I'm taking one more lap on the World Series by breaking it down on a scouting basis across the core tools. It's not technically just the five tools you always hear about -- I split one of them into two sub-tools -- and it's also pretty clean to put pitching into five tools (the four main pitches plus command) as well.
Like with the World Series player rankings, Ronald Acuna Jr.'s absence looms large. When healthy, he and Mike Trout are the two best players in baseball and, as such, would grab a number of the titles given out below. I actually think I would give Acuna four of the six and mention him as a notable runner-up in the other two. It's amazing how talented he is and that the Braves finally reached the World Series without him in a year where Mike Trout also wasn't able to stay on the field long enough to dominate the league, either. We have an embarrassment of young elite talent in the game, and it'll be even better next year when (fingers crossed) everyone stays healthy.
Batting/Fielding
Hit Tool
Michael Brantley and Freddie Freeman
This is a copout, but also the hardest category to call. Are we measuring pure contact rate (or batting average) with no regard for power, patience or quality of contact? That seems limiting to just hand out the title to one-dimensional players when there's so many elite, well-rounded players around, so I've given some weight to track record (sample size is huge for proving the tools play in games) and some secondary skills as the tools all bleed into each other a bit anyway. Brantley and Freeman are both super consistent .300-type hitters, with Brantley more the pure hit tool/plate discipline combo (while also not being totally one-dimensional) while Freeman is more of the well-rounded hitter that's elite at everything, all while hitting 30 homers a year. For runners-up, we can consider Kyle Tucker, Carlos Correa, Yuli Gurriel, Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve and Eddie Rosario
Game Power
It's a somewhat annoying scouting nerd thing to split power into two categories, but it's important to note the difference: Raw power is how far you can hit it in batting practice, while game power is how often you can get to that power in games. Game power has some plate discipline and contact skills baked into it, so it doesn't have pure "wanna see some dingers?" energy to it, but it's also way more useful in the actual game. You could choose to lean toward a couple different methods of breaking the tie (homers, extra base hits, hard hit rate, barrel rate, etc.). I landed in the area of most common homer or near-homer contact, which Alvarez somewhat surprisingly won by a decent margin, and that doesn't even include his playoff outburst. The others in the running were Freddie Freeman, Austin Riley, Adam Duvall, Jorge Soler and Kyle Tucker.
Raw Power
Yordan Alvarez
I kinda clowned myself here by needing to make a distinction between the two kinds of power and then giving both of them to the same guy. If it makes you feel any better, Alvarez isn't even close to being considered in any of the other categories, he's just crazy elite at the one thing at which he needs to be. This one is a mix of max exit velocity (after controlling for small sample size) and batting practice pop: Correa, Soler and Riley are all in the ballpark (plus-plus raw power on your scouting card) while Freeman and Tucker are more power frequency over raw power types.
Speed
It didn't look like there would be a certified burner in this series, thus making this pick tricky because the concept of speed is tough to pin down. You would get different answers if you wanted straight line longer-form timed track speed, time to run to first, usable speed on the basepaths, acceleration, top speed, etc. But when the Braves announced their World Series roster, it had one key addition: Gore. His statline tells you all you need to know about his skillset: For his 8-year MLB career (including postseason) he has 79 plate appearances, 35 runs scored and 45 stolen bases.
Behind Gore, I tend to lean toward usable in-game speed. I prefer shorter-limbed players that have explosion, acceleration and change of direction rather than the rangier, slower-building-to-a-better-top-speed types. The former gives you Ozzie Albies, and the latter gives you Jose Siri. I'm on the record for loving the explosive helmet-jostling joy Albies brings to the game, so he's my runner-up here.
Fielding
Carlos Correa
There are a number of ways to slice this one up, like taking a catcher who's basically only on the roster (and playing regularly) due to his glove in Martin Maldonado, or just whomever is the best defender at shortstop since that's the next hardest position and much easier to wrap your arms around visually and analytically. Luckily, defensive metrics can help us split ties and put players on even footing when the eyeball test just gave me a short list of a half dozen players. The metrics all vary a bit and have different strengths, but the consensus overlap between my eye and the metrics is Correa is among the best in baseball at short, and Chas McCormick is sneaky good in center field, with a number of other solid defenders a notch below them.
Throwing
Carlos Correa
If active, Cristian Pache has a plus-plus arm and would challenge Correa, but Correa is an easy winner here. Per StatCast, Correa has six of the twelve hardest throws by fielders for the Astros this year, and he's had a plus-plus cannon since back in his high school days, with no hesitation in showing it off.
