The Rays against the Dodgers is the series I wanted. It’s this:
Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman built the Rays first pennant winner in 2008. The would make the playoffs in three of the next five seasons, always losing in the LDS. Friedman showed he could win on fixed costs, so the Dodgers hired him before the 2015 season to see what he could do with a lot of money. The Dodgers stand 528-343 since Friedman took over, a .606 regular season winning percentage, the best in the majors. They have not, however, won the World Series in that time.
Meanwhile, the Rays forged ahead with Matthew Siverman and Erik Neander at the helm. It a fashion typical of modern teams, they used down years to rebuild, and played well over .500 in each of the last three seasons, this year finishing with the best record in the American League. The team continue to innovate, being the first team to go with the opener strategy. They are very good at finding players that plug into their puzzle.
It’s the team with nothing versus the team with everything.
The pitching staffs seem fairly even with the Dodgers a bit better. The reason for that may be something that is tough to understand. The Rays strikeout 9.4 batters per nine innings, while the Dodgers mark stands at 8.6. Tampa Bay, however, allowed one more hit per nine innings than the Dodgers, 8.1 for TB, 7.1 for LA. That’s not supposed to happen. Have the Dodgers found a talent that prevents hits without strikeouts? FanGraphs ranks the Rays seventh in defense, the Dodgers 23rd, so it seem that it’s not better fielding. The Dodgers appear to be good at inducing poor contact.
On offense, the Dodgers scored a full run more than the Rays per game. The Rays batters walk a ton, but they also struck out more than any team in the majors. They make up for some of that with speed, with high numbers in doubles, triples, and stolen bases. The Dodgers can pound the ball, as the Braves found out.
I want the Rays to win, but the Dodgers should be the favorite. I give Los Angeles as 55% chance of ending their World Series drought.