1:59

champ and less his teammates in

2:02

awe. He's a

2:05

bad man, and he's able to come into

2:07

this atmosphere, he'd boot every at bat and do what he did,

2:09

was pretty special. It was really fun to watch.

2:11

From Wondery, I'm Tiffany O'Shinsky. It's

2:14

Friday, October 27th, and

2:16

this is The Lead.

2:21

So Steven, we're going to take a look today

2:23

at exactly how we ended up

2:25

with this World Series match-ups. But first,

2:27

I have to ask. If I had told

2:29

you before the season, or even

2:31

before the playoffs, that we were going to have

2:34

a Rangers Diamondbacks match-up, you

2:36

would have said what?

2:38

I would have said my prediction or the toast, then. At

2:41

the athletic, we've had an opportunity at the end of every round

2:43

to make our prediction for the next round. At no

2:45

point have I correctly predicted these two teams.

2:48

I think I had the Rangers maybe winning the wild

2:50

card, and that was right. But the Dbacks knocking

2:52

off the Dodgers didn't have that, knocking off

2:54

the Phillies didn't have that one either. So now

2:56

we have, I think, an actually very compelling World

2:59

Series match-up, despite the fact that we have

3:01

left the defending champ and the defending runner

3:03

up in some sort of imaginary consolation

3:05

bracket. Well,

3:08

we're

3:08

going to start with the team that is

3:11

now the favorite to win the World Series, the Texas

3:13

Rangers. So let's rewind a bit. Can

3:15

you remind us of the spending spree they went

3:18

on before the 2022 season, and

3:20

exactly how last season worked out for

3:22

them?

3:23

Yeah, the Rangers had gone through a bit of a

3:25

low period. If you remember back a little bit more

3:27

the decade, they went to the World Series in 2010, 2011, and

3:30

then went through a real lull in recent years,

3:32

and then decided to buy their way out of

3:34

it. And so what do we do? We're going to buy a middle infield.

3:37

Short stop, Corey Seager

3:39

and the Texas Rangers have

3:41

agreed to a 10-year, $325 million deal.

3:45

The 2020 World Series MVP spent

3:47

the first seven seasons of his career with

3:49

the Dodgers.

3:50

They spent a half billion dollars

3:52

to get Corey Seager and Marcus Simeon. Seven

3:55

years, $175 million. That's $25

3:57

million a year for a 31-year-old middle

3:59

infielder. This is huge

4:02

news. It's really a groundbreaking

4:04

contract and it sets up the rest of the

4:06

market, Jeremy, now. And that really

4:08

jump-starts things quite a bit. However, didn't even

4:10

come close to getting them all the way there because they really didn't

4:12

have pitching. They just didn't have what you

4:14

needed as far as the full rotation. And so they

4:17

lost 94 games last year, were not competitive

4:19

in the division, and the expectation was still

4:21

that they were probably two, maybe three

4:24

years away. And that was okay because they've signed Simeon

4:26

and Seager for so long that you're gonna have them

4:28

through their prime in their early 30s and into their

4:30

late 30s and the team will be good at some

4:32

point. But the bottom line was they had to get pitching. Alright,

4:34

we'll circle back to the Rangers pitching in

4:36

just a minute here, but first I wanted

4:38

to ask you about the new voice that

4:41

was brought in to lead this team around this

4:43

time last

4:43

year. You know who's back? Bruce Bochy's

4:45

back after last managing

4:47

with the San Francisco Giants in 2019.

4:50

Now he's the new skipper for the Texas

4:52

Rangers, introduced yesterday at a news conference

4:55

in Arlington.

4:55

What did Bochy's arrival

4:58

do for expectations in Texas? And

5:00

how has he gone about managing this

5:02

team? What's been his style? Yeah,

5:04

there's this

5:05

sort of line of thinking that I think there's ever some

5:07

truth to it that there are managers for rebuilds

5:09

and there are managers for winning. And they

5:12

had gone through rebuild and had most recently

5:14

Chris Woodward as the manager and they

5:17

decided it was time to push go. And the

5:19

hiring of Bruce Bochy, who of course had won World

5:21

Series in San Francisco and then retired

5:23

but then sort of said afterward, noticed more

5:25

of me pushing pause, not being done with the game.

