As the Rangers prepare for a parade to celebrate their first World Series title, baseball fans across the Philadelphia region continue to think 'what if'?
The Rangers beat Arizona on Wednesday, 5-0, to cap off an improbable postseason run. The Diamondbacks, of course, knocked out the Phillies in the National League Championship Series.
What if Nick Castellanos didn't go on an 0-for-23 streak to finish the NLCS? What if Bryce Harper collected more than two hits over the final five games of the series? What if the Phillies did better than hitting 4-for-28 with only one extra-base hit with runners in scoring position in four NLCS defeats?
Enter Diamond Mind Baseball, one of the best baseball simulation games on the market. The company released a postseason disk in early October, using regular season statistics to create ratings for players on all 12 playoff clubs.
Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Let's fire up the PC and do our own simulated World Series, pitting the Rangers against the Phillies using Diamond Mind Baseball.
We've adjusted the Rangers so their World Series roster mirrors how it looked in the Fall Classic. As for the Phillies, we made some educated assumptions, leaving Rhys Hoskins off the roster while keeping Taijuan Walker as a potential long reliever.
The series begins on Saturday with Game 1 at Globe Life Field. Righty Nathan Eovaldi will take the ball for the Rangers, countering Zack Wheeler and the Phils.
To keep things interesting, we'll simulate one game a day and provide an extensive game story with some additional color. We'll follow potential storylines and offer content as if this were the real World Series.
"Four more Topper."
