John Dewan’s Stat of the Week™

Which players have performed the best in the postseason?

Performing well during the regular season is one thing, but producing in October wins championships. As we await the Twins-Tigers playoff and the Division Series, let’s take a look at the best playoff performers among active players.

Most Productive Hitters by On-Base Plus Slugging (minimum 50 Plate Appearances)
Player	Games	Plate Appearances	Home Runs	Avg	OPS
Carlos Beltran	22	101	11	.366	1.302
Troy Glaus	19	82	9	.347	1.246
Jason Bay	11	51	3	.341	1.105
Kevin Youkilis	26	113	6	.333	1.023
Albert Pujols	53	226	13	.323	1.022
Lance Berkman	29	129	6	.321	.992
B.J. Upton	16	72	7	.288	.985
Jayson Werth	20	83	4	.292	.983
Carlos Guillen	19	69	2	.344	.978
Nomar Garciaparra	32	127	7	.321	.975

Astros fans will remember Carlos Beltran’s torrid 2004, and Rays fans won’t forget B.J. Upton’s 2008. Albert Pujols is right in line with his regular season production as the best hitter in the game. Alex Gonzalez and Adam Everett have fared the worst in the postseason, each posting an On-base Plus Slugging below .500. For those interested, Alex Rodriguez ranks 28th of 104 qualifying players, Derek Jeter places 31st, and David Ortiz comes in 12th.

Because Earned Run Average is volatile, particularly in small samples, we rank pitchers based on Component Earned Run Average, which uses pitchers’ hits, walks, and home runs allowed to measure their effectiveness:

Most Productive Pitchers by Component Earned Run Average (minimum 15 Innings Pitched)
Player	Games	Innings Pitched	Strikeouts	ERA	Component ERA
Jonathan Papelbon	16	25.0	22	0.00	0.64
Mariano Rivera	76	117.3	93	0.77	1.13
Hideki Okajima	16	21.0	16	2.14	1.55
Alan Embree	31	21.7	13	1.66	1.64
Cole Hamels	6	41.7	37	2.16	1.65
Jon Garland	2	16.0	11	2.25	2.00
Brad Lidge	26	34.3	51	2.10	2.05
Chad Bradford	24	23.3	13	0.39	2.05
Jason Isringhausen	23	26.7	23	2.36	2.10
Carl Pavano	8	19.3	15	1.40	2.13

The top two names on this list should surprise no one, but Hideki Okajima has been nearly as successful. Alan Embree, owner of a career 4.59 regular-season Earned Run Average, has been stellar across seven postseasons (and five different teams). A broken leg will keep him on the Rockies’ bench this October.

Full postseason stats are available in the 2010 Bill James Handbook, available November 1.

Used with permission from John Dewan’s Stat of the Week™, http://www.statoftheweek.com/.

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