2021 Division Series Top Scorers
We are now two days into the Championship Series matchups, which means we have a whole Division Series’ worth of games (plus the Wild Card Games) to evaluate how the various signs are doing in the 2021 Postseason. Keep in mind that the usual small sample size caveats apply, since a best-of-five environment is not enough to draw any meaningful conclusions. Not only that, but a pool of ten playoff teams provides a much smaller cross-section of representation across the signs than the 30 teams we get in the regular season, but we have to work with the data we’re given.
I’ll start with top overall point scorers through the Division Series round, then move on to an overview of how each sign has performed so far in the playoffs. I’ll look at pitching first, since pitchers are much more likely to rack up large amounts of fantasy points over a small sample. Indeed, pitchers make up the five top scoring players in the postseason so far, and 8 of the top 11. Leading the way is emerging Giants ace Logan Webb, who pitched two gems against the Dodgers in the DS, but will unfortunately not have a chance to continue his playoff journey. After Webb, we don’t see another Giants player until nearly 40 spots down, when we get Kris Bryant and Alex Wood with 61 and 62 points, respectively. It’s almost as though that constant platooning made it hard for San Francisco batters to get into a rhythm…
Next up is one half of the LA’s blockbuster trade deadline acquisition, Max Scherzer, who pitched in three of the Dodgers’ six playoff games. First, he had a decent showing in the Wild Card Game, then he pitched a decent NLDS Game 3, and finally came in for the save in Game 5 on two days rest, although his final strikeout was a controversial one. His teammate Julio Urias also came out of the bullpen in that thrilling Game 5, pitching four innings after a pair of relievers opened the game. Between those two Dodgers we have the aces of the teams that are facing off in the ALCS. Like Scherzer, Nathan Eovaldi pitched in the Wild Card Game and in Game 3 the Division Series, shutting down the Yankees and the Rays, respectively. Lance McCullers Jr. was only able to pitch twice in the Astros’ four-game series against the White Sox because Game 4 was postponed due to rain. But perhaps that wasn’t a wise decision, as he’s currently on the shelf due to a strained forearm.
Two Braves pitchers scored over 100 points in their only Division Series appearance: lefty Max Fried and rookie-eligible Ian Anderson. By contrast, Atlanta closer Will (M.) Smith appeared in three games and got the save three times. While Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen didn’t get ANY saves, he was on the mound for two late-inning victories, picking up two wins in the postseason. Rounding out the 100-point pitchers, we have two Boston long relievers who served as starters during the season: rookie Tanner Houck (who had the exact same fantasy point breakdown as Jansen) and Nick Pivetta (who pitched all four extra innings in a wild Game 3).
The top-scoring batter of the playoffs so far has been Red Sox center fielder Kiké Hernandez, who hit two homers in the division series, plus a walk-off sac fly in the decisive Game 4. Two Astros batters eclipsed him in points-per-game: slugging outfielder Kyle Tucker (the only batter to average more than 30 over multiple games) and leadoff hitter Jose Altuve. Mookie Betts led the Dodgers, while Rays shortstop Wander Franco was the only batter from an eliminated team to accrue more than 100 points (fellow rookie Randy Arozarena was right behind him with 98). Here’s what I mean when I talk about small sample size: Red Sox Kyle Schwarber, Xander Bogaerts, and Rafael Devers all had the exact same breakdown of fantasy points and PPG.
As far as particular signs go, the Positive Polarity has the two leaders. Libra (Air) has a pair of stars on the mound (McCullers and Jansen) to go with another pair at the plate (Bogaerts and Betts). Leo (Fire) is where they are mostly due to a triptych of Dodgers - Scherzer, Urias, and Walker Buehler - but it also helps that J.D. Martinez was able to return from his injury for most of the DS. Next up we have Taurus, the winners of the actual weekly fantasy league, with Alex Verdugo and Joc(tober) Pederson joining the incomparable Altuve in the lineup. Another Air sign, Aquarius, benefits from Big Game Nate Eovaldi’s heroics. Logan Webb is now out, but Rafael Devers continues to represent for Scoripio. The saves of Will (M.) Smith (Cancer) and the power of Wander Franco and Kyle Schwarber (Pisces) round out the signs whose players have scored more than 500 points so far in the 2021 postseason.
In the above chart, I’ve also included a count of how many players represent each sign, in order to calculate average points per player-per sign. Libra predictably has the highest, since they have the most overall points. But it’s worth noting that Pisces is next, despite having the lowest number of players. (Their count is 11, and it goes as high as 22. For reference, Libra has 16 players, below the average amount of players 18.9.)
Next time, I’ll take a small step back and look at the 2021 regular season, which has now been immortalized in one of my signature databases. I went much more in depth with this one than I do for the types of astrology lineups that I put in the Gallery section, because it is the current season, after all. So expect some top of the line statistical analysis for this one!