October baseball has already begun. I’ve been watching several games this postseason. While watching October baseball, I saw some posts on X. Those posts are about some pitchers’ performances in the playoffs. After reading those posts, I’m just thinking about some questions.
Over the last 5 seasons, which pitchers had done a great job in October? To solve my doubts, I decided to check on the great Fangraphs website.
Firstly, let’s look at innings pitched. Zack Wheeler pitched for the Phillies in the playoffs in 2022, 2023 and 2024. In those 3 postseasons, he threw 70.1 innings. Moreover, from 2021 to 2024, Framber Valdez pitched for the Astros and he threw 61 innings in the playoffs. Furthermore, Nathan Eovaldi threw 20.2 innings for the Red Sox in the 2021 postseason and in 2023, he tossed 36.2 innings for the Rangers in October baseball. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was named the 2025 World Series MVP. He threw 37.1 innings last postseason and in 2024, he tossed 18.2 innings in October. And, from 2022 to 2025, Aaron Nola threw 55.2 innings for the Phillies.
Well, wins are less important today as a measurement tool. However, in the playoffs, a win could be massive. Looking at the number of wins, we might be able to see some pitchers’ key performances in the postseason. Nathan Eovaldi got 2 wins in the 2021 playoffs and in 2023, he earned 5 wins for the Rangers in the postseason. Yoshinobu Yamamoto got 2 wins in the 2024 playoffs and last postseason, he got 5 wins. Moreover, Blake Snell got 2 wins in the 2022 postseason when he played for the Padres. Last postseason, Snell earned 3 wins in the Dodgers uniform. And Nola has earned 5 wins for the Phillies in the playoffs.
In addition, let’s look at quality starts. From 2022 to 2024, Zack Wheeler made 11 starts for the Phillies in the postseason and 9 of them were quality starts. Furthermore, Nathan Eovaldi made 5 quality starts in the 2023 playoffs. Yu Darvish had 5 quality starts in the Padres uniform. Gerrit Cole had 2 QS in 2022 and 3 QS in 2024. Tarik Skubal is now pitching for the Dodgers. Before pitching for the Dodgers, he was the ace of the Tigers. In 2024 and 2025, Skubal had 5 quality starts in the postseason. And over the last 2 postseasons, Yamamoto had 5 quality starts.
Finally, let’s look at something different. Let’s look at saves. Ryan Pressly had 10 saves in the postseason from 2021 to 2024. In particular, he picked up 6 saves in the 2022 postseason. Will Smith had a great postseason in 2021 and he got 6 saves for the Braves. Paul Sewald had 6 saves for the D-backs in the 2023 playoffs. Josh Hader had 1 save for the Brewers in the 2021 playoffs and in the 2022 postseason, he got 4 saves for the Padres.
As we can see, Zack Wheeler’s performance in the playoffs had been quite good over the last several seasons. When he takes the mound, you shouldn’t worry too much. Moreover, Nathan Eovaldi is a key pitcher to help the Rangers win the 2023 World Series. Furthermore, it’s important to watch Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tarik Skubal as they combined 10 quality starts in the last 2 postseasons. Well, Ryan Pressly announced his retirement in January. Nonetheless, back in 2022, he recorded the final out of the season and it’s hard to ignore his performance in that postseason.
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