Best hitters in playoff history: Ruth, Gehrig and … Beltran?

The perception of Carlos Beltran’s performance in the playoffs is largely built around his once taking an Adam Wainwright curveball for an NLCS-ending called third strike. That narrative, like many narratives, couldn’t be further from the truth.

After homering twice last night Beltran has now gone deep 13 times in 25 career playoff games while hitting .362 with a 1.297 OPS. He’s played in six different playoff series and has posted an OPS above 1.000 in four of them (including that NLCS against Wainwright and the Cardinals in 2006).

Obviously those are amazing numbers, but did you know Beltran now owns the highest slugging percentage and the highest OPS in postseason history? Here are the career leardboards among everyone with at least 100 plate appearances in the playoffs:

                    PA      SLG                            PA      OPS
CARLOS BELTRAN     115     .819        CARLOS BELTRAN     115    1.297
Babe Ruth          167     .744        Babe Ruth          167    1.211
Lou Gehrig         150     .731        Lou Gehrig         150    1.208

Carlos Beltran. Babe Ruth. Lou Gehrig. No big deal or anything.

Blue Jays second baseman Cavan Biggio hit for the cycle on Tuesday against the Orioles. Cavan, the son of Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, struck out in the first inning, but bounced back to hit a two-run homer in the third. He followed that up with a single in the sixth, a double in the eighth, and a two-run triple in the ninth.

Biggio is the sixth player to hit for the cycle this season, joining Jorge Polanco (Twins), Shohei Ohtani (Angels), Jake Bauers (Indians), Trea Turner (Nationals), and Jonathan Villar (Orioles). He’s the third member of the Blue Jays to hit for the cycle, joining Jeff Frye and Kelly Gruber. In case you were wondering, yes, Craig Biggio has also hit for the cycle. He did so against the Rockies on April 8, 2002. Craig and Cavan are the second father-son duo to both hit for the cycle, joining Gary and Daryle Ward, Sportsnet notes.

After Tuesday’s 4-for-5 performance, Biggio is batting .230/.361/.425 with 14 home runs and 42 RBI in 379 plate appearances on the season.

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