#1 White Sox (23-5) vs. #4 Diamondbacks (17-12)

Season Head to Head:
Teams Split Series, White Sox won 3-2, Diamondbacks won 12-2

Playoff Leaders
White Sox:
Chris Cook .455 Avg, .818 Slug%, 1 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 4 R
Taylor Kipnes .500 Avg, ..538 OBP Slug%, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 3 R
Jarvis Greiner  2-0, 8.0 IP, 3.50 ERA, 5 K

Diamondbacks:
Tetsu Nishida .435 Avg, 0.565 Slug%, 10 H, 1 2B, 1 3B, 6 RBI, 8 R, 2 SB
Nathan Garth .476 Avg, 0.714 Slug%, 10 H, 5 2B, 4 RBI, 4 R
Joe Sergent  2-0, 14.0IP, 2.00 ERA, 19K, 2 CG

Preview: Guys we made it – the last weekend of FMBA baseball until May 2026, and the weather looks great. Might just have to hit the park one last time for a couple cold ones and watch two good teams battle it out. 

The Semi Final round saw both teams play in deciding Game 3s, both coming away with somewhat lopsided wins. These two teams last met in the playoffs in both COVID years (2020 and 2021) in which the Diamondbacks won both Series 2-0, including the 2020 Finals – the first of the five-peat for the DBacks. This year the teams split their double header in early May which was an eternity ago. In summary it’s really tough to take anything from any of these games. 

The White Sox were the best team in the league all season. Their bats were scorching hot, they had lots of pitching depth, and played pretty good defense. Other than a possible injury to rookie Jordan Moffat sustained at Senior Nationals, they should have all hands on deck for the Finals. All signs would normally point to them being the clear favorite here. But the regular season is different from the playoffs and to be the Champs – you gotta beat the Champs.

The Diamondbacks, despite finishing fourth in the standings, are the actual team to beat in this league until someone actually does it, and they have continually met the challenge these past five seasons. You can really only tip your cap because winning one championship is a hard task in any sport and they have done it five years in a row, all with a big target on their backs.

I have no idea what will happen here, it’s a straight up “prove it” type matchup. The Finals are a best of 3 in 2 days and you can either get real hot or real cold real quick. Usually whoever can stay calm and do the small things better is who comes out on top. I’m just here for some good baseball, good luck to both teams!