ARLINGTON, Texas — With one swing already this weekend, Tampa Bay rookie Randy Arozarena vaulted himself into the lead for a variety of postseason records that printed his name alongside or ahead of such luminaries as Derek Jeter, Carlos Beltran, Barry Bonds and the modern-day Mr. October, David Freese.
He had a standard for judging which was his favorite.
“It’s good to be up in that group with the big hitters,†said Arozarena, a former Cardinals prospect. “But I stand alone with the hits.â€
In almost every passing inning, gobs of postseason records were being surpassed over the weekend, and each forces the question on whether the notion of “playoff record†also needs to be rewritten.
Expanded playoffs — likely the new norm — simply means more games for players to crunch numbers. Dodgers’ infielder Justin Turner hit his 12th career postseason homer on Saturday, and that gave him the LA/Brooklyn franchise record ahead of Duke Snider. Turner reached 12 homers in 303 plate appearances. Snider got to 11 in 149, all against some of the best teams in the World Series.
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A handful of Rays, including Arozarena, became the first big leaguers to appear in 19 playoff games in a single postseason. That’s because there were more playoff games to play in this singular postseason during a pandemic.
Arozarena rules. But context is king
Arozarena’s homer Friday broke Jeter’s record for most hits by a rookie in the postseason. Jeter reached 22 in 15 games in 1996; Arozarena got there in 17. Arozarena eclipsed Freese’s record for most total bases in a one playoff season and now has 57 in 19 games. Freese had 50 in 18 games in 2011.
Another homer and three hits Saturday, moved Arozarena alone into first place with nine postseason homers, and tied him for the all-time single-postseason lead with 26 hits. He got No. 27 Sunday in the Rays’ 4-2 loss to the Dodgers in Game 5. LA shortstop Corey Seager is on Arozarena’s heels with eight home runs this postseason, and they’re both chasing Beltran’s scoring record (21 runs) with 19 and 18, respectively. Though, Beltran set the record and didn’t reach the World Series in 2004.
Arozarena’s eighth homer came in his 17th game, the same number that Bonds and Nelson Cruz played when they hit eight homers in the 2002 and 2011 playoffs, respectively.
Given one more game, Arozarena had one more homer.
His 27 hits surpass Pablo Sandoval’s record set in 2014. Arozarena got to 27 in his first 81 plate appearances. Sandoval had 26 hits in 78 games in 2014.
“There is still no explanation for it,†Rays manager Kevin Cash said of Arozarena’s superlative postseason. “I’ve heard some of the names that he’s tied with or passing and that’s pretty special territory. You look at a guy like Derek Jeter and his career and you add the postseason — it’s remarkable with what he’s done. He has certainly made the most of it in his first chance.â€
The longer the World Series goes, the more records could tumble. The Rays’ 33 homers already are the most in the postseason, so they got there without playing more games than some contemporary playoff teams. Seager’s first-inning RBI Sunday was his 19th of this tournament, and he needs three to surpass Freese’s playoff record 21 in 2011, but will not be playing more games than Freese possibly could have.
Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw’s six strikeouts Sunday gave him the career postseason lead. He has talked about that’s reflective of being on a good team and having October opportunities. There are more of them this year. Justin Verlander was the first pitcher to reach 205 strikeouts in the postseason. It took him 36 appearances and 187 2/3 innings. Kershaw made his 37th playoff appearance Sunday and finished it with 189 innings to go with his 206 strikeouts. That’s context with a K.
The lefty offered another standard by which to measure postseason records in an era of ever-expanding postseason rounds.
“Just win,†Kershaw said. “The postseason is just about winning.â€