CommRadio 2022 World Series Predictions

Story posted October 29, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by CommRadio Sports Staff

It’s that time of the year, the MLB’s “Fall Classic” has returned. To some the hype of October right now is not because of Halloween or fall weather, but because of the emotion and drama during the MLB Playoffs.

We’ve seen the force of an American League team make their path to the world series look easy. Over in the National League a wild card Cinderella story knocking out heavyweights in front of them.

A familiar face in Houston representing the AL and a hungry Philadelphia team looking to shock the world and take down a gauntlet.

Here are our 2022 World Series predictions:

Adrianna Gallucci: Phillies in 7

Everybody figured the Houston Astros would be making another World Series appearance this year. After sweeping the New York Yankees in a four-game series, they’re the favorites for the club’s fourth World Series appearance in six years.

But what’s baseball without a good underdog story?

The Phillies finished third in the NL East and fought their way to a wild card spot. After defeating the St. Louis Cardinals, they advanced to face the first-place Atlanta Braves in the NLDS. With standout pitching performances by Ranger Suarez, Aaron Nola and Noah Syndergaard, as well as the series of J.T. Realmuto and Rhys Hoskins, the Fightins’ were ready to take on the other team out of the Wild Card, the San Diego Padres.

With the help of a 488-foot blast by Kyle Schwarber and a clutch home run by Bryce Harper in Game 5, the Phillies packed their bags and went off to Houston for the World Series.

Houston came into the postseason as the undoubtable team to beat. After playing the Seattle Mariners and the New York Yankees, the Astros are undefeated thus far. Their ace, Justin Verlander, has returned to his dominance pre-injury, and it was announced on Thursday that he will be the starter for Game 1.

Though Jose Altuve has had a quiet postseason, rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña stole the show in October, batting .303 with three home runs and five RBI. Subsequently, he was awarded ALCS MVP, just one out of five rookies to receive the honor.
It’ll be a good matchup for sure, but the Phillies have enough talent, fight and spunk to take down the Astros.

Allie Wenskoski: Astros in 6

A Houston Astros versus the Philadelphia Phillies World Series matchup is quite an unexpected one. Who would have bet that Red October would bleed all the way to the championship?

The Phillies are certainly the underdog here. As the sixth seed, the Fightins’ weren’t on anyone’s radar. Yet it’s to no one’s surprise that the Houston Astros are once again headed to the World Series. They entered into the playoffs as the first seed in the American League bracket and recorded 106 wins in the regular season.

This series is going to be a good one. Both teams have the talent and spirit to pull off the win. It’s just going to come down to which team has the pitching to consistently back up their hitting - and this team is the Houston Astros.

Not only do the Astros have stars such as Jose Altuve, who has a career .300 plus batting average, but their rookies have proved themselves all postseason. Yordan Alverez shone brilliantly with his walk-off against Robbie Ray and the Mariners, while Jermey Peña won ALCS MVP after going 6-for-17 with two doubles and two home runs in the series.

The Phillies have the explosive offense to keep the series close. NLCS MVP Bryce Harper can do some serious damage at the plate, as well as the rest of their lineup. Where the Fightins’ struggle is their pitching.

It’s going to be close, but the spirit of Red October is about to become a massacre with the Astros coming out victorious.

Matt Cabram: Astros in 6

There was never a doubt throughout the season that the Houston Astros would be one of the top teams competing for the Commissioner's Trophy here in October. 

While everyone loves an underdog story in Philadelphia, this is Houston’s fourth World Series in six seasons. They have only been able to take one out of their prior three appearances home, while losing two of them on home soil.

While some may say the pressure is on the Phillies to see if they can hang with the Astros, there’s a lot of pressure on Houston to see if they can finally close it out again.

Even though Houston has made their playoff run look easy compared to the other side, they still showed perseverance early on especially in the ALDS against Seattle. The first two games in Houston, the Astros found themselves down early. With their pitching staff they were able to keep it close for star players like Yordan Alvarez deliver a walk-off home run in Game 1, and the go ahead winner in Game 2. They went on to sweep Seattle in three.

Houston’s pitching was the story of the ALCS holding a very dominant New York Yankees lineup to four runs scored in three games. The Astros swept New York going back to the World Series undefeated.

The Phillies have been good on the other side, shocking the world. I think the Astros are different, and this series will go to the full complete team built with depth, and I think Houston has it all.

Nolan Wick: Astros in 7

I’m very torn about this series. The Astros are much better on paper. They have a better manager, the pitching staff is better and deeper, and they are very battle tested with this being their fourth trip to the Fall Classic in the last six years.

Logically, Houston should win this series and unsurprisingly, the Astros are heavy favorites.

However, something tells me Philadelphia could pull this off. The Phillies are playing like a team of destiny. They’ve had some amazing, storybook-type moments in this postseason, from beating the Braves to Bryce Harper’s clutch home run in game five against the Padres.

As a Washington Nationals fan, this Phillies team reminds me of the 2019 championship team. Both teams had that underdog mentality and got hot at the right time, which always bodes well in October.

That being said, the Astros haven’t lost a playoff game this year, and it’s not as if the Mariners and Yankees were bad teams. Meanwhile, the Phillies overcame the adversity of a Wild Card series in St. Louis, defeated the heavyweight Braves in the NLDS and easily took care of a difficult Padres team in the NLCS.

Philadelphia thrives off of quick series’ and tiring out the opposition’s pitching staff. Even though it took care of Atlanta, which is the National League’s closest resemblance to the Astros, that wasn’t a best-of-seven series like this.

This matchup will come down to whoever blinks first, so I’ll pick the battle-tested, well-managed and loaded Houston Astros to win the World Series in seven games.

Adrianna Gallucci is a first-year student majoring in journalism. To contact her, please email amg7989@psu.edu.

Allie Wenskoski is a first-year journalism student. To contact her, email amw7637@psu.edu.

Matt Cabram is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email
mwc5817@psu.edu.

Nolan Wick is a second-year majoring in journalism. To contact him, email nhw5046@psu.edu.