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BOSTON – They circled the entire season, the two best baseball teams in every respect, each aware that the path to a World Series title would almost certainly go through the other. They now meet in the American League series, the Boston Red Sox (108 wins) and the Houston Astros (103). Seventy-six years ago, baseball saw two teams earn such playoff scores.
Both teams can claim, with some evidence, that they are the best that the sport has seen for a generation or more. The Red Sox's total wins have been the highest since the Mariners won 116, while the Astros points differential (+ 263) was 34 points higher than Boston and the most important baseball since 2001's Mariners. The Astros won the World Series in 2017, defeating the Red Sox en route, and even stronger one year later.
"Last year, I thought we had the best team we could have," said Friday the second baseman of Astros, Jose Altuve, the most useful player in the AL. , on Monday. "And then we show up this year."
The series will feature the top three starting starters from AL, ranked in FanGraphs' pre-replacement wins, in Justin Verlander (first) and Gerrit Cole (third) and in Boston, Chris Sale (second) – Verlander and Sale meet in the first match. Saturday night at Fenway Park – as well as five of the 13 best players in the league: Boston's Mookie Betts (first), JD Martinez (seventh) and Xander Bogaerts (12th), and Alex Bregman of Houston (fourth) and Altuve (13th) .
Four of the last seven winners of the ALYY Young Trophy will award the series: Dallas Keuchel (2015) and Verlander (2011) in Houston, Rick Porcello (2016) and David Price (2012) in Boston. Keuchel against Porcello will have to wait for the third match.
"That's why you play," said Alex Cora, Red Sox coach, team bench coach, Houston counterpart AJ Hinch in 2017. "Your low training sessions season, then spring training, and then 162 [regular season] and you put yourself in a position to win 11 games in October, and you can say that you play for the best baseball team. "
But when you keep these teams side by side, it's as if one is a photographic negative of the other, as the paths taken to get there were divergent, as their attributes were different.
The Red Sox scored the most points in baseball (876), while the Astros allowed the least (534). The Red Sox dominated all baseball with 57 home wins; the 57 victories on the road of the Astros also led the majors. The Astros feather is so deep that three or four members of the relief team who have been left out of their lineup would likely have to throw some big heats for the Red Sox this month. The Red Sox formation is so complete that Brock Holt became the first player in playoff history to hit the cycle in Game 3 of the division series, then did not even see the pitch in the match 4.
"We do not need more. We just need the same thing, "Sale said. "We must continue to do what we have done all year because what we have done all year has been really good."
With that in mind, here are six players – three from each team, a mix of stars and role players, pitchers and hitters – who could have a disproportionate influence on the outcome.
Mookie Betts: The right defensive player and leader of the Red Sox is probably the most useful player in the league, but he only hit .188 against the Yankees in the ALDS, with one more shot, a doubled, placing it at a batting average of .238. 333% base and 0.333% slugging in 11 playoff games. In particular, against Yankees starter CC Sabathia, in the fourth game, he missed shots that he usually destroys. The Red Sox need him to set the tone, get to the base and do everything he's done all season.
"I have to help the team win in one way or another. If there are three hits, then cool. If it's a good game in the outside field, that's good too, "said Betts. "I do not feel obligated to do everything, but I know I have to do something."
Martin Maldonado: It may seem odd for a semi-obscure receiver with a .220 / .289 / .350 career slash line to make this list, but it is only too exaggerated to say that the Astros have acquired Maldonado this summer precisely with this series in mind. The Red Sox were the best baseball team in the leagues, with a 80.1% success rate (125 vs. 156), and Maldonado is one of the best players in preventing stolen bases.
"The biggest difference – [and] I believe that they did [the move] Martin Maldonado thinks they will play in October, says Cora, comparing the 2017 Astros to the 2018 version. "I did not see that [move] to come up. But that's what they do. They think of the future. "
Craig Kimbrel: The Red Sox are perhaps the best of his generation, but he has not been himself lately. This season, he recorded the highest rate of his career (1.0 for nine innings) and the second highest market rate (4.5 for nine innings) of his career, and his ERA in the second half climbed to 4.57. Against the Yankees, he nearly lost a three-point lead in the ninth inning of the fourth game, missing a few feet before giving up a grand slam to Yankees player Gary Sanchez.
The Boston office was already fragile enough – to the point that the Porcello and Sale launchers were needed to contribute to the smooth running of the ALDS battle. The last thing they need is Kimbrel's ongoing struggles.
Roberto Osuna: The Astros reconciliation contract, acquired on the trading deadline, has been impressive (1.99 ERA, 0.882 WHIP) since returning from a suspension of 75 matches for a domestic violence incident. Supporters were hostile towards him on the road and at ALDS in Cleveland, his teammate Ryan Pressly had to come to his rescue to defend himself from an aggressive rowdy.
The Fenway Mall is a notoriously hostile place for visitors, with fans practically above you, and Osuna is almost certain to become a target. He was unstoppable in October, posting an ERA of 0.92 and allowing only 10 base runners in 19⅔ innings over 16 career selections, but none of these appearances took place in Fenway.
David Price: The Boston southpaw has a long playoff history at the start of the second game against Cole, highlighted by a 0-9 record and a 6.03 record on Oct. 10. lasted only one-third of the round, allowed three earned runs and left the mound at his feet.
The Red Sox show their confidence in giving him the ball Sunday night, but another early and despicable departure of this start would almost certainly lead to an ugly scene in Fenway and would make it almost impossible to start the competition again this month.
Alex Bregman: The third charismatic player is the best player in the Astros, their club leader and their best clutch performer. For his career, he hits a circuit every 23.3 points. In 21 playoff games, he scored one goal on 13 each run. That includes a pair of circuits against Cleveland in ALDS, a series in which he scored five goals in nine goals with four goals and four RBIs – a problem that the Indians simply could not solve.
"Bregman is really all you want in a baseball player," said Hinch. "His personality is huge. He is good about himself. There are not many players who transcend a major league clubhouse. It is one of them.
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