5:28

A lot of people didn't really believe that. However, when

5:30

the job comes open in Texas, that was

5:32

a job he wanted and they moved very quickly to sign

5:34

him to a three-year deal and it signaled to everybody

5:36

it's time for us to win. I miss

5:39

this game. There's so many things about the game

5:41

I miss and it dug out, you know,

5:43

the competition being on the team

5:45

and I said if I'm going to jump back

5:47

in the fire, it had to be the right fit. And

5:49

the way he has managed

5:51

this team is the way he has always

5:54

done it. He is not one who is going to be driven

5:56

entirely by the front office and analytics, so

5:58

I think he has evolved a lot over the years.

7:44

September

8:01

where this guy was in double-a I think in the middle of

8:03

August he jumped to triple-a quickly and now

8:05

he's starting in left field for a World Series team right

8:07

now

8:07

He's

8:19

got a little bit of everything in the bag he's got

8:21

speed he's got defense He made a pretty incredible catch

8:24

against the Astros in a huge game

8:36

They've figured out how to how to balance

8:39

a lineup that can do so much damage but at the same time play

8:41

pretty good defense So this is a team that can

8:43

hit at every single spot in this lineup and

8:45

when you have that rolling You can handle some steps

8:48

backward in the rotation and the bullpen when

8:50

your lineup can come back from pretty huge deficits

8:53

So Texas ended up winning 90 games the

8:55

exact same record as the Astros But

8:58

they finished second in the Yale West on a head-to-head

9:00

tiebreaker That made them a wild

9:02

card and matched them up with the Rays

9:05

then the Orioles two teams that combined

9:07

for 200 wins this year.

9:10

What was the key to their success in those first

9:12

two rounds?

9:13

What really got them through

9:15

that wild card and then through the

9:17

division series as well was the lineup we talked about

9:19

you had spectacular performances from Jordan Montgomery

9:22

and Nathan Iovaldi That's

9:28

the games they got him for. Nathan

9:31

Iovaldi The Rays

9:33

and the Orioles were the best two teams in the American League throughout

9:36

the entire season And you had to

9:38

face both of those coming out again doesn't feel fair,

9:40

but they handled them really quite easily

9:51

Along with those pitching performances you

9:53

had Evan Carter this rookie Josh

9:56

Young this rookie hitting the cover off the ball

9:58

you had Corey Seager putting

9:59

up massive early round

10:02

numbers and that was enough for them to

10:04

pull away and they ended up being

10:06

away from home. It was at least two weeks from

10:09

when they were clawing to win

10:11

the division in late September. They went on the road, they

10:13

had to do a couple road trips and they went to Tampa and

10:15

then went to Baltimore. It wasn't until they finished

10:17

off the Orioles that they

10:20

were finally back at home and completely changed

10:22

the course of their season and postseason.

10:24

And that takes us to the ALCS

10:26

and this is where we're going to introduce the

10:28

guy who's been playing at a superstar

10:31

level in these playoffs, the 30-year-old

10:33

Adolise Garcia. So for anyone who's

10:36

not familiar, can you tell us a bit about his

10:38

baseball odyssey? Yeah,

10:39

I want to say how long we go without mentioning Adolise

10:41

Garcia. He's been unbelievable. So he's a 30-year-old

10:43

Cuban. He

10:45

first broke into Pro Ball outside

10:48

of Cuba by playing in 2016 with the Yamayori

10:50

Giants in

10:52

Japan. During that year, he defected

10:55

from Cuba. He signed with the Cardinals. And this was a guy

10:57

who people had pretty high expectations for. He

11:00

ends up debuting for the Cardinals in 2018 and

11:02

short stint but only hits about buck 18. So

11:05

really not a very good debut there. He was

11:07

then DFA'd in 2019, which if you're

11:09

not, don't follow super closely. That means you go

11:11

through waivers. Any team has a chance to pick you

11:13

up or request a trade usually just for

11:15

cash considerations, which just means you cover a salary.

11:18

And he is at that point traded to the Texas

11:21

Rangers. On December 21, 2019, the

11:24

Texas Rangers paid a nominal sum of cash

11:26

to the St. Louis Cardinals for the rights to a 26-year-old

11:29

outfielder with 17 major league at bats.

11:32

His name was Adolise Garcia. And

11:35

he didn't really have an impact in the short and 2020

11:37

season. He only had six at bats there.

