Last October gave us one of the most impressive one-man performances in Major League Baseball postseason history.
Madison Bumgarner made seven appearances for the San Francisco Giants in the 2014 postseason, and they needed every single inning he gave them as they marched to their third World Series title in five years.
Bumgarner had a 1.03 ERA in 52.2 innings, and his five shutout innings in relief in Game 7 of the World Series against the Kansas City Royals was one of the more memorable relief outings of any playoffs in the game’s long history.
Bumgarner is not in this year’s postseason, but that does not mean there are no candidates to put together the kind of month that would rival his. While pitchers are part of the pool, there are also position players in the mix who could carry their clubs the way Carlos Beltran did for the Houston Astros in 2004.
As this postseason gets underway Tuesday, we’ll look at some of the players poised to have that kind of impact. While all of them are entirely capable, the last one listed has the best chance to replicate Bumgarner’s success.