With all the uncertainty going on in 2020, there seems to be one thing that will be certain.
Major League Baseball will crown a 2020 World Series Champion.
Heading into the abbreviated 2020 season that started in late July, the question of whether or not the season will finish dominated the early season headlines. And considering the multiple COVID-19 outbreaks on a number of teams, it is an accomplishment MLB has gotten this far.
Credit the MLB for adjusting accordingly and implementing the playoff bubble format that resulted in zero outbreaks and postponements of playoff games.
Despite an expanded playoff format that had surprise teams make some postseason noise (e.g. the Marlins, Padres and White Sox), the highly-favored Dodgers and the AL’s number one seed, Rays, are the final two teams remaining.
The tale of the tape (simplified)
Obviously, the Dodgers and Rays are the two best teams in baseball. Their records show it.
However, one resides in a large market in LA while the other in a small market in Tampa Bay.
One has the second-highest payroll in all of baseball while the other has the 28th highest.
Think of the Dodgers as Nordstrom and the Rays as Goodwill.
The Dodgers have name-brand jackets that cost $1,000 to $2,000.
The Rays have jackets that cost about $100 to $200.
Both still do their job to keep you warm.
That’s basically the simpliest way to compare these lineups. Both do a comprable job in getting the task at hand done, but one costs more money and is more well-known.
The Rays’ roster matches up just as well with the Dodgers’ roster — even if nobody seems to be a household name.
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ path to the Fall Classic
After dominating the first two rounds of the 2020 postseason with sweeps over the Brewers and Padres, the Dodgers looked like the favorites that they were heading into the 2020 season.
The Dodgers (and Yankees) were given the highest odds as+450 favorites to win it all before the season started, according to Sporting News.
Despite making easy work of their first two playoff opponents, the seemingly invincible Dodgers didn’t seem so invincible against the Atlanta Braves.
Dodger pitching had to go up against one of baseball’s best trio of hitters in Freddie Freeman, Marcell Ozuna and Ronald Acuña Jr. The Braves scored 13 runs in two games to hand the Dodgers their first playoff losses.
In Game 4 of the NLCS and facing a 2-1 series deficit, the Dodgers sent their ‘ace’ Clayton Kershaw. (Quotes around ace because Kershaw has been anything but an ace much of his postseason career.) Kershaw gave up 7 hits and 4 earned runs in 5 innings while the offense mustered only two runs.
The heavily favored Dodgers suddenly found themselves down 3-1 in the series. There were people who wrote them off, but ultimately Los Angeles has too much talent on its roster to go away without a fight.
Indeed, the Dodgers fought and clawed their way to a Game 7 victory with Cody Bellinger hitting the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning. They came back from a 3-1 series deficit to reach its third World Series in the last four years — thanks to NLCS MVP Corey Seager who hit .310 with a record-setting 5 home runs and 11 RBIs.
The Tampa Bay Rays’ path to the Fall Classic
No, the Rays did not receive the same national attention and hype coming into the 2020 season as the star-studded Dodgers.
Tampa Bay was still respected as it was given the fourth-best odds (+1400) to hoist the World Series trophy, according to Sporting News. But the franchise was naturally going to be in the shadow of AL East foe Yankees.
The Rays proved they were the better team by squeaking past the Yankees in a 3-2 ALDS victory.
After the Rays jumped out to a 3-0 series lead in the ALCS, the Astros came storming back to force a Game 7 — one of the selected few in history to do so.
With the season on the line, the Rays went to right-hander Charlie Morton who pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up zero runs, one walk and struck out six to give his team the 4-2 victory.
Morton has proved he is the Rays’ big-game pitcher. In winner-take-all games, he is 4-0 (3 starts) with a 0.46 ERA,0.86 WHIP and struck out 19 in 19 2/3 innings. (For context: October legend Madison Bumgarner has pitched 23 innings in winner-take-all games and has given up zero runs.)
Look for Morton to pitch on a potential series-altering Game 3 on five days’ rest from last Saturday’s Game 7.
Morton was a member of the 2017 Astros team that beat the Dodgers in the World Series. He pitched 10 1/3 innings, struck out 11 and gave up only 2 earned runs on 5 hits.
Perhaps Morton can repeat his success against the Dodgers and play a huge role in this series.
