HBT: Freese is still red hot in the postseason

He hasn?t had the chance to distinguish himself as much as some, but at-bat for at-bat, Carlos Beltran is the best postseason hitter of all-time.

At least until David Freese overtakes him.

Beltran and Freese both added to their remarkable postseason totals in Sunday?s Game 1 against the Giants, hitting two-run homers off Madison Bumgarner. Beltran?s exploits were covered in this space a couple of days ago. Now it?s time to look at Freese?s rather remarkable success these last two years.

Including Sunday?s victory, Freese has played in 25 postseason games with the Cardinals and hit .386 with six homers, 11 doubles and 25 RBI. He?s slugging a robust .739.

Among players with 100 postseason plate appearances ? Freese?s total on the button ? only Beltran (.824) and Babe Ruth (.744) have higher slugging percentages than Freese. Lou Gehrig is next at .731. Lower the total to 70 plate appearances and only one more person slips in higher than Freese: Troy Glaus came in at .756 in 88 plate appearances.

In 2011, Freese tied the all-time single postseason record with 25 hits and set new records with 21 RBI and 50 total bases.

Sunday?s homer was his first of the 2012 postseason, but he?s hit .360 with three doubles.

Freese has been a perfectly good regular-season player, too, but nothing like this. He?s averaged one homer every 32 at-bats and a double every 20 at-bats from April through September. In October, he?s homered every 15 at-bats and doubled every eight at-bats.

The Cardinals have a better lineup top to bottom this year than when they won the World Series last season, so they don?t necessarily need Freese to keep up this pace. Still, it certainly can?t hurt the cause if he does. No player in major league history has ever claimed an LCS or World Series MVP honors in back-to-back years. Freese won both last year, so he?ll have at least one and maybe two chances to make history.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/theres-no-cooling-off-david-freese/related

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