Oct 18, 2020; Arlington, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate after defeating the Atlanta Braves during game seven of the 2020 NLCS at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

When Major League Baseball first shut down due to the pandemic, there was no guarantee that we would see any part of the 2020 season. As the owners and the MLBPA tried to negotiate terms for a return to action, there was plenty of skepticism about whether it would be possible to make it through an entire season due to all of the viable concerns.

Once the 60-game season was set in motion, there was still uncertainty. Not even a full week into the season an outbreak hit the Miami Marlins, once again casting a shadow of doubt as to whether baseball would have a champion in 2020.

Yet here we stand a few months later, with the Fall Classic set to begin tomorrow.

While October has looked a little different this year, as teams have duked it out at neutral sites with either no fans or limited capacity crowds, the baseball has been incredible in the playoffs. It is not often that both the ALCS and the NLCS to go the distance, but that is exactly what we saw over the weekend.

Ultimately it was the Tampa Bay Rays and the Los Angeles Dodgers who came out victorious. Now we will see these two league champions square off in a World Series that is sure to be remembered for years to come.

Tampa Bay Rays

According to Spotrac, the Rays 2020 payroll was just over $75 million. Due to the 60-game schedule, that payroll was prorated down to a measley $28.29 million. Across their entire roster there are only five players who earned more than $1 million this season.

Yet here they are, the American League Champions.

It has been clear for years now that the Rays are one of the smartest and best-run franchises in all of professional sports. It is hard to win in a small market with a payroll that will likely never reach nine-figures. Still, Tampa remains competitive every year due to their creative thinking based in analytics and their ability to identify talent.

Even as they are in the World Series, the casual baseball fan likely can’t name more than a few Rays, but now that they are on the biggest stage maybe that will change.

Randy Arozarena has turned himself into a household name in short order, as he is having a truly sensational postseason.

Oct 17, 2020; San Diego, California, USA; Tampa Bay Rays left fielder Randy Arozarena (56) celebrates his two run home run against the Houston Astros during the first inning in game seven of the 2020 ALCS at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Arozarena made his playoff debut with the St. Louis Cardinals last year, but only registered five plate appearances. In the offseason, Tampa traded top pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore and Edgardo Rodriguez in exchange for Arozarena and Jose Martinez. Martinez was the bigger name at the time of the trade, but has since been traded to the Cubs.

By trading Martinez at the deadline, the Rays opened up a spot on their active roster for Arozarena and he has been sensational ever since. The rookie hit .281/.382/.641 across 23 games to close out the season, with seven home runs and 11 RBI. Across 14 games on their road to the World Series, Arozarena has eclipsed that production in the postseason.

The 25-year-old hit .500 in the Rays two-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays in the Wild Card round, then mashed three home runs in the ALDS against the New York Yankees. His power surge continued into the ALCS, where he hit four home runs to help eliminate the Houston Astros.

With his seven home runs, Arozarena set an MLB record for most ever by a rookie in the postseason. He also broke the franchise rookie home run record, which Evan Longoria set in 2008 when he led the Rays to the World Series with six home runs.

Arozarena is one home run away from tying Barry Bonds (2002), Carlos Beltran (2004) and Nelson Cruz (2011) for the all-time record. He is also just one hit away from tying Derek Jeter‘s record from 1996 for the most hits in a postseason by a rookie. Because of his historic performance, Arozarena won the ALCS MVP.

Beyond their budding young superstar, what makes the Rays stand out is how they win within the margins.

During their series against the Houston Astros, Tampa played some of the best defense you will ever see, with countless guys making contributions to winning games and the highlight reel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAmLM2Jinzc

Along with the great defense, the Rays seemed to capitalize on every mistake Houston made to put runs on the board. Then once they had a lead, Tampa went into their bullpen where they have found great success all year.

The Rays bullpen ERA during the regular season was 3.37, which was the third-best mark in all of baseball. During the postseason, Tampa’s bullpen has a 3.41 ERA, while covering more innings than any other team (60.2 IP).

Charlie Morton has been their big game starting pitcher, as he has allowed just one run across 15 2/3 innings pitched thus far. The 36-year-old took the ball for the deciding Game 7 Saturday night, pitching 5 2/3 innings without yielding a run.

Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are Tampa’s other notable starting pitchers, but overall it is clear that their opponent in the World Series has the upper hand when it comes to starting pitching.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Atlanta Braves had the Dodgers on the brink of elimination, taking a 3-1 lead into Game 5 of the NLCS, yet they could not put L.A. away. The star-studded Dodgers won three elimination games to punch their ticket to the World Series.

After falling behind early in Game 7 last night, the Dodgers kept plugging away before taking the lead for the first time in the bottom of the 7th inning when Cody Bellinger hit (then pimped) a monster home run.

Julio Urias earned the victory for the Dodgers, pitching three perfect innings to close out the Braves. Urias is just one of many young hurlers that Los Angeles features, with Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin and Brusdar Graterol all contributing to the Game 7 victory.

Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw headline the Dodgers pitching staff, giving them an advantage against the Rays when it comes to head-to-head pitching matchups. But the biggest advantage that the Dodgers have is the best one-two punch in baseball with Bellinger and Mookie Betts.

Not many teams feature two MVP’s in one lineup and each contributed to the win last night. Along with Bellinger’s game-winning homer, Betts made a spectacular defensive play robbing Freddie Freeman of a home run.

That was just one of many unbelievable plays the four-time Gold Glover made in the NLCS.

Yet neither Betts or Bellinger took home the NLCS MVP honors, as Corey Seager earned the hardware. While the shortstop went 0-for-5 in the deciding Game 7, they would not have been there without him.

Through the first six games of the NLCS, Seager hit .375/.400/1.083, with five home runs and 11 RBI. He also had a multi-home run performance in Game 5.

There is no doubt that the Dodgers have the greater collection of stars and overall depth than the Rays, but that does not mean that they will be holding the Commissioner’s Trophy when it’s all said and done.

Schedule 

Game 1: Tuesday, October 20, 8 p.m. ET, FOX

Game 2: Wednesday, October 21, 8 p.m. ET, FOX

Game 3: Friday, October 23, 8 p.m. ET, FOX

Game 4: Saturday, October 24, 8 p.m. ET, FOX

Game 5: Sunday, October 25, 8 p.m. ET, FOX, (If necessary)

Game 6: Tuesday, October 27, 8 p.m. ET, FOX, (If necessary)

Game 7: Wednesday, October 28, 8 p.m. ET, FOX, (If necessary)

Prediction

When the MLB expanded their playoffs to 16 teams, there was some concern that an undeserving team would get hot and make it to the World Series. Luckily that was not the case, as the best two teams from the regular season advanced to the Fall Classic.

If we have learned anything from watching these teams this year, we know neither is going to go down without a fight. While the Tampa Bay Rays look like the underdogs on paper, we have already seen them eliminate the New York Yankees and a red-hot Houston Astros. With their great pitching and defense, Tampa may just win their first World Series in franchise history.

While I am rooting for the Rays to come out on top, if I am making an unbiased prediction, I think the Dodgers finally get the job done end their 32-year World Series drought.

Tampa will win a few games, but I’ll pick the Dodgers in win in six games.