The #MLBbro had more at bats than anyone in a single postseason, hit two homers in the 2023 World Series and provided the leadership the Rangers wanted when they signed the all-time single season home run leader for second baseman to a $175M last offseason He’s also the 2021 MLBbro Player of the Year and in strong contention again.
Arlington, Texas — Tommy Pham didn’t waste his first World Series game.
In Game 1 against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field here, Pham – the Arizona Diamondbacks DH – blasted a solo home run.
At the time, it was a big one, giving the D-Backs a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning.
It came against Rangers‘ starter Nathan Eovaldi, who before that bro bomb, had allowed just one home run all season on a splitter according to a tweet by Inside Edge.
It was Arizona’s first World Series homer since Game 5 in 2001 when Rod Barajas went yard against the New York Yankees.
Ultimately, Pham’s homer went for not as the Rangers scored an improbable 6-5 victory in 11 innings – getting a two-homer in the ninth to tie it and a walk-off homer in the 11th to win it.
Still, Pham, 35, did his job and has continued to be a spark for the D-Backs who picked up the journeyman from the New York Mets at the trade deadline.
Game 2 is Sunday night here.
And you can expect Pham to have his big bat again. This postseason, Pham has three homers.
In his career, he’s been a masher in the playoffs. With his 1-for-5 performance on Saturday, Pham is now batting .287 in 27 games in his career.
During that stretch, Pham, who
made his Major League debut in 2014, has six homers, nine RBI and 13 runs scored in 101 at-bats. His postseason OPS is .793.
For sure, Arizona hopes Pham – who has a lifetime .259 BA with 130 HRs and 431 RBI in his career – can continue proving some power in Game 2.
His acquisition continues to be the power move of the postseason for Arizona who has its hands full with the mighty Texas Rangers.
Arlington, Texas — Marcus Semien’s postseason struggles at the plate continued in Game One after going 1-for-6 with a single in the 9th inning of his World Series debut, dropping his playoff batting average to a team low .190.
Going back to early October when the Rangers were fighting for a playoff spot entering the last weekend of regular season baseball, we have been waiting for a vintage performance from the 2021 MLBbro.com Player of The Year and 2023 All-Star Starter at second base for the American League.
Playing in all but one game in the last three years, a long travel schedule to begin the playoffs coinciding with the birth of his fourth child and first daughter led me to think fatigue was an issue causing his bat to slow up down the stretch.
However, we are now over three weeks into the postseason and after getting a few days off between the Championship Series and Fall Classic he is still searching for ways to have an impact offensively.
“I need to control the strike zone, that is step one,” Semien told MLBbro.com when discussing his game plan for attacking the National League Champion Diamondbacks.
“I want to hit the ball hard, that is all I can control. Obviously I want to do better and get on base for all of the hot hitters behind me.”
It would take a walk-off homer by the red-hot Adolis Garcia in the 11th inning to ultimately defeat Arizona and drop the magic number for the Rangers first World Series in franchise history down to three. Garcia has carried the Rangers with eight homers this postseason.
But it also leaves a little bit of a sour taste knowing that if Semien would look anything like he did throughout most of the regular season, this series would probably end up being a laugher.
He has batted in the leadoff spot every game for the past two years and even broke the Rangers franchise record for the most leadoff home runs in a season this year with 10, but with him not getting on base at a high clip you have to wonder if sliding down to the two spot and getting a runner on ahead of him would help spark his bat.
For now though, manager Bruce Bochy — who shows the utmost trust in all of his players — appears to be letting his lead horse find his way to water despite going through some hard times. The Rangers have not suffered in the win column at all.
Semien’s defense has been impeccable, he’s still one of the most intelligent players in the game and his consistent, positive attitude still resonates in the locker room.
Game Two is Saturday night at 7PM.
MLBbro.com lead baseball reporter Malik Wright spoke to Texas Rangers All-Star second baseman Marcus Semien, who provided his opinion on what the Rangers have to do against the scrappy Arizona Diamondbacks to win the first World Series in franchise history.
Marcus Semien and the Texas Rangers are no longer little bro after putting an end to the reign of dominance by Dusty Baker and his Houston Astros with an 11-4 win in Game Seven of the ALCS.
Rangers win the American League pennant for the first time since 2011:
“Fans have been waiting for this moment for 12 years and I cannot wait to be a part of it,” Semien told reporters as his teammates doused each other in yet another champagne celebration.
For Semien and the Rangers, this series was personal and it is only fitting that the team’s captain and leader was able to record the last out to bring World Series baseball back to Arlington, Texas.
At the plate, he was 1-for-5 with a walk and a run scored while on defense he turned a critical double play early in the game to get out Michael Brantley and preserve the lead.
Third base coach Tony Beasley, who has been with the Rangers since 2015 did his part in executing a great game plan that made stealing bases off of Houston starter Christian Javier a priority.
The team swiped three bags which is the most they have in a game this entire postseason.
Game One of the World Series will take place at GlobeLife Field Friday night.
Right now, all we can do is speculate about what the next move is from Dusty Baker.
Will Another World Series Title Move Dusty Baker Into The G.O.A.T. Conversation For Managers?
After dropping to 0-8 in winner take all games and failing the mission to repeat as a World Series Champion, what more does Baker have left to coach for?
His contract with Houston is up and with 55 years of Major League Baseball under his belt, Baker should not waste his time on joining any team that is not on the brink of winning a title.
Outfielder Michael Brantley also suited up in an Astros uniform for likely the last time.
“Uncle Mike” was 0-for-5 in Game Seven and finished the playoffs with just a .179 batting average.
A shoulder injury from 2022 caused Brantley to miss a good majority of this year.
It did not appear the Astros took the training wheels off of him until the playoffs, which ultimately was too late for him to find his true form.
Still, I believe there is a lot left in Brantley’s bat and a contending team will bring him in as a DH against right handed pitching.
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