#StateToTheShow: Postseason Preview
October 02, 2023 | Baseball
Autumn is upon us and one of the rights of fall is having a month of postseason baseball ahead.
Mississippi State will be well represented in this year's MLB Playoffs with seven Diamond Dawgs competing on baseball's biggest stages.
Nathaniel Lowe and Chris Stratton will start things off in the American League Wild Card on Tuesday at 2:08 p.m. as their Texas Rangers travel to take on the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-game series. It will be Lowe's second time to play in the postseason having participated in the 2020 AL Wild Card as a member of the Rays.
If the Rangers win the series, they'll advance ahead to meet Adam Frazier, Jordan Westburg and the AL East champion Baltimore Orioles in the division series, which begins on Oct. 7. Frazier was also in the playoffs last year with the Seattle Mariners and collected the go-ahead RBI double in the top of the ninth inning during a decisive Game 2 of the AL Wild Card against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Brandon Woodruff and the Milwaukee Brewers play host to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Wild Card starting Tuesday at 6:08 p.m. In eight career postseason appearances (four starts), Woodruff has compiled a 3.18 ERA with 40 strikeouts and only four walks in 28 1/3 innings of work and also homered off Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018.
Former Bulldog hurlers J.P. France and Kendall Graveman await their ALDS opponents as members of the AL West champion Houston Astros. That ALDS series will also get underway on Oct. 7. Graveman was a member of the Astros' World Series team in 2021.
MSU had 43 former players participate in professional baseball this season, 15 of which that competed or coached at the Major League level. Among those Bulldogs in the Big Leagues are former All-Stars Frazier, Woodruff and Brent Rooker, first-round draft picks Rooker, Stratton, Westburg, Dakota Hudson, Hunter Renfroe and Ethan Small along with 2022 Silver Slugger in Lowe.
Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays
Game 1 Oct 3, 2:08 p.m. ABC
Game 2 Oct. 4, 2:08 p.m. ABC
Game 3 Oct. 5, 2:08 p.m. ABC (if necessary)
Â
Arizona Diamondbacks at Milwaukee Brewers
Game 1 Oct. 3, 6:08 p.m. ESPN2
Game 2 Oct. 4, 6:08 p.m. ESPN2
Game 3 Oct. 5, 6:08 p.m. ESPN2 (if necessary)
Â
Baltimore Orioles vs. Rangers/Rays winner
Game 1 Oct. 7, TBD FOX/FS1
Game 2 Oct. 8, TBD FOX/FS1
Game 3 Oct. 10 TBD FOX/FS1
Game 4 Oct. 11 TBD FOX/FS1 (if necessary)
Game 5 Oct. 13 TBD FOX/FS1 (if necessary)
Â
Houston Astros vs. Blue Jays/Twins winner
Game 1 Oct. 7 TBD FOX/FS1
Game 2 Oct. 8, TBD FOX/FS1
Game 3 Oct. 10 TBD FOX/FS1
Game 4 Oct. 11 TBD FOX/FS1 (if necessary)
Game 5 Oct. 13 TBD FOX/FS1 (if necessary)
American League Championship Series: Oct. 15-23 FOX/FS1
National League Championship Series: Oct. 16-24 TBS
World Series: Oct. 27-Nov. 4 FOX
Â