Daniel Murphy is on fire. The Mets infielder homered for the fourth straight game Sunday night—and fifth in seven postseason games—to propel New York to a 4–1 win over ace Jake Arrieta and Chicago, giving the Mets a 2–0 NLCS lead.
Heading into Game 3, Murphy had a ridiculous batting line of .357/.379/.929 (average/on-base/slugging) with those five home runs, a double, and eight runs batted in. This from a player who is a good hitter, but never one to hit more than 14 home runs in a season.
Here are three other unlikely players over the last two decades, who took their game to a new level in the postseason.
Adam Kennedy, 2002, Angels
Kennedy was a 5-foot-11 second baseman who never made an All-Star team or hit more than 13 home runs in a season in his 14 years in the majors. But in his first taste of the postseason, back in 2002 with the Angels, the unheralded infielder homered in the ALDS and then hit three home runs in Game 5 of the ALCS to help Anaheim clinch the pennant and earn him ALCS MVP honors.
In the World Series against the Giants, Kennedy collected seven hits—including a pair of doubles—while driving in two. Overall in that postseason, the unassuming Kennedy had a batting line of .340/.353/.660 with four home runs and 10 RBIs in 15 games.
