn't even that long ago!
Basically, if you thought some of my suggestions on possible World Series matchups above sounded outlandish, you need only look at these four pennant winners to realize how much things can go off the rails come October.
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We could look at the AL side, but it's mostly just the Astros, who have taken the AL pennant in four of the last five "normal" seasons, including the last three. I come away with two prevailing questions, relating to the 2023 World Series combatants.
1. If the NL is topsy-turvy again, who emerges?
If things are all messed up again, that means no Braves or Dodgers. Would the Phillies make it again? How about the Brewers finally breaking through for their first NL pennant or the Giants looking like it's an even year last decade? Would the Cubs or Reds pull of the miracle? How about the Diamondbacks? Or Marlins?!? Let's get weird!
2. Can anyone take down the Astros on the AL side?
Since the Cubs won the World Series in Cleveland in 2016, the full-season AL champion has been the Astros every single time except when a historically great Red Sox team took them out in 2018. No team is going to be historically great on the AL side this season. Will the Orioles or Rangers peak at the right time? Could the Twins pull off an upset of epic proportions? Will the Rays patch together enough pitching to pull it off? Would it be another East wild card in the Blue Jays or Red Sox or Yankees (lol/jk)? How about those Mariners? They own the Astros this year (see the Mariners team note below)!
We have seemingly countless questions that'll be answered here on out in this, our baseball season, but those two are among the most compelling. I can't wait to see it all unfold.
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | The franchise record for home runs in a season is 51 (Andruw Jones, 2005). The most RBI in a season by an *Atlanta* Braves player is 132 (Gary Sheffield, 2003). Matt Olson sits with 43 homers and 108 RBI and, yes, he's still been the second most-valuable player on his team. | -- | 26-16 |
| 2 |  | Mookie Betts has already topped 100 runs scored. There's a possibility he could get to 40 homers, 40 doubles and 100 RBI, too. He's hitting .298 with a 163 OPS+. He's walked 70 times compared to just 86 strikeouts in 538 plate appearances. He's arguably the best defensive right fielder in baseball and also plays good defense at second base and passable defense at short. I'm sure many would scoff at this notion, but he's actually underrated. | -- | 32-17 |
| 3 |  | Yes, in the intro above I called the Orioles a "titan." It's so incredibly fun when a quick turnaround happens. | -- | 29-15 |
| 4 |  | They are just 17-16 since the All-Star break. It's 18-23 since the start of July or 24-29 since June 16. | 2 | 25-23 |
| 5 |  | The loss on Sunday means the Rangers have dropped four in a row for just the second time this season. After their other four-game losing streak (April 24-27), they went nuts, winning 26 of their next 35. | 1 | 24-24 |
| 6 |  | So much for that sophomore slump for Julio, huh? Holy hell what a run. It should also be noted that the Mariners have climbed all the way to a point that them winning the AL West is a distinct possibility. They were 10.5 out in late June. | 2 | 25-22 |
| 7 |  | Remember last season how the Mariners were about to beat the Astros in Game 1 of the ALDS, but then Yordan happened and the Astros swept them? It seems the Mariners took it personally. The Astros are 2-8 this season against them. | 2 | 21-26 |
| 8 |  | They are getting healthier, have a modest run going (wins in four of their last six games) and have a pretty easy schedule the rest of the way. Keep an eye on 'em. | 1 | 20-25 |
| 9 |  | It wasn't exactly how they drew it up, but splitting a trip to visit the Dodgers and Rangers. And, technically, they started this road trip in Chicago with a sweep over the White Sox, so that's a 6-3 stretch. Very solid. | 1 | 27-19 |
| 10 |  | Here's a list of players who hit over 30 homers in a season with a sub-.200 batting average: Mark Reynolds (2010), Joey Gallo (2021) and Eugenio Suarez (2021). Astute minds will know why I put this here. Also, yes, I realize it's an upset that neither Rob Deer nor Dave Kingman made the list. | 1 | 34-14 |
