Leftfield: Enrique Hernandez vs. Marwin Gonzalez

The hero of the NLCS clincher with his three-homer game, the 25-year-old Hernandez is versatile superutilityman who has played every position this year except pitcher and catcher. His primary role during this postseason is as the short half of the team's leftfield platoon, with Andre Ethier or Curtis Granderson taking the starts against righties. By far the best defender and baserunner of the trio, Hernandez isn't the full-timer because he hit a wretched .159/244/.255 in 165 PA against righties, compared to a robust .270/.367/.579 with 10 homers in 177 PA against lefties. He's 3-for-8 with a double and two homers against the latter in the postseason.

A jack-of-all-trades for manager A.J. Hinch, Gonzalez went from mediocre utility man to a valuable piece all over the diamond. In a career year, the 28-year-old Venezuelan hit .303/.377/.530 with 23 home runs and a team-high 90 RBIs—and he played six different positions to boot. In the postseason, he’s settled in as Houston’s regular leftfielder, but his sterling year hasn’t carried over to October, as he’s posted a .150/.227/.182 line in 44 plate appearances. He can be attacked with breaking pitches, but he can still turn around a mistake.

Edge: Astros