11/22/2023

Just love to hit in the postseason?


The 2023 season is over. The Rangers won the first World Series Championship. In the playoffs, several Rangers players had hit very well and great hitting performance certainly helped the team. Besides the Rangers players, this postseason, several players used their bats to contribute to the team as well.

 

Now, let’s take a look at those players who had been hot in the 2023 playoffs.

 

On-base Plus Slugging (min PA: 40, Postseason, 2023)

Player

OPS

Yordan Alvarez

1.487

Corey Seager

1.133

Adolis Garcia

1.108

Bryce Harper

1.098

Kyle Schwarber

1.046

Trea Turner

1.033

Jose Abreu

.945

 

Well, who’s the most dangerous hitter to face in the postseason? Perhaps, the answer is Yordan Alvarez. The Astros lost to the Rangers in the ALCS. However, Yordan Alvarez had been hitting outstandingly this season. Alvarez slashed .465/.510/.977 with 6 home runs and 15 RBI in 11 games.

 

In the 2023 postseason, I guess no one will ignore Corey Seager’s great performance. Over 17 games this postseason, Seager slashed .318/.451/.682 with 6 home runs and 12 RBI. Among those 6 home runs, the most unforgettable one is probably that he crushed a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 9th inning of the World Series game 1 to tie the game. Moreover, Seager drew 15 walks this postseason.

 

In addition, there’s another very important hitter in the Rangers lineup. Adolis Garcia played 15 games this postseason, hitting .323/382/.726 with 8 home runs and 22 RBI. 22 RBI is the MLB record of the most RBI during a single postseason. In particular, Garcia slashed .357/.400/.893 with 5 home runs and 15 RBI in the ALCS and he was named the ALCS MVP. And, don’t forget Game 1 of the World Series, Garica hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning. However, he picked up an injury in Game 3 of the World Series and didn’t play in the rest of the World Series.

 

Finally, the Phillies fell short this postseason. Nonetheless, we can’t ignore that some players actually hit very well in the playoffs. 2-time MVP Bryce Harper slashed .286/.455/.643 with 5 home runs and 8 RBI this postseason. Furthermore, he drew 13 walks. At the same time, Kyle Schwarber crushed 5 home runs as Harper did in 13 postseason games. Schwarber collected 12 hits, which is the same as Harper did. In the meantime, Trea Turner hit .347/.400/.633 with 3 home runs and 5 RBI in the 2023 postseason. These Phillies players showed good power during the postseason. However, in game 6 and game 7 of the NLCS, these 3 players only combined 1 hit.

 

Playing October baseball isn’t easy. Even MVP award winners might face a slump in the postseason. Mookie Betts didn’t collect a hit this postseason and Freddie Freeman had only 1 hit in 3 games. Nonetheless, that’s how interesting October baseball is. Adolis Garcia truly had a great postseason, but unfortunately, he suffered an injury in World Series Game 3. Corey Seager was the 2020 World Series MVP. This postseason, again, he showed that he’s one of the most dangerous hitters in October. Yordan Alvarez played 11 postseason games this year and there was only one game that he didn’t collect a hit. Several Phillies batters had shown good power in the postseason, but the slump just came at the wrong time. 

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