The League Championship Series is about to start. Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays are looking to advance to the World Series. Some players are truly on fire in the Division Series and it’s going to be extremely important to see whether they will stay hot to carry their teams or even better, to be League Championships Series MVP(s).
Giancarlo Stanton is unreal, crushing 4 home runs in 5 games in the ALDS. A healthy Stanton is exactly what the Yankees needed. He hit 6 homers and slashed .308/.387/1.038 with 13 RBIs in the postseason. Unfortunately, the New York Yankees have been eliminated from the postseason after a 2-1 loss to the Rays in Game 5.
Randy Arozarena was hitless and struck out three times in the 2019 playoffs. This year, things are totally different. He was traded from the Cardinals to the Rays in January. He’s the hottest Rays hitter in the ALDS, crushing three homers. Arozarena is currently hitting .444/.500/.926 this postseason.
What are we going to say about Carlos Correa? Well, he’s a top performer in the DS. He smashed 3 homers in 4 games, the Astros are back in the ALCS again. In this postseason, Correa is slashing .500/.615/1.100.
Travis d’Arnaud posted a career high .919 OPS in the regular season. He stays hot in the postseason. In the NLDS, he was hitting .600/.692/1.400 against the Marlins and collecting 2 home runs and 7 RBI.
Marcus Semien’s batting average was only .223 in the regular season. However, he’s one of the hottest hitters in the Division Series, slashing .533/.611/.733.
Gerrit Cole and Tyler Glasnow each made two starts in the ALDS. Cole threw 17 strikeouts in 11.1 innings and Glasnow threw 12 strikeouts in 7.1 innings. Rays hitters only hit .167 against Cole. Against Glasnow, Yankees hitters only batted .120. Three pitchers tossed 8 strikeouts in the Division Series. Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara threw 8 strikeouts in 6 innings. Ian Anderson has been very good since he was called up in late August. He already threw 17 strikeouts this postseason, 9Ks in the Wild Card Series and 8Ks in the NLDS. Walker Buehler used only 4 innings to strike out 8 times in the NLDS against the Padres.
Julio Urias did pitch very well against the Padres. He tossed 5 innings, allowing only a hit and giving up one unearned run. He threw 6 strikeouts and gave one free pass.
Pablo Lopez has been consistent in the Marlins rotation during the regular season. In the NLDS, he threw 7 strikeouts. Unfortunately, he gave up 2 homers and the Marlins lost the first playoff series in franchise history.
It will be surely interesting to see whether these players can stay hot in the LCS. Meanwhile, it will be even more important for their opponents to identify the game plans to stop these guys. No days off in the League Championship Series, we will probably see the 4th starter or the 5th starter from each team, can one of them toss a gem? Are we going to see other hitters heat up in the LCS?
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