Could Defense be the World Series Deciding Factor

The Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros will begin the 2022 World Series tomorrow night at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. The Phillies, seeking their first World Series title since 2008. the St. Louis Cardinals, the Atlanta Braves, and San Diego Padres all fell to the Cheese Steaks as they slugged their way to this October classic. The Astros, who last won the title in 2017*, swept the Seattle Mariners and then backed that up with a sweep ( Excuse me while I smile for five minutes) of the New York Yankees on their way to the greatest show on earth. ( Hey the circus is closed I can adopt ) The Astros would appear to be the better team. Not only did Houston finish the season (106-56) winning 29 more games than the Phillies during the regular season, but The Stros outscored their opponents by 219 runs Two hundred and Nineteen. Philadelphia, ended the season at ( 87-75 ) outscoring its opponents by just 62 runs. I’m terrible at math but even I know that's huge.

The Phillies defense is about to be tested like it hasn't been yet this postseason. Looking at MLB Stats: No One i mean no one puts bat on ball more than the Astros. Okay the Guardians struck out fewer times 1122 to 1179 but they had a hundred fewer AB than the Astros. And According to the Fielding Bible only five teams in all of baseball, the Reds, The White Sox, The Royals, The Nationals and, The Giants have a defense who has saved fewer runs for its team than the Phillies.

But don't hang your heads, people of Philadelphia. This is the postseason. A clean slate has been handed to your beloved Phillies. I could have easily written this column twice already. as the Cardinals and Padres are both top ten in the NL in these categories. And we all saw what your boys did to them.