Active Postseason Stat Leaders
Which players on this year's 12 postseason teams have the best career postseason numbers for HR, BA, SB, OPS, etc.? And whatquirky postseason stats did I uncover about Albert Pujols and Justin Turner?
Issue #37
The playoffs have started, with a fun first day of the wild card round yesterday. As prep for this time of year, I reviewed all the players who are active for this postseason to see who has done the best in their careers in the postseason. That doesn’t mean they’ll do well this time around of course, but they are at least some players to keep an eye on, and some of them might be able to further pad their career postseason numbers.
Note: All numbers are before yesterday’s games.
Which active players have the most postseason homeruns?
My initial guess would have been Albert Pujols, but he is second with 19. The answer is Jose Altuve with 23. Both players have played in the postseason about the same amount too: Altuve in 79 games with 363 plate appearances, and Pujols in 86 games with 352 plate appearances. Tied with Pujols for second is George Springer, who has hit 19 HR in significantly fewer games (63) and PAs (292).
Which active players have the most postseason stolen bases?
Two Dodgers are tied here, Cody Bellinger with 14 SB in 66 games and Mookie Betts with 14 SB in 51 games. And both have been careful and efficient in their thievery, as Bellinger has been caught stealing only once, and Betts not at all.
Which active players have the highest batting averages?
Amongst players active in this postseason who have 50 or more career postseason at-bats, only four have batted over .300:
Randy Arozarena: .354 (34-96)
Eddie Rosario: .337 (28-83)
Gleyber Torres: .325 (26-80)
Albert Pujols: .321 (95-296)
Which active players have the lowest batting averages?
Some guys have yet to do well overall in their postseason games. Here are some with particularly low batting averages (over 25 at-bats), though some of them admittedly aren't known for high batting averages in the first place.
Matt Olson: .143 (4-28)
Wil Myers: .167 (7-42)
Jackie Bradley Jr.: .185 (12-65)
Carlos Santana: .193 (16-83)
Austin Barnes: .194 (20-103)
Manny Machado: .200 (23-115)
Will Smith: .206 (26-126)
Anthony Rizzo: .207 (31-150)
Which active players have the highest OPS?
Not surprisingly, Randy Arozarena, who leads in BA above and hit a record 10 HR during the 2020 postseason, has the top spot here. Jorge Soler's performances across 2015, 2016, and 2021 (which included winning last year World Series MVP) would come in second here, except he's with the Marlins now and not in this year's postseason. So for players with 50 or more plate appearances, here is the top-10:
Randy Arozarena: 1.197 in 29 games, 11 HR, .354/.436/760
Giancarlo Stanton: 1.108 in 18 games, 9 HR, .297/.373/.734
Albert Pujols: 1.007 in 86 games, 19 HR, .321/.426/.581
Eddie Rosario: .993 in 22 games, 5 HR, .337/.402/.590
Gleyber Torres: .988 in 22 games, 5 HR, .325/.413/.575
Paul Goldschmidt: .975 in 21 games, 8 HR, .282/.351/.624
Juan Soto: .927 in 17 games, 5 HR, .277/.373/.554
Freddie Freeman: .916 in 42 games, 9 HR, .290/.393/.523
Jose Altuve: .907 in 79 games, 23 HR, .286/.361/.547
George Springer: .895 in 63 games, 19 HR, .269/.349/.546
Which active pitchers have standout numbers in the postseason?
Here are four starters who have good postseason numbers, oddly with three having an identical ERA:
Adam Wainwright: 2.83 ERA, 29 G, 16 GS, 114.1 IP, 123 K
Lance McCullers Jr.: 2.83 ERA, 16 G, 9 GS, 57.1 IP, 62 K
Blake Snell: 2.83 ERA, 9 G, 7 GS, 35 IP, 44 K
Gerrit Cole: 2.93 ERA, 14 GS, 86 IP, 111 K
Two oddball postseason stats I unearthed
Justin Turner has never led his league in being hit by pitch, but is often in the top-10. He gets hit by a pitch in 2.16% of his regular season plate appearances. But during the postseason he’s either had bad luck, or leans into some pitches, as he has been hit by pitch 13 times in 352 plate appearances, which is 3.69% of his plate appearances. The second most amongst active players in the 2022 post-season is Alex Bregman with only 7 HBP in 319 plate appearances.
Albert Pujols, for all of his greatness, is the all-time MLB leader in Double Plays Grounded Into with 426, significantly more than second place Miguel Cabrera's 353 (Cal Ripken is third with 350). During the regular season, Pujols grounds into a double play in 3.27% of his plate appearances. However, in the postseason Pujols has grounded into double plays far less often, only 6 times in 352 plate appearances which is only 1.70% of the time.