11:41

And in February of 21, so before the 21 season,

11:43

he's DFA'd again. So he clears waivers. Every team

11:46

in the majors had a chance to get him. And

11:48

no one decided to pick him up. And so they sent him down

11:50

to the minors. And that

11:52

is sort of when the whole story turns for him.

12:01

He gets an opportunity

12:04

early in the season with

12:07

an injury.

12:10

He

12:14

plays the whole season for the Rangers and not

12:16

a big on base yet at all. Right, he's going to

12:18

hit your homers and that's about it. It only hits 31 homers. 8th

12:21

pitcher to get back and that ball is hammered. Holy

12:26

moly did he get ahold of that one. He

12:29

can forgive a guy some other flaws if he's going to

12:31

hit you a bunch of homers and he's going to come drawn

12:33

close to the league lead and help field assist. Playing

12:35

some pretty strong defense in my field.

12:40

That

12:49

following season he hit 25 homers, he

12:51

sealed 25 bags and he follows that

12:53

again this year with a career year at 30 years

12:55

old. 39 homers, 107 RBI. And

12:58

now any doubters who remain are

13:00

being shut up this season.

13:03

And for those of us who haven't gotten a chance to watch

13:05

him play much, how would you describe Garcia

13:08

as a player and as a personality?

13:10

Well first he's huge. He looks like

13:12

the guy you come across working out in

13:14

the gym that makes you feel a little bit intimidated and you kind

13:16

of move the other side like I don't belong in the same

13:18

ballpark here literally. And so he's

13:21

a huge guy, tucked up his helmet, he's bald

13:23

and it's a very intimidating look. He's intense,

13:25

he's firing on the field. He is going to

13:28

celebrate homers as much as anybody

13:30

and that's going to get to, that kerfuffle

13:32

will get to in just a minute here. But he is an

13:34

extremely passionate player. I mean

13:37

we're feeling great right now. We

13:39

are playing

13:40

good and I

13:42

think the help of the fans

13:45

or everything, you know, we have

13:47

like a lot of joys in each game

13:49

so now we're having fun. Players

13:52

just are effusive about how good of a teammate

13:54

he is, how he is the favorite guy in the clubhouse. He's

13:57

a Batman right there isn't he?

13:59

spark plug. He's been our energy guy all year. Rangers

14:02

players love him as a person, but I

14:04

also think at this point they're gaining perspective

14:07

on what he is doing, but also what he's

14:09

done to get to this point in his career. So Garcia

14:11

has been good throughout the playoffs, but

14:14

he really took it to another level in

14:16

the last few games of the ALCS

14:18

against the Astros.

14:19

So can you help us relive some of that

14:22

drama or kerfuffle, if

14:24

you

14:24

prefer, as Garcia and the Rangers

14:26

made their push for the World Series? And I do prefer.

14:28

Yeah, there was

14:30

history between the Texas Rangers and

14:32

Houston Astros that goes back quite a long

14:35

time, but also just goes back to the fact they're four hours apart,

14:38

a driving distance in Texas. And so it's

14:40

just sort of a natural rivalry. But during

14:42

the course of the season, there was a couple moments

14:44

where Martin Maldonado, in particular, the catcher

14:46

for the Astros taken issue

14:49

with Marcus Simeon, who's pretty mild mannered.

14:51

And that was surprising. A lot of people that that turned into a clip

14:54

and I don't know Garcia as well. And

14:56

so there was a lot of questions. There's something bubbling beneath

14:58

the surface that's going to fly out here in the

15:01

postseason. Well, the Rangers take

15:03

the first two games in Houston, they

15:05

sort of shock everybody to steal the first two games there, they

15:07

go home and have a chance to close

15:09

out the defending champs in Arlington,

15:11

but they don't do it. They have a bunch of trouble

15:14

there. They lose all three games, but the fifth

15:16

game, it looked like they had it. They said they were going to win

15:18

that ball game and once again, be in the driver's

15:20

seat for the series. And Doyce Garcia homeward pretty

15:22

early in that game and he admired it.

15:32

He watched

15:35

that thing go. He spiked his bat on the way

15:37

to first base, sort of slows down as he approached

15:39

his home plate, stomps on it like a sort

15:41

of like an eight year old would. And what happened

15:43

next was very interesting and controversial

15:46

and remains, you know, debated as

15:48

the intent here because in the eighth inning, Astros

15:50

are down two runs and Brian Abreu, one

15:52

of their best relievers, is in the ball game.

