Ranking the Most Surprising Impact Players of the 2015 ALCS, NLCS
Both the National League and American League Championship Series have given us plenty of memorable moments to talk about for years and years to come.
Many of those moments have been provided by some of the unlikeliest candidates. Over the next few slides, we'll rank a few of those surprise impact players.
Surprises come in different shapes and sizes.
Take Daniel Murphy for example. Nobody is shocked that the New York Mets infielder made an impact on the NLCS. What has surprised people is the fact that Murphy has done so in historic fashion, hitting a homer in six straight postseason games.
Think about Marco Estrada. The right-hander had never logged over 180 innings in a season before 2015, yet he has pitched like the Toronto Blue Jays ace in the ALCS.
What about Alcides Escobar and Ryan Goins? The two light-hitting middle infielders are known more for their glovework, but each has provided production at the plate, as well.
Let us know what you think about our selections in the comment section below. Can you believe what these players have done during the championship series? What has been the biggest reason for their success? Who else has surprised you?
Players make names for themselves every year with special October performances. Let's dive into a few who have really stood out in the championship series.
Honorable Mentions
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Clayton Richard
The Chicago Cubs reliever didn't allow a run in four outings in the NLCS despite having a career 4.30 ERA.
Jorge Soler
Soler was arguably the surprise of the division series, and he continued that good work in the NLCS. He posted an on-base percentage over .400 and recorded three extra-base hits.
Curtis Granderson
Granderson didn't have the same offensive impact in the NLCS as he did in the division series, but the outfielder did make his presence known on the bases. He stole three bags for the New York Mets in four games.
4. Ryan Goins
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Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Goins?
Yep, the light-hitting Toronto Blue Jays infielder has been an impact player in the ALCS. The 27-year-old is 5-for-16 with two extra-base hits in five games.
This is the same Goins who played in 100 games for the first time in his career this season and set career highs (.250/.318/.354) with extremely modest offensive numbers.
Apart from his mediocre offensive abilities, Goins had to overcome a crucial mistake in Game 2 when he let a pop-up land between him and Bautista. That misplay cost the Blue Jays dearly, as the Kansas City Royals scored five runs in the seventh inning to take a 2-0 series lead.
But Goins made up for his rare defensive lapse with a long homer in Game 3 to help the Blue Jays get back in the series, something his teammates were glad to see happen.
“It’s huge. That just shows you a lot about who Ryan Goins is as a person and the amount of character he has," Donaldson told Israel Fehr at Yahoo Sports. "I know he wanted to come out and prove people the kind of player he is today, and he did that."
Kevin Pillar was instrumental to Toronto's success at the bottom of the order in the American League Division Series, and now Goins is doing the same thing against the Royals. In a lineup filled with tremendous sluggers, Goins' production is nothing but an added bonus.
3. Marco Estrada
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Marco Estrada enjoyed a career year with the Toronto Blue Jays this season. The right-hander posted a 3.13 ERA in 28 starts, logging over 180 innings for the first time in his career.
Despite his good work in the regular season, can even the most loyal Blue Jays fans admit they knew he would be the team's most important pitcher in the ALCS?
That's exactly what Estrada is. In two starts, the 32-year-old has a 2.77 ERA in 13 innings. He's holding hitters to a .188 average and has an 11-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Estrada's defining moment of the ALCS came in a pivotal start in Game 5. With Toronto's collective backs against the wall, Estrada twirled a one run, three-hit effort to keep his team's season alive.
The right-hander doesn't throw hard, but he does have what David Price referred to as a "Bugs Bunny-esque" changeup. As Joe Lemire of USA Today points out, that pitch was particularly effective against the Royals:
"And in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series — a must-win for Toronto — the Kansas City Royals swung at 20 of his 32 changeups and whiffed at 10 of them. Estrada faced one batter more than the minimum through 7 2/3 innings, at which point he allowed a solo homer and a single — only the second and third hits he'd allowed all game — but by then he had preserved Toronto's season another day as the Jays went on to win 6-1 and force a Game 6.
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Down 3-1, the Blue Jays had little hope of reeling off three straight wins to reach the World Series. After Estrada's career-defining outing, Toronto now has Price and Marcus Stroman lined up for Game 6 and a potential Game 7.
The Blue Jays still might not advance, but Estrada gave his team plenty of momentum heading into another elimination game. Not bad for a hurler with a 90 mph heater and a career 3.95 ERA.
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2. Alcides Escobar
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The Kansas City Royals are one game away from returning to the World Series.
One of the biggest reasons why is the play of shortstop Alcides Escobar. The 28-year-old is slashing .526/.522/.737 in five games against the Toronto Blue Jays and leads all players with 10 hits.
Escobar was a key cog for the 2014 Royals machine that came within one game of winning the World Series, but he struggled mightily this season. Escobar hit just .257 with an on-base percentage under .300.
It got so bad for Escobar during the regular season that manager Ned Yost moved him out of the leadoff spot toward the end of the year. The move made sense, as Escobar ranked in the top 30 in MLB in swing percentage this season.
But for some reason, the Royals just win with Escobar at the top of the order. Yost can't even explain Kansas City's 109-62 record since the beginning of 2014 with Escobar batting first.
“Find me one of those sabermetric dudes and figure this one out,” Yost told Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. “I don’t understand it. It’s a mystery to me.”
Considering Escobar's rough regular season, it is difficult to explain. Yet his aggressive approach at the plate has resonated with his teammates in October.
“He goes out there with such a carefree approach, having fun like a little kid,” left fielder Alex Gordon told Rosenthal. “That’s why he’s so good—he’s so relaxed.”
Most casual baseball fans expected Escobar to impact games with his glove, but his offensive production is truly out of the blue. After being demoted from the leadoff spot in the regular season, Escobar is in line to win ALCS MVP.
Talk about a surprise.
1. Daniel Murphy
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Daniel Murphy has always been a reliable player for the New York Mets. During his eight-year career, the 30-year-old has slashed .281/.322/.449 and hit 62 homers.
But all of Murphy's past accomplishments pale in comparison to what he's done in the 2015 postseason.
In Wednesday's clinching victory, Murphy went deep for the sixth straight game. Not only did the homer all but cement New York's place in the World Series, it also set a major league record.
In all, Murphy went 9-for-17 with four homers and six RBI in the NLCS. He leads all hitters in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS and homers in the championship series.
As B/R's own Zachary Rymer points out, only six other players have hit seven or more homers in one postseason—Barry Bonds, Nelson Cruz, Carlos Beltran, Melvin Upton, Troy Glaus and Jayson Werth. Of those players, only Upton hit less than 29 homers in the regular season.
No, Murphy's production for the Mets isn't completely out of left field. He's always been a solid hitter who's capable of putting together a quality at-bat.
But when you enter the uncharted power territory that Murphy is in now, it has to be considered a surprise. That's why Murphy's Superman-like performance in the NLCS—and throughout the entire postseason, for that matter—is the most surprising development.
Stats courtesy of FanGraphs and accurate as of Oct. 22.
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