A few weeks ago, I listened to a podcast show. In the show, the hosts and guests were talking about the 2016 World Series. The Cubs defeated the Indians (Guardians) to end the 108-year drought. I watched that game on TV, so I certainly remember the final out. Mike Montgomery threw the last pitch and recorded the last out of the World Series.
After listening to the show, I was just thinking about pitchers who threw the last pitch in the Fall Classic over the last 10 seasons. Back in 2016, Montgomery’s major role was a reliever. However, in 2017, things were a bit different. In the game 7 of the 2017 World Series, Charlie Morton tossed 4 innings and got the final out. Back then, he made 25 starts during the regular season. In 2018, Chris Sale took the mound in the bottom of the 9th inning in game 5 of the World Series. He struck out 3 batters to help the Red Sox win the title. Sale made 27 starts for the Red Sox in that season.
In 2019, in game 7 of the World Series, Daniel Hudson took the mound in the bottom of the 9th innings, he threw 2 strikeouts and the Nationals won the first title in franchise history. In 2019, Hudson made 24 relief appearances for the Nationals. The next year, it was a shortened season because of the covid-19 pandemic. In the 2020 World Series, in game 6, Julio Urias recorded the final out and it was a strikeout. In that game, Urias threw 2.1 innings. During the regular season, Urias made 10 starts and 1 relief appearance.
In addition, the Braves won the 2021 World Series. In game 6, Will Smith took the mound in the bottom of the 9th inning and he got the job done. He was the closer for the Braves in that season and he collected 37 saves. In the 2022 World Series, Ryan Pressly recorded the final out. Pressly was the closer of the Astros and he collected 33 saves in the 2022 season. The next season, the Rangers won the first World Series title in franchise history. Josh Sborz recorded the final out. He made 44 relief appearances for the Rangers in 2023.
Finally, in 2024, the Dodgers defeated the Yankees in 5 games in the Fall Classic. Walker Buehler took the mound for the Dodgers in the bottom of the 9th inning in game 5 and he struck out the last batter. Buehler made 16 starts for the Dodgers in 2024. Last year, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the pitcher who threw the last pitch of the World Series. He threw 2.2 innings in game 7 of the World Series. In the 2025 regular season, he made 30 starts.
When we look back at the final out of the World Series over the last 10 seasons, in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2024 and 2025, the pitchers who threw the last pitch were actually starters in the regular season. What’s even more interestingly, the Dodgers played all these 5 Fall Classics. Well, it’s way too high to say which teams will play in the World Series. Nonetheless, it’s always an interesting topic to discuss the pitcher's usage in the postseason. In October, let’s see what will happen.
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