MLB Players With the Most Home Runs in NLCS History (Career & Single Season)
A step away from the World Series, these sluggers took their game to another level.
MLB has expanded its postseason field more than once since the turn of the century. The idea of having a championship series for the AL and NL began in 1969. As always, my question is: who has hit the most home runs during this specific time?
Today, the focus will be on the NLCS, and it’s covered in two ways: most career home runs and most single-postseason home runs during this round.
Get More Content from MLB Daily Dingers!
I appreciate you letting me slide into your inbox three days a week. You can always go back and look at past newsletter issues, but that’s not the only way to get home-run content if you’re hankering for more dingers. I’ve broken down my blog content into the following digestible pages:
As always, thanks for reading and subscribing! I’m working on ways to make this subscription more valuable, fun, and engaging — I’m excited for you to see what I’m working on sometime this offseason!
Most NLCS Home Runs (Career)
Kyle Schwarber: 11 Home Runs
Kyle Schwarber has slugged 20 career postseason home runs. A whopping 11 have come in the NLCS. He hasn't slugged more than three in any other round of the playoffs! Across 81 plate appearances in the NLCS, Schwarber has produced a .286/.444/.841 line with 11 taters and 13 RBI. He's collected 18 total hits during this postseason round, with 13 of them going for extra bases (11 homers, two doubles).
His last two NLCS performances have been his best. In 2022 against the Padres, Schwarber posted a 1.571 OPS and followed that up with a 1.670 mark in 2023 against the Diamondbacks (which we'll talk about more in a minute).
Albert Pujols: 10 Home Runs
Was there anything Albert Pujols couldn't do well in a Cardinals uniform? He dominated in October as much as he did during the regular season. Across 360 postseason plate appearances, Pujols slashed .319/.422/.572 with 19 home runs and 54 RBI. The majority of that production came in the NLCS.
The Machine slugged 10 homers and 27 RBI in the NLCS, his most of any postseason round. It also included a ridiculous .367/.450/.664 line. I'll talk more about his 2004 NLCS performance below.
Carlos Beltran: 8 Home Runs
Carlos Beltran was another top-notch postseason performer throughout his career. He got everyone's attention in 2004 (which I'll also talk about below), but his postseason career is nothing to scoff at. Beltran hit .307/.412/.609 in 256 trips to the plate in October.
The NLDS and NLCS were the only postseason rounds in which he produced an OPS better than 1.000. In addition to a .326/.441/.685 line in the NLCS, Beltran added eight home runs, seven doubles, 17 RBI, and 24 runs scored.
Steve Garvey: 8 Home Runs
It's a little weird to see a player from before the turn of the century still on here, but Steve Garvey made his mark on the postseason. Garvey collected 11 home runs and 31 RBI overall in October. Eight of those dingers and 21 of those RBI came in the NLCS, all while hitting .356/.383/.678 in 95 plate appearances.
Corey Seager: 7 Home Runs
Corey Seager enjoys playing in the latter portion of the postseason. As it currently stands, his OPS for the NLCS and the World Series are both above .900 for his career. He's appeared in three NLCS matchups, which has led to a .257/.321/.581 line with seven homers and 19 RBI.
Jim Edmonds: 6 Home Runs
Jim Edmonds played in 64 postseason games throughout his 17-year MLB career. All but three came with the St. Louis Cardinals. Across 124 total plate appearances during this round in October, Edmonds slashed .271/.363/.495 with six homers, six doubles, 20 RBI, and 12 runs scored.
His best singular performance came in 2002 when St. Louis lost to the San Francisco Giants. Edmonds hit .400/.455/.650 with one homer, a pair of doubles, and four RBI across five games.
Above are the top-six all-time home run hitters in NLCS history. Here's the remainder of the top 17, which is just an 11-way tie at five dingers:
Cody Bellinger
Chris Taylor
Enrique Hernandez
Justin Turner
David Freese
Jayson Werth
Javy Lopez
Ron Gant
Gary Matthews
Greg Luzinski
Johnny Bench
Most NLCS Home Runs (Single Postseason)
Kyle Schwarber, 2023: 5 Home Runs
How powerful was Schwarber's 2023 NLCS performance, you ask? Well, let's look at it this way. He nearly doubled his career homer total during this postseason round thanks to his output against the Diamondbacks. It wasn't enough to get the Phillies back to the World Series, but it was an impressive performance for him nonetheless.