| 11 |  | Justin Turner's career high in home runs is 27. He has 20 with 38 games to go here in his age-38 season. | 2 | 23-24 |
| 12 |  | Nico Hoerner has 32 stolen bases. Believe it or not, this is the most stolen bases for a Cubs player since Juan Pierre had 58 in 2006. Only Pierre and Eric Young Sr. (54 in 2000) have topped 40 since 1985, when both Ryne Sandberg and Davey Lopes did it. | -- | 26-22 |
| 13 |  | The lead in the Central is now a season-high six games. The team obviously can't think about this, but for the fans: Have you started to dream that 0-18 is going away? Or are you just worried it's going to become 0-20? | 1 | 24-22 |
| 14 |  | They nearly squandered Sunday's game away just like Saturday, but the Giants have still lost 10 of their last 14. | 3 | 23-25 |
| 15 |  | The ship seems to have been righted after a disastrous stretch that might cost them a playoff berth. They were the single worst team in baseball from July 1-Aug. 11. They've gone 7-2 since. | 4 | 22-25 |
| 16 |  | The top home run season in Marlins history, aside from Giancarlo Stanton's 59 in 2017, would be Gary Sheffield's 42 in 1996. Jorge Soler has 32 right now. It's obviously not the record, but getting the top non-Giancarlo spot would be a feather in Jorge's cap. | 1 | 15-33 |
| 17 |  | Hunter Greene's triumphant return from the IL ended up with nine runs allowed in three innings. And the Reds are now 5-12 in August. | 1 | 19-28 |
| 18 |  | Shohei Ohtani has a roughly three-win lead in WAR among AL players. The largest gap I can find in a season is 4.7 by, naturally, Babe Ruth in 1923. | -- | 18-29 |
| 19 |  | They took two of three from the Orioles but then lost three of four to the Diamondbacks, one of their chief NL wild card competitors and an obviously inferior team to the Orioles. This pretty well sums up the Padres' season, no? | 1 | 24-24 |
| 20 |  | The Mets are closer to a playoff spot than the Yankees. What a pathetic month. At times, it looks like they are quitting. | 3 | 33-15 |
| 21 |  | The last time the Guardians didn't get to 80 wins in a full season was 2012. They are headed that way this time around. | -- | 30-17 |
| 22 |  | The Nationals are closer to a playoff spot than the Angels and Yankees. For real. That's mostly an indictment of the other two, but the Nats haven't been a terrible team for a little bit here. They are a respectable lower-tier team. | 1 | 20-25 |
| 23 |  | In his last 11 games, Spencer Torkelson is hitting .342 with three doubles and seven home runs. A monster power season in 2024 is a decent bet. | 2 | 23-23 |
| 24 |  | I was about to look up the Mets rookie record for strikeouts and then started laughing at myself, thankfully, before looking. That would be due to the existence of Dwight Gooden. Still, Kodai Senga has a chance to get to 200 strikeouts in his first season stateside. That's impressive. | 2 | 21-25 |
| 25 |  | Remember when Mitch Keller was having a breakout season? Then remember when Mitch Keller was terrible for an extended stretch? Yeah, he's back to being good again. He looked outstanding against the Reds and Twins last two times out. | 3 | 22-26 |
| 26 |  | Masyn Winn is fun to watch and kudos to the Cardinals for calling him up and giving the fans something to watch in a lost season. | 2 | 20-26 |
| 27 |  | Brace yourself for an utter bloodbath. The Rockies don't play a team with a losing record until Sept. 18. That's a three-game series against the Padres (it's possible, albeit unlikely, that they'll be above .500 by then). That is the only series the Rockies have left against a sub-.500 team this season. They head to Tampa Bay and Baltimore next week before coming home to host the Braves. | 1 | 15-31 |
| 28 |  | There have only been 12 player seasons in White Sox history with 40 homers (Frank Thomas has five of them). The most recent was Todd Frazier in 2016. Luis Robert right now has 33. | 1 | 14-33 |
| 29 |  | Fun oddity: Jordan Lyles is 3-13, but has three complete games. All three of his complete games have been losses and two of them were eight-inning complete games. | -- | 29-19 |
| 30 |  | They are on pace to lose 118 games. | -- | 19-30 |
