Since losing to the Seattle Mariners in the last game of the regular season, forcing the Rangers to the Wildcard games, they have not lost a single game in the postseason.

For a whopping total of seven games, the Rangers have emerged victorious against arguably the best teams in baseball for this year. The Rangers are much more of a contact-hitting type of team rather than a power-hitting team, which stands in stark contrast to another team that I frequently write about, the New York Yankees. But I digress; this is not an article about the Yankees; this is an article about the Rangers.

In the ALCS, the Rangers putting up four runs to open game two are the most in a first inning in Texas postseason history. The combination of the hitting prowess of the Rangers, along with the pitching status that they carry, makes the team a very strong opponent. One of the names that have seen an ebb and flow in their career is Nathan Eovaldi.

In recent years, he has played for the Yankees, Rays, and Red Sox prior to coming to Texas. On the Yankees, he was fine but not amazing; on the Rays, he did not play much to put up any significant stats, and finally, on the Red Sox, he was able to somewhat find his stride in a way, proving himself to be one of the Red Sox best starters for several seasons.

As he transitioned to the Rangers, he still stood at the pinnacle in the way of his pitching career. His season Earned Runs Average (ERA) as a starting pitcher for the Rangers in 2023 was 3.63, which is not overly impressive, but what stands out is his ability to “play in the clutch.”

The Rangers have a 2-0 lead against the perennial World Series-contending Houston Astros, winning both games on the road in Houston. The Rangers will return home for games four, five, and six, and if they win two of those games, they will go to the World Series for the first time since 2011 with the opportunity to win their first-ever World Series Championship.

In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies have jumped to a 2-0 lead in the NLCS against the Arizona Diamondbacks. It seems likely that we will be heading towards a Rangers vs. Phillies World Series, which would be a very compelling and exciting series, and both teams have been playing very well in the playoffs thus far.

However, we cannot count out the Astros or Diamondbacks, as there have been many teams that have come back from down 2-0 to win a playoff series. If either team goes up 3-0, that makes the odds much lower, as only one team in MLB history (the 2004 Red Sox) has come back from down 3-0 to win a playoff series.