Didn't follow much baseball in 2021? We got you. Here's a breakdown on the teams, and how they got here.
The Atlanta Braves
Reg. Season 88-73
For much of the 2021 season, the Atlanta Braves flirted with .500 baseball and potentially missing the postseason after coming up one game short of making the World Series last year. They did put up 20 runs a few times, but more often than not they were losing (and winning) close games at a consistently boring rate.
After coming so close to winning the National League in 2020, and struggling early in 2021, the Braves made headlines when All-Star outfielder Marcel Ozuna was arrested on domestic violence charges and immediately put on the IL. Another huge name, outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr, was lost to season-ending injury around the same time. Reeling from those losses, the Braves made some big moves before the trade deadline and brought in power-hitting outfielders Eddie Rosario, Jorge Soler, Joe Pederson, and veteran Adam Duvall.
Sporting a 52-54 record entering August, the Braves poured on the coal and went 18-8 (.692) for the month. That primed them for a September to remember as they went 16-10 down the stretch, including 8-2 the last 10 games of the season, solidifying the NL East division title by six games over the Phillies.
Then 2021 postseason began with the Braves facing the Milwaukee Brewers and losing the first game of the series, yet rallying to take three straight and win the 5-game series in just 4.
In the League Championship, the Braves were underdogs against their familiar playoff foe, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Braves leapt out to a quick 2-0 series lead, but then the battle began and they traded wins until the matchup was 3-2 Atlanta heading into game 6. The Braves went up behind a three-run Rosario homer in the fourth inning and never looked back, advancing to the World Series for the first time since 1999.
The Braves are fun team this year due to their late-season surge and ability to overcome a rash of bad luck and truly look like a different team in October than they did in June. Their pitching staff is led by ace Charlie Morton and closer Will Smith, but it's the production they have gotten from the lesser-known names like pitcher Max Fried and third baseman Austin Riley that has allowed them to keep the momentum rolling.
Combine that with the fact that no one likes the Houston Astros, and the Braves are a tailor-made bandwagon for fans to jump on.
The Houston Astros
Reg Season 95-67
The Astros are one of the most criticized organizations in baseball after the cheating scandal surrounding their 2017 World Series victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Most people know the story, but here is the jist of it: The Astros players and lower-level managers developed a scheme (spearheaded by bench coach Alex Cora and veteran Carlos Beltran) that involved using the on-field television camera feed to steal the opposing team's pitch signals. The scheme went as far as banging on trash cans from the dugout to alert Houston runners on second base which pitch was coming, so they could then signal the batter.
The Astros largely attempted to deny the scandal until several less-involved players, realizing they would suffer little (if not zero) professional backlash, revealed the depth of the plot. Virtually every player was participating, and while manager AJ Hinch was deemed to not actively condone the scheme he admitted he did nothing to stop it, either.
The fallout of the scandal was essentially the organization losing several years' worth of first and second round draft picks, and a laughable $5 million dollar fine. Keep in mind, the scandal didn't break until late 2019, two years after the World Series in question. Also levied were a year's suspension for both GM Jeff Luhnow, who claimed innocence yet emails showed he did in fact have knowledge, and manager AJ Hinch. These suspensions took place for the 2020 season, and Hinch was fired by Houston yet quickly moved on to manage the Detroit Tigers. Alex Cora, who had immediately been offered a job managing the Boston Red Sox after the Astros' World Series win, was also suspended for the 2020 season, and investigated for using a similar scheme in Boston in 2018. He currently still manages the Red Sox.
At no point was there any discussion of vacating the Astros 2017 World Series title, or harsher punishments than the ones eventually enforced.
The players themselves have suffered intense criticism from MLB fans and organizations alike. Of the 2017 Astros players, infielders Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman are the most notable who remain. A combination of roster overhaul with management change largely seems to have kept the Astros from being completely blackballed. Houston chose Dusty Baker to helm the team in the wake of the scandal, and the overall likeability of the manager and his skill with young players aided in the aftermath.
The 2021 season saw the Astros have a solid 95 win year behind great pitching and stellar bats. The season was not without struggle, as they were without ace Justin Verlander for the whole year due to Tommy John surgery the previous October. In his stead, Houston saw production from Lance McCullers Jr, Framber Valdez, and Jose Uriquidy on the mound which kept their rotation alive.
After winning the AL Central by 5 games over the Mariners, Houston put away the Chicago White Sox in four games during the Divisional series and moved on to the surging Boston Red Sox. In an ALCS that started out tied 2-2, the Astros took down Boston 9-1 in game five followed by a 5-0 shutout in game six, moving on to their third World Series in five years.
There is a lot to like about this young Astros team, namely players like Yordan Alvarez who hit .522 with 6 RBIs to become the ALCS MVP. It's hard to fault elite pitchers Valdez or Uriquidy, new acquisition Zack Greinke, or current Astros manager Dusty Baker for the scandal, yet there is no escaping the cloud of mistrust and uneasiness that hovers over the Houston team.
Needless to say, the Braves are overwhelmingly the fan favorite to win the Series, but on paper the Astros have the better odds due to a much more consistent season and more reliable depth on the roster. Anything can happen though, so don't be afraid to toss some money down on the Braves while the payouts are still friendly.
Game one is tonight, with Atlanta's Charlie Morton facing off against Framber Valdez for Houston.
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