Ranking the Most Surprising Impact Players of the 2015 World Series

While the World Series spotlight shines brightest on the biggest names and most established veterans every October, less hyped and somewhat overlooked players are often the ones who come through with the most surprising moments.

The 2015 World Series was no different, with a handful of players who in some ways had become afterthoughts delivering clutch performances, some bigger than others.

Let's take a look at four players who surprised us all with truly memorable performances in this year's edition of the Fall Classic. Note: These rankings are completely subjective and based on my own personal opinion, nothing else.

4. Luke Hochevar

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

Nobody ever wants to fail or get injured, but Luke Hochevar's failure as a starting pitcher (a 5.44 ERA and 1.41 WHIP over 128 career starts) and the Tommy John surgery that ended his 2014 season before it ever began made his role in Kansas City's run to a World Series crown all the more special for the 32-year-old.

"It's been a great ride," he told the Denver Post's Patrick Saunders. "Like I've said a thousand times before, I'd rather experience what I had to go through last year and get hurt than to never experience this."

Hochevar was good, not great, in his first season back from the procedure, pitching to a 3.73 ERA and 1.28 WHIP over 49 relief appearances during the regular season. Those numbers certainly didn't foretell of a stellar postseason performance.

But stellar was exactly what Hochevar was throughout the playoffs, especially in the World Series, where he tossed five innings of scoreless relief, allowing only three of the 17 batters he faced to reach base via two hits and a walk.

In fact, Hochevar didn't allow a run throughout the playoffs, which he finished with a sparkling 0.66 WHIP.

3. Michael Conforto

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Michael Conforto put together a solid rookie campaign for the Mets, slashing .270/.335/.506 with 23 extra-base hits and 26 RBI in 56 games. But it looked as if he had hit the rookie wall in the playoffs, going 2-for-22 (.091) with a home run and two RBI in 10 games.

Then Game 4 arrived.

Conforto hit a pair of solo home runs in consecutive at-bats, the first a mammoth shot into the upper deck that gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the third inning, the second barely clearing the right field wall to give the club a 3-1 lead in the fifth.

While the Mets would ultimately lose the game and Conforto fell short of joining Reggie Jackson in New York postseason lore, he put himself in some impressive company, as Yahoo Sports' Mike Oz points out:

"

• He's the first player to hit multiple homers in the same World Series game since Pablo Sandoval in 2012.

• He's the first rookie to do it since Andruw Jones in 1996. 

• He's the first Met to homer twice in a World Series game since Gary Carter in 1986.

"

In fact, according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo, Conforto became the third-youngest player in baseball history to homer twice in a World Series game.

None of this makes losing the World Series in five games any less painful for the Mets, but fans can at least take solace in the fact that Conforto is only going to get better—and he's going to be a fixture at Citi Field for years to come.

2. Ryan Madson

David Goldman/Associated Press

Back in March, Royals manager Ned Yost was optimistic about the chances of 35-year-old Ryan Madson not only breaking camp with Kansas City, but becoming a contributor in his stacked bullpen. "You can see where if he stays healthy, he can help us," he told the Kansas City Star's Andy McCullough.

And Yost was right, as Madson would make 68 relief appearances during the regular season, pitching to a 2.18 ERA and 0.96 WHIP while allowing the club to maintain its Big Three at the end of games after closer Greg Holland was lost for the season to Tommy John surgery.

But it looked as if Madson had hit a wall in the first two rounds of the playoffs, allowing a combined five earned runs and 10 hits over 5.1 innings of work. Nobody would have blamed Yost had he shied away from using the veteran in the World Series.

He didn't, and Madson delivered, tossing three innings of scoreless baseball, allowing three batters to reach base (two hits and a walk) while striking out five.

"This time last year I was sitting on the couch watching," he told the Philadelphia Inquirer's Jake Kaplan in the visitor's clubhouse at Citi Field after Game 5. "Just to be a part of this team especially is pretty crazy."

1. Christian Colon

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

If this whole baseball thing doesn't work out for Christian Colon, the 26-year-old infielder can rest easy knowing that he's got another career to fall back on—as a psychic.

"This is no joke," Colon told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick after Game 5. "I had been playing things over and over in my mind, and in the cage I told [Jarrod] Dyson, 'I have a feeling I'm going to hit with you on third base.' And three minutes later, it seems like, I was hitting with him on third. It's just crazy."

Making his first plate appearance in nearly a month, having last appeared in a game Oct. 4, the last day of the regular season, Colon lined the fifth pitch he saw from Mets reliever Addison Reed into left-center field, ultimately making the Royals true baseball royalty.

But maybe we shouldn't be surprised by Colon's heroics after all. He delivered in the clutch for Kansas City in the 2014 American League Wild Card Game, delivering a game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the 12th inning before stealing second base and scoring the game-winning run on a Salvador Perez single.

Two postseason at-bats, two hits, two RBI. Not bad for a player who has accumulated less than 170 plate appearances in the big leagues since 2014.

Unless otherwise linked/noted, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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