Pablo Sandoval’s Stellar Postseason For San Francisco Giants Mostly Overlooked

By Nate Vandergrift on October 31, 2014

There is no doubt Madison Bumgarner carried the San Francisco Giants in the 2014 playoffs. He was 4-1, threw two complete-game shutouts and registered two wins and a five-inning save in the World Series. Unfortunately, his performance overshadowed just how good Pablo Sandoval has been in October.

Sandoval, affectionately known as Kung Fu Panda, set a record for hits in the postseason, collecting 26 in just 17 games. He struggled a bit in the NLDS against the Washington Nationals (.211) but still hit .366 overall in the postseason. He hit over .400 in the Wild Card round, NLCS and World Series combined. The fact that he even got better in the World Series was amazing. He had 12 hits in 28 at-bats, good for a .424  average with four RBIs and six runs scored.

This whole October hitting thing isn’t anything new for Sandoval. In 39 career playoff games, he has hit .344 with six homers, 20 RBIs and 21 runs. He has 54 hits in those 39 games, three World Series rings and a World Series MVP award. That MVP award came in 2012 against the Detroit Tigers where Sandoval batted .500 (8-for-16) with three home runs in just four games. His regular season numbers may underwhelm you for a corner infielder, but his postseason numbers are simply eye-popping.

In seven seasons with the Giants, Sandoval has been a decent hitter. The two-time All-Star has a career .294 average with more than 100 home runs and 462 RBIs. Somehow, someway he finds a way to turn it up for the playoffs. He embodies the Giants as a player/team that doesn’t overwhelm anyone in the regular season, but once October rolls around, the Giants  and Sandoval know how to get the job done and win games.

There was no doubt that Bumgarner would be named the World Series MVP, but the Giants have to be very thankful for the huge October Sandoval produced once again. He will be a free agent this offseason, so we’ll have to wait and  see if the Giants or some other team will pay Panda big money for those October numbers.

Nate Vandergrift is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter@natevandergrift, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network onGoogle.