Pitching
Fastball
Starter: Max Fried
Reliever: Tyler Matzek
There's a concept I'll refer to here known as run value, which is a stat where an algorithm just puts a (small) run value on every pitch based on past ones just like it. A slider doesn't have to get all the strikeouts if it often gets called strikes, foul balls or weak contact. It isn't perfect but gives you a good starting point to narrow down your list.
Matzek's 95-97 mph heater scored the best, despite much fewer innings than the starters, and (watches Matzek's Game 6 outing vs. the Dodgers) yeah that checks out. Being one of the better relievers in the league while throwing the same pitch 71% of the time gives you an even better idea of how effective the pitch is. The Braves top three starters (Fried, Ian Anderson and the now-injured Charlie Morton) all have plus fastballs sitting in the mid-90's of similar quality and type. Jose Urquidy (91-94 mph four-seamer) and Ryne Stanek (96-99 mph four-seamer) are two others that succeed primarily due to their fastballs.
Slider
Starter: Luis Garcia
Reliever: Ryan Pressly
Pressly has one of the best sliders in the league, ranking second just behind Jacob deGrom on a per-pitch run value basis. It's his bread-and-butter that he excels at disguising and executing, helping him to the third-best relief WAR in baseball behind only Liam Hendriks and Josh Hader. Sliders are the en vogue off-speed pitch right now, so there's tons of above average versions in both bullpens, like Luke Jackson, Brooks Raley, Cristian Javier, Ryne Stanek, and the three Braves standout pen lefties (Matzek, Will Smith, A.J. Minter) while Garcia and Fried are the two starters (obviously a more finesse job in general, so less common) in the series on that level. That said, a healthy Lance McCullers Jr. would've taken the title from Garcia easily.
Curveball
Starter: Charlie Morton (injury replacement: Max Fried)
Reliever: Luke Jackson
Though Morton is now out for the series, he did get to flash his stuff for a bit in Game 1. Morton's two-plane yakker is his best pitch by a good margin to the eye and by run value, where it ranks tops in baseball. He locates it consistently well at the bottom of the zone, and he keeps throwing it more (now 37% of the time). He has top-of-the-line raw spin (3053 rpm on average) and is getting better results each year (40% whiff rate, .127 BA against). A healthy McCullers is in the running here as well. The curve was Fried's signature as a prospect. It's still a plus pitch, while Framber Valdez is neck-and-neck with Fried among starters in the series, both with an effective, plus hook as their main secondary pitch. As relievers have gravitated more to power breaking balls, the traditional curveball isn't seen as much at the end of games. Jackson's curve is above average, but his slider is actually better, making him the best of a mediocre crop.
Changeup
Starter: Zack Greinke
Reliever: Ryne Stanek (splitter)
The changeup is usually a standout pitch for more finesse-based pitchers, which is why it's notable when a power pitcher like Pedro Martinez or Justin Verlander masters it. Greinke is your prototypical soft-tosser that relies primarily on his changeup, while Ian Anderson (a close second) is more of a power pitcher, sitting 93-96 mph, though his curveball lags behind. Stanek is a pure power arm with a fastball reaching up to 100 mph, and the splitter is a little more conducive to that type of pitcher. Jacob Webb is another reliever that relies on a changeup, while it's Astros starter Jose Urquidy's second-best pitch.
Command
Starter: Zack Greinke
Reliever: Ryan Pressly
Control is throwing the ball over the plate, so walk rate is a good proxy for it. Command is executing locations effectively (usually around the edges of the zone), so strikeout-to-walk rate is a decent starting point. But it's a struggle even with advanced data (and eyeballs) to get much further because you need to be able to nail down intent for the pitcher and catcher.
We're flying a bit blind here, but Greinke is a good example of this, as he's always had an advanced feel, but has regressed a bit as his raw stuff declined. You could make a case for basically any of the other top three starters for either club to be right behind him. Pressly is the best reliever in the series in large part due to how he executes, while also having lively but not elite raw stuff. There's all kinds of relievers behind him that get by with average-ish stuff and good location (Brooks Raley, Jesse Chavez, Chris Martin, Yimi Garcia, Jose Urquidy) while some veteran types excel due to the consistency of a specific pitch (look at Will Smith's tight location of sliders). Tyler Matzek is a good reminder that any late-inning quality reliever spinning a career outing at the right time can look untouchable and turn this list upside down at any moment.