About halfway through the 2023 MLB playoffs, with some of the favorites already sent home, only four teams remain to battle it out for the World Series. They include the Philadelphia Phillies, the Texas Rangers, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the defending champion Houston Astros.
So how do the Phillies stack up against their opponents in the final four?
MLB recently came out with one last publication of the Power Rankings just a few days ago, and guess what? The Phillies are now the top-ranked team among the quartet, after making quick work of their division rival Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves in their first two playoff series.
They began the postseason in the fifth-ranked position behind the Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays and the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have all been eliminated now from postseason play. In the final four, the Phillies are followed by the Astros and Rangers, with the surprising Diamondbacks team rounding out the bottom of the list.
Based on these rankings, the Phillies should be the odds-on favorite in the NLCS against the Diamondbacks. On paper, they certainly appear to be the far superior team. All of their big guns, such as Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos and Zack Wheeler, to name a few, have been firing on all cylinders in leading the way for the Phillies in their incredible run. Not only that, with home-field advantage, they have been practically unbeatable at Citizens Bank Park.
After taking the first two games from the Diamondbacks, the Phillies now have all the confidence and momentum heading into Game 3 as they head out on the road up 2-0 in the series. If they end up making it to the Fall Classic, they would again be the favorites based on these final MLB Power Rankings.
As a result, the Phillies’ destiny appears to be in their hands. They just have to go out and fulfill it and bring home what they narrowly missed out on last season. Let’s go Phillies!