A wealth of experience carried the Astros to a seventh consecutive ALCS, their 2022 World Series championship still plenty fresh. Houston also had hottest hitter in the MLB postseason at the time (Yordan Alvarez) and a pitching staff capable of sucking the life out of opposing bats.
On the other side of the bracket, the Phillies were rumbling toward a similar type of repeat. Philadelphia hit 11 homers while upsetting the Braves in the NLDS. Vibes were high. Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber and others were red hot, Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler unhittable.
Now look.
If there’s one lesson to learn from the forthcoming Diamondbacks-Rangers World Series matchup, set Tuesday with Arizona’s Game 7 victory and kicking off Friday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, it’s that sometimes things really can happen fast in MLB.
So fast, in fact, that it may actually be encouraging for Pirates fans, who watched their team make a 14-win improvement in 2023, eying more in 2024. As much as the Pirates might want to feel good about this past season, the clock is absolutely ticking.
“Our focus remains the same: continued improvement and taking another step,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said earlier this month. “I believe if I do my job well and we all do our jobs well, we can do that.”
Well enough to match what these two have done? We’ll see. But if nothing else, the Rangers and Diamondbacks going from 100 or more losses in 2021 to the World Series in a two-year stretch offers a fascinating study.
Begin at the darkest of days, and the Pirates basically had the same starting position, if not a slight advantage. The Rangers went 60-102 in 2021, the Diamondbacks 52-110 and the Pirates 61-101.
Furthermore, the Diamondbacks had the worst ERA in the National League (5.11), while the Pirates were next-to-last at 5.08. Both clubs only had one player hit 15 or more homers. The Rangers had a team OPS of .669, which was last in MLB. The Pirates were 28th at .673.
The path forward has obviously been crazy.
Arizona and Texas are just the fifth and sixth teams to go from 100 or more losses to the World Series in a two-year stretch. The others: the 1914 Boston Braves, 1967 Boston Red Sox, 1969 New York Mets and the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays.
How it happened doesn’t provide any sort of boilerplate model for the Pirates, but there are key elements to note. Among them:
• Rangers right fielder Adolis Garcia has been the ultimate reclamation project. He leads everyone this postseason with seven home runs. Five came in the ALCS. The 30-year-old Cuban was also designated for assignment twice, once by the Cardinals and another time by Texas, before finally figuring it out in 2021.
It’s hard to say how this could present for the Pirates. Maybe Miguel Andujar, at 28, returns and mashes. The lesson is more being able to find these players, bring them into your organization and help them. It remains an area where the Pirates absolutely must improve.
• There’s an interesting parallel on the Diamondbacks side, when it comes to the 2019 MLB draft, when Arizona had seven of the top 75 picks. It’s how they acquired soon-to-be 2023 NL Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll, along with key contributors such as outfielder Dominic Fletcher and pitchers Drey Jameson, Ryne Nelson and Tommy Henry.
The Pirates parallel involves 2021, when an innovative draft strategy landed Pittsburgh five of the top 100 players available: Henry Davis, Anthony Solometo, Bubba Chandler, Lonnie White Jr. and Braylon Bishop.
Given four of the five were high schoolers, final results are certainly pending. But it goes without saying that the Pirates need results here.
• When it comes to style of play, the Diamondbacks offer an encouraging comp. Arizona had the fewest errors (56) and best fielding percentage (.990) in MLB this past season and stole the second-most bases (166).
The Pirates plundered (158 steals), but their success rate was the second-worst in MLB. Arizona also did a much better job controlling the running game, a stat that should improve for Pittsburgh with a full season of Endy Rodriguez plus more established starters doing a better job of holding runners. But the point is that this formula can work.
• If you look closer at the Rangers and Diamondbacks — as far apart on the payroll spectrum as they might be — success through the draft can’t be overstated.
Josh Jung and Evan Carter are easy examples for Texas. Furthermore, two drafted prospects (right-hander Tekoah Rob and infielder Thomas Segues) were used to land lefty Jordan Montgomery at the trade deadline.
Pavin Smith, Alek Thomas and Brandon Pfaadt — 1.29 ERA and 16 strikeouts (against just two walks) in his last 14 innings — are three more key drafted players for the Diamondbacks.
• There other small-market hallmarks, too.
The Rangers were catcher Jonah Heim’s fourth team. He bloomed late and became an All-Star in 2023. The Diamondbacks made a tough trade involving outfielder/catcher Daulton Varsho but got catcher Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in return.
There’s also plenty to what the Rangers did that’s unattainable to the Pirates, who aren’t going to spend a half-billion dollars on two players ever, let alone in the same day the way Corey Seager and Marcus Semien were acquired on Dec. 1, 2021.
However, Nathan Eovaldi for two years, $34 million, Andrew Heaney two years, $25 million ... or even bumping payroll anywhere close to Arizona’s figure of $117,251,292 million — per the AP’s opening day numbers — is that too much to ask? It shouldn’t be.
Not when you consider the offense could look like with a healthy Oneil Cruz alongside Ke’Bryan Hayes, Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski; Paul Skenes and free agent pitching help supporting Mitch Keller and Johan Oviedo; or the strides made in a bullpen that starts with David Bednar, Colin Holderman and Carmen Mlodzinski.
The Pirates have a solid young core that provided some excitement. But the takeaway from watching this matchup is that there’s still plenty of work to do this winter.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: October 25, 2023, 2:51 p.m.
Updated: October 26, 2023, 12:14 a.m.
