Corey Seager and Adolis García, Rangers — 2023
Dominating in the playoffs is nothing new for Seager. He became the eighth player to be named MVP of both the championship series and World Series with the Dodgers in 2020. Seager wasn’t far off his ‘20 level with the Rangers this season with a 1.133 OPS and six home runs. Seager became the fourth player to win multiple World Series MVPs — joining Reggie Jackson, Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax.
The 2023 postseason was a historic one for García prior to his injury. The Rangers slugger homered in each of the final four games of the ALCS vs. Houston on his way to MVP honors. García continued crushing in the World Series, hitting a walk-off homer in Game 1 that gave him the single postseason record with his 22nd RBI.
Randy Arozarena, Rays — 2020
Having only played in 42 Major League games before entering the 2020 postseason for the Rays, Arozarena had solid regular-season numbers over that small sample but was virtually unknown outside of Florida. Then, the 25-year-old outfielder launched 10 home runs to break the previous record of eight for a single postseason, while his 64 total bases smashed the previous record of 50, all while slashing a cool .377/.442/.831. Arozarena’s efforts carried the Rays to an American League pennant, and he became the first rookie position player to take MVP honors in a League Championship Series (or World Series), thanks to his performance against the Astros in the ALCS. Arozarena continued to drive Tampa Bay’s offense in the Fall Classic, though his team fell just short against the Dodgers and World Series MVP Corey Seager (see below).
Corey Seager, Dodgers — 2020
If it weren’t for Arozarena, Seager’s output would have been even more attention-grabbing. Seager batted .328 and slugged .746 over the Dodgers’ 18-game run to their first championship since 1988. Seager’s eight home runs and 50 total bases are both tied for second in a single postseason, behind only Arozarena. His 20 RBIs finished behind only David Freese’s 21 from 2011. Seager put together three games with at least three hits and three with three-plus RBIs while being named the MVP of both the NLCS and World Series.
Stephen Strasburg, Nationals — 2019
October 2019 was not the first time Strasburg had pitched brilliantly in the playoffs (his seven shutout innings against the Cubs while battling the flu in the 2017 NLDS comes to mind), but in this instance he brought his very best to the mound while the rest of the Nationals behind him finally did the same. Strasburg’s incredible month began with three scoreless innings of relief in the NL Wild Card Game, followed by five more starts in which he earned four wins and never allowed more than three runs. Strasburg finished the month 5-0, making him the first pitcher to win that many games without a loss in a single postseason. He also struck out 47 batters, tying him for the second most in a postseason.
Top moment: After the Nationals squandered a 2-0 World Series lead with three straight home losses against the Astros, Strasburg held Houston to two runs across 8 1/3 innings to help Washington claim a win-or-go-home Game 6. The Nationals beat the Astros again in Game 7, and Strasburg was named Series MVP.
Andrew Miller, Cleveland — 2016
Miller put the “ace” in the term “relief ace” for Cleveland in 2016, both in the regular season and then in October. After making 70 appearances over which he posted a 1.45 ERA and struck out 45 percent of the batters he faced, Miller didn’t miss a beat in the playoffs, appearing in 10 games and striking out 30 of the 73 batters he faced (41 percent) while posting a 1.40 ERA to help Cleveland win the AL pennant. Miller was named MVP of the five-game ALCS against the Blue Jays.
Daniel Murphy, Mets — 2015
Murphy was a revelation for the Mets during the 2015 postseason, going from a .755 career OPS in the regular season, with an average of nine homers a year, to a one-man wrecking crew in October. In the NLCS against the Cubs, Murphy hit .529 with four home runs before being named MVP of the series. And that came after he hit .333 with three homers in the NLDS against the Dodgers. Murphy’s seven postseason home runs were half the number of home runs he hit during the entire regular season in 2015. Overall that postseason, Murphy posted a 1.115 OPS with 11 RBIs.
Madison Bumgarner, Giants — 2014
Bumgarner’s October 2014 will rank among the most heroic pitching performances that many of us will see in our lifetimes. The Giants’ workhorse went at least seven innings in each of his six starts, allowing no more than three runs in any of them and including two shutouts in that mix — one in the winner-take-all Wild Card Game against the Pirates, and another against the Royals in World Series Game 5. That set the stage for Game 7 three nights later, when manager Bruce Bochy turned to his ace one more time on short rest to protect a 3-2 lead. Bumgarner did just that, shutting the door with five scoreless innings and stranding Kansas City’s game-tying run on third base to close out the ninth.
Koji Uehara, Red Sox — 2013
Uehara was nearly untouchable for the indefatigable 2013 Red Sox during the regular season (1.09 ERA, 0.57 WHIP), and he kept on rolling right through October. The Japanese star made 13 postseason appearances and struck out 16 hitters without issuing a single walk. Uehara’s postseason totals were somehow even more dominant than his regular season: A 0.66 ERA, 0.51 WHIP and .152 opponent batting average.
Top moment: Boston summoned Uehara for five of its six games against the Tigers in the 2013 ALCS, and their star reliever was absolutely lights out. He picked up three saves and a win without permitting a single run across six innings of work, earning himself ALCS MVP honors.
