Ranking top 10 players in 2023 World Series as Rangers, Diamondbacks kick off Fall Classic

The Rangers and Diamondbacks have, as you would expect, plenty of worthy candidates

At long last, the 2023 World Series is upon us. The Texas Rangers emerged from the American League side of the bracket, while the upstart, 84-win Arizona Diamondbacks will be their loyal opposition from the senior circuit. 

The Fall Classic gets started on Friday night in Arlington, and to set the scene for the high-stakes baseball to come we at CBS Sports are here to inform you – with awful authority in tow – who the top 10 players of this World Series are. Given that the series has, you know, not yet started, this exercise is predictive in nature. It's based largely upon regular-season performance in 2023 but playoff performance thus far is also being taken into account at a secondary level. 

With your sense of outrage un-holstered, let us proceed. 

10	Mitch Garver Texas Rangers DH
Texas' primary DH and occasional catcher has thumped the ball in 2023. A sprained knee cost him almost two months during the regular season, but when healthy Garver cracked 19 home runs in 87 games and had an OPS+ of 134. During the Rangers' playoff run, he's slashed .294/.368/.529.
9	Jonah Heim Texas Rangers C
The Texas catcher was an above-average hitter this season – and even better than by positional standards – and behind the plate graded out as an exceptional pitch-framer and a plus controller of the running game. During the regular season, he tallied 18 home runs in 457 at-bats while almost getting to 1,000 defensive innings at catcher.
8	Jordan Montgomery Texas Rangers SP
Monty has rather quietly been a top-tier starting pitcher this season. Across 188 2/3 combined innings for the Cardinals and Rangers he pitched to a 3.20 ERA with a 3.46 K/BB ratio. The pending free agent has further fattened his next contract with a strong playoffs.
7	Nathan Eovaldi Texas Rangers SP
The 33-year-old right-hander looked like an AL Cy Young contender for much of this season. However, a second-half forearm strain landed Eovaldi on the injured list for more than a month and probably contributed to his severe stretch-drive struggles. In the playoffs, though, Eovaldi has been more like his peak self, and the expectation is that he'll be just that in the World Series.
6	Adolis Garcia Texas Rangers RF
And here we have the ALCS MVP. García this season cracked 39 home runs during the regular season and added another seven to that tally through 12 playoff games. Once the World Series is done, he might have a combined 50 through the regular season and playoffs. Not surprisingly, García has elite quality-of-contact indicators with the bat, and he's also a defensive asset in right field.
5	Zac Gallen Arizona Diamondbacks SP
In his age-27 season, Gallen topped 200 innings – an increasingly rare feat in baseball – put up an ERA+ of 125 and placed fifth in the NL in K/BB ratio. Across parts of five MLB seasons, he owns a sparkling ERA+ of 133. He's considered the Snakes' ace with good cause.
4	Marcus Semien Texas Rangers 2B
While Semien has struggled this postseason, you can't ignore the much larger body of work. He's at the forefront of any "best defensive second baseman in baseball" discussion, and he's leveled up his offensive game in a big way since his breakout season of 2019.
3	Ketel Marte Arizona Diamondbacks 2B
Until very recently, Marte had a case as the most underrated player in baseball. Now, though, he's the freshly minted NLCS MVP, and his squad is in the World Series. So rather than talk about how underappreciated he is, we'll just talk about how darn good he is. He's a quality fielder at second base, and during the regular season he had an OPS+ of 128 with 60 extra-base hits and 71 walks. He's also committed opposing pitchers to flames during this postseason.
2	Corbin Carroll Arizona Diamondbacks LF
The 23-year-old presumptive NL Rookie of the Year is also one of the top performers in all of baseball. In 155 games during the regular season, Carroll authored an OPS of .868 with 25 homers, and NL-leading 10 triples, and 54 steals in 59 attempts. That's in addition to seeing time at all three outfield positions. Carroll may be baseball's top power-and-speed threat not named Ronald Acuña Jr.
1	Corey Seager Texas Rangers SS
Even with the substantial time lost to injury, Seager grades out as one of the best players of 2023. If he'd managed to be healthier, then Seager likely would've challenged Shohei Ohtani et al., for AL MVP honors. His bat is elite by any standard but especially so among shortstops.

Now let's play some games and find who are really the best players of the 2023 World Series.