The MLB Playoffs have reached the Championship Series and the matchups in the American and National Leagues have been set.
Before we delve into the top 10 players remaining, let's set the ground rules.
First, hot streaks matter. We know that hot teams in baseball make the most noise. The same goes for players. At one point in the second half of the season, you thought Yoenis Cespedes was the MVP over Bryce Harper, right? Some players explode in the postseason and others fall down the well. Let's reward those who explode because October is all about the playoffs. For that reason, slumping players like Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo don't make the list.
Second, projected performance matters. The postseason still has two rounds left. It isn't going to end after the ALCS and NLCS so a player's ranking will be affected by his continued production if his team advances. It's why Jorge Soler isn't No. 1 despite his unreal NLDS.
Second, the stats are limited to this postseason. It's obvious that there are 10 clear-cut players with whom you'd start a franchise or pick as the best players from the regular season. Never would, say, Curtis Granderson, finish higher than Kyle Schwarber—a future mayoral candidate of Chicago—but these playoffs certainly would mean Granderson could (he doesn't here). Let's focus on the Wild Card and and Division Series only. Any mention of regular season stats is strictly for context and baselines for players' production.
Third, pitching rules. Call this the "Madison Bumgarner Rule." Since hitting has been so bad in baseball the past few seasons, I was on a crusade declaring good hitting is more important than good pitching (because if you had good hitters, then you maximized your chances to beat good pitching). Not this time. The studs left in the Championship Series are too good to argue against. They're going to be clogging the top 3. The only question is in which order do I put Johnny Cueto, Jacob deGrom and Jake Arrieta?
Fourth, this list is subjective. Your No. 1 may be my No. 5 or my No. 3 may be your least favorite baseball player. So if you want to trash the list, please do. This is meant to spark discussion. All I ask is that you begin by saying "With all due respect..." before you let the advanced sabermetrics and curses fly.
(Fifth, unofficially, I'm a sucker for moments. Jose Bautista's bat flip was my favorite baseball moment since Matt Stairs's go-ahead home run in the NLCS against the Dodgers in 2008. It took all my might to not put him or Schwarber—with his monshot—at No. 1.)
Let's have some fun.
- Login to post comments