Connect with us

Features

This year’s ALCS is an event that you cannot afford to miss

Tampa Bay and Houston. Atlanta and Los Angeles. The MLB championship series are set to start this week. 

The four teams left playing for a World Series title each have great history and unique storylines, though, one of the championship series matchups might be a bit more interesting to watch than the other. 

Here is why the American League Championship series between the Houston Astros and the Tampa Bay Rays will be a must-see series that will help baseball get one step closer to wrapping up the most unusual season it has ever seen. 

The Heroes v. Villains 

Everybody loves to root for an underdog. In sports, we all want to cheer for the small-market teams that have yet to reach the top. We want to see that team become the sport’s hero. This season gave baseball fans just that. 

The Tampa Bay Rays, one of six current MLB teams without a World Series title, earned the best regular season record in the American League after winning 40 of their 60 games and finishing seven games above the second place New York Yankees in the AL East. 

The Rays became the team of heroes that the game of baseball needed; though, what would it look like to pair them up with the most hated team in all of baseball? 

Enter the Houston Astros. 

The Astros might even be the most hated team in all of sports this year. After their infamous sign-sealing scandal that surfaced back in January, Houston became known as the general “villain team” of the MLB that put the entire baseball world against them. 

Right in front of us is a classic story between the heroes and the villains of the American League. 

The Astros defied all odds to find themselves in another ALCS 

The expectations for Houston to have a mediocre season were extremely high, and honestly, they were met. 

The Astros turned in a losing record for the first time since 2014 and failed to defend what would have been their fourth-straight AL West division title. 

Houston finished in the bottom half of many team batting and pitching categories. Their .240 team batting average was over thirty points worse than their 2019 team average, which led all of baseball. 

During the first week of the 2020 season, Houston’s biggest star and ace pitcher announced that he would likely be sidelined for the rest of the season. Later, manager Dusty Baker faced major backlash and harsh criticism from fans for some of his choices and decisions as the Stros’ new skipper. At one point, the Astros carried over 15 players on the Injured List during the middle of the season. 

The math for a not-so-good season was all checking out on paper. As a longtime supporter of the Astros, I am not afraid to admit that even I doubted their chances to return to the ALCS, but somehow, they did. 

The Houston Astros weaseled their way into their fourth consecutive ALCS. It only makes a little bit of sense because it is still the year 2020. 

Astros’ GM James Click will see his former team for the first time ever 

It’s already awkward enough that Astros owner Jim Crane had to find a new manager and general manager before beginning the 2020 season. It’s now even more awkward that Houston’s current GM worked for the Rays literally less than one year ago. 

James Click, who spent 14 years in Tampa Bay’s front office, was named the new general manager of the Astros back in February. Click started working for the Ray’s front office as an intern in 2005 and eventually worked his way up to serve as their Vice President of Baseball Operations for three seasons. 

In an interview with Texas Sports Nation, Chandler Rome reported that Click said seeing his former team is going to be “pretty weird” this week. 

Last October, Click watched the Astros eliminate the Rays in the 2019 ALDS, which stands as the most recent meeting between Tampa Bay and Houston entering the championship series. 

The Rays and the Astros are very well matched 

Even if we’re just here to talk about the matchup itself, you will still not want to miss a series between two teams that both have great momentum, stellar pitching, and the two hottest postseason hitters in baseball. 

Houston’s bullpen has surprised all of us, though, it is one of the biggest reasons why they were able to punch another ticket to the ALCS. 

In just six postseason games, the Astros’ pen has given up just 16 hits and 7 earned runs in 25.2 innings of relief. Their pen’s 2.50 ERA in the playoffs is pretty impressive, though, if you were to take away the stats of two of the innings in Houston’s Game 3 loss to the Oakland in the ALDS, the numbers would improve drastically.

5 of the pen’s 7 earned runs came during the seventh and eight innings in the aforementioned come from behind performance by the Athletics. In Houston’s first four games, the bullpen did not give up a single run 16.2 innings pitched. 

Tampa Bay’s bullpen has not been bad at all this postseason, though, we cannot forget that the Rays boast one of the best rotations in all of baseball. 

Led by former Cy Young Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and former Astro Charlie Morton, Tampa Bay finished the 2020 regular season with the second best team ERA in the American League (3.56) and the second most team strikeouts (552). 

On top of their elite pitching staff, the Rays also have one of the best performers in the playoffs up to this point playing out in left field. 

Randy Arozarena is currently leading postseason baseball with 12 hits. He’s batting .444 with 3 HR and is slugging .926 through his 27 playoff at-bats. 

Though, Astros’ shortstop Carlos Correa is giving Arozarena a run for his money for the best bat in the 2020 playoffs. Correa is hitting .500 with 4 HR and 12 RBI through just six games in the postseason. 

Tampa Bay and Houston will open up the ALCS at Petco Park on Sunday, October 11. 

The league championships and World Series will both be best-of-seven playoffs.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Featured Articles

Featured Writers

More in Features