Here's a stat for Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost to remember during his second straight World Series: 0.85. That's Wade Davis' impeccable ERA this year, making the reliever someone who ought to pitch with the game on the line.
During Friday night's American League Championship Series-clinching victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, Davis watched as Ryan Madson surrendered a tying two-run homer to Jose Bautista. Sure, Yost could have used one of the best relievers in baseball to face the best offense's best hitters, but ancient scripture dictates that a declared closer must only pitch in the ninth inning.
Using him in the eighth would have brought about the apocalypse. Or in the New York Mets' case, victory. Facing a similar situation in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, Mets manager Terry Collins didn't take any chances, employing Jeurys Familia for two innings to cement a 3-2 victory.
Familia, who has not allowed a run this postseason, has pitched in all but one of New York's nine postseason games. Davis, on the other hand, has made five appearances in 11 contests. Kansas City's offense bailed Yost out and won anyway, but he may not be as lucky next time.
Before the Royals and Mets commence the 2015 World Series on Tuesday, let's relive some of the postseason's most memorable feats.
Daniel Murphy Magic
In six full MLB seasons, Daniel Murphy has hit 60 home runs, averaging one every 14-15 games. In 2012, he tallied six long balls through 156 games and 612 plate appearances.
Murphy has now homered in six straight games, giving him seven dingers through nine postseason bouts. It's all but guaranteed he took this year's NL Cy Young Award winner deep, as he belted one off Zack Greinke, one off Jake Arrieta and two off Clayton Kershaw.
He had collected 12 homers off lefties during his career before taking the best southpaw on the planet deep twice. Oh yeah, he also crushed one off Jon Lester, another darn good lefty. ESPN.com's Ian O'Connor broke baseball fans' brains with another mind-blowing stat about Murphy's power tear:
The owner of a career .755 OPS holds a 1.462 postseason OPS. A contact hitter with gap power has turned into Darryl Strawberry playing in Springfield's Nuclear Power Plant softball game. Luckily for the Mets, Mr. Burns can't pull the second baseman for Homer Simpson.
Can this last for another week, or will Murphy fall hard back to earth after a historic playoff surge? How will it affect his offseason free-agent status? Nobody knows, so let's just appreciate this unforeseen show.
Going Down Swinging
Had things panned out differently, any one of these October mashers could instead be basking in the national spotlight.
If the Los Angeles Dodgers won one more game, the Mets transform back into a laughingstock for non-tendering Justin Turner two years ago. The third baseman exacted revenge by going 10-for-19 with six doubles through five games. Since none of his teammates joined his outburst and the Dodgers lost Game 5, tales of his heroics halted.
Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, the cornerstones of the Chicago Cubs' explosive young offense, both went cold at an inopportune time. Another pair of raw sluggers, however, caught fire. Kyle Schwarber—who needs to spend the offseason petitioning MLB to make the designated hitter universal—proved a more likely homer machine than Murphy. The rookie smothered baseballs with reckless abandon, trapping one on top of Wrigley Field's scoreboard in the National League Division Series.
ESPN Stats & Info diagrammed the significance of his first-year playoff slugfest:
Jorge Soler took a backseat, and the outfielder only started six of Chicago's nine playoff games. He made that count, however, going 9-for-19 with six walks, three doubles and three homers. His 1.705 OPS even trumps Murphy's mark.
Unlike Murphy, Colby Rasmus is an all-or-nothing slugger going for broke with every at-bat. Yet he also proved an unlikely offensive leader for the Houston Astros, reaching base in 14 of his 24 plate appearances with four dingers. He helped Houston slip past the New York Yankees in a winner-take-all AL Wild Card Game, but his efforts weren't enough to combat the Royals' red-hot bats.
Royals Raking
Kansas City upped the offensive ante this year, finishing the season No. 10 with a .732 OPS. Adding Kendrys Morales to the fold while Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas carried over last October's breakthroughs, these Royals entered the postseason with more hitting firepower than last year's AL champions.
Yet they're once again displaying a higher gear, leading all participants in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage while belting 15 home runs.
The deep flies are especially eye-popping from an organization portrayed as small-ball grinders. During the season, Kansas City compiled 139 home runs, the seventh-fewest in baseball. As a result, pundits are mistakenly bashing other power-centric offenses and ignoring the Royals' muscle.
To be fair, their 63 runs scored through 11 games don't result entirely from deep shots. Alcides Escobar and his .293 on-base percentage have no business leading off a World Series-bound lineup, but this suboptimal tactic hasn't haunted Yost. The shortstop has already notched 17 hits, including three doubles and two triples.
His polar opposite double-play partner, Ben Zobrist, has surpassed pitcher Johnny Cueto as the team's best offseason acquisition. For years, baseball's most unheralded star showcased solid power, strong plate discipline and trustworthy defense across the diamond, but traditional observers only saw a career .265 hitter.
Maybe now everyone will give him credit. Zobrist is 14-for-43 with four doubles and two homers, including a first-inning bomb during Friday night's Game 6 win. He concluded the ALCS with eight runs and a 1.050 OPS, placing another scorching-hot second baseman in the Fall Classic.
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