The Astros, Rays, Yankees and A¡¯s all received standout individual performances throughout the ALDS, but one player¡¯s series-long contributions stood out: Carlos Correa¡¯s.
We asked a panel of MLB experts to select the top performer among the two AL Division Series, and Correa was the winner, with the Astros¡¯ shortstop receiving 15 of 17 first-place votes. The Rays¡¯ Randy Arozarena received one of the other first-place votes and finished second. Giancarlo Stanton and Mike Brosseau received votes as well, including one first-place vote for Brosseau.
Correa hit .500 in the series with a 1.754 OPS and three homers -- including a three-run homer in the fourth inning of ALDS Game 4 that put the Astros ahead for good in the eventual clincher. Correa had five RBIs in Game 4, becoming just the fifth shortstop in postseason history with at least five RBIs in a game.
His three homers were tied with Arozarena for second-most in the Division Series round (behind Stanton¡¯s four), and Correa¡¯s 11 RBIs led all players in both leagues in the round.
Arozarena, whose Rays will now face off against Correa¡¯s Astros in the ALCS, continued his torrid start to the 2020 postseason in the ALDS. He hit .421 with three homers and a 1.371 OPS. Arozarena began the postseason with an extra-base hit in five straight games -- with three of those coming in the Division Series.
Stanton is the only player with a longer streak of extra-base hits in games to start a single postseason -- and he did it in six games, including the first four of the ALDS. Stanton hit .316 in the round with a 1.381 OPS and the aforementioned four homers. He set a Yankees postseason record by homering in five straight games, which also was the longest such streak to start a postseason by any player.
Brosseau had just five plate appearances in the Division Series, but his final one mattered most: He hit a 100.2 mph pitch from Aroldis Chapman for an eighth-inning go-ahead home run in Game 5 against the Yankees. That¡¯s the fastest pitch anyone has hit for a home run this year, and the fastest by any Rays player in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008). He didn¡¯t start the game, and he became the seventh sub player in postseason history with a home run in a winner-take-all game.