Orlando Arcia was one of the very worst hitters in Major League Baseball during the 2018 regular season.
The Milwaukee Brewers’ shortstop had a .236/.268/.307 slash line, with three home runs, and a 54 wRC+. Of hitters with at least 300 plate appearances, Arcia was third-worst in OPS and wRC+. Arcia’s offensive woes even led to the Brewers sending him down to Triple-A twice during the season, despite his very good defense at shortstop.
Now, it should be noted that Arcia is still just 24 years old and was a top-10 MLB prospect entering the 2016 season. He was expected to be a much better offensive player than he’s been; the ability and upside have always been there.
Well, all of a sudden, Arcia looks as good as any hitter alive, and at the most important time.
In Monday night’s Game 3 of the NLCS, Arcia hit a two-run opposite field homer against Dodgers’ rookie sensation Walker Buehler to give the Brewers a 4-0 lead in the seventh.
ORLANDO MAGIC. #NLCS pic.twitter.com/jBRawTRq79
— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2018
That’s Arcia’s third homer of the postseason. Or, the same amount of homers he hit in the *regular season*.
Regular season Arcia: 348 AB, 3 HR.#Postseason Arcia: 19 AB, 3 HR. pic.twitter.com/cSiRJlsQj5
— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) October 16, 2018
Arcia has homered in three of the last four games, and currently has a .737 SLG and 1.000 OPS in the postseason.
This is the perfect example of how friggin’ wacky baseball can be, and another example of a highly unexpected postseason hero (something that seems to happen just about every October).
Arcia’s stunning offensive contributions have played a huge part in Milwaukee’s playoff success. The Brewers held on to take down the Dodgers 4-0 in Game 3, and now have a 2-1 NLCS lead.