After over 60 years, two past failures in the World Series, and two massive offseasons, the Texas Rangers won it all for the first time. The Rangers won the 2023 World Series in what was a resounding five-game victory against the Diamondbacks. Texas went a perfect 11-0 on the road, a place where it all started after the Rangers failed to win the AL West. But, Texas proved that they were the top dog all along.
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An Overwhelming Lineup
It’s rather insane to think about the riches that the Texas Rangers have in their lineup. Between Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia, and Nathaniel Lowe — all of whom were acquisitions we noted in our World Series preview — it made sense to think that this team could do damage in the playoffs.
That’s exactly what this group did. Those four, coupled with Evan Carter and Josh Jung, scored 26 runs over the five games despite a slash line of .218/.303/.408.
Even without Adolis Garcia — who hit a mammoth shot in Game 1 to give Texas a 1-0 lead — the Rangers couldn’t be stopped in Games 4 and 5. Texas outscored Arizona 16-7 over the final two games, including a 5-0 shutout to wrap up the series.
Unsurprisingly, Semien and Seager stole the show. Semien and Seager each hit a home run and the Rangers second baseman drove in five. In Game 5, the Rangers overcame six no-hit innings from Zac Gallen to take the lead late, and Semien put the exclamation point on the series with a home run in the ninth against Paul Sewald.
But it wasn’t just those two to get the Rangers over the hump. Mitch Garver and Jonah Heim went a combined 4-36 in the series but came up with clutch hits. Even Garcia’s replacement Travis Jankowski put together two hits in Game 4.
The Rangers proved that while the regular season doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, talent, and depth are the two major difference makers. Texas proved that it had an elite offense in the regular season — and showed it off to the world in October.
The Pitching Came Together
The Rangers didn’t need Jacob deGrom, and Texas didn’t win the 2023 World Series because of Max Scherzer. Instead, it was Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, and Jon Gray who shut it down in the World Series.
Eovaldi had an off Game 1 but came together for a brilliant Game 5. The ex-Red Sox struck out five over six scoreless innings to earn his fifth win of the MLB Playoffs and another World Series title.
Gray filled in beautifully after Max Scherzer left Game 3, while Heaney threw five quality innings in Game 4.
And, one can’t forget about the bullpen. Texas’ bullpen was a concern for parts of the year but not in the World Series. Jose Leclerc threw 3.1 scoreless innings against Arizona, as did Josh Sborz.
It’s a great ending for Sborz, a former second-round pick who had two uneven regular seasons in 2022-23 but showcased good stuff. His stuff was a difference-maker for Texas.
The End of a Drought
The Rangers franchise never won it all prior to 2023. Texas came close in 2010 and even closer in 2011, but this powerful unit did.
It’ll be interesting to see whether teams change their approach in the offseason moving forward and go for it when there’s an opening. A lot of money was thrown around in each of the last two offseasons, and the Rangers were able to build a championship team in large part due to some of those marquee signings.