This week, as we continue to reveal our MLBRank tiers of the game's best players, we noticed that the players ranked 21-40 are long on personal and team accomplishments, but some stars have surprisingly fallen just short of our top 20.
Within this group, we noticed pitchers who not only are great in the regular season but also have excelled in the glare of the playoff spotlight. There are two former American League MVPs -- including a Triple Crown winner -- in this group. Did they get slighted? Plus, we've reached No. 21 in our countdown, and there's been no sign of a potential Triple Crown winner -- Yankees rookie Aaron Judge. All of this led us to ask four of our Insiders for their thoughts about these players and the questions inspired by their positions in our rankings.
1. Which of these pitchers would you want pitching in Game 7 of the World Series?
Eddie Matz: The obvious zig here is Madison Bumgarner, but I'm gonna zag and go with Andrew Miller because if he comes into the game, nine times out of 10 it means you've got a lead. Last postseason, Miller made 10 appearances, and he entered nine of those games with the Indians ahead. Each of those nine times, Cleveland won. So odds are, if Miller's pitching, my team's winning. And winning is pretty much the goal -- especially in Game 7. (Yes, I realize the one time that Miller pitched and his team lost was in Game 7, but it's my roundtable -- I can do as I please.)
