Picking the winner of the 2019 World Series is kind of like picking the favorite of a set of identical twins, Natty and Astro.

Natty has phenomenal hitting in the postseason with nine players hitting better than .286 and stud outfielder Juan Soto batting .237, but with two home runs.

Astro may not be hitting for average, but the hits count when they come: 14 home runs in 11 games versus eight in 10 for Natty. But, Alex Bregman of Houston was held to just one RBI by the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. Washington can certainly match anything the Yankees could throw at him.

Both lads are supposed to have stellar starting pitching. Astros starter Gerritt Cole has given up just one earned run in 22 2/3 innings plus. But Zach Greinke has a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.43. He’s not fooling anyone. And people love to talk about Justin Verlander, but he’s prone to bouts of Andy Pettit-itis. Sure. Try to say that. The point is, for every seven-inning, one hit outing, Verlander’s good for four earned runs in 3 and 2/3 innings.

For Washington, their three starters, Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg have given up nine earned runs in 10 starts. If they can keep putting six and seven innings on the board and keep filling in in relief, they could certainly repeat their performance against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series and the St. Louis Cardinals in the championship series.

In the Nationals bullpen, Daniel Hudson, Sean Doolittle, and, cough, Fernando Rodney (?) have gotten the outs they needed to. They’ve had a week off so they and Patrick Corbin should be rested. He has had five outings this postseason. Three times he gave up a run or less. The other two times… he gave up 10 combined.

In Houston, there are more reliable arms in the bullpen and Will Harris is also unscored upon, just like Washington closer Daniel Hudson.

Managers? AJ Hinch and Daniel Martinez are former players who have done a great job putting their players in positions to succeed.

The final determination seems to be the amount of time Washington has had to get cold. It urns out a five-game playoff against the Dodgers may not be such a good thing, according to history. MLB.com says the last 10 teams to clinch the pennant first have combined to win just one World Series.

You know what that means? Squat. Because sometimes, stats and trends are just plain stupid and so is picking a favorite child. But, because we have to, we are going to ask Aunt Clovis to pick. And Aunt Clovis says, with clutch hitting and more consistent starting pitching, Natty is going to win this thing, despite facing a Cardinals team that was nowhere near capable of hitting in the clutch like the Yankees could.

Aw c’mon, Astro, don’t cry. You know I hate it when you cry. Here you go. Here’s an ice cream. You never liked Aunt Clovis that much anyway.