16:04

He drilled Adolíz Garcia. Garcia

16:07

does not have any question about whether this was intentional

16:09

or not. He immediately reacts. Well, the bench

16:11

is clear as they are wont to do. And

16:14

that was an interesting game because the Rangers

16:16

didn't even finish that one off. The Hoziel Týve was a

16:18

hero in that one. He hits a three-run homer

16:20

to win it and to once again put

16:22

the Astros back in front in that series. But

16:25

game six, Adolíz Garcia comes to the plate

16:27

in the first inning. He has booed massively

16:30

at every single one of his at bats. And

16:32

now in this rivalry

16:34

where the blood has boiled, the intensity

16:36

has built, and it pays off

16:39

again.

16:40

He strikes out in his first four at bats. Like you

16:42

have not seen a guy look so bad. He

16:44

said he's wildly good in a high possible. Well,

16:47

he's trying to hit it over the train tracks. He's trying

16:49

to make a statement here and just really

16:51

coming out of himself. Clearly

16:54

the atmosphere was getting to him. And

16:56

then in his last at bat, the Rangers

16:58

had gotten ahead in spite of him and he's

17:01

able to hit a grand slam just a laser homerun.

17:04

On the line, Harkfield is gone!

17:07

Adolíz

17:10

Garcia takes his statement

17:12

and the Rangers have their sights set

17:14

on game seven. Once

17:17

again, no doubt. He enjoys every second

17:19

of that trip around the bases. So he is the

17:21

ultimate showman and that showed up again

17:23

in game seven. He helps them get out front in the first inning.

17:26

He's an RBI single, but it's off the wall. It should

17:28

have been a double, but he was enjoying his swing

17:30

and standing in the box watching it and later in the game,

17:32

he has two more homers.

17:50

This guy is showing up in the biggest moment.

17:53

In the biggest way, he already is

17:55

up to 20 RBI, which is I think one

17:57

short of the record for most RBI in the game.

17:59

entire postseason and he deservedly

18:02

won LCS MVP for the heroics. Thanks

18:05

to my family and all the fans. This

18:07

team right here, we are a family and they push

18:09

me every day to play hard and if

18:11

it's not for the love of all my teammates, man, this

18:14

can be possible. Thank you.

18:18

Okay, coming

18:20

up, how the Diamondbacks knocked out some

18:23

of the NL's best teams and

18:25

a prediction for who wins this very

18:27

unlikely edition of the

18:29

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20:59

Steven, now we're going to turn our focus

21:01

to the team with the fewest wins

21:03

in the entire playoff field,

21:04

the 84-78 Arizona Diamondbacks. This

21:08

is a team that, much like the Rangers,

21:11

had done a lot of losing

21:13

in recent years, three straight seasons

21:15

of finishing last or second to last in the NL West.

21:18

So what were the expectations for the Diamondbacks

21:21

heading into 2023?

21:21

I think there are a lot

21:23

of losing teams around the country right now. They are saying, look

21:26

at these two teams. We might not be

21:29

so far away than you add what the Orioles have

21:31

done too. But yeah, this team lost 88 games

21:33

last year. You know, it was not super competitive in division

21:35

that is so top-loaded, right?

21:37

They have the Padres to continue with who

21:40

are spending an incredible amount of better draft

21:42

picks, but also just some really savvy development. That

21:44

starts, of course, with Corbin Carroll. The

21:46

rookie was top prospect in baseball when he came up last

21:49

year, but really was someone who was

21:51

always

21:51

supposed to sort of take his first step, his

21:53

first big step this season than he did. Corbin

21:56

Carroll hits a fly ball to right field. Back

21:59

to the wall.

