Ranking players by postseason contribution

Beale13

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Feb 2, 2006
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I don't know if this deserves its own thread but I'm sort of a junkie for best-of lists and found this to be a fun and interesting exercise, especially when considering how unlikely it would have been for anyone to have gotten close to predicting the contributions playing out this way. Here is how I would rank the all the Red Sox players who saw the field during this postseason, from most important to least:


Eovaldi
Price
Pearce
JD
Kelly
JBJ
Barnes
Brasier
Devers
Benintendi
Porcello
Holt
Nunez
Moreland
Mookie
Vazquez
Sale
Kimbrel
Rodriguez
Kinsler
Bogaerts
Hembree
Leon
Swihart
Workman


I think Workman was the only player whose overall play was an actual detriment to the outcomes.

Please please sign Eovaldi.


Edit: AB added in. I had him in there originally but he must have gotten lost in all the cutting and pasting of moving things around.
 
Last edited:

GreenMonster49

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Jul 18, 2005
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I don't know if this deserves its own thread but I'm sort of a junkie for best-of lists and found this to be a fun and interesting exercise, especially when considering how unlikely it would have been for anyone to have gotten close to predicting the contributions playing out this way. Here is how I would rank the all the Red Sox players who saw the field during this postseason, from most important to least:


Eovaldi
Price
Pearce
JD
Kelly
JBJ
Barnes
Brasier
Devers
Porcello
Holt
Nunez
Moreland
Mookie
Vazquez
Sale
Kimbrel
Rodriguez
Kinsler
Bogaerts
Hembree
Leon
Swihart
Workman


I think Workman was the only player whose overall play was an actual detriment to the outcomes.

Please please sign Eovaldi.
Where does Benintendi fit in?
 

SirPsychoSquints

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Jul 13, 2005
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Pittsburgh, PA
WPA leaders:
  1. Pearce 0.819
  2. Bradley 0.758
  3. Kimbrel 0.630
  4. Barnes 0.603
  5. Devers 0.500
  6. Eovaldi 0.451 (pitching only)
  7. Martinez 0.448
  8. Price 0.381 (pitching only)
  9. Brasier 0.353
  10. Eovaldi 0.351 (including hitting)
  11. Price 0.320 (including hitting)
  12. Kelly 0.266
  13. Sale 0.186
  14. Holt 0.184
  15. Moreland 0.178
  16. Hembree 0.148
  17. Porcello 0.125 (pitching only)
  18. Porcello 0.105 (including hitting)
  19. Nunez 0.082
  20. Benintendi -0.001 (defense accrues to the pitcher)
  21. Swihart -0.035
  22. Leon -0.078
  23. Rodriguez -0.135 (including hitting)
  24. Rodriguez -0.138 (pitching only)
  25. Workman -0.261
  26. Kinsler -0.326 (does not include defense, and I think outs on the bases go to the batter)
  27. Vazquez -0.338
  28. Betts -.348
  29. Bogaerts -0.406
 

TFisNEXT

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The defense of Nunez and Benny really inflate Kimbrel's WPA...they saved his bacon twice.
 

drbretto

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Apr 10, 2009
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Concord, NH
Benny's catch to end the ALCS would have been worth about .150ish by itself. But it if he missed, it would have been about -0.850.

Bogaerts didn't get talked about much. We talked about Betts struggling, but that's cool, dude gets a pass, but Bogie had a pretty rough post season.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
21,588
Yeah, that number is about as meaningful as Ryan Madson's low World Series ERA....
It's fine as long as people are aware it doesn't paint the whole picture. Anyone who argues Kimbrel was our 3rd best player in the playoffs would be laughed off the board, but that isn't really what the number is telling you.
 

TFisNEXT

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Benny's catch to end the ALCS would have been worth about .150ish by itself. But it if he missed, it would have been about -0.850.

Bogaerts didn't get talked about much. We talked about Betts struggling, but that's cool, dude gets a pass, but Bogie had a pretty rough post season.
Xander was pretty good in the MFY series, but then really tailed off in the ALCS and WS.
 

Zososoxfan

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Jul 30, 2009
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South of North
I don't know if this deserves its own thread but I'm sort of a junkie for best-of lists and found this to be a fun and interesting exercise, especially when considering how unlikely it would have been for anyone to have gotten close to predicting the contributions playing out this way. Here is how I would rank the all the Red Sox players who saw the field during this postseason, from most important to least:


Eovaldi
Price
Pearce
JD
Kelly
JBJ
Barnes
Brasier
Devers
Benintendi
Porcello
Holt
Nunez
Moreland
Mookie
Vazquez
Sale
Kimbrel
Rodriguez
Kinsler
Bogaerts
Hembree
Leon
Swihart
Workman


I think Workman was the only player whose overall play was an actual detriment to the outcomes.

Please please sign Eovaldi.


Edit: AB added in. I had him in there originally but he must have gotten lost in all the cutting and pasting of moving things around.
At first blush, Devers and Benintendi seem a little low. But, I can't find a convenient way to view only postseason stats. BREF will give you stats for each series, but not aggregated for all postseason and I'm lazy*. Anyone have a shortcut?

*I'm lazy, but I have to point out that Price in the CS and WS had 24.1 IP, 7 Earned Runs, 23K, and 10 BB. Absolutely massive.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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At first blush, Devers and Benintendi seem a little low. But, I can't find a convenient way to view only postseason stats. BREF will give you stats for each series, but not aggregated for all postseason and I'm lazy*. Anyone have a shortcut?

*I'm lazy, but I have to point out that Price in the CS and WS had 24.1 IP, 7 Earned Runs, 23K, and 10 BB. Absolutely massive.
Espn.com gives the stats, but not PA. You can add BB but they don't list HBP.
 

singaporesoxfan

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It's fine as long as people are aware it doesn't paint the whole picture. Anyone who argues Kimbrel was our 3rd best player in the playoffs would be laughed off the board, but that isn't really what the number is telling you.
I think WPA is so far off from "not painting the whole picture" when it comes to starting pitching that it isn't even worth including any of the SPs in any WPA comparisons
 

SirPsychoSquints

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Jul 13, 2005
5,013
Pittsburgh, PA
At first blush, Devers and Benintendi seem a little low. But, I can't find a convenient way to view only postseason stats. BREF will give you stats for each series, but not aggregated for all postseason and I'm lazy*. Anyone have a shortcut?

*I'm lazy, but I have to point out that Price in the CS and WS had 24.1 IP, 7 Earned Runs, 23K, and 10 BB. Absolutely massive.
I've downloaded all the stats from a B-R PI search and have saved it into an Excel file, if anyone has a good way for me to share it.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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I think WPA is so far off from "not painting the whole picture" when it comes to starting pitching that it isn't even worth including any of the SPs in any WPA comparisons
Agreed but I think it extends to everyone, not just SP. It's a 5 game sample in an environment where almost every out is a big out. It's results based rather than process based.
 

Reggie's Racquet

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What in the heck happened to Xander? Lost in all this was just how terrible he was at the plate. He was just awful and while it didn’t matter in the end it could have in a close series.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
21,588
What in the heck happened to Xander? Lost in all this was just how terrible he was at the plate. He was just awful and while it didn’t matter in the end it could have in a close series.
This postseason:
Xander: .224/.303/.310, 7bb/8k in 65 PA
Mookie: .210/.300/.323 7bb/12k in 69 PA

I'm guessing nothing happened to Xander other than a normal slump at a bad time, same with Betts. Good pitching will do that.