The new Mr. October: Randy Arozarena sets postseason home run record

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena now enters baseball immortality, as he set the postseason home run record on Saturday.

Reggie Jackson, move aside: There’s a new Mr. October in town. The Tampa Bay Rays reached their first World Series since 2008, and no player stepped up when it mattered most than young outfielder Randy Arozarena. While the Rays dropped Game 3 on Friday night, Arozarena made history by hitting his eighth home run of the postseason. That was the most home runs hit in one postseason run, where he joined the likes of Barry Bonds, Nelson Cruz and Carlos Beltran. But now, Arozarena is in a league of his own.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Arozarena sent a 95.1 mph fastball from Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias to the bullpen in right-center field to cut Tampa Bay’s deficit to 2-1. Now, Arozarena stands alone with the most homers in a single postseason run.

Randy Arozarena’s record-breaking postseason

While this home run record is a tremendous feat, he set another MLB record 24 hours ago. Besides hitting his record-tying homer, Arozarena also set the record for most postseason hits by a rookie with 23. The man to previously hold that record was New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter!

The Rays truly got themselves a future star of the league. This past winter, the Rays acquired Arozarena and first baseman Jose Martinez from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore and catcher Edgardo Rodriguez. Sure, Liberatore is projected to be a stud pitcher in the future, but Cardinals fans can’t be too happy seeing Arozarena going scorched earth in October baseball. It’s okay, it happens to even the best of teams sometimes!

Arozarena is only 25 years old, but he’s showing the world that he is fully capable of being the league’s next big star. Every baseball fan will point to his 2020 postseason run as to where his rise officially began.

Now we have to wait and see if Corey Seager can tie the record at some point this World Series, since he’s hit eight home runs as of this writing.