Major League Baseball

World Series 2021: What we've learned about the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros

Updated Oct. 28, 2021 12:27 p.m. ET

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By Jordan Shusterman & Jake Mintz
FOX Sports MLB Writer

Thirty teams entered. Two teams remain. 

After nearly seven months of major-league action, the field has been whittled down to two teams vying for a World Series title. The Braves are back in the Fall Classic for the first time since 1999, while the Astros are making their third trip in five years.

Before the postseason began, we recorded videos for each of the 10 postseason teams, highlighting the three biggest reasons they made the playoffs. We also made our official picks for the postseason bracket. 

How’d we do? Well .... you win some, you lose some. 

We all know predicting baseball is a futile exercise, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fun to check your work. Furthermore, reviewing our picks is a good way to remind ourselves how we were feeling about these teams before the action began, which helps us further appreciate each team’s journey to the Fall Classic. 

Let’s take a look. 

OUR ORIGINAL WORLD SERIES PICKS

Jake: Rays over Giants

A couple of days into the division series round, this was looking excellent, but alas, things turned pretty quickly. The Rays’ fortunes flipped in shocking fashion once they got to Boston, and San Francisco played a predictably close series with the Dodgers, only to lose on a brutal check-swing call. You could argue that the Giants would have given the Braves a better fight than the woefully injured and tired Dodgers did, but we aren’t living in that reality.

Jordan: Astros over Brewers

Hey, look at that! Still alive! As the only member of the FOX Sports digital crew to pick Houston to win it all, I’ll take a tiny victory lap here. I based my pick largely on the not-so-hot take that the Astros had the best lineup in baseball and that firepower combined with their experience with postseason pressure would give them the ultimate edge among the competition. With four wins to go, so far, so good. However, I was clearly way too optimistic about Milwaukee’s offense being remotely competent enough to win the NL pennant. Also, consider me just as guilty as the rest for doubting the Braves from the jump. No one on the FOX MLB team picked Atlanta to advance past Milwaukee, let alone all the way to the World Series.

OUR ORIGINAL TEAM PREVIEWS: Three reasons each team is good

Astros: The usual suspects, George Springer replacements, Dusty Baker

Jake and Jordan break down why Astros could win it all in October

Jake and Jordan go into detail on why they think the Houston Astros made the MLB playoffs, including their strong lineup, their infield and Dusty Baker.

What we got right: Unsurprisingly, the infield that has become so comfortable on the October stage has continued to thrive, with each member already having several signature moments, save for Alex Bregman, who has been mostly quiet but still fairly productive. This was not a difficult pick, but as much of a crapshoot as October can be, it’s comforting to know that there are some things you can count on, this historic infield group among them. As for Dusty Baker, he has been every bit the main character of the Astros’ run so far, even if we haven’t seen him manage many close games yet. Still, he seems to be getting all the praise for bringing his team together despite the other 29 fan bases rooting passionately against them. The phrase "only Dusty Baker could have managed this situation so gracefully" has been uttered many a time on various broadcasts, and it’s difficult to disagree.  

What we got wrong: While there’s no denying how shockingly valuable the center-field combo was during the regular season, the backward (throw left, bat right) brothers Jake Meyers and Chas McCormick have not played as big of a role this postseason as we expected. Meyers got injured, and McCormick has been passed over in spots in favor of José Siri. In hindsight, we would have been better off highlighting the more obvious young stars Kyle Tucker and Yordan Álvarez, who have been stunningly productive in support of the more experienced stars in the infield.

What has changed since the postseason began: Mainly, Lance McCullers Jr. got hurt. After looking excellent in the ALDS, Houston’s most consistent pitcher — I say consistent because Framber Valdez might have been the best all along — had to miss the ALCS and appears likely to miss the World Series. Through the first couple of games of the ALCS, it looked like that could be a mountain too steep for the Astros' pitching staff to overcome, but that was quickly proven wrong by the dynamite performances from Valdez and Luis Garcia in Games 5 and 6. The Braves’ lineup isn’t quite as fearsome as Boston’s, but it has more than enough talent to require Houston’s starters to be on their A-games.

Braves: The trades, the infield pop, the division stinks

Jake and Jordan on the three things that will help the Braves in the playoffs

Jake and Jordan look at the top three factors that will help the Atlanta Braves in the MLB playoffs, noting strategic trades and sharp infield instinct.

What we got right: We didn’t know which of the Braves' four recently acquired outfielders would become October heroes, but we had a feeling at least one of them would. Also, the infield pop has been there in spurts, with a few big homers from Austin Riley and Freddie Freeman. 

What we got wrong: We might have over-credited the degree to which the horrifically disappointing NL East helped the Braves. That said, even in that lousy division, the Braves finished with only 88 wins — fewer than Seattle and Toronto, two teams on the outside looking in that compiled their victories against much tougher competition. I think we underestimated the overall talent on Atlanta's squad, but I don’t think our skepticism was unwarranted; after all, the Braves were 31-37 against teams above .500 in the regular season, which seemingly would portend postseason struggles. But hey, Atlanta disposed of Milwaukee and Los Angeles in fairly convincing fashion when it counted.

What has changed since the postseason began: Eddie Rosario is Randy Arozarena, and Tyler Matzek is Randy Johnson. While we did highlight Atlanta's midseason acquisitions to remodel the entire outfield, we were definitely more focused on guys such as Adam Duvall, Joc Pederson and Jorge Soler (who we obviously didn’t know would miss multiple games on the COVID IL). But sure enough, it was Rosario who broke out in the NLCS with a series for the ages. Matzek, meanwhile, was the star of an Atlanta bullpen that proved far more formidable than many projected, even against the scariest bats in the Dodgers' lineup.

OUR NEW FINAL ANSWERS:

Jordan: Astros in 5

I’ve come this far. There's no reason to hop off the Astros' home run train now. If you had told me three weeks ago that the Braves would be the opponent, I probably would've picked a sweep, but Atlanta has impressed me enough — especially in terms of starting pitching — to make me think this will be a competitive series. Still, it feels like this is headed Houston’s way, with Dusty finally getting his ring as a manager and the historic infield core earning a championship that no one can dispute.

Jake: Braves in 7

The Astros are the better baseball team, but that's not how October works. I don’t see Charlie Morton having two straight stinkers in the postseason, so I like Atlanta in Game 1, even though the Astros' offense is a juggernaut and Framber is nails, too. The Braves are 5-0 at home this postseason, so I think they can take at least two at Truist, and watching Matzek unleash the beast in Game 6 against the Dodgers made me think anything is possible for Atlanta’s bullpen. Give me the worse team with the less dynamic offense and less postseason experience. I like the vibes. 

Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman, creators of the Twitter account Céspedes Family BBQ, write about all things baseball for FOX Sports.

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MLB - Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros - 10/27/2021

MLB - Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros - 10/28/2021

Kyle Tucker

Yordan Alvarez

Framber Valdez

Luis Garcia

Eddie Rosario

Tyler Matzek

Freddie Freeman

Jordan Shusterman

Jake Mintz