21:59

and that one is gone! Corbin

22:02

Carroll has hit another home run,

22:04

making a dozen. He was incredible

22:06

this season. He had 25 homers, he had 54 steals. And

22:10

there he goes. Throw from

22:12

delay, is delayed, it gets into

22:14

center. Corbin gets into third. Man,

22:18

he just has an extra gear. He

22:20

is off and running now. It's

22:23

all green lights for Corbin Carroll. He's

22:25

special, he was one of the best players in the baseball league series going

22:27

to run away with rookie of the year, and

22:29

you saw

22:29

how he impacted game seven. Single's in his

22:32

first at bat, single's in his second at bat, and then third

22:34

time he comes up and he bounced another RBI

22:36

single through. Carroll up the

22:38

middle and a base hit. Rivera,

22:40

round third, he will score the tying

22:42

run. And Corbin

22:45

Carroll, his third hit of the

22:47

game. An RBI single,

22:49

it comes with two outs. He

22:52

won that game for them, I think. And he's certainly

22:54

capable of doing that in the World Series.

22:56

Now he talks about Bruce Bochy's impact in

22:59

his first year as Rangers manager. Tori

23:01

Lavello is in his seventh season as

23:03

Diamondbacks manager. How would you describe

23:05

his leadership style?

23:07

Tori Lavello is a really interesting

23:09

cat, super nice.

23:11

I know at the end of each day, I am emotionally

23:13

and physically exhausted because

23:16

of the investment. And I know that everybody's

23:19

been sharing that same experience, but somehow, some way,

23:21

the next day we reload it, enjoy it, and

23:23

get to work.

23:24

If you ever have a chance to step into

23:26

their clubhouse and chat with him and he will chat about

23:28

anything. He is another manager beloved

23:30

by his players, but just a completely different guy

23:33

from Bochy. We've been playing really meaningful

23:35

games for a long time. The stakes are

23:37

a little bit higher right now and we know

23:39

it, and like I said, I could lie and say that we're

23:41

not aware of it, but we are. But I think we know how

23:43

to compartmentalize things and say where

23:46

are we at and what do we have to do to function, so

23:48

everything seems like a barrier. I think he fits this age

23:51

of what a good manager is today, but also has great

23:53

instincts. He does not have all the best

23:55

cards in the deck right now, but he's figured

23:57

out a way to deploy them in a way that has worked. one

24:00

huge issue for them this year is they don't have a third

24:02

starter. They have Zach Gallen who's a bona fide ace,

24:05

they have Meryl Kelly who's a very good number two,

24:07

but what do you do after that? They were looking for answers.

24:10

They had Madison Bumgarner on this roster at

24:12

the start of the season. Could he be their number three?

24:14

No, he was released not too far into the season. He

24:16

might win a ring here. That would be a pretty fun end of

24:18

his career. But throughout the playoffs they've

24:21

been throwing Brandon Fott out there. Brandon Fott is

24:23

a touted rookie. I think he'll have a nice

24:25

career. However, right now he has a huge homer problem.

24:28

And in the playoffs against the Phillies, you

24:30

don't want to throw a rookie with a homer problem out there in

24:32

Philadelphia, which is one of the most hitter friendly and homer

24:34

friendly ballparks in baseball. And

24:37

Lovelo has managed to have

24:39

his hand on the pulse in the right way where he knows

24:42

how long of a release to give these guys. But then there's

24:44

going to be a point where I have to turn this thing over to my

24:46

bullpen. And a lot of that I think is

24:48

where you see the impact of the manager. Having a huge impact

24:50

on these games is how does he deploy the bullpen?

24:53

Well,

24:53

there is a point this summer when it looked like the

24:55

D-backs were really bottoming out. They

24:58

went 8-25 from early July into mid-August.

25:01

What were the vibes around the team at that

25:04

time? And how did they come back from that? Yeah,

25:06

there was a point even earlier in the season where they were in first place,

25:08

right? We said, can they actually contend with the Dodgers? Can they

25:10

knock them off? And then this summer

25:12

they just hit the skids and said, OK, they're not here

25:14

yet. They go to the trade deadline. We all expected

25:17

them to go get a starting pitcher because you need a third

25:19

one. Brandon Fott had struggled so badly. So

25:21

we all expected them to go get somebody. They didn't

25:23

do that. They respond after

25:25

the trade deadline by losing nine games in a row. And it

25:27

just feels like you're going to fall out of this. And

25:30

what happened, I think, is they start to just really

25:32

heat up that bullpen, figure some

25:34

things out. But then they have the offense come

25:36

to life. Kettle Marte had a really down season

25:38

last year. It just didn't seem like he was the

25:40

same player we thought he was two years ago. Well, he's

25:42

been fantastic. And he also has been even better in the postseason.

25:45

It was him. It was Lordis Goreal Jr. coming

25:48

alive. Corbin Carroll finishing an incredible rookie season.

25:50

And Gabriel Moreno, who they got in a trade with the

25:52

Toronto Blue Jays, has been exactly what they needed as a

25:55

catcher. He can hit. We've seen that in the

25:57

postseason. And Moreno in the right field, a base

25:59

hit.

25:59

Here comes Carroll. Castellanos

26:02

has a cannon. The throw is cut

26:04

off. Carroll scores. Moreno

26:07

delivers the Diamondbacks in front.

26:10

He can catch. He is extremely

26:12

tough back there. There's a punt.

26:15

It's a good one. Moreno gets out, throws.

26:17

Got him! What a play! Oh,

26:20

what a play by Gabby Moreno

26:21

to get Frito. Frito looks back

26:23

at disbelief. Scissors.

26:25

He's been able to show up and beat a three. They're

26:27

four hitter every day. And

26:29

I think that young core that we're going to see

26:31

for a very long time, that was what got them through that tough stretch.

26:34

So as we mentioned, they barely snuck

26:36

into the playoff field. Took out the Brewers

26:38

in the wild card round. And that set up

26:41

a matchup with their division rivals, the 100 win

26:43

LA Dodgers. I think it's fair to say

26:45

that most people expected the

26:47

Dodgers to win that series. So

26:50

what did Arizona do to beat the odds

26:52

against LA?

26:53

This Dodgers team had more flaws than we are

26:55

accustomed to seeing come playoffs. Like it was very

26:58

obvious. Their flaws starting pitching. They had a

27:00

better rotation on the injured list than

27:02

they did active. And so they

27:04

had done a little bit of work to patch things over

27:06

at the trade deadline. But if your big move to

27:08

save your starting rotation is to get Lance Lynn from the

27:10

White Sox, who is leading the majors in

27:13

home runs allowed, you got to really

27:15

work some magic fast to fix things.

27:17

And so that was their flaw.

27:19

And that's exactly what the Diamondbacks exposed.

27:22

They ambushed that starting pitching. And Longoria

27:24

slams one toward the gap and left center field and

27:26

out and dives, but can't get it. It will

27:28

go to the wall. Thomas,

27:30

I'm going to be way home. It's a double

27:32

for Longoria. The paint to the plate

27:34

is late and it's six. Nothing

27:36

Diamondbacks. In Kershaw got

27:38

taken down in game one. He lasted only a couple

27:40

outs. Bobby Miller in game two Lancelin in

27:43

game three has the home run away

27:45

and then hit the next pitch to

27:47

the moon. There's your

27:49

fourth home run.

27:50

I've never seen anything

27:53

like it

27:53

nor have I. There's a

27:55

third inning maybe they have four homers off of Lancelin.

27:58

And once you can do that and you. add homers

28:00

on top of what they already do so well, which is more of the small

28:03

ball, the bunting, the stolen bases, and just that

28:05

speed element. They can manufacture runs in

28:07

a way that a lot of teams just don't in the same

28:09

age. And so they are not reliant

28:11

on the long ball. And so when they have that element working,

28:14

they're a really, really dangerous team.

28:17

They were once again facing some tough odds in

28:19

the NLCS, and it looked pretty

28:21

bleak when they lost the first two games in Philadelphia

28:24

by a combined score of 15 to three. So,

28:27

Steven, what did you see as the

28:29

keys to Arizona turning it around against

28:31

the Phillies?

28:32

They knew that the Phillies were going to need to

28:34

patch things together with only having two

28:37

starters that they felt super comfortable in with

28:40

Zach Wheeler and Aaron Nola. They were

28:42

both really good in games one to two the second time around.

28:45

Wheeler was good again, but Nola wasn't as

28:47

strong. And what ended up happening was

28:49

the Dimeback lineup sort of come to life

28:51

a little bit. Corbin Carroll had been quiet, and

28:54

he starts to open things up. And then as the series

28:56

goes on, the Dimebacks started doing what they

28:58

do best some more. They used speed to their advantage.

