OMG Express!

Two years ago, Iglesias said goodbye to the Majors. Today he is part of a miraculous Mets team that still has a chance in the postseason.

Happy Saturday! Today the Division Series begin in the American League and the National League! That means there will be a lot of baseball. My Venezuelan friends have asked me to talk about Jackson Chourio, and time has flown by. But I guess it's never too late to focus on the brilliance of a rising star. I've been doing a lot of work around baseball these days—in fact, I found a stack of baseball cards I had in my archive thanks to my friend Yanky! And then, I tried to follow as much of the Major League Baseball postseason as I can.

The Wild Card Series couldn't have been more exciting. Even the Tigers' sweep at Minute Maid Park had electrifying moments despite what you already know: the Houston Astros were ridiculously incapable of producing runs as expected—I think we'd be unfair if we blamed the pitchers when they really deserved more offensive support. At the same time, the Tigers were absolutely amazing. And, to give the final blow, Cuban Andy Ibañez emerged as an unexpected hero about whom there are still a few words to be said.

We will have time. There are four postseason series ahead where several Cuban players will play. I really don't know if I will have enough time to write about other Latin players who are beginning to make an impact in October. Yes, Shohei is also in the on-deck circle! The Judge! Bobby Witt Jr.!

Baseball is the best of all!

I know the spotlight will probably be on Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Bryce Harper, Zack Wheeler, Trea Turner, or perhaps, as is often the case in October, whatever unforeseen hero appears on the postseason stage. But there is one story in particular that I will be following in the Mets-Phillies NLDS series.

Let's start with context. I wanted to share this like this, as if it were some sort of little trivia. I'll show you the stats for these five Mets hitters. The combined records are from each hitter's career matchups against the Philadelphia Phillies' top starting pitchers: Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez.

Guess who the players are?

A)_____________ .269 BA, 6 HR, 17 RBI, .646 OPS

B) _____________ .514 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1.143 OPS

C) _____________ .264 BA, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .882 OPS

D) _____________ .246 BA, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 1.276 OPS

E) _____________ .333 BA, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 1.021 OPS

Well, it seems reasonable that player “A,” who has six homers and 17 RBI, is Pete Alonso. What do you think? That’s right! But who is player “B”? A guy who has hit .514 in his career against Wheeler/Nola/Sanchez/Suarez! What do you say? Francisco Lindor? Starling Marte? J.D. Martinez? Nope, right: Mark Vientos?

B) Francisco Lindor .514 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1.143 OPS

I think any of them could be it. Not all of MLB's elite hitters have hit consistently against Wheeler and Nola, the Phillies' top two aces. Check out these couple of examples: Marcell Ozuna has hit just .185 with 21 strikeouts in 56 plate appearances against Nola. When Bryce Harper was playing for Washington and Wheeler was emerging as a pitching prodigy with the Mets, this happened: In 45 matchups, Harper hit just .205 against Wheeler. He struck out 16 times, which doubled his hits (8).

Carson Kelly (4-for-4) has fared better against Nola than this group of high-profile hitters in the league: Fernando Tatis Jr. (0-for-6, 4 strikeouts), Willy Adames (0-for-16, 9 strikeouts), Max Muncy (1-for-21, 11 strikeouts) and Ian Happ (0-for-15, 7 strikeouts).

They've all combined to go 1-for-58 with 32 strikeouts.

The truth is, there's no script for how and why some hitters can hit a certain group of pitchers better and others can't. I'm guessing it all has a lot to do with each hitter's ability to face certain pitchers. There are fastball hitters, and hitters who adapt more easily to off-speed pitches. And then there are hitters today with unique talent. Among so many records of exuberant strikeout percentages, hitters such as Mike Trout, Juan Soto, Yordan Álvarez, Freddie Freeman, Luis Arráez, Steven Kwan and Mookie Betts stand out, to name a few examples.

They can all swing a bat like a saber—some of them have the ability to combine power and plate discipline. They are able to cut through any type of pitch and adjust on the fly. Still, we can’t forget that in baseball anything is possible. And, in this case, it seems surprising that the “B” hitter we are looking for has had so much success against four elite pitchers who will be under the spotlight this postseason.

Are you ready to be surprised yet? Or were you sure who it was?

“OMG!”

Yes, Cuban infielder José Antonio “Candelita” Iglesias is the one!

This seems incredible. Watch Iglesias devour pitches from Wheeler, Nola, Sanchez and Suarez, with success worth following this postseason: