Not that you were ever worried about a sweep — the Phillies are hot, but no one’s that hot — but Saturday’s Game 2 action assured that this World Series is going at least five … and it sure looks, to these eyes, to be potentially going a lot longer than that. The Astros’ 5-2 win in Game 2 sends the series back to Philly tied, with a whole bunch of questions still unanswered.
Here’s a look at the five biggest storylines heading in Monday night’s Game 3:
1) Can Philly contain the resurgent Jose Altuve?
Because the Astros had the AL West wrapped up so quickly early on, a lot of people missed just how fantastic of a year Altuve had in 2022. (His 160 OPS+ was tied for his career-high, which came in 2017 MVP campaign.) But the playoffs got off to the most miserable possible start for him: Until an ALCS Game 2 double in the fifth inning, he was 0-for-25 for the playoffs. Since that double though, he’s 6-for-15 and he was the spark plug in Game 1 that he has been for his entire Astros career.
Altuve’s leadoff double led to a three-run first inning, and he ended up going 3-for-4. The Astros have some issues at the bottom of their order, and Altuve’s early struggles compounded those issues. But if he’s back going, being the Altuve he was all year, the Astros should be able to take advantage against a Phillies pitching staff that isn’t ideally lined up right now.
2) How much can Noah Syndergaard give the Phillies?
There was some debate that the Phillies should maybe consider an opener strategy in Game 3, trying to get the big Astros bats out early before letting Syndergaard attack the bottom of the order for a couple of innings. That wasn’t the way manager Rob Thomson went with it, though, instead planning to send out Syndergaard to start his first World Series game since Game 3 of the 2015 World Series, when he earned a win for the Mets over the Royals. That game has another key parallel to this one as it will feature a passionate fanbase getting to witness its first World Series home game in a long time. (See No. 5.)
Syndergaard is obviously a very different pitcher now than he was then, as he’s now more of a pitch-to-contact sinker/slider guy as opposed to the overpowering force he was before Tommy John surgery that forced him to miss almost all of the 2020 and ’21 seasons. This will be his fourth appearance this postseason and his second start; he went three innings in the NLDS-clinching Game 4 against Atlanta, giving up just one run. That really would be the ideal scenario for Syndergaard and the Phillies in this game: Three innings, one run, then hand it over to the bullpen. Thomson wouldn’t dare push him any farther than that, would he? Can Syndergaard even make it that far?
3) Is David Hensley going to get a chance?
The Astros have a DH problem. Trey Mancini and Aledmys Diaz, the two former All-Stars who have been the DH most of this postseason, have not produced: They’re a combined 1-for-34. Manager Dusty Baker tried to fix this issue by going back to Yordan Alvarez at DH in Game 2 with Diaz in left, but Alvarez’s defense has turned out to be just fine in left field, particularly with the modest outfield dimensions in left field in both Houston and Philadelphia; might as well put him out there.
Is it maybe time for Baker to pull the trigger on David Hensley? The infielder is a 26-year-old rookie who hit .345 in 16 regular season games but has had only two plate appearances this postseason. The first one was a huge one: A full-count hit-by-pitch in the ninth inning of the ALDS Game 1 against Seattle, the game in which Alvarez hit his famous walk-off homer. Hensley has shown an ability to get on base, which is more than Mancini or Diaz have shown at all. The Astros need to lengthen their lineup a bit. Every World Series seems to have an unlikely hero; might it be Hensley?
4) When is the Bryce Harper moment going to happen?
Heading into this series, Harper looked like was about to have his LeBron James run-down block in the NBA Finals moment: A likely all-time Hall of Famer, at his absolute peak, dominating in a way we’d talk about for decades. It felt like every pitch you threw him was going to leave the park. Well, after a couple of singles in Game 1, Harper went 0-for-4 in Game 2, and he has scored only one run this series and doesn’t have an extra-base hit yet. It’s obviously a very small sample size, but hey, that’s what the World Series is: A small sample size.
The hope heading into this series was that Harper could carry this team, almost by himself, the way he was going. So far, the big Harper moment hasn’t happened, but all it will take is one big swing to get the Philly faithful going. Which brings us to …
5) How wild is that crowd going to be?
It’s the first World Series game in Philadelphia since 2009. It’s a Citizens Bank Park crowd that has been carrying this team all postseason. It’s Halloween. The crowds in Philadelphia have been all you could have hoped for and more, and they were just getting warmed up. It might behoove the Astros to strike early and try to take that crowd out of it. Because if these lunatics get going, it will be a three-hour maelstrom of noise and madness. Philadelphia fans have been waiting for this for a long, long time. Beware.