By Steven Luker
It is now round three of the MLB playoffs. We are one round away from the World Series. Let’s go over the last two matchups before we hit the World Series.
League Championship Series Preview
The first matchup we are looking at is the Battle of Texas series or the Nolan Ryan Series. This matchup is also a battle of veteran managers for both teams, the Houston Astros who are the number two seed and they are run by Dusty Baker. Baker is in his 35th MLB season as a coach and his 26th season as a team manager.
The manager for the Texas Rangers is former San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy. Bochy is entering his 30th season as a coach and 26th season as a manager. Both of these managers are 2000 win club in the regular season. The Texas Rangers are the second lowest seed left in the playoffs seed 5. Texas Rangers to keep an eye out for are a couple of hitters Corey Seager who hit .327 and 33 home runs. Another hitter to watch out for is Marcus Semien .276 hitter with 29 home runs.
The last hitter to watch out for is Nathaniel Lowe who is a .262 hitter with The pitchers of the Rangers to look out for is Nathan Eovaldi who was 12 and five with ERA of three point 63. Another pitcher to watch out for is Max Scherzer. Scherzer is a 13 game winner and lost only six games in twenty seven games this season. For Houston Astros some players to watch out for is Houston Astros will be first the hitters is Yordan Alvarez who had 31 home runs in the regular season.
Some of the pitchers to look out for are the Houston Astros. We have Justin Verlander who came from the Mets before the deadline and he has a record 13 and eight record with a three point 22 ERA. Framber Valdez is another pitcher to watch; he is a 12-11 record pitcher with a three point 45. The umpires for this series first timer Stu Scheurwater for the championship series. The crew chef of this series is James Hoye who is doing his fourth championship series. Doug Eddings is the next umpire who is doing his third championship series.
Marvin Hudson is in his third championship series. Jordan Baker is the next umpire and is working his second championship series. Dan Bellino is the last umpire that will be on the field for a game he is working his second league championship series. The reserve umpire for this series is Mark Ripperger who is doing his first ever league championship series.
The second and final series we are looking at is the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Philadelphia Phillies. Both of these teams are wildcard team winners. Also both of these teams beat teams that had a 100 win season in the regular season. The Arizona Diamondbacks are the lowest remaining seed being the number six seed of the national league.
Some Phillies hitters to watch for are Bryce Harper who hit .293 with 21 home runs. Second hitter for the Phillies is Kyle Schwarber who has 47 home runs. A fact about Kyle Schwaber is that he only batted .197 in the regular season. Some of the key pitchers to watch out for are Zach Wheeler who has a 13 and six record with an ERA of three point 61. Another key pitcher to watch out for is Taijuan Walker who has a 15 and six record and an ERA of four point 38.
The last key pitcher to watch is Aaron Nola who has a record of 12 and nine with an ERA of four point 46. For the Diamondbacks to look out for is Corban Carroll, a 23 year old who has 25 home runs and 70 stolen bases. Carroll is the first The Pitchers to watch out for the Diamondbacks are Merrill Kelly with a record of 12-eight and ERA of three point 29. Another pitcher to watchout for is Zac Gallen with a 17 and nine record and a three point 47 ERA.
The umpires for this series are Andy Fletcher who is doing his first championship series. The crew chef of this series is Dan Iassogna who is doing his seventh championship series. Mike Muchlinski is the next umpire for this series and is doing his third championship series. The third umpire that is doing this championship is Lance Barksdale who is doing fourth championship series. The second to last umpire in this series that is on the field is Tripp Gibson who is in his second championship series.
The last umpire on the field in this championship is Adam Hamari who is doing his second championship series. The reserve umpire for this series is going to be first timer Carlos Torres.
The three umpires that are sitting in New York in the replay room will be Mike Estabrook, Jeremie Rehak, Chris Segal. The winner of this series will move on to the World Series and the two other teams will be going home. If the Phillies and Astros move on it will be a rematch from last year’s World Series.
