This year’s NLCS has taken the baseball community by surprise. The Philadelphia Phillies take on the San Diego Padres for a shot at a World Series. The two teams were the lowest seeds in the National league heading into the playoffs. Both teams had to play in a wildcard series away and were able to leave the opposing cities with wins.

The Padres would go on to beat their division rivals, the L.A. Dodgers, in the NLDS. They took control of the series tow games to one, and finished off the Dodgers in Los Angeles. The Phillies found themselves in a similar situation, and they ended up beating their division rivals, the Atlanta Braves, in the NLDS. The Phillies took the series three games to one, sending them to the NLDS.

Both the Phillies and Padres were huge buyers at the trade deadline. The Phillies acquired OF Brandon Marsh, RHP Noah Syndergard, RHP David Robertson, INF Edmundo Sosa. All of their deadline acquisitions has helped their journey. Sosa has been their best acquisition, hitting .315, with a .345 OBP, .593 slugging, and a .937 OPS since the trade deadline. The Phillies were rewarded for their trade deadline aggressiveness, but so were the Padres.

The Padres were even bigger spenders at the deadline. The Padres traded for superstar OF Juan Soto, superstar closer Josh Hader, First basemen Josh Bell, and OF Brandon Drury. They had their struggles with their new superstars but were able to make the playoffs. Now, their new and old superstars are killing it in the playoffs.

The next NLCS game takes place tonight for the first game in Philly. The series is currently tied 1-1 with the Phillies looking to take control of the series on their own home turf.