I read a post on Threads a few weeks ago. It was about a rookie player’s performance. His performance wasn’t impressive in his first season in the majors. However, it demonstrated that something is worth watching. That rookie’s performance in the high leverage situation was good.
After reading the post, I was just wondering which players had done a great job in the high leverage situation last season. To solve my doubts, I decided to check on the great Fangraphs website.
Firstly, let’s look at which players had most plate appearances in the high leverage situation. In the 2025 season, 6 players each had 80+ plate appearances in the high leverage situation. Julio Rodriguez had 84 plate appearances in the high leverage situation and his batting average was .247. Ozzie Albies had 82 plate appearances in the high leverage situation and his batting average was .319. 4 other players each had 81 plate appearances in the high leverage situation and among them, Luis Arraez was the only one with a batting average over .300.
Moreover, let’s look at batting average. Alejandro Kirk owned a .441 batting average in the high leverage situation. Last season, he collected 26 hits in the high leverage situation. Under the same situation, Jorge Polanco’s batting average was over .400 as well and he collected 21 hits. Meanwhile, 3 other players each batted over .400 in the high leverage situation and they each collected 10+ hits.
In addition, let’s take a look at on-base percentage. Jorge Polanco and Freddie Freeman each owned an on-base percentage of .500 or higher in the high leverage situation. Freeman drew 17 walks and collected 17 hits in the high leverage situation. In the meantime, Shohei Ohtani, who won the 2025 NL MVP award, got 14 hits and 15 walks and his OBP was very close to .500. At the same time, Fernando Tatis Jr. had a .489 OBP. Bo Naylor and J.P. Crawford each owned an on-base percentage over .470 in the high leverage situation last year.
Finally, let’s look at which players did collect many RBI in this situation. Alejandro Kirk hit well in the high leverage situation and he collected 32 RBI last season. Michael Harris II was able to collect many RBI in this situation as well. Nonetheless, his batting average was below .250. In the meantime, Teoscar Hernandez, Josh Naylor and Pete Alonso each collected 29 RBI in the high leverage situation last season. In particular, Hernandez and Alonso each blasted 3 home runs. Furthermore, Cal Raleigh collected 28 RBI in the high leverage situation and Trent Grisham had 27 RBI. Why should we look at these 2 guys? Well, they each smashed 7 home runs in the high leverage situation in 2025.
Looking back at the 2025 season, Jorge Polanco and Alejandro Kirk were the 2 players that contributed a lot to their teams in the high leverage situation. Polanco just signed a 2-year deal with the Mets and we can see if he will help the Mets score more runs in the high leverage situation. And for the Mariners, without Polanco in the lineup, it will be important to see if any other players will perform well in the high leverage situation this year. At the same time, we saw some players from the Dodgers on the list. Let’s see whether they will do the same in 2026.
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