The best way to succeed in the playoffs, conventional wisdom says, is to have fantastic pitching. That’s why good teams trade for great pitchers as they make their playoff push, and why teams with great pitching – like the New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, or Los Angeles Dodgers – get very exciting to watch in October and November. Plenty of teams are bringing strong aces to the playoffs in 2015, but which likely playoff pitchers are the cream of the crop? Here’s our top five pitchers heading to the MLB playoffs.
5. David Price, Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays traded for Price because they wanted one of the best pitchers in baseball to be in their corner during the playoffs. That’s exactly what they’ll get, because Price has been fantastic this season. Price is a workhorse that has pitched 208.1 innings at the time of this writing. That’s the second-most of any MLB pitcher this season. He doesn’t blow batters away at quite the rate that some of these guys do (Price’s K/9 doesn’t crack the top 10), but he does get results: his ERA is the best in the American League.
4. Dallas Keuchel, Houston Astros
Keuchel’s name isn’t mentioned often enough outside of his division and league, but that should change when he gets the chance to shine on the national stage. His season so far gives us every reason to believe that he’ll be one of the premier pitchers in the playoffs: he has as many wins as Zack Greinke and as many complete games as Clayton Kershaw. His ERA of 2.56 is tied for second-best in the American League.
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