David Freese, Cardinals — 2011
Freese, who went to high school and community college in the St. Louis area, is one of the brightest examples of a player coming up big for his hometown team. The third baseman simply came up huge when the Cardinals needed him most. He drove in four runs in a win-or-go-home scenario against the Phillies in NLDS Game 4, then exploded in the NLCS, batting .545 (12-for-22) with three homers and nine RBIs to drive the Cardinals past the Brewers in six games and earn NLCS honors.
But somehow all of that was just a preamble to Freese’s heroics against Texas in the World Series. He notched hits in each of the first three contests, running up his postseason hitting streak to 13 games before it was snapped in Game 4. Then in Game 6, Freese played hero twice, belting a game-tying triple with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and a walk-off homer in the 11th — each of those hits coming with two strikes. Freese still wasn’t done, beginning Game 7 with a two-run double as the Cardinals rallied back from the edge to beat the Rangers in one of the most dramatic World Series in history. Freese’s 21 RBIs across October 2011 set a single-postseason record, and he became the sixth player to be named MVP of both the LCS and World Series rounds.
Top moment: No need to overthink this. Freese saved the Cardinals with his two-run triple as their season was down to its final strike in the ninth inning of World Series Game 6, and then he joined Carlton Fisk and Kirby Puckett as the only players to hit an extra-inning, walk-off homer with their team facing World Series elimination.
Carlos Beltrán, Astros — 2004
The Astros acquired Beltrán from the Royals as part of a three-team trade in June of 2004, and the 27-year-old outfielder delivered 23 homers over the season’s final 90 games to help Houston reach the postseason. Once there, Beltrán hit .435 with an MLB-record-tying eight home runs — he joined Barry Bonds, who smashed eight homers in 2002, but did so in 17 games to Beltrán’s 12. Nelson Cruz later joined the club, launching eight homers in 2011 for the Rangers. Beltrán’s peak in October 2004 came from NLDS Game 5 vs. the Braves on Oct. 11, through NLCS Game 4 vs. the Cardinals on Oct. 17, a period in which he hit .611 with five of his eight postseason homers.
David Ortiz, Red Sox — 2004
Ortiz had already enjoyed a pair of massive seasons after coming over to the Red Sox via free agency before the 2003 campaign, but the legend of “Big Papi, postseason hero” was solidified forever (and further built upon later) in October 2004. It began with a series-clinching, walk-off homer against Angels pitcher Jarrod Washburn in the 10th inning of ALDS Game 3, sending Boston on to an ALCS rematch against the hated Yankees (who had broken Boston’s hearts a year before).
After the Red Sox fell behind, three games to none, it appeared the Bronx Bombers were going to get the last laugh again. But Ortiz put his team on his shoulders, belting a walk-off homer in the 12th inning of Game 4 and then a walk-off single in the 14th inning of Game 5 and leading Boston to the first rally from a 3-0 postseason series deficit in history. Ortiz took home ALCS MVP honors and then stayed hot in the World Series, clubbing a three-run homer against the Cardinals in the first inning of Game 1 to set the tone for the Red Sox’s first world championship in 86 years.
Josh Beckett, Marlins — 2003
Taken with the second overall pick of the MLB Draft just four years prior, the 23-year-old Beckett pitched like a seasoned veteran for the underdog Marlins. The Cubs knocked Beckett around in NLCS Game 1 with six runs off the right-hander, but he recovered to twirl an 11-strikeout shoutout in a win-or-go-home Game 5 and then came out of the bullpen on two days’ rest to throw four scoreless innings of one-run ball in the decisive Game 7.
After racking up 10 more strikeouts in a tough-luck loss to the Yankees in World Series Game 3, Beckett rallied again to record one of the more impressive pitching nights in recent memory: a nine-strikeout, five-hit shutout as a visitor at hallowed Yankee Stadium that helped Florida clinch the franchise’s second world championship.
Barry Bonds, Giants — 2002
The Giants ultimately fell one game short of the World Series title, but Bonds couldn’t have done much more in search of his first ring. Fresh off his record 73-homer regular season a year before, Bonds went deep three times in San Francisco’s five-game triumph over Atlanta in the NLDS to set the tone. He followed with another homer and six RBIs while also walking in nearly half of his plate appearances in the Giants’ five-game NLCS victory over the Cardinals.
The Angels entered the 2002 World Series knowing clearly that they couldn’t let Bonds beat them, but he got his dingers in anyway. Bonds went deep four times and finished the Fall Classic hitting .471 with a 1.994 OPS. But the Giants blew a late lead in Game 6 and watched the Angels finish the job at home in Game 7.
Top moment: Bonds’ four World Series dingers included one of the longest ever seen in the ninth inning of Game 2. Bonds hit the ball so high and so far that the camera seemed to lose track of it, bringing the Giants to within a run in a game they eventually lost, 11-10.
Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson, D-backs — 2001
It takes a team effort to win in October, but Schilling and Johnson were the closest to a “two-man team