Schwarber racked up 30 plate appearances during the seven-game matchup with Arizona. He slashed .364/.533/1.136 with five homers, five RBI, and eight runs scored. The left-handed slugger also added two doubles for good measure, meaning seven of his eight total hits went for extra bases.
Corey Seager, 2020: 5 Home Runs
En route to winning their first World Series since 1988, the Dodgers literally couldn't have done it without Corey Seager. He won NLCS and World Series MVP honors in 2020. During their seven-game battle vs. the Braves, he slugged those five homers to go along with 11 RBI, eight runs scored, and a .310/.333/.897 line in 30 plate appearances.
Rhys Hoskins, 2022: 4 Home Runs
Rhys Hoskins' epic bat spike will be talked about in Philadelphia for a long time. While he recorded just 11 total hits in 73 postseason plate appearances (good for a .159 average), he made those hits count. Six of them left the yard, with four of them happening during the NLCS.
Those were the only four hits he recorded against the Padres. It resulted in a very weird .222/.300/.889 triple slash.
Daniel Murphy, 2015: 4 Home Runs
Remember when Daniel Murphy briefly morphed into Babe Ruth for the Mets? Yeah, it was pretty cool. He was off the chain during New York's four-game NLCS sweep of the Chicago Cubs. He won series MVP honors after hitting .529/.556/1.294 with those four dingers, six RBI, and six runs scored in just 18 plate appearances.
Unfortunately for Murphy and the Mets, the second baseman's production cratered in the World Series. He posted a .470 OPS with no extra-base hits in 25 trips to the plate.
Carlos Beltran, 2004: 4 Home Runs
Beltran was already an elite talent ahead of reaching free agency in the winter of 2004. His postseason performance with the Astros before he hit the open market helped maximize his earning power, though.
After posting a 1.591 OPS in the 2004 NLDS, which included four homers and nine RBI, he essentially repeated that performance in the NLCS. Beltran hit .417/.463/.958 with another four dingers, five RBI, 12 runs scored, and four steals in a seven-game loss to the Cardinals.
Albert Pujols, 2004: 4 Home Runs
Speaking of the Cardinals, Albert Pujols was on the other side of the 2004 NLCS matchup that helped St. Louis reach the World Series. He took home series MVP honors because Houston couldn't get him out.
The Machine slashed .500/.563/1.000 in 32 plate appearances against the Astros. That was accompanied by four homers, two doubles, nine RBI, and 10 runs scored.
Jeffrey Leonard, 1987: 4 Home Runs
Jeffrey Leonard played in two different postseason series during his MLB career. The first was the 1980 NLCS as a member of the Astros. He went hitless in three plate appearances. His second appearance was with the Giants during the 1987 NLCS. That was a much more fruitful experience.
San Francisco lost to St. Louis in seven games, but he still took home series MVP honors. Across 28 plate appearances, Leonard slashed .417/.500/.917 with four home runs, five RBI, and five runs scored.
Steve Garvey, 1978: 4 Home Runs
Steve Garvey won NLCS MVP twice in his career for two different teams. The first instance was for the Dodgers in 1978. As Los Angeles advanced to the World Series, Garvey hit .389/.389/1.222 in 18 plate appearances.
He collected seven hits overall, with six going for extra bases (one double, one triple, four homers). Garvey also added seven RBI and six runs scored.
Bob Robertson, 1971: 4 Home Runs
On the Pirates' way to winning the 1971 World Series, Bob Robertson went off in the NLCS vs. the Giants. In four games played (16 plate appearances), the right-handed hitter slashed .438/.438/1.250 with four home runs, one double, six RBI, and five runs scored.
He hit six total postseason home runs during his MLB career, and they all came during the 1971 playoffs (four in the NLCS, two in the World Series).
Hopefully Schwarber can produce this year too!