3 ways that the Houston Astros helped prepare the Texas Rangers for the World Series

The World Series is set, and it will be your Texas Rangers vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's a battle of the Cinderella teams from each league. I know the entire state of Texas, except for Houston, will have their eyes glued to their TVs Friday night to see if the Rangers get a win to start off on the right foot. The one question that baseball fans are asking is, are the Rangers prepared for the World Series?

It's been a while since the Rangers were in the Fall Classic. The last time that the Rangers made the World Series was back in 2011. I'm not going to bring up what happened back then. The Rangers learned a bunch of lessons from the Houston Astros series that should help them in the World Series this time around. Let's go over three of the lessons that they learned from the Astros.

1. It's going to be a grudge match

If you think that the Diamondbacks are going to lay down and allow the Rangers to sweep them, you're delusional. They are the underdog team of the National League but have taken down some really good baseball teams just like the Rangers have. Beating the Brewers, Dodgers, and then the Phillies is proof enough that these Diamondbacks are playing great baseball right now.

After reflecting on the Game 7 win on Monday over the Astros, I'm glad Houston started to make the Rangers work starting in Game 3. The Astros made the Rangers earn the right to make it to the World Series and it could help in the long run against the Diamondbacks.

2. Be patient at the plate

Another lesson that the Astros taught the Rangers in the ALCS was to be patient at the plate. Throughout the series, you could tell the Rangers were swinging at anything that the Astros pitched to them. If they want to come away with the World Series title, they have to be patient at the plate against the Diamondbacks.

You could really tell the Rangers started doing this in Game 6 when they returned to Houston for the final two games of the series. With the season on the line, the Rangers had to wait for their pitch. That's when the offense started to really click as well. If the Rangers end up winning against the Diamondbacks, it will also be their patience at the plate.

3. How to pitch to the hot hitters

The Rangers had to deal with a lot of good hitters on the Astros' roster. Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve were just some of the batters that the Rangers' pitchers had to adjust how they pitched to them.

With Alvarez, the Rangers had to throw sliders and curveballs down and away from him in order to get him out at the plate. They also had to make Altuve bite and swing at pitches he normally wouldn't swing at. The pitchers are probably going to have to do the same thing against the Diamondbacks.

In conclusion, the Rangers are going into the World Series against another team that has defied all odds to make it where they are. The Rangers have gone through some really tough teams (Rays, Orioles, and Astros) to get to the World Series this year. If the Rangers do end up winning it all this year, they might want to thank their longtime rivals, the Houston Astros, for the lessons that they taught the Rangers in the ALCS.

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