Texas Rangers: My Pick for the World Series

October Baseball is Here for the 2015 Season, Finally!

What an amazing and exciting Major League Baseball regular season it has been for 2015. 

Teams who have had trouble winning games in the past, emerged to be the most dominant teams in the league, making them eligible for postseason play: 

- Blue Jays (22 years ago), Rangers (3rd worst record in MLB last season), Astros (since going to the WS in 2005), Mets (2006), and Cubs (2008). 

Some players had breakout seasons, were rookies coming into the league, or had remarkable come back seasons to help their ball club reach October:

- Jake Arrieta, Kris Bryant, Alex Rodriguez, Prince Fielder, Dallas Keuchel, Carlos Correa, Josh Donaldson, Randal Grichuk, Gerit Cole, to name a few.

The CY Young race for the National League maybe closer than it has ever been for the award. Three pitchers each have put up stats for the record books in their own way

-Jake Arrieta, Clayton Kershaw, and Zach Grienke.

Of the top 3 teams in the MLB with the best records, the 2nd and 3rd place team will have to play each other in the National League Wild Card game. Lose that game, and you go home.

-Cubs (97-65) @ Pirates (98-64)

There is literally no telling which two teams will play in this year's World Series, in my opinion at least. It's easy to say Toronto because on paper, they are probably the best team, not to mention the largest bandwagon heading into the 2015 postseason, or a team out of the NL Central because those teams own the best regular season records. I mean who knows, maybe the popular opinion will be the most accurate. But honestly, who saw the Astros, Mets, Cubs, and Rangers all make the postseason coming? Because of these new teams making the playoffs, popular opinion will not be the most accurate. In depth thinking, researching statistical scenarios, or simply guessing will be the ultimate way in choosing who will be playing in the World Series. Or at least, is what I did.

Here's who I've got:

My illustration is courtesy of Microsoft OneNote. 

Why the Texas Rangers?

The Rangers are one of the hottest teams coming into the playoffs. There are some of the same players from their postseason runs from 2010 and 2011 that are still on the team and know how to get it done when it comes to playing in October. 

-Mitch Moreland- great turn around season: 23 HRs, 85 RBIs, hitting just under .280

-Colby Lewis- 17 game winner this season; 4-1, 2.34 ERA in 8 postseason starts

-Derek Holland- 3-0 in postseason

-Adrian Beltre- future HOF'er; 18 HRs, 83 RBIs, .287 batting average this season

-Elvis Andrus- .273 postseason batting average

Oh yeah, and these guys:

-Mike Napoli and Josh Hamilton. Alongside Beltre and Moreland, these two were the meat of the team offensively that went to the 2011 World Series. 

Now I know this is not indeed 2011, but players that have played well in the postseason before, tend to be consistent at it. 

Mike Napoli's Postseason Stats: 

47 Games Played, 7 HRs, 26 RBIs, .254 AVG, .352 OBP, and 1 SB

Josh Hamilton's Postseason Stats:

37 Games Played, 6 HRs, 23 RBIs, and the 2010 ALCS MVP Award

Their last two times in the postseason, however, were not so hot. They are back with Texas though, history repeats itself, and I believe the theory will be relevant to this postseason. 

Other notable players with postseason experience on Texas:

-Cole Hamels- won 2008 WS MVP with Philadelphia

-Prince Fielder- 39 games played in postseason

-Yovani Gallardo- 2.08 ERA, 20 SO in 26 IP 

The Texas Rangers are built for the playoffs, especially entering as one of the hottest teams. However, they are playing a team just as hot in the Toronto Blue Jays. I see this series going all 5 games. The winner of this series will go to the World Series. These are the top two teams in the American League entering the playoffs. I do not see Kansas City better than these two teams. The starting pitching does not compare. Kansas City is coming into the post season losing 17 of their last 30. However, their last 5 games, they won 5 in a row. Despite their success last season in the playoffs, I don't see it happening this postseason. 

Source for information: Baseball Reference