The Brewers Biggest Postseason Weapon: Playoff Orlando Arcia

Every year in the postseason there are players who shock everyone with a surprisingly good stretch of games on baseball’s biggest stage. For the Brewers, Orlando Arcia has been that guy in the past, hence the nickname “Playoff Arcia”.

In 11 career postseason games, Orlando Arcia has elevated his game to a career .324 postseason batting average. It seems like the increased competition level and intensity gets the Brewers shortstop dialed in at the plate.

The biggest change in Playoff Arcia’s game throughout his postseason career is his improved plate discipline. In 37 career postseason at-bats, Arcia has just five strikeouts. He also has 12 career postseason hits in which three have gone for home runs.

Orlando Arcia In October

His best postseason series was against the Dodgers in 2018. In that seven game series, he hit .360 and his two home runs came in back-to-back games. Arcia’s first home run that series was off now former Dodger Hyun-jin Ryu, but his second home run was off of Walker Buehler, who was recently announced as a starter for the Dodgers in the Wild Card Series.

While the Brewers 2019 postseason campaign was a brief single game, Arcia did collect a hit in that Wild Card game versus the Nationals to keep his postseason hit streak alive. He has hit safely in his last nine postseason games that extends back to Game Three of the 2018 NLDS and he will look to extend that streak in 2020.

Orlando Arcia can be an offensive weapon at the bottom of the lineup for the Brewers in the postseason.

While the Brewers offense was very disappointing in the Brewers 2020 regular season, you can make an argument that Orlando Arcia was the Brewers most consistent hitter. His .260 batting average may not scream “team’s most consistent hitter”, but he trailed only Keston Hiura in total hits. Hiura managed to edge Arcia out by one hit despite having 44 more at bats than Arcia.

Arcia also tied Avisail Garcia as the Brewers leader in doubles (10) and his 20 runs batted in was good enough for fourth-best. His biggest improvement in 2020 was increased plate discipline. He has been more consistently laying off the out of the zone breaking pitches and has calmed his swing down. His offensive progression was certainly a nice surprise for the Brewers this season.

The goal for Orlando Arcia is to carry this momentum into October, where over the last two postseasons he has shined. Anything can happen in a brief three game series and Orlando Arcia has the track record to provide a spark this postseason.

Game 1 of the Brewers versus Dodgers Wild Card Series will take place Wednesday September 30th at 9:00pm.