MLB: A San Francisco Giants fan guide to the 2023 Division Series

Four sweeps, four teams eliminated—within two days the volatile Wild Card series obstacle was razed and victorious teams were on to slightly-less volatile climes of the best-of-five Division Series.

All but one of my picks from the earlier Giants fan guide didn’t make the cut. Still there are ex-managers, a familiar color-scheme, longtime losers suddenly in the spotlight to root for, and most importantly, a rival to root against.

American League Division Series - Texas Rangers (5) vs Baltimore Orioles (1)

For some of you, the Rangers are your horse—ride or die. Bruce Bochy is jockeying his way through another postseason and that is an undeniable comfort for San Francisco Giants fans. His lumbering gait out to the pitcher’s mound, the baritone voice in pregame-postgame interviews, sphinx-like at the dugout steps: protector, enigmatic sage, heavy and steady.

He’s third on the all-time list for postseason rounds with 14 behind Tony La Russa (16) and Joe Torre (19). A win in this division series and ALCS will put him in a tie for second place, a World Series ring will give him sole ownership. A superfluous feather in his enormous cap already destined for the Hall of Fame which will undoubtedly be embroidered with an S-F.

But what about the players? Is it weird that I still think that Josh Hamilton is on their team? After that 2010 World Series loss served up by the Giants and their demoralizing loss to David Freese and the Cardinals in which they were 1 strike away from a championship…twice…Texas seemingly found themselves in a period of arrested development. They lost in the one-and-done Wild Card the next year and won their division in 2015 and 2016 but dropped consecutive Division Series to the Blue Jays, losing three-straight clinchers when up 2-0 in 2015 and then were swept a year later. They posted 6-straight losing seasons and are only 2 years removed from 102 losses. The only World Series they hosted since ‘11 was in 2020 and they didn’t get to play in it. Their decline and banishment to the desert has coincided with the rise of rival Houston, who rather rudely pulled the division out from under them—which makes the prospect of a Texas showdown in the championship series pretty dang appealing.

A lot of soul-searching over the past decade and change and the Rangers seem to have somewhat arrived. Marcus Semien and Corey Seager are a pretty compelling top-of-the-order pairing—though understandably carry baggage for Giants fans—with supporting cast from All-star catcher and defensive guru Jonah Heim and slugger Adolis Garcia. Their pitching has been their weakness. Jacob DeGrom went down after only 6 starts with a potential career-ending injury and mid-season trade acquisition Max Scherzer questionable for the postseason with a shoulder injury but they also have depth in the likes of Nathan Eovaldi, Dane Dunning and Jordan Montgomery—most importantly, Giant alum Chris Stratton has thrown 29 innings of relief since coming over with Montgomery from St. Louis, while Will Smith has recorded 22 saves but has been the face of their late bullpen struggles.

But if you’re a visual aesthete with a need for color-coordination and consistency in your life, the Orioles are your only chance to root for orange and black this postseason. Makes sense to me! Baltimore and Texas’s stars are pretty well-aligned in terms of recent franchise arcs and feel-good narratives.

The Orioles 101-61 record was the best record in the American League and their first winning record and first postseason berth since 2016 (eliminated in the Wild Card game). They’re also just 2 seasons removed from losing 110, four seasons from losing 108 and five seasons from losing 115. That tid-bit alone is worthy of sympathies and un-ironic zeal this postseason.(Interesting and relevant note for the manager-less Giants: current manager Brandon Hyde was hired by Baltimore in 2019, meaning he has two 100-loss seasons and one 100 win season in 5 years with the club.)

Baltimore fans have wallowed for a long time and the fruits of that despair are finally starting to surface with the likes of catcher Adley Rutschman—who’s homering from both sides of the plate should be a requirement for every participant in the Home Run Derby from now on—and Gunnar Henderson, who leads the team with a 6.3 WAR (Baseball Reference) in his age-22, rookie season.

My pick: Bochy again—but it’s close. If the Rangers didn’t have Bochy on their payroll, I’d probably pull for Baltimore.

American League Division series: Minnesota Twins (3) vs Houston Astros (2)

I was pulling for Houston last year because I wanted Dusty Baker to get a World Series ring. He did—and now I’m over it. I don’t want the Astros to do well because I want them to win, I want them to do well because they’re good foils. They’re a dynasty, an empire, which makes them a perfect villain and like all great climactic showdowns, they have to occur where the stakes are the highest. A best-of-5 division series just ain’t the place. It needs to happen in the ALCS or World Series—a best-of-7 contest in which tensions properly fester.

An inter-state, inter-division contest between Houston and Dallas…A match-up between ex-Giant managers…that’s hard not to root for. Though I don’t want to tempt fate—even a championship rematch with the Dodgers would be must-watch television even though many of the key players that participated in that contentious 2017 Fall Classic have dispersed.

Nothing really against the Twins. As for underdogs, they’re up there for the under-y-iest.

Based on how their pitching clipped the Blue Jay wings to just 1 run over 18 innings, they could be poised to shirk the AL-Central deadbeat moniker and frustrate some perennial contenders from the flashier divisions. But on an on-field level—I’m not really interested. I hate the way Carlos Correa throws to first. Like he’s a high school quarterback throwing a football just the way Coach taught him, like he’s going over each step in his head as he does it.

Man, we dodged a bullet there.

My pick: Astros…great villains shouldn’t go down before the third act.

National League Division Series: Philadelphia Phillies (4) vs. Atlanta Braves (1)

I think I hate the Phillies. Maybe because I hate adrenaline-and-maybe-probably-alcohol-fueled barbaric fandom; towel-waving, backwards-hat-wearing, camera-screaming, insult-shouting, pure-volume playoff rage. Do I just hate fun? If this on-base celebration is “fun”, then yeah, I definitely, without-a-doubt hate fun.

Basically, both of these teams have reason to be despised. The Phillies are just…the Phillies and the Braves are in a period of dominance akin to the Dodgers. I don’t blame you if you want both teams to lose—but based on these franchises’ recent history and competitive temperament, this inter-division rivalry is going to be really interesting.

The 2021 champion Braves cleats got snagged on the tracks in front of the oncoming train that was the ‘22 Phillies. They fueled up before the postseason, gassed it until they were running on fumes and dying inertia against the Astros in the World Series. Their team this year might be more cohesive and are certainly more experienced and have not let-up in terms of hype. The Braves, on the other hand, are one of the most potent offenses in baseball history and worse still have something to prove against the Phils after last year. The Phillies have an impressive tandem of starters with Zach Wheeler and Aaron Nola and a power heavy roster highlighted by the .197 BA and 47 homer-hitting left fielder Kyle Schwarber. The Braves soft spot is pitching but again just might have the most complete 1 thru 9 lineups in recent memory, kicked off by Ronald Acuña Jr. and MLB’s first 40 HR-70 SB season.

The Braves were hot from the start and the Phillies took awhile to warm up. But after a rough June for Philadelphia, both teams, along with Los Angeles, have been the ones to beat in the National League. From our perspective—one concerned with the Dodgers losing above all else—both teams have the capability of giving LA a run for their money in the championship series if it comes to that. Rather selfishly, this series is less about who wins but how that team wins. If it goes the distance, pray it’s not a bruising bloodbath but more of an iron-sharpens-iron type deal. If it happens to be a blowout, that momentum will serve the winning team well in the next round.

My pick: My heart says Atlanta, but my brain might adjust and take over depending on how the series starts to shake out

National League Division Series - Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Short answer: D-Backs.

Not the ideal scenario for Giants fans, but at least we’re used to it. This will be the fourth consecutive season the Dodgers have played a NL West team in the Division Series. We’ve gotten pretty good at compartmentalizing these things, and as far as NL West teams go, the Diamondbacks might be the easiest to root for. Apart from this season, the Giants seem to have had the least consequential run-ins with Arizona. Apart from this season is a large qualifier, and of course, their most recent series win was a blow to San Francisco. The only thing softening it being the fact that the Giants had just lost 3 of 4 in Colorado and were already on their deathbed. Like being bit by a rattlesnake after falling off a cliff, the bite technically kills you, but the roll down the mountain certainly didn’t help.

The Diamondbacks look poised to be another more nagging thorn in the Giants side for years to come, but right now, the pot between the two franchises isn’t quite boiling over. Again…I have gotten very good at compartmentalizing these things.

The Diamondbacks were 5-8 against the Dodgers in the regular season but are coming off an impressive display of offense against Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta. NL Rookie of the Year favorite Corbin Carroll went 4-for-7 in the series with a home run and double.

You never know how the first-round bye and long break can play on a team. In the first year with the new playoff format, the Dodgers couldn’t quite kick-it back into gear against the Padres after their impressive win against New York. That might be a factor again this year with Arizona confident and in a groove as well as enjoying a two-day rest. Game 1 starter Merrill Kelly has had an excellent year but is winless against the Dodgers in 4 games with a near 2.000 WHIP over 20 innings pitched and LA logging a .873 OPS against him. Kelly will go up against future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw. That’s typically not a good thing—but it is the postseason, and Kershaw is not above playing the frustrated fool.

On the other hand, the Dodgers getting past the Division Series plays into a better narrative. Like the Astros, they’re perfect foils. A rematch with the Braves in the NLCS after a victory in 2020 and defeat in 2021 is guaranteed good television. Of course, no Giants fan should root for this to happen.