29:00

They had pitchers uncomfortable. For the first time,

29:02

they have a pitch clock in the postseason. You have limits

29:04

on pick-offs. MLB did not adjust

29:07

any of those for the postseason. I think you've seen the Dimebacks,

29:09

more than any other team, start to use that to their

29:11

advantage, pressuring some of these pitchers,

29:13

putting them in uncomfortable situations. And

29:16

again, I think now more than ever before,

29:18

even just singling or walking, getting someone

29:21

on base can do so much to rattle

29:23

the pitcher that you can use that, I

29:25

think, to even be part of your blueprint, part of your game

29:27

plan. And I think the Dimebacks are doing that. And

29:30

the other side of things was they figured out

29:32

a way to quiet the hottest bats for the Phillies.

29:34

Nick Castellanos disappeared after he had such a huge

29:37

NLDS. Bryce Harper faded,

29:40

I think is fair to say, after he had such

29:42

a hot start to the postseason. Trey Turner lost

29:44

that magic touch he'd had since August

29:46

when he was going absolutely bonkers. And

29:49

to get the effort they had from Brandon Fotten,

29:51

who I mentioned earlier, he was really, really bad

29:53

in the first half of the season. He got sent back to the minors. He came

29:55

back. He was a little bit better, but no

29:57

one expected that this guy would be handed the ball in

30:00

big games in October, the way he was pitching this season

30:03

and they've trusted him. He may not be as established

30:05

as some of these other guys. You may not be even close to the form of

30:07

pitcher you're going to be when you're 27 years old, but right

30:09

now you are what we need. You're the best option and

30:12

we're going to trust you. And I think that has gone a long way because

30:14

the bullpen they have behind is way

30:16

better than a lot of people realize. Well,

30:18

finally, Steven, what are your keys

30:20

to victory for both teams? And here's

30:23

a chance to redeem yourself when it comes to predictions.

30:26

Who do you have winning at all?

30:27

Well, you should absolutely not use my

30:30

Intel to inform any

30:32

bets or anything because again, I've been wrong every

30:34

step of the way. My keys to victory first, the

30:36

diamondbacks, they need to continue to create chaos.

30:39

On the other side, the Rangers, I think it starts

30:42

and ends with starting pitching here. This

30:44

offense is going to hit, but they

30:46

don't have the bullpen to weather short starts.

30:49

So I do think they need some length for these starters. Jordan

30:51

Montgomery, he was traded by the Yankees because

30:53

they didn't think he was ever going to pitch a big game for them. He

30:55

wasn't going to be in the postseason rotation and jokes

30:58

on them. Now we've all had a lot of laughs at their

31:00

expense this postseason because he's been fantastic. And

31:02

then Nathan Eovaldi, who is a two Tommy John guy

31:05

who no one ever really knew what would

31:07

come of his career now that he's 33 years old. He's

31:09

pitching wonderfully. But what happens if the

31:11

D-backs steal one or two of those first

31:13

two games in Arlington? They're in a really bad

31:15

spot, I think. And so it's important for

31:18

that starting pitching to hold up. My

31:21

prediction is I'm going to go with

31:24

the Rangers winning. I do think that lineup

31:26

is just so good that they can win themselves some games

31:28

that even they might pitch their way out of or

31:31

seemingly pitch their way out of. It's going to go the

31:33

distance and we get the Rangers winning

31:35

this fall game in Arlington. Wow,

31:38

that'll be really fun if that's

31:40

how it plays out. I'm hoping that your prediction is actually

31:42

correct this time. Well, thank

31:45

you so much, Stephen, for bringing this down.

31:47

Let's see what happens.

31:48

Thanks for having me.

31:50

You can follow more of Stephen Nesbitt's

31:52

coverage of Major League Baseball at theathletics.com.

31:56

Thanks for listening this week. This episode

31:58

was produced by Matt Strauch.

31:59

And editing by Andres Kelto. Audio

32:02

editing by Adrian Tapia. Sound

32:05

design and mixing by Aaron May. Track

32:07

checking by Ian Hurley. The

32:09

rest of our team includes Joe Richardson, Daniel

32:12

Gonzalez, and Matt Beagle. Our

32:14

executive producer is Andres

32:15

Kelto. The lead is executive

32:18

produced by Dave Easton, Marshall Lui,

32:20

and Jen Sargent for Wondery. From

32:22

Wondery, I'm Tiffany Oshinsky. We'll talk

32:25

to you next week.

32:33

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