Over the years, I have loathed the Houston Astros as much as the next baseball fan. Those trashcan-banging cheaters had everyone and their mothers outraged once exposed for stealing signs back in November of 2019.

Time has passed and since the scandal, the Astros have only missed the World Series just once. The time they fell short by getting knocked out in the 2020 ALCS (which was a COVID year).

That’s pretty damn impressive.

As much as I hate to admit it,  they are the best team in baseball, cheating or not. After this year’s performance, you can’t deny them as being the favorites to win  the World Series.

The Stros finished the 2022 campaign with a 106-56 record. While everyone was going on about the Yankees first half of the season, how they were playing historical baseball with Judge leading the way, the Astros kept taking care of business. They assumed the best record in the American League and they rode that king-status straight into the playoffs.

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Need I remind you, the Astros are undefeated in the postseason. After the Mariners ripped the hearts out of every single Blue Jay fan (yes, it still keeps me up at night), they faced a quick reality check and were swept by Houston. In all fairness, that probably would have happened to the Jays too if they managed to make it to the Wild Card round. 

Okay, I’m done talking about them, promise.

What’s even crazier is Houston went on to sweep the Bronx Bombers, with ease. If we’re being honest, why wouldn’t they? The Astros beat the Yankees 9 games to 2 in the regular season and have knocked them out of the postseason 4 times in recent history. It’s not like the Yankees have been impressive in the playoffs, as they’ve lost the last 5 ALCS appearances.

So that leaves us with our World Series matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies, who have been playing incredible baseball in October. Sweeping the Cards, taking care of the NL East leading Braves and knocking off the bolstered Padres, Philly has gone 9-2 this postseason. They’ve had a longer road but that could lend itself to more momentum built up, while the Astros have had ample time off to prepare for their next opponent.

Both are dangerous hitting teams as these clubs were respectively neck-and-neck during the regular season (7th/8th). I personally can’t wait for the chess match of situational hitting that we’ve seen from both teams, and the late game, come-from-behind heroics. 

Like most championship series, it’s going to come down to pitching. Philly is led by Wheeler and Nola who have had incredible campaigns. Wheeler especially has pitched very well, owning a 1.78 ERA and a 25:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 25.1 innings this postseason. 

However, they have to match up to the top two American League Cy-Young candidates in Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez. No need to throw stats here, we all know how well they’ve been pitching.

For the Phillies it’s been an impressive run and this is going to be a hell of a World Series. Matchup wise, Houston won their regular season matchup up 2 games to 1, outscoring them 13-5. 

It’s tough to pick a winner, but gun to my head, I go Stros. 

We have taken the Houston Astros in Game 1 at -165 (best available odds found on BetMGM). Listen to the latest DB2 BETS for the full breakdown and download the Betstamp App to follow along with our World Series picks, posted in the marketplace.