On Wednesday night, baseball’s 41-game postseason sprint ended with the Texas Rangers claiming the first World Series title in franchise history. It capped a month of exciting baseball games, from the Rangers’ Marcus Semien being thrown out on the first pitch of the postseason on Oct. 3 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, to Semien throwing his teammate Corey Seager hugged after the 2023 season finale season 29 days later.
There were a lot of non-semi moments in between. This postseason has given us many great memories, from Bryce Harper’s staring to Adolis García’s walk-off in Game 1 of the World Series. Harper may be the most well-known man in baseball, but García has definitely gained notoriety this October. To celebrate a fantastic postseason, The Athletic compiled its 2023 All-Postseason team, bringing together the players who made the difference no matter how many rounds their teams managed to advance.
Catcher
JT Realmuto, Phillies
13 games, 12 RBIs, .825 OPS
This is basically a feud between Realmuto and Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno, but we’ll give Realmuto bonus points for catching the pitching team that had the lowest ERA in the postseason. Additionally, Realmuto played an important role in the Phillies’ three NLCS victories.
Apologies to: Moreno, Will Smith and Rangers DH Mitch Garver if he still counts as a catcher.
First base
Bryce Harper, Phillies
13 games, 5 home runs, 1.097 OPS
Only four first basemen went deep this postseason, and only three went deep more than once (the same number of multi-homer shortstops; imagine that two decades ago). Harper had never started a game at first base until this season, but he was the best first baseman in the playoffs with five homers and more walks (13) than strikeouts (11).
Apologies to: Jose Abreu, who became a wrecking ball in the division series after a disappointing regular season. Also Josh Bell, who did his best to keep the Marlins going.
Second base
Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks
17 games, 24 hits, .914 OPS
This postseason’s hit leader did it by recording at least one single in each of the Diamondbacks’ first 16 playoff games, a streak that ended when he had no hits but three walks in the finale of the World Series. In 2017, Marte had a hit in each of his first 20 career playoff games.
Apologies to: Jose Altuve, who had a great ALCS (in a loss), Edouard Julien, who had a great division series (also in a loss), and Marcus Semien, who had a good World Series (and got a ring).
Third base
Austin Riley didn’t make it deep into the postseason, but he made the most of his time there. (Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images)
Austin Riley, Braves
4 games, 2 home runs, 1.059 OPS
The crowd says this game belongs to Alex Bregman, who once again had a good postseason performance for the Houston Astros (four home runs in 11 games), but if Riley had his way, he would have played in more than four games. His game-winning home run gave the Braves their only playoff win, and he went deep again in NLDS Game 4, ultimately eliminating them.
Apologies to: Bregman, Josh Jung, Gunnar Henderson and that one home run from Alec Bohm.
Shortstop
Corey Seager, Rangers
17 games, 6 home runs, 1.133 OPS
It’s hard to believe that any shortstop could have a better postseason than the Phillies’ Trea Turner, but in fact, World Series MVP Seager was an easy choice for the position. He had three hits (including a home run) in the deciding Game 7 of the ALCS and then went deep in three of five games in the World Series.
Apologies to: Mostly Turner, but really Carlos Correa, Willy Adames, Bo Bichette and Geraldo Perdomo have all put up good postseason numbers.
Left field
Evan Carter, Rangers
17 games, 9 doubles, .917 OPS
Every fan base that missed the playoffs has spent the last month scouring their team’s Double-A roster to find a version of Carter who might have been called up to make a difference. Carter made his big league debut in September and became a star in October. He led the postseason in doubles and played a key role in getting the Rangers through the first two rounds.
Apologies to: Christian Yelich, Randy Arozarena and Austin Hayes for the three-hit ALDS Game 2 that nearly kept the Orioles’ dream alive.
midfield
Alek Thomas, Diamondbacks
17 games, 4 home runs, .734 OPS
There’s a temptation to go with the Phillies’ Brandon Marsh (.931 postseason OPS), but after playing mostly center field in the regular season, he played only left field in the playoffs. As true centerfielders go, there weren’t many who put up big numbers, but Thomas was awfully good (despite his defensive blunder in the World Series).
Apologies to: Leody Taveres and Michael Harris II for their catches that we will always remember but apparently won’t reward.
Right field
Adolis Garcia, Rangers
15 games, 8 home runs, 1.108 OPS
Were you expecting someone else? García set a singles playoff record with 22 RBIs this postseason and six of his home runs came in five games, including two home runs in the decisive Game 7 of the ALCS and a walk-off home run in the opening game of the World Series.
Apologies to: Nick Castellanos, Corbin Carroll and every pitcher who faced García this postseason.
Designated batsman
Yordan Alvarez, Astros
11 games, 6 home runs, 1.487 OPS
Alvarez had the highest OPS in the postseason, largely because he batted a whopping .977 with nine extra-base hits. He ended up on base in more than half of his plate appearances. Simply a monster offseason for one of the greatest hitters in the game today.
Apologies to: Kyle Schwarber for having the misfortune of playing the same position as Alvarez.
Starting pitchers
Nathan Eovaldi was a postseason workhorse. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Nathan Eovaldi, Rangers
5-0, 2.95 ERA, 36 2/3 IP
With the win in Game 5 of the World Series, Eovaldi secured his fifth win of the postseason, something no other starter has ever accomplished. Yes, the playoffs are bigger than they used to be, and that’s how he made six starts, but those six are as many postseason wins as a starter than Pedro Martinez has had in his entire career. (Martinez won in relief in Game 5 of the 1999 ALDS.)
Zack Wheeler, Phillies
3-0, 1.95 ERA, 27 2/3 IP
The Phillies star won three of his four postseason starts and also threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief in Game 7 of the NLCS. Wheeler struck out 35 and walked three. He only allowed six earned runs in the entire postseason. He dominated the one start his team didn’t win, Game 2 of the NLDS against the Braves, striking out 10 and allowing just three hits and two earned runs over 6 1/3 innings.
Merrill Kelly, Diamondbacks
3-1, 2.25 ERA, 24 IP
Kelly has come a long way to get to the World Series, and he made the most of his time this postseason, giving his Diamondbacks a reliable No. 2 seed in the playoffs and getting off to an outstanding start in Game 2 of the World Series .
Apologies to: Pablo López, Ranger Suárez, Aaron Nola, Jordan Montgomery, Justin Verlander and Brandon Pfaadt
helper
Kevin Ginkel, Diamondbacks
0.00 ERA, 15 K, 11 2/3 IP
Ginkel, a graduate of the University of Arizona, has played 10 games for the Diamondbacks this postseason and hasn’t given up a single run, giving him a 0.00 ERA for all non-math majors. As a wise man once told me, run prevention is the most important thing a pitcher can do, and Ginkel prevented all the runs. That’s good.
Josh Sborz, Rangers
0.75 ERA, 13 K, 12 IP
Even if he hadn’t frozen Ketel Marte with a high curveball to end the World Series, Sborz still would have had a memorable and successful postseason. The 29-year-old right-hander appeared in ten games and allowed just one run and four hits. In 12 total innings, he had 13 strikeouts and just four walks.
Zack Littell, Rays
0.00 ERA, 4 K, 2 IP
OK, Littell only pitched in one game, Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series against the Rangers. He didn’t allow a hit and struck out four times in two innings but hit one batter. That’s good. It’s not his fault he wasn’t given more opportunities.
Apologies to: Ryan Thompson, José Alvarado and especially Chas McCormick, who was hit by a 104 mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman.
Closer
Ryan Pressly, Astros
0.00 ERA, 3 SV, 6 IP
The Astros’ closer was simply dominant, appearing in six games and not only did not allow a run over six innings, but he also allowed just two hits, both in his second inning of work in their Game 5 win over the Rangers in the ALCS. He walked only two batters and struck out 10 of the 21 batters he faced in the playoffs. He also earned one win and three saves.
Apologies to: Paul Sewald and José Leclerc combined for 10 saves in the postseason, but neither of them reminded anyone of Mariano Rivera during their teams’ runs – although admittedly, Arizonans probably have a different memory of Rivera than the rest in the postseason us.
Manager
Bruce Bochy, Rangers
If social media has taught us nothing else, it’s that all managers are idiots and have no idea what they’re doing except the one who won the World Series. Will Bochy win Manager of the Year? I don’t know. But if he doesn’t, Rangers fans will try to complain to Braves fans about it, ignoring that the vote takes place before the postseason begins. However, Bochy gets the nod here, and that’s what really matters, right?
Apologies to: Torey Lovullo
(Top